The Chimera Secret by Dean Crawford Page B

crunched into Coltz’s skull formed by broad, fat fingers with an opposable thumb folded beneath
them.
    ‘The hand was clenched into a fist but struck the victim flat on the side of his head,’ Shriver explained. ‘It’s a way of striking somebody without risking the damage to
the hand that can be the result of punching in a more classic, knuckles-first way.’
    Earl Carpenter looked away from the gruesome imagery and caught Ethan’s eye.
    ‘Now you see why we didn’t want to deal with this alone,’ he explained. ‘The Bureau walked before we found Coltz’s body, and frankly I don’t see the need to
bring them back in. Sure, we might possibly have the world’s largest fugitive on our hands, but my guts are telling me that this isn’t a human being.’
    Ethan stared at Coltz’s remains for a moment before replying.
    ‘You say that you didn’t find any other remains at the scene.’
    ‘Nothin’,’ Carpenter confirmed.
    Ethan looked at Shriver. ‘So this mystery animal kills Coltz with a single blow, beats the hell out of his corpse, then carries off another body without leaving a trace? Why attack one so
savagely and then carry another away while letting the third, still-living witness, flee the scene unharmed?’
    Dr. Shriver shrugged.
    ‘It’s not my place to solve the crime, Mr. Warner. All that I can tell you for sure is that whatever killed Gavin Coltz was more powerful than any human being could ever be, and it
most likely will kill again if it encounters people out there in the woods.’
    Ethan briefly recalled an image that had haunted his thoughts for months, when Jarvis had used Project Watchman to show him a glimpse of the future. Time had blurred his memory, but he
remembered enough to know that whatever was hunting people in the forests of Idaho truly was something inhuman and that Lopez would inevitably find herself in danger.
    Ethan forced the images from his mind as Lopez gave the corpse one last glance and then turned to Ethan.
    ‘We need to talk to Jesse MacCarthy. He’s the one that witnessed Coltz’s death.’

12
GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE, UNITED STATES CAPITOL, WASHINGTON DC
    Natalie Warner swept into the GAO building. A barrage of security checks followed and she was scrutinised with handheld scanners before being cleared to enter the building.
    Natalie was an analyst and researcher at the GAO, a job she had obtained after her internship in the White House. Perhaps due to her family connection with the military through the Marine Corps,
Natalie had found herself fascinated by the world of intelligence gathering since her childhood when her father had told her stories about presidents and foreign countries and the battles they had
fought since the Revolution. Although she had possessed very little security clearance at the White House during her two years there, it had been readily apparent that all of the interesting stuff
happened behind closed doors in meetings attended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the heads of the various intelligence agencies. Natalie had decided within the first six months of her tenure that
she wanted to know what went on in those kinds of meetings. A job working for Congress had been her way of getting in on the act.
    Aside from legislative activities, Congress devoted a great deal of time to investigations that had uncovered wrong doing within the executive branch, from obscure agencies up to the
president’s office. The GAO was the body through which investigative work was done on behalf of members of Congress. By uncovering this information and informing the public, investigations
had often led to important reform legislation. Natalie knew that critics in the media often dismissed Congressional investigations as an opportunity for politicians to make headlines, and pointed
out that many investigations produce no solid evidence and failed to lead to any legislation at all, but she figured that some investigative ability was better