others are up, we’ll head out. We need a few things before we can pull this off.”
* * *
“All right,” I said, pulling to a stop on the narrow, winding road that cut through the mountain. Up ahead, a yellow barricade blocked both lanes, and a single police car sat beside it, lights flashing blue. “There’s the security checkpoint.” I glanced at Ember and St. George in the backseat, seeing a pair of strangers staring back. Like me, both wore black suits—or monkey suits as Wes so elegantly put it—and dark shades, the “few things” we had to pick up for this plan to work. I resented the fact that Wes didn’t have to dress up for this stupid mission; he got to stay at the cabin. I hated G-man suits; the tie around my neck felt like a noose, and the jacket was tight in all the wrong places. St. George, obnoxiously, seemed perfectly at ease in a suit and tie, probably used to being in uniform, but I wanted this over and done with as soon as possible.
“Remember,” I told them and the Asian dragon sitting in the passenger seat, “I’ll do the talking, but if anyone asks, we’re with the Department of Homeland Security. You two are assistants in training, so any questions should be directed to me or Ms. Long here.”
“And what are you going to tell them?” Ember wanted to know. “You don’t know any more about this Security Department than we do.”
“Department of Homeland Security, Firebrand,” I corrected. “And I might not be a Chameleon, but I am a master at bullshitting. Generally, I don’t need to know what I’m talking about. I just have to bluster and act like the person I’m talking to is wasting my time—basically be a giant dick—and most humans will cave. If you act like you’re supposed to be there, people will generally assume the same. What about you?” I asked the woman beside me. “Think you can BS your way past a guard?”
The Eastern dragon’s voice was dry. “I’m sure I can come up with something.”
“All right, then.” I faced forward and put the car into Drive. “Let’s do this.”
We cruised up to the barricade, stopping as the door to the police car opened and an overweight human stepped out. I rolled down the window, watching him with as much bored disdain as I could muster as the officer strolled up to the side of our car.
“Sorry, folks,” the human said, peering in at us. “The road is closed for now. You’ll have to take the detour around.”
I flashed the fake badge Wes had given me that morning. “We’re expected,” I said in a bored, I-can’t-believe-I-have-to-deal-with-this tone of voice.
“The DHS?” The officer pulled back, shaking his head. “Damn. I didn’t realize a plane crash was such a big deal.” He gave me a furtive look, lowering his voice as if there were people around to hear him. “So, what’s really going on down there? You government types have been in and out for days. What, was this some kind of terrorist attack or something?”
“Sorry, but I’m not at liberty to say,” I replied stiffly, dropping my arm, and the badge, from view. “And you should know better than to ask. You’re lucky I don’t have time to report you to your superior.”
“Hey, don’t get all high and mighty on me, suit.” The officer stepped back with a sour look on his face. “You government hotshots think you can come through and order us around, but you’re wrong. This ain’t your town.” But he stepped back, waving us through the barricade. “Go on. The sooner you’re finished here, the sooner you can leave.”
Triumphant, I rolled up the window and continued down the road, watching the flashing lights get smaller in the rearview mirror until we turned a bend and they were lost from sight.
“That was easy,” Ember muttered.
I smirked. “Like I said, Firebrand. Master of BS, right here. Still, we shouldn’t press our luck. Try not to talk to anyone while we’re snooping around. And if you happen to see the Chameleon, let me know so we can clear out right away. The humans might not suspect anything, but she’ll definitely know something’s up if she sees three other dragons wandering around.”
As we turned a corner, the “town” came into view, a cluster of run-down houses and trailer homes huddled between the mountains on either side of the road. This is it? I thought. Town might be too strong of a word. Why the hell was Talon even here? What did they want? I pulled off the road, parking the car in the first driveway I came to, well away from the center of town and the scattering of people wandering the street. A lot of government types, I noticed. Men and women in black suits, along with a few in uniform. Something was definitely going on.
“Everyone stay together,” I warned as we exited the vehicle. “Remember, we’re the Department of Homeland Security, you two are our assistants and we’re here to assess the situation.”
“No civilians,” St. George muttered, gazing down the street. “Everyone here is an official or agent of some kind. The town is empty.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” I narrowed my eyes, trying to shake the unease that had settled under my skin. “Something is wrong here. This sure as hell isn’t about just a plane crash. As Wes would say, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“Then it is good that we came to see what is going on,” Jade put in, and if I didn’t know better, I would swear there was a hint of I told you so in her voice. I ignored it and started walking.
As we began seeing more houses up close, I understood why there were people in suits swarming all over the damn place. And it raised the hair on the back of my neck.
The houses were all burned. Some just had a few scorch marks here and there; others were nothing but blackened shells, crumbling to ash. For more than a few, only the foundations were left, blasted cinder blocks and scorched concrete lying beneath what used to be a home. Several front yards held a colorful assortment of lawn ornaments, kids’ toys, and junked cars rusting side by side. They were untouched, as was the vegetation and trees around the buildings. Only the houses were charred to nothing, as if blasted with fire from the inside.
“Jeez,” Ember whispered, her eyes wide as she gazed around at the devastation. “What happened here? It looks like a bomb went off or something.”
“No,” I said. “A bomb wouldn’t just destroy the houses and leave everything else untouched. Neither would a forest fire, or a damn crashing plane. What does it really look like happened here?”
St. George’s voice was grim. “Like this place was attacked by fire-breathing dragons.”
“Yeah,” I muttered as a chill crept up my spine and turned the heat in my veins to ice. “Though, if Talon is behind this, I have no idea what that means. They’ve never engaged in something so blatant. The cover-up would have to be massive, and I don’t see what they would gain from it. If this is Talon...” I shook my head, repressing a shiver. “Something is definitely wrong.”
Voices halted us. Up ahead, a pair of humans in white coats stepped out of one of the more intact trailer homes, arguing with each other, and went hurrying away down the street. Leaving the door wide open behind them.
“Come on,” Jade said. “Let us do some snooping.”
We slipped into the trailer, and I was immediately struck by the smell. The faint, acrid stench of smoke lingered in the air, baked into the flimsy walls and floors. Part of the kitchen wall was gone, blackened and scorched around the edges, and it
