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speed of which the beast was capable got it to the clearing it was
programmed to find within seconds. The big black machine that dropped from the
sky took the live prey before taking off again.
    Standing there, watching it disappear in the sky, a sharp
pain had sliced through its head as its artificial intelligence program fed it
more instructions. Willing itself to change shape, it had left the mountain
behind to head for its next hunting ground.
    Three. That’s what it was programmed for. Three kills.
    The AI had also been specific about locations and types of
prey. That was why today it found itself in another location like the last one,
only more isolated. More caves to use for concealment. Heavier forestation.
    Fresh prey!
    Curled up on its side, hidden in the small cave-type space
in the rocks, it waited until the sun disappeared. This kill was programmed to
happen in the dark. Tonight he would scout this new area and select a target.
Tomorrow it would happen.
    * * * * *
    The meeting in the war room to share what they’d learned at
Jones Spring was over and Dante was anxious to get moving. They not only needed
as many details as possible about the current situation, but they had to try to
identify optimum locations where the beast could strike next. Additionally,
they’d learned Parks and Wildlife hadn’t sent a chopper into Pedernales Falls
anytime recently. So if their lunatic theory was correct, whoever it was had
gone to a lot of trouble to set this up.
    That told them a couple of things. One, whoever it was had
more money than maybe even Craig. And two, based on the chips Craig’s
scientists had retrieved from the carcasses of the beasts they’d killed, it
seemed the creatures had the ability to identify targets. Someone had scouted
the area and programmed the monster to find a couple, then to kill the man and
capture the woman. Lisa and Reed seemed to have just been unlucky enough to
fall into the target range.
    “I have to talk to Regan Fortune before I do anything else,”
Dante said, leaning against the long table and scanning the notes in his
tablet. “I want to know what the police have told her and get her own reaction
to the situation.”
    “That’s if she’ll see you,” Ric warned.
    “She won’t have a choice. Not if she wants to find out the
truth about what happened. But before I go knocking on her door, I’m going to
call her.” It was the middle of the afternoon and he knew he had to talk to
Reagan Fortune before he did anything else. “Let her know who I am and try to
get her to meet with me. Can you get me her phone number?”
    “Does it snow in Maine?” Ric snarked. “Just give me a second
here.”
    As it turned out, getting the woman’s number wasn’t easy.
She apparently had discontinued her landline recently and was only using her
cell.
    “The media is probably hounding her,” Ric said as his
fingers flew over one of the keyboards. “She’s been busy, changing phones and
numbers,” he commented. “Let’s see if I can find her newest cell number.” More
tapping on the keyboard. “Okay. Got it. You’re lucky. She lives not far from
here, just outside San Antonio.”
    Ric rattled off the number. Dante entered it into his own
cellphone, then tapped the newly recorded contact and waited while it rang,
wondering if she’d even answer.
    When she did, it was with an angry explosion of words.
    “How did you get this number?” she demanded. “Don’t call
again.”
    The call ended.
    Dante ground his teeth in frustration and touched her name
in his contacts once more.
    “If you’re another damn reporter,” Regan Fortune snapped,
“the next time you call, I’ll hunt you down and shoot you. I’m changing my
number. Again .”
    And she disconnected the call a second time.
    Dante just stared at the screen.
    Well. I probably should have been prepared for this. Let’s
try another angle.
    He really didn’t want to just show up on her doorstep.
    Text message. He’d try