Hellboy: Unnatural Selection(32)

"A DRAGON?"

"Yeah. A Firedrake, apparently."

"And I thought my giant alligator was hard work." Abe Sapien sounded impressed, and Hellboy loved him for that. He hadn't yet mentioned the fact that the dragon had beaten Hellboy off, and for that he loved him more.

"You got to see Venice, at least."

"Hey, you went to Rio. I would have seen Lake Okanogan, too, if Tom hadn't called me in."

"Tough on you. Hey, I found a good bar called Zero's."

"And?"

Hellboy raised an eyebrow. Abe could read him like a book. Maybe that's why they were such friends, though sometimes Hellboy thought they were friends in spite of that. "And ... ?"

"Amelia Francis?" Abe smiled.

"She's very nice. Didn't know you'd met her."

Abe shrugged. "I haven't, but I spoke to her a couple of years back when I was looking for the Loch Ness Monster."

"Never did find that one, did you?"

Abe stared. Blinked. "So what happened with the dragon?"

Hellboy slapped his friend on the shoulder, and they both laughed. They had a close friendship, and when they went on separate missions, Hellboy was always pleased when they met up again. He guessed they saw something familiar in each other, some inexplicable thing that science had yet to unravel.

"Hellboy, Abe, good to see you again."

"Hi, Kate." Hellboy turned to the woman who had just walked into the conference room; Kate Corrigan, professor of the supernatural and consultant to the BPRD. He always enjoyed Kate's presence, though it usually meant that something big was going down. Tom Manning strode in behind her, face grim, and his single glance confirmed Hellboy's suspicions. "Tom," Hellboy said. "Good to see you again."

"Abby is missing," he said. "I've asked Liz to get back here as soon as she can; she should be here by the end of this meeting." No questions about Abe's time in Venice. No questions about Hellboy's Rio adventure or how he felt after his drubbing by the dragon. All business and no small talk. This, Hellboy thought, could be bad.

"When did you last hear from Abby?" Abe asked.

"Yesterday. She was in Baltimore. She'd made contact with the werewolf and killed him. Out in the street, in broad daylight, I might add. She sounded confused and upset, and I told her to come in, but she never showed. Her satellite phone has been turned off ever since, and there's been no more contact. An hour ago I listed her as officially missing with the Baltimore Police Department, but ... "

"But if she doesn't want to be found, she won't be," Abe finished.

"Hey." Hellboy touched Abe's shoulder. He knew there was something special between Abe and Abby, though it was more of a paternal concern than anything sexual. Abe had pulled the werewolf girl from the bottom of the River Seine, dragged her back from suicide, and though it had taken time, her gratitude had grown. There was a love between them now, something profound and deep. "Hey, she'll be all right."

Abe nodded. "I know she can look after herself," he said. "I'm just afraid that one day she won't want to. Some people accept the mystery of their lives, others never can."

"We'll find her, Abe," Tom said. "In the meantime — "

"Who have you sent after her?"

"No one."

"What?"

"I can't spare the manpower." Tom stared at Abe and Hellboy and indicated that they should take a seat. They did so, waiting to hear what Tom and Kate had to say. Even Abe said no more. There was a heavy atmosphere in the room, loaded with awful potential like a breaking news item on TV. "You may all want to take a drink," Tom said. "This could be a long one."

"Not thirsty," Hellboy said. "Abe?"

Abe made a rude gesture.

Tom sat at the head of the conference table, and Kate took the seat next to him, opening her briefcase and spreading a slew of papers across the polished oak surface. Photographs, photocopies, a few CDs; her eyes seemed to dance from one to the other and grow more serious with each second.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Hellboy said. He had a thing for bad feelings. His tail twitched and scratched at the timber floor.

Tom rapped his knuckles on the table and sighed. "Guys, the shit has really hit the fan. The missions you've just returned from are the tip of the iceberg. Liz had what sounded like a nasty encounter with a phoenix in Greece, and other agents have been investigating other sightings across the globe. They've all been highly visible occurrences. Hellboy, the dragon you met was a case in point. It's been splashed across the media all over the world. Abe, the alligator you tackled is already on Italian TV. The list is long, but so far we've had unicorns running through the streets of Manila, a troll pulling trucks off the Sugg Gate Bridge, mandrake plants sprouting in banana plantations in South America, sirens luring ships onto rocks in Newfoundland ... and the list goes on. Very visible, very filmable, and all pretty nasty. Death tolls from each separate occurrence hadn't been high and were mostly a result of press or curious publics getting too close."