The Doomsday Device (Teen Superheroes Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

the general drew near. “It’s been too long.”
    “Mr. Tate.” He shook the man’s hand. “And my name is Rudolf Wills.”
    “Rudolf Wills,” Tate mused. “It has a ring to it. Certainly better than that name you were using in Afghanistan that time. What was it..?”
    “Hyde.” Even Wolff had to laugh at the thought. “It seemed a good idea at the time.”
    Both men sipped at their drinks in silence for a moment. There was something that Wolff had forgotten about Tate. He was cold. Not his personality. His skin. Unnaturally cold. His skin had a healthy enough pallor. His eyes were the picture of good health. Yet he always felt clammy to the touch. Like stroking the interior of a refrigerator.
    Tate sat his drink down. “So you have an operation in the works.”
    Wolff nodded.
    “And you need some personnel?”
    “Yes.”
    “How many?”
    “Five or six,” Wolff said. “I’m going up against some modified humans. Six teenagers. But powerful.”
    Tate lapsed into thought for a moment. “Five or six should be enough.”
    “Are we talking the same kind of associates?” Wolff asked.
    Tate said a particular word that would have made most people react in horror or burst into disbelieving laughter.
    Wolff did neither. “Yes,” he said. “We’re talking about the same people.”
    Tate glanced at his watch. “We need to meet a man at a bar across town. He will arrange the personnel, but we must take along an offer of good faith.”
    Wolff nodded. “An offer?”
    “A gift,” Tate confirmed. “I’ll arrange it.”
    The two men left the bar. Tate requested his vehicle through valet parking and a few minutes later an enclosed van was delivered to the front entrance. Tate drove them through the city to one of the more squalid parts of Las Vegas. This part of the city was rarely seen by the tourists. Wolff noted it had none of the flashing lights of the main strip. In fact, lights were rather a rarity in this area.
    Tate stopped the van at the side of a road. It was a quiet back street. He produced a tranquilizer gun from the glove compartment. Wolff had never seen one so small; mostly they were rifles. Then the two men waited. After a few minutes Wolff noticed a girl walking quickly through the area. Tate waited till she almost drew level with the van. Then he opened his window and fired once at the back of the girl.
    She gave a small cry, staggered a couple of feet and collapsed.
    Tate climbed from his seat, went over to her, threw her over his shoulder and tossed her in the back of the van. He gagged her then padlocked her hands and feet. Climbing back behind the wheel of the van, he restarted the engine and continued down the quiet street.
    The whole abduction had taken less than sixty seconds.
    Wolff turned around and looked through a small window showing the back. He could not see the girl. He peered from side to side.
    “Where -.” He started.
    “There is a false floor in the back,” Tate said. “Even if we are stopped by the police they will discover nothing.”
    The man thinks of everything , Wolff thought. Good.
    They drove another ten minutes until they reached a bar in another darkened street. Out of half a dozen street lights, only two were left working and even these seemed almost dulled by the constant pressure of the darkness. At first Wolff could not see any life at all on the street. It looked like every single business had permanently closed its doors. Then he realized a faint illuminated sign hung over a door.
    Joe’s Bar
    A man stood in front of the building. It was impossible to determine if he was a customer or a bouncer. Tate stopped the vehicle outside the bar. He and Wolff climbed out. Tate went to the rear of the van and a moment later emerged with the unconscious girl over his shoulder. The man outside the bar opened the door and allowed them inside.
    Much to Wolff’s surprise, the interior was the image of opulence. The bar itself appeared to be made from mahogany. The