Chimera by David Wellington Read Free Book Online Page A

down. Tell me, Captain, what are
your thoughts right now?”
    â€œPermission to speak candidly, sir?”
    Hollingshead came over and put a hand on his
shoulder. “Permission to swear a blue streak if you like. Permission to call us
every foul name you can think of. Just be honest and tell me what you’re
thinking.”
    â€œI think you called in the wrong man,” Chapel told
them.
    Banks and Hollingshead both stared at Chapel in
shock.
    From behind him, he heard Laughing Boy let out a
little chuckle, which was cut off quite abruptly as if he were trying to
suppress it.
    Chapel could hardly believe he’d said it himself.
For ten years he’d been slowly dying in a desk job he hated. Doing basic police
work when he’d been trained to be out in the field, making a real difference.
How many times had he dreamed of a moment like this, of being called back to
active duty? Because it would have meant he was whole again. Not just
three-quarters of a human being, but a vital man of action.
    But part of what made him want that, part of why he
could even hope for it, was his desire to do the right thing. The thing that made sense not just for him but for the
country he served. And there must have been a serious miscalculation somewhere
here.
    He shook his head. “This isn’t a matter for
Military Intelligence. You have four men out there, loose in America, who sound
as much like serial killers as anything else. That’s the jurisdiction of the
FBI, the last time I checked. If they were detainees under extraordinary
rendition—even then—at most you should be working with the U.S. Marshals
Service. They’re the ones who track down escaped fugitives.”
    â€œI don’t have time for this shit,” Banks said.
    â€œSir, with all due respect—I’m the one running out
of time,” Chapel told him. “There’s one other thing I have to say, though. One
thing I need to make clear. You have the wrong man because I am not a hit man . I don’t kill people for money.”
    â€œYou know how to use a gun, don’t you?” Banks
demanded.
    â€œThe army taught me that, yes,” Chapel agreed. “But
I know you’re a civilian, sir, and you may be operating under a common
misconception about soldiers. We aren’t in the business of killing random
people. The mission of the armed forces is to extend U.S. policy through force
only when necessary, and to use other means whenever it is humanly
possible.”
    Hollingshead nodded slowly. He was a military man,
Chapel was sure of it, so he already knew this.
    â€œSo when I find these men, I’m going to do
everything in my power to bring them in alive. Or at least capture them in the
safest way possible.”
    â€œThen you’re a fool,” Banks told him.
    Hollingshead clapped his hands together in obvious
excitement. “Then you will do it? You’ll get them back for us?”
    â€œSir,” Chapel said, standing at attention, “I do
not remember being asked for my acceptance of this mission, sir. I remember
being asked for my opinion.”
    â€œWhat the fuck ever,” Banks said, rising from his
chair and frowning in anger. “I asked for a killer and you brought me a
goddamned Eagle Scout.”
    It was, in its way, the nicest thing Banks had said
about Chapel yet. He knew he wasn’t going to get anything better.
    THE PENTAGON:
APRIL 12, T+5:42
    â€œI know it seems like a hard task we’ve given
you,” Hollingshead said, shrugging in apology.
    â€œI’m just not sure how I’d even begin,” Chapel
admitted.
    â€œThere, at least, we can help you.” Hollingshead
drew a folded-up sheet of paper from his pocket. As he unfolded it and smoothed
it out he said, “Now, you can’t ask us how we came by this, son, or what these
people have in common. But we are—let’s say eighty percent—sure that our
detainees will attempt