The Devil's Assassin by Brian Read Free Book Online Page A

noncommittally. “It just
needs to be ruled out as part of the protocol. Once the DNA tests are done and
the results are shared with the NSA, we should get the go ahead to go public.”
    There is silence while Maas digests this. “Detective Smith
and I already know about this, so we’ll be an integral part of the government
effort to find the . . . animal. Unless
you want to go with the all-points bulletin.”
    Van Houten shows a small smile of relief. “Not yet. Thank
you, Detective.”
    ›
    June gets up and leaves the security office. The others
watch her leave but seem to have more talking to do. She walks down the long
hallway from the security office to her office which is separate from the lab
but adjacent to it. She closes the door and sits down at her desk to think.
Closing her eyes she finds that she is haunted by frightening images of Sahar
and the beast that killed her. She opens her eyes again and shakes the images
away.
    She picks up the phone and dials it. “Is this Linus Hather?”
    Linus answers the phone but doesn’t recognize who it is. “Yep.”
    “Hi, um, this is June Dituro. I was one of the scientists
who came to your house to take the animal off your hands.”
    “I remember you. What’s up?”
    June pauses and takes a deep breath, steeling herself to say
what she has to say. “The animal… it’s killed Sahar – one of
our scientists, and escaped from the Primate facility.”
    Linus is dumbfounded for a moment. “Good God, June . . . I’m
sorry.”
    “I wanted to let you know because . . . I said some things
that . . .”
    “June, please, don’t worry about
it. I’m more concerned with how you’re holding up.”
    “It was gruesome, Linus. We watched the surveillance video
just now. He licked his needle clean when he was done ins —“
    Her emotions are too heavy for her to say what the animal
did to Sahar, but she continued speaking to Linus because she needed to talk,
to stay in control of her emotions. “The needle looks like a bone appendage.
I’ve only had the one quick look at the videotape, so I can’t be certain.”
    Linus is surprised, “A hidden appendage? That explains why I
couldn’t find anything after having seen it on my security tape. Are the police
looking for him?”
    “Van Houten is planning a search right now. The two
detectives who are investigating insist on being part of the search, but Van
Houten says it’s going to be a government operation; that the creature must
remain a secret.”
    “Why? Why should any new species remain a secret? Especially a dangerous one.”
    June lowers her voice a little. “I’ll tell you something if
you don’t repeat it.”
    She waits for his assurance and Linus considers saying he
won’t make any assurances, but he finally gives in because of what this woman
has gone through this evening. “Okay. I won’t repeat it.”
    “The higher-ups at NSA want to be sure that this is an
animal of terrestrial origin before going public.”
    There is silence again as Linus thinks about it, but just
for a moment. “Wait, you think it’s an alien?!”
    “I don’t,” says June. “NSA wants to rule it out. And I agree
with the principle, at least.”
    “And while we’re waiting, more people might be killed.”
    “I know,” says June somberly. “But it’s not like we’re not
doing anything, Linus. And once the DNA tests are in and we establish his
lineage, we can rule out that issue and go public.”
    June pauses as her mind is accosted again by what she’d seen
on the video. “I’ll never forget the image of him licking his weapon, or
casually jabbing it into Sahar. I failed her, Linus. She was just out of grad
school and I already loved her like a sister. We used to go out all the time.
The fact that she is gone isn’t even real to me yet.”
    He knows he may come across as uncaring, but in the interest
of moving forward, he tries to steer her away from her pain. “June? I’ve been
searching for all the