Read Jordan Summers - [Dead World 01] for Free Online Page A

file is currently
malfunctioning." She flushed.
    "Fell on it again, huh? How many times does this
make?"
    "Exactly forty-six," Rita chirped.
    Red closed her eyes and counted
to ten before open ing them again.
    Bannon grunted out what may have
been a laugh, then punched a button at
his wrist. He shaded the screen with his
hand and squinted. "The nearest town is Nuria. It's thirty klicks
south of here, not far from where Old Phoenix used to be. The local sheriff is
a man named Morgan Hunter." He chuckled. "Good luck getting help from
him. He's not exactly known for being
cooperative with IPTT. In fact, if this report is correct, he's a
territorial bastard like most republic sheriffs."
    "Leave that to me."
    Bannon snickered. "I suppose you could always
spread your legs for him ... if you remember how."
    The team members around them laughed, then tried
covering the noise with coughs when she met their gazes.
    "Your blood pressure is rising, Gina. You must
calm down," Rita warned.
    Red turned back to Bannon. Her fists hurt from clenching them. Was punching a senior officer in
the face worth a mark on her record? No, damn it. "Only you would
come up with something so vulgar."
    "What can I say? It's a gift." Bannon
grinned, flashing white teeth against his tan skin. "But hey, if you want
to go traipsing around in the backwoods of some boundary town, be my guest.
We're a tactical team, not pest control."
    She lowered her voice. "You've heard the rumors
floating around about the existence of the Others."
    His brow rose. "You can't be serious."
    Red mirrored his expression.
    Bannon's face twisted. "You're talking about
myths. Faceless monsters that don't exist. The old government did not experiment
with people's DNA. It was just a story
passed around by a bunch of para noid conspiracy theorists. Next you're
going to tell me you believe in the bogeyman."
    "That's uncalled for."
    "You're the one who suggested it." He threw
his arms up in disgust. "Hell, I can't believe I'm surprised, since you
spend your time conversing with your navcom like it's a real person."
    "I'm merely suggesting alternate possibilities.
Everyone knows that radiation poisoning has caused minor mutations."
    "Is that the excuse you're using these
days?" he asked.
    Red glared.
    Bannon sobered. "You are not talking about minor
mutations. You're talking about genetically engineered monsters that no one
has ever seen." His expression turned to utter disbelief. "I don't
know why I bother."
    "But—" Red said.
    "Let me finish." He gave her a look that
brooked no argument. "We've identified no human DNA on site, except for the
victim. The fluid scan gave us a positive hit on a Lisa Solomon." He
looked at the vidscreen, then back at the body. "The image looks the same, give
or take a few missing pieces." Bannon smirked. "At least they left
the good parts," he said, glancing at the woman's exposed genitals.
"The findings are conclusive enough for me. As far as I'm concerned, once cleanup
arrives, this case is closed."
    "You can't do that."
    He laughed. "Oh yes I can."
    "I know these bites resemble an animal attack,
but the bite depth seems off."
    "Are you suddenly an expert on carnivorous mammals?"
Bannon asked.
    "No, but I know enough to
know that there's some-thing odd about this whole
scene." Red waved her arms around to encompass the area. "Look
around. There are no fur deposits or fecal spoors nearby. The animals didn't
fly here."
    "You may have noticed there aren't any footprints
either. The ground is too hard to leave any behind." He stomped his booted
feet for emphasis. No dirt rose up from the cracked earth. "See what I
mean?" he asked.
    "But she's been ripped apart, including her
clothes."
    Bannon groaned in frustration. "That's what animal
packs do. They feed. Haven't you ever viewed the vid-footage?"
    Red shook her head. "They don't eat
clothes."
    "We've located her clothing. It wasn't eaten.
Well, at least not much. It had traces of canine saliva on it from