CHAPTER EIGHT

Wil watched Mandy’s trailer door close behind her. She’d scurried away quickly enough, but he still didn’t understand exactly what had just happened. One minute, she was climbing the steps. The next, he was kissing her like his life depended on it.

That amazing kiss had felt…big. Life-altering. Earth-moving.

But he couldn’t afford to let the earth move for any woman, right now. Not when his life was still so messed up. Not with foreign agents gunning for him and the rest of his unit. Not when he’d been turned into some kind of comic book hero with the ability to control the weather and call lightning down on his enemies.

Sure, some of his buddies had found wives amid the chaos their lives had become, but those women were all special cases. Hal’s new wife was literally the girl next door. They had known each other since they were kids and coming back home had meant reuniting with her—someone he already had a special bond with.

One of the other new wives was a veteran, herself. She’d been injured in the line of duty in a far off land. She understood, better than most women ever would, about the kinds of things the unit had seen and done in service to their country. She was a patriot and had seen her share of combat.

The final new, female addition to their tight-knit group had a special power all her own. She’d been able to see the future for many years and had helped the newly-minted seer in their unit to figure out his own powers. They’d paired off. Two peas in a supernatural pod. They were downright spooky when they spoke of the future things they’d seen. Always careful not to give too much detail lest they influence things the wrong way.

Mandy wasn’t like those other women. Sure, she had secrets in her past, but she was also more…normal, for lack of a better word, than the others. Her situation wasn’t supernatural, she wasn’t a soldier, and they’d only just met. So, why the hell was he so attracted to her? Why did he keep thinking of her in his future? Why couldn’t he let the matter drop and leave the poor woman alone?

What the actual fuck was he doing here? Frustrated, confused, and not knowing what else to do, he ran one hand through his hair in frustration as he turned and headed back to the house. He’d kissed Mandy without thinking, but he’d have to be smarter about things from here on out. He couldn’t let that sweet woman get involved any deeper than she already was in his situation. She was here to help his father out, and for that he would be forever grateful, but as far as Wil, himself? It was a definite no-go.

No matter how much his heart argued against his head, he had to be strong. For her sake. He had heard enough hints to understand that something had driven Mandy to the solace of this mountain. Something bad in her past. He wasn’t going to put her through more drama by dragging her into his shit show of a life, right now. He had the sense that she’d been through enough already.

 

The next morning, Senior was feeling markedly better. So much so, that Wil reminded him to “act decrepit” when Mandy was around. That elicited the first real belly laugh he’d heard from his father in a very long time.

Mandy had come and gone while Wil was in the shower. She’d made a large breakfast and placed it on the table, then grabbed a sandwich for herself and headed out, according to his dad.

“Did something happen last night?” Senior asked, one eyebrow arched in that suspicious way Wil remembered well from his teen years.

“I kissed her,” Wil admitted, surprising himself with his candor. He wasn’t usually the kiss-and-tell type, not even with his buddies in the unit. “Or she kissed me. I’m not really sure how it happened. One minute, she was opening the door to her trailer. The next, she was in my arms.”

Senior tried to frown, but the smile in his eyes won out. “All right. It sounds like something spontaneous, and furthermore, it’s got her running scared this morning, but not in fear. Judging by the way she kept glancing toward the bathroom door, she was more excited at the prospect of seeing you than afraid of it, so I’ll cut you some slack. Thing is,” Senior’s voice dropped low, and his expression cleared of all humor, “that girl’s been hurt bad, and I’m not altogether certain she’s ready for any sort of relationship. Besides which, you’ve got a price on your head, and you won’t be here very long.” Senior shook his head. “It’s a recipe for disaster if you ask me.”

“I don’t intend to get involved any deeper than I have already, for all the reasons you mentioned,” Wil assured his father.

“Still, this is a positive sign that maybe she’s starting to come around. She didn’t run screaming down the mountain away from you, and even though she’s confused this morning, she didn’t look unhappy to me. On the contrary,” Senior picked up a piece of crisp bacon and nibbled on one end, “she looked happier than I’ve ever seen her.”

“That doesn’t really change anything. I’m not in a position to get involved with anyone, right now,” Wil told his dad honestly, confused by the entire situation and how it had changed so fast. “Even if I want to.”

“So, you do like her?” Senior asked, clearly fishing for information.

“What’s not to like? She’s smart, pretty, and she’s got to have an amazing amount of compassion to come up here and take care of you, like she has,” Wil reasoned.

“She’s a gentle soul,” his father agreed. “But she’s got more to her than just that. Mandy is a very complex woman, and you’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg.”

Rick chose that moment to emerge from the bedroom, his hair rumpled on one side where he’d obviously slept hard and long. He yawned as he looked around, scratching his shoulder absently.

“Sorry I overslept,” Rick said as he moved into the room. “I sure could use some of that bacon and eggs.”

“Using his new skill takes a bit out of him, but sleep and food seems to replenish him easily enough,” Wil explained to his dad.

Rick took a seat at the table and wasn’t shy about serving himself from the platter Mandy had left in the middle of the table. He was shoveling food into his face at such a rate Wil knew there wouldn’t be enough to go around, so he grabbed the frying pan and started frying up a new batch of eggs.

“It does the same thing to most of the unit,” Rick said conversationally, between bites, “so I’m not too worried about it. Thing is, it can be a little dangerous for any of us using our skills out in the field if there’s no safe place to crash afterward. That’s what makes Wil so vital. He can recharge himself, somehow. We’ve been working on whether or not he can share that energy with others, but so far, it’s all experimental.”

“Rick,” Wil said, a warning in his tone, “that’s need-to-know, fella.”

Rick rolled his eyes. “Considering who your dad is and how isolated we are up here, with terrorists no doubt on our trail by now, I believe he does need to know.”

Wil just shook his head. Rick outranked him, so it was his call, but really, they shouldn’t have revealed so much to anyone not cleared by their chain of command. Still, the brass knew who Wil’s dad was, and they’d given Rick leave to come with Wil, so they had to have given a few thoughts to the idea that Wil might ask Rick to save his dad’s life. They had to know Senior wasn’t going to miss a miracle like that happening, and he’d want to know what was going on.

So, in a roundabout way, Wil figured it was okay. Regardless, they’d sort it all out after his dad was well again. Until then, they were playing on borrowed time. Kissing Mandy last night only increased the need for speed. They had to get the job done and get his dad in shape ASAP, then get the hell off this mountain and back to the secure island where the rest of the team waited. Away from the temptation of the luscious Mandy and her wide eyes.

“I was thinking maybe I’d go down the mountain and get some more supplies,” Wil said into the silence that was broken only by Rick’s chewing. “Rick and I didn’t think too far ahead about provisions when we set out. We’re going to run out of food right quick at this rate.”

Rick frowned at him. “I don’t think either of us should be going anywhere alone, right now. Just in case.”

“Mandy’s working and won’t be back until tonight. Someone should stay with Dad, and it makes sense that it’s you, Rick. You can do some easy treatments when you feel up to it and get things moving on the healing. We probably don’t have a lot of time if we want to make sure trouble doesn’t follow us up here,” Wil reminded his partner on this mission. “Plus, I know the area. I can be down to the general store and back in an hour.”

They discussed the particulars a bit more, but eventually, Rick went along with Wil’s plan. Wil took his dad’s four-wheeler out of the old shed behind the house. He could see at once that Mandy had to have been keeping up with the engine, starting it and feeding it oil and gas and whatever other TLC it needed. It started right up when he cranked the engine, and he was off down the trail in no time at all.

The trip down the mountain brought back memories of his youth. Tooling around on a four-wheeler much like this one had been a highlight of his teenage days. There wasn’t much civilization in the area, but there was some. A general store halfway down the mountain catered to hikers and campers. On warm summer evenings, Wil would sit outside that old general store and drink soda pop while he talked with visitors about the places they lived and the way their lives were in the big cities and towns and even other countries.

He’d decided early on that when he got old enough, he was going to go places and see things. He hadn’t really thought about following in his father’s footsteps as a soldier until much later, when he started thinking about how to earn a living and pay for his travels. It didn’t take long for him to decide to do his traveling on Uncle Sam’s dime, and his dad had already trained him better than most Special Operators. He’d grown up shooting with his dad and qualified as a sharpshooter without even breaking a sweat.

Wil found the old store easily and did a bit of recon before approaching. As far as he could tell, only the usual sort of traffic had come through the area recently. There were no vehicles out front when he parked his dad’s four-wheeler near the door, which wasn’t unusual. The store saw only sporadic business during the week this time of year.

Wil planned to get provisions, packing as much as he could possibly carry on the back of the four-wheeler. If he had to do another supply run before they left, he would, but hopefully, this haul would last for a few days, even with his dad eating more as he healed.

When Wil entered the general store, it was as if time had stood still. Nothing had changed in the place since he’d been a kid. Mr. Maklin was even still behind the counter, sorting fishing flies. Old man Maklin looked a little grayer and had more wrinkles, but other than that, it was just like old times. He wondered if Mr. Maklin would recognize him.

“Is that you, Junior?” Maklin’s grin was a little suspicious, as it always had been when Wil was a kid.

Of course, Macklin remembered him. Wil hadn’t changed that much since the last time he’d visited his dad and he’d stopped in for new fishing lures that time and had spent a good half hour talking with Maklin about the old fishing spots and new ones that were even better, according to him.

“Hello, Mr. Maklin. Good to see you.” Wil strode forward and greeted the older man with a firm handshake.

“Been expecting you for a while,” Maklin’s suspicion turned to disapproval.

“It took a while for the message to get through,” Wil replied evenly, not rising to Maklin’s bait. The old man always liked to rile people up, just to see how they would react. It was all a game to him.

Maklin, seeing he would get no amusement from Wil on that score, seemed to give up. At least, for now. But Wil knew to be on the lookout for an ambush of some kind later, if the opportunity arose. Maklin was a contrary old cuss, but folks around here depended on him for supplies, and he always came through, no matter the weather in these mountains.

“How’s Senior today? I expect he hasn’t got long, now,” Maklin said, not sugar-coating his words. Wil appreciated the old man’s frankness.

“He’s actually doing pretty well,” Wil replied, laying some groundwork in case Maklin came up to see for himself, which had been known to happen on occasion in the past. His dad and the old storekeeper were friends, of a sort. “Thing is, I brought a buddy with me, and I’m afraid we’re eating up all the provisions, so I came down to get more.”

“You grab what you need, and I’ll get some empty boxes. Your dad still have bungee cords on the four-wheeler, or do you need to borrow some?”

“There are plenty on the back, thanks. I’ll just load a basket or two. Thanks, Mr. Maklin.” Wil went up and down the aisles and filled a couple of baskets, bringing them up to the front counter.

As Maklin was ringing up the groceries he gave Wil another speculative look. Here it comes, Will thought. Maklin would try one last time to get a rise out of him before he left the store.

“You know, there were some foreigners in here earlier today, asking if I’d seen you,” Maklin declared. Wil had not been expecting that.

“What did they look like?” He knew Maklin wouldn’t have gossiped about Wil. The old man was loyal to his neighbors.

Maklin slid a couple of sheets of paper across the countertop. “That’s them and the car. I got surveillance cameras hooked up to my computer in back,” he explained, shocking Wil. “I was going to go up the mountain later and give those to your dad, but since you’re here…”

“I’m truly impressed, Mr. Maklin. Thank you.” Wil took a quick glance at the photos, but he didn’t recognize any of the faces.

“Time stamp is on there,” Maklin commented, not stopping his work as he boxed up the groceries for Wil. “I sent ‘em over to the east side of the park, but I expect they’ll find they’re on a wild goose chase sooner or later.”

“Hopefully, I’ll be long gone by then,” Wil muttered. “These folks are dangerous, Mr. Maklin. If you see them in the area again, your best bet is to close up shop and go fishing for a few days.”

“You in trouble with the mob, son?” Maklin asked, causing Wil to bust out laughing.

“No, sir,” Wil replied when he could speak again. “I can’t say too much, you understand, but you know I followed in my daddy’s footsteps career-wise.”

“He showed me your service portrait and was eager to point out the paratrooper pin and Green Beret,” Maklin allowed. “You still in the service?”

“I am. As is the buddy who came with me on this trip. He’s got medical skills, and I asked him to come and take a look at Dad. There’s no one I trust more when it comes to healing,” Wil replied honestly. “We have to get back, but these guys are a bit of leftover business from a recent mission we were on in foreign lands for Uncle Sam.”

“Are you saying they’re terrorists?” Maklin paused in his packing to meet Wil’s gaze.

Wil tilted his head. “More like foreign agents trying to get even with my unit.”

Maklin shook his head and finished packing the box. “Well, you know what you’re doing, I suppose,” the old man muttered, then quoted the total for the groceries.

Wil paid the man and brought the box out to the four-wheeler, securing it with the bungee cords. Hightailing it back up the mountain, Wil knew his deadline for leaving the area had just moved up appreciably.