I gave birth to my first child. I could not tell you if it was a girl or a boy because it was taken from me. My husband informed me the baby did not survive, but I heard a cry. Whatever plans are in motion regarding the children in this country they do not involve a family unit.
—The diary of Megan Jean
Mia waited for Riley in the kitchen. The rest of the group had met their newest member and were waiting outside, per her instructions, but Mia needed to talk with her first. She heard Riley’s footsteps coming down the hall and stood up.
“I knew you would still be in here,” Riley said.
“You didn’t say anything when I explained my situation,” Mia said.
“Well,” Riley said, “you have two problems. Number one, you cannot bank on reconnecting with Andrew and Zack, which makes stopping the Registry nearly impossible.”
This was not the news Mia wanted to hear.
“Number two, it is too risky to pull off two operations so close together,” Riley said. “If you don’t want to involve Affinity you need to pick one or the other and we can focus. Would you rather attempt to save Rod or attempt to stop the government?”
“I want both,” Mia said.
“The way I see it,” Riley said, “Rod has a deadline. I know that you’re scared about Grant taking over the grand commander position, but the deadline to stop the Registry is arbitrary. You don’t have the code that Affinity was supposed to supply, so there is no rush. Rescuing Rod I can help you with. After that we regroup and put our minds on the next mission.”
“How long?” Mia asked.
“Until what?”
“Once we rescue Rod, how long do we wait to take out the Registry?”
“A year,” Riley said. “At least.”
“Well what if Andrew comes back and they have the code?” Mia asked.
“You can’t worry about what-ifs,” Riley said. “Do you even have a way out of the country?”
“Zack was the only one with a way to contact Affinity,” Mia said. “Rod might know how though.”
Mia cringed at the thought of his affiliation with Affinity, a fact he had kept hidden from her.
“That’s another reason it’s important to get Rod out,” Riley said. “Affinity is more capable of smuggling people out of the country than I am. If you want to save your mom and sister you’re going to need Rod.”
Mia sighed but nodded. Riley was right. It made perfect sense and had been staring her in the face the whole time. Mia tried to push stopping the Registry to the back of her mind. Getting Rod out should be her focus, but Mia knew it would eat at her still.
“Let’s regroup,” Riley said. “I want to see what I’m working with.”
Riley led the way out to the yard.
“Line up,” Riley said.
The group looked confused for a moment.
“Come on, shoulder to shoulder,” Riley said.
Frank went first, then Alex stood next to him. Both men had on jeans. Frank wore a white shirt while Alex was in a skintight ribbed muscle shirt. His arms did look larger. Mia’s mother had on a blue T-shirt that hung on her thin frame like a dress, with a pair of long underwear as her pants. Corinna had put back on the outfit she’d fled the house in, a pair of fitted jeans and a baggy flannel shirt. None of them looked intimidating.
“Frank and Alex,” Riley said. “You both served? Do you remember how to fight?”
“I think my fighting days have passed,” Frank said. He ran his hands through his silver hair.
“I didn’t ask if you wanted to fight,” Riley said. “I asked if you remembered how.”
Frank nodded.
“I want to see you and Alex,” Riley said.
“I am not fighting him,” Alex said.
“Would you rather fight me?” Riley said.
“You’re a woman,” Alex said.
Riley raised her fists.
“If you want to help Mia I need to know what task to assign you,” Riley said. “I need to know you can defend yourself.”
“Trust me,” Alex said. “I can. Worry about the ladies.”
Riley dropped her fists and marched toward Alex. She brought her leg up and kicked him in the side. He wasn’t expecting the blow and fell over. Frank started to drop to the ground but Riley put a hand on his chest.
“He’s fine,” she said. “Now you.”
Mia watched as Frank glanced down at Alex, who gave Frank a thumbs-up. Riley threw a punch and Frank got out of the way. She circled around him, avoiding his attack. Riley went to bring her leg up, but Frank blocked the kick. Mia was familiar with Riley’s training and knew she was going easy on him.
“You’re not bad,” Riley said.
She relaxed her stance. Alex had stood back up and she signaled for him to come forward. He did much better this time and almost avoided her hits altogether. This back-and-forth went on for several minutes until Riley backed away.
“That’s it?” Alex asked.
“I know your skill level and what it takes to beat you,” Riley said. “That’s all I’m looking for at the moment. Now you, Mrs. Morrissey, step forward.”
“Please call me Laura,” she said.
Mia saw the fear on her mother’s face. There was no way she had ever seen anything close to combat, but Mia trusted Riley to know her limits.
“Handsome,” Riley said. “Since you don’t fear women, step forward.”
Alex walked over.
“Laura, I want you to hit him as hard as you can,” Riley said. “Alex, you stay still and take whatever she throws at you. It might be best if you closed your eyes.”
Riley backed away and Alex shut his eyelids. Mia’s mother looked nervous.
“It’s okay,” Riley said. “You won’t hurt him. Give it all you got.”
Mia’s mother nodded her head. She brought her hand back and flung it at Alex’s face with full strength. The slap echoed off the mountains in the background. Alex grabbed his stinging cheek and Mia’s mother looked shocked. Frank burst into a fit of laughter. Riley joined him.
“Sorry,” Riley said. “I should have been more clear. I meant punch him.”
“That really hurt,” Alex said. “Stay away from the face.”
“I’m so sorry,” Mia’s mother said. “She told me to.”
Mia knew Alex was exaggerating; she had been on the receiving end of a slap once before. It wasn’t pretty, but the pain would fade.
“I think we have our work cut out for us,” Riley said.
Mia crossed her hands over her chest and watched the rest of Riley’s assessment. She felt a calmness wash over her. Mia had trained with Riley once before, and their efforts had resulted in the rescue of Andrew and Carter. Mia had no doubt Rod would be out of Grant’s home safely in the upcoming days.