out of the way.” Earl leaned in really close and looked Franks square in the eye. “Unicorn is calling the shots again, ain’t they?” Earl said that with a lot of venom. Unicorn? I didn’t think he meant like an actual magic horse with a horn. Who the hell was unicorn?
Whoever Unicorn was, Franks didn’t like hearing that word. Franks took an uncomfortably long time responding. “This conversation never happened.” He reached into his coat, turned his radio on, and went back to scanning the crowd, ignoring us completely.
Earl stomped off and I followed him down the hall. “What’s he talking about? Uni—”
My boss silenced me with a hard look. “Not now.” This had to be related to what had happened in Copper Lake, but Earl was in such a sour mood that I didn’t dare bring it up.
Julie and Nate were at the luncheon, mingling and being social with some of our competitors. The two of them saw the look on Earl’s face and immediately knew something bad had happened. “You okay?” Julie asked as she excused herself from a red-faced Englishmen with a really big mustache.
“We’ll talk about it later, but right now, do me a favor, talk to as many of the overseas Hunters as you can. I want to know what kind of activity they’ve been seeing lately, and especially if it seems to be on the rise.”
“You want me to spread the word?” Julie pulled out her iPhone. “There’s a mess of us here.”
“Get Holly. All she has to do is smile and any man will tell her whatever she wants to hear.” Earl thought about it for a second. “On second thought, ask everybody you think can play it close to the vest and talk to our competitors without getting into fistfights.” He glanced at me as he said that.
“In my defense, I didn’t fight anyone from PT. I fought one of our Newbies.”
“Skip Paranormal Testicles or whatever the hell their name is. I want to know about outside the country, areas where we don’t have a lot of contacts especially, and I don’t want this getting back to the MCB that we’re asking.”
“You think something’s up?” Nate asked. He had a nasty black eye and a purple lump on his head from yesterday.
“I’m looking for a pattern. Myers was worried the last time we talked, enough that his superiors were getting sick of him. If he was bugging them enough to get himself demoted out of their hair, then something must be up. But play it careful, there might be some other forces at play…” Earl trailed off, worried. “Keep it professional. Not everybody here likes us. We’re more successful than they are. Jealousy breeds contention.”
“And don’t forget we’re also the reason all the other US Hunters got put out of business for a while too,” Julie muttered. The aftermath of MHI’s hundredth-anniversary Christmas party and Ray Shackleford’s craziness had gotten private Monster Hunting banned in the US for several years. “It’s easy to hold a grudge against the people that got your job declared illegal.”
“I’m on good terms with the old school. I’ll take the Russians and the Japanese. Julie…”
“I’ll talk to Pierre Darne,” Julie volunteered. “I really should anyway.”
“Call Albert in, too. I think he speaks Chinese. Their team seems okay, but their government-provided translator is a prick. Oh, yeah, and Priest knows the South Africans. I think he’s talking to them now. And, Z…” Earl faced me.
“Who do you want me to schmooze?”
“Nobody you might piss off. I didn’t hire you for your diplomacy, and you tend to say things you shouldn’t, so just play it cool.”
“I do okay—”
Earl cut me off. “I’ve got one word to sum it up for you…gnomes.”
Crap. He had me there.
We broke up and moved off in different directions to mingle. I had no idea what Earl was concerned about. I could be social with the best of them. After all, these were fellow Monster Hunters, men and women with a higher, nobler calling. Defenders of
Whoever Unicorn was, Franks didn’t like hearing that word. Franks took an uncomfortably long time responding. “This conversation never happened.” He reached into his coat, turned his radio on, and went back to scanning the crowd, ignoring us completely.
Earl stomped off and I followed him down the hall. “What’s he talking about? Uni—”
My boss silenced me with a hard look. “Not now.” This had to be related to what had happened in Copper Lake, but Earl was in such a sour mood that I didn’t dare bring it up.
Julie and Nate were at the luncheon, mingling and being social with some of our competitors. The two of them saw the look on Earl’s face and immediately knew something bad had happened. “You okay?” Julie asked as she excused herself from a red-faced Englishmen with a really big mustache.
“We’ll talk about it later, but right now, do me a favor, talk to as many of the overseas Hunters as you can. I want to know what kind of activity they’ve been seeing lately, and especially if it seems to be on the rise.”
“You want me to spread the word?” Julie pulled out her iPhone. “There’s a mess of us here.”
“Get Holly. All she has to do is smile and any man will tell her whatever she wants to hear.” Earl thought about it for a second. “On second thought, ask everybody you think can play it close to the vest and talk to our competitors without getting into fistfights.” He glanced at me as he said that.
“In my defense, I didn’t fight anyone from PT. I fought one of our Newbies.”
“Skip Paranormal Testicles or whatever the hell their name is. I want to know about outside the country, areas where we don’t have a lot of contacts especially, and I don’t want this getting back to the MCB that we’re asking.”
“You think something’s up?” Nate asked. He had a nasty black eye and a purple lump on his head from yesterday.
“I’m looking for a pattern. Myers was worried the last time we talked, enough that his superiors were getting sick of him. If he was bugging them enough to get himself demoted out of their hair, then something must be up. But play it careful, there might be some other forces at play…” Earl trailed off, worried. “Keep it professional. Not everybody here likes us. We’re more successful than they are. Jealousy breeds contention.”
“And don’t forget we’re also the reason all the other US Hunters got put out of business for a while too,” Julie muttered. The aftermath of MHI’s hundredth-anniversary Christmas party and Ray Shackleford’s craziness had gotten private Monster Hunting banned in the US for several years. “It’s easy to hold a grudge against the people that got your job declared illegal.”
“I’m on good terms with the old school. I’ll take the Russians and the Japanese. Julie…”
“I’ll talk to Pierre Darne,” Julie volunteered. “I really should anyway.”
“Call Albert in, too. I think he speaks Chinese. Their team seems okay, but their government-provided translator is a prick. Oh, yeah, and Priest knows the South Africans. I think he’s talking to them now. And, Z…” Earl faced me.
“Who do you want me to schmooze?”
“Nobody you might piss off. I didn’t hire you for your diplomacy, and you tend to say things you shouldn’t, so just play it cool.”
“I do okay—”
Earl cut me off. “I’ve got one word to sum it up for you…gnomes.”
Crap. He had me there.
We broke up and moved off in different directions to mingle. I had no idea what Earl was concerned about. I could be social with the best of them. After all, these were fellow Monster Hunters, men and women with a higher, nobler calling. Defenders of
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