“Pull the patrols back in. I want everybody in one area.” Earl was pacing at the front of the conference room. He was chain-smoking again, but it wasn’t like anyone present was going to give him grief about it. Representatives from every team were here, Hunters foreign and domestic, whether we got along or not, as well as some of the casino’s night managers. I was sitting on a table with my pants leg rolled up while Trip sewed stitches in my ankle. “This thing is screwing with us.”

“You think it’s intelligent?” VanZant asked.

“Yeah…It strikes one way, creating a beachhead. So we spread out to keep an eye out for that kind of attack, so it changes tactics and starts picking us off one by one.” Earl angrily lit his next cigarette. “Tell me that don’t sound smart? We need to fortify here, where we can keep an eye on each other.”

“What if it picks an isolated spot and pulls a stunt like it did in Hugo’s room?” I asked. “By the time we knew, there could be an army of monsters coming at us. Then we’re back to where we were this morning.”

“Pitt is correct,” Pierre Darne agreed. “Turtles have shells, but make for tasty soup.”

“Is that like some old French proverb?”

“I made it up.” Darne shrugged. “I thought it was a fine analogy.”

“Okay, Pierre, put together a full team and send them down to the security room. I want that place locked down tight. Protect it at all costs. What’s your new buddy’s name there, Z?”

I didn’t know if I would go as far as buddy. “Mitch.”

“Tell Mitch that we’re counting on him to be our eyes. Nachtmar makes a big move, he calls us and we vector in on it.”

“Consider it done.” Darne signaled two of his employees that were present and they left.

Earl was talking quickly now. The gears were turning. “VanZant, you’re good with people. Take Tyler Nelson, he’s a shrink, and whoever else you need. I want every single person that’s locked themselves in their rooms brought down to this floor, and I want them here now.”

“Some aren’t going to like that,” the diminutive man told him.

“Persuade them, but don’t waste time on anybody who wants to do their own thing. If they want to hole up alone, leave them.”

He didn’t care for that. “We’ve seen how this thing works. It’s just going to pick something nasty out of their heads, make it real, then kill them with it. If I leave them—”

“Their deaths aren’t on our hands. I respect stubbornness and I respect folks who take personal responsibility, but we can’t be everywhere. They don’t want to come, write them off.”