Hook, Line, and Sinker
April 6th
On 34, near Union Center, South Dakota
1
“Do not kill him.”
Cesar’s guerillas had the lone man surrounded before the gold convertible was fully stopped.
Allowing it, Dean’s harsh countenance dared one of them to make the mistake of touching him. He had come to talk, but like a wounded animal, he would kill right now with little provocation. There was no doubt these men had heard everything over the CB and the waves of energy shooting from the witch would have been impossible to miss. The slaver now had his proof of their words.
Cesar considered these things as he strode toward the black man who’d been sitting in the center of the muddy, abandoned site when they pulled in. It was Safe Haven’s latest area and Cesar didn’t like it that the twin knew him well enough to predict where he would show up.
The guerilla leader had been certain both brothers were dead, and from the look of the grieving man in the cold center of camp, he guessed only one of them had survived the encounter. It served them right for trying to take her alone.
Why would Dean come? Vengeance for his brother? To try to take over his men and attack recklessly? Cesar did not intend to kill the brother if he could avoid it. After viewing and hearing Safe Haven’s protectors, he now wanted every deadly hand he could get. There was no doubt that Dean was that and more. Still, Dean had to know who was in charge.
“You should have called uz. We could have taken her from a group that size.”
Dean’s face was a mask of hatred that Cesar was careful to ignore for the moment. Business came first. There would be time for lessons later.
“We had an opening and took it. They weren’t away from the others long enough for you to get there.”
José glared at the disrespect, moving closer to his cousin.
Cesar shrugged, stretching tiredly. “The only thing that matters is what you planned to do once you had her.”
Dean glowered up from his seat on the muddy ground, not feeling the sting of the cold wind as it swept over them. “Get our share of the pie.”
Cesar frowned, unfamiliar with the saying, and the twin blew out a sigh of disgusted contempt. “Her first orders would have been to destroy that camp. Yours was next if you came for her.”
José drew his pistol and stepped forward, but Cesar laughed and waved his second in command away.
“Yo hermano was the balls, si?”
“Always.”
“Now, maybe you are both.”
Cesar extended a hand that Dean took warily, letting the slaver help him up.
“Come. Let us share a whore in your brother’s honor and I will tell you about the team I sent to get the tank. They are closing in. We will meet Safe Haven in the middle.”
2
Dawn was still an hour away when Angela sat up with a fast jerk, unaware of the men flinching at the movement. Her nightmare had drawn them and they listened, worried.
“It’s coming.”
Marc was the one they turned to and he understood their hesitation when she peered at him with orbs that held no trace of Angela, only her witch.
“He has to talk to the weather woman. She dreams of it. Beware.”
Marc shifted restlessly as the wind gusted, shaking the tent. If Angie said something was coming, then it was.
“It’s the nightmares, right?” Seth asked, mind flashing to the beautiful sorceress who had danced through his. “We all have them now.”
“Not always. Sometimes, it’s something more.” Marc turned to Angela. “Is it the slavers?”
“No,” she answered, haze clearing a bit. “He has to talk to Samantha–today.”
Neil and Kyle exchanged glances, both thinking of the man that had come in with Samantha. Rick was being monitored.
“How long?” Marc asked.
“A week? Maybe less.”
The men around them relaxed a little, some of them lying back down.
“We’ll tell him,” Marc assured her. “You want some hot chocolate?”
“Yes.” Becoming aware that she was the center of attention, Angela flushed. “Who’s my shadow?”
Behind her, Neil said, “That would be me.”
She surveyed his narrow profile. “You had any sleep yet?”
“The same as you.”
Angela put on her boots with cold fingers. “I’ll come back here and lay down in a few.”
“No need to if you’d rather not. I run light.”
“Works for me,” she agreed, grateful.
Kyle and Marc had made a 6’ x 6’ area enclosed by a foot high stack of bedrolls and kits that appeared to be only gear in a neat pile from the outside of the canvas. With Marc at her back, she’d had little trouble falling asleep, but Angela was definitely done letting the witch dream walk and more than ready to be out of this hormone-filled tent.
She stretched as she rose, unable to stop a small moan of pleasure.
Men’s lids flew open at the sound and Marc assumed it was a copy of the one they’d just heard in dreams. He recognized the gut-twisting flare of need in their looks, knew it well.
Angela stiffened at the thoughts, the dreamy images rushing toward her. She quickly strapped on her gun and exited the tent, with Neil and Marc on her heels.
The QZ was layered in thin fog and Eagles. Dog was out roaming, and there were no less than fifteen Eagles in sight. Each confirmed her safety, escorts, and her shadow, before nodding politely as they went by.
“Doesn’t he think this is a bit much?” she asked sharply. It wouldn’t help these men accept her as one of them if she needed to be babysat.
Marc didn’t tell her that he and Neil were responsible. Until the extra protections were in place, she would have help within reach at all times. It was how he’d handled witnesses he had been sent into foreign lands to recover, and it was a plan that he intended to use here. Besides the slavers, there was a grieving twin out there and that one may not come in force. Dean might sneak in and slit her throat while she slept or firebomb her tent if he knew which one it was.
“You can’t stop it, Marc. They’ll come and I have to be ready,” she stated, spotting specks of crimson in his goatee that he’d missed when he washed up.
Marc didn’t say anything because he was positive their idea of ready was drastically different. Angie grew a reckless streak when she was upset, always had. More than once, he’d had to refuse a dangerous request when they were kids, and then she’d waited for him to leave and done it. Alone, he remembered, trying not to flinch. He would have to be careful not to push her into anything.
Neil hung back as they ducked under the awning of the little mess, fog curling around their boots. They were the only ones at the small eating area and Angela chose a dim corner while Marc got their mugs.
The larger camp was still silent, only quiet Eagles moving, and she rubbed at her face, yawning. She wasn’t used to a first shift schedule.
“This’ll help.”
She let him set the mug down and pull his hand away before reaching for it.
“Chocolate caffeine.” She sipped it carefully, forcing herself to not wake too fast, but enjoy the time with Marc instead. “How do you feel?”
Marc’s lips grinned, but he didn’t. He sat down, adjusting his matching Colts. “Sore, like after a mission.”
“Sounds like another promotion is in order.”
“That’s your honor.” He couldn’t hide his anger or his awe. “What you did! Thank you.”
“Anything for you.”
Magic sparked between them and Neil distracted a pair of Kyle’s Eagles who were coming in for coffee.
“Neil’s a good friend to have here, I’ve heard,” she commented.
“Sure could have been a lot worse without him,” Marc admitted.
Angela wanted to say more, like how grateful and how mad she was about what he’d done for her, but didn’t. He already knew.
“Did you calm down and get some sleep?”
“Yes,” she snorted wryly, loving his musky scent. “Thanks.”
They shared a grin and it held for a long moment where Marc fought to keep from sliding his hand over hers. He settled for letting his eyes say all the things his mouth wasn’t allowed to.
“We’ve been through a lot, Wolfman,” she teased, the caffeine slowly bringing awareness.
“Hasn’t changed much since we’ve gotten here, has it, that New Woman?”
Angela chuckled, loving the way he always kept up with her, kept her laughing. “Nope. We’ll still avoid bridges.”
It wasn’t much. Five minutes without Kenn and the camp scrutinizing their every expression, but it was a flash to the trip here for them, sharp and sweet. Their slow starts and finishes to the day were something they’d grown to love and both of them missed it.
“You did pretty good last night. How does it feel to be the first female here officially allowed to carry a gun?”
Angela felt a sharp prick pierce her good mood, sensing the searching caution in his words. Why couldn’t he leave it alone?
“Going through it like an Eagle was great,” she answered tensely. “Wow, Alex is fast!”
Aware of her tension, Marc didn’t change his plans or censor his words.
“You’ll be that good someday.”
There was a sense of being patronized and Angela cast out a line, hoping not to snag anything, but needing to know. “Adrian will be opening Eagle tryouts for rookie levels soon…for women.”
Marc’s attention snapped up from her delicate wrists. “Tryouts?”
When she nodded, showing the V in her chin, his heart thumped painfully. “You’re thinking about it?”
She nodded again, and he was aware of those shrewd baby-blues evaluating his reaction. Swallowing his first three responses, Marc sipped his chocolate and thought. When he finally spoke, it was carefully.
“It’s rough, the way they do things here. You might want to try a few private lessons with Doug or Kyle first, to be sure.”
It was a perfectly reasonable answer and then his mouth opened again.
“And I honestly don’t know if you can do what they do, honey. You’re awfully small compared to them.”
Listening, Neil groaned at the thoughtless words.
Angela’s demeanor frosted over and that cute chin became a set line.
Damn it! Marc thought. Why couldn’t I stop there?
It was an identical wish for both of them.
“It’s been a long time since you’ve said that to me, Brady.”
“And I wouldn’t now, if I wasn’t worried about you getting hurt,” he defended.
Angela pushed away her anger as best she could. “I’m not afraid to get hurt if it means earning something that I want. I never have been.”
“I know that, better than most people,” Marc relented. “It’s your choice, Angie, as always.”
“Yes, it is.” She stood as Neil came toward them and Kyle’s team filled the small area.
Smothering disappointment, (she’d hoped Marc might actually support her idea) she let only traces of it lace her tone. “Looks like there’s hours yet before the camp will be ready to travel. Let’s do our normal drill.”
Marc started to tell her it wasn’t safe for her to be out in the open, but Neil beat him to it.
“I’ll have it set up in 5 minutes. All of us hate missing sets while we’re in the QZ.”
Satisfied she’d be safe; Marc did a fast sweep of the molding trees and bold ants that littered their view. “What’s with the ‘all of us’? It’s your first time in quarantine, right?”
Neil smiled sheepishly, relenting. “So I’ve heard.”
All three of them were laughing as they came from the little mess.
From the edge of the tattered caution tape, Adrian saw them and thought they seemed out of place with the apocalyptic landscape to backdrop their happiness. The brackish sky was a dim, depressing canopy that dripped indifferently over everything.
“Hey, Boss.” Kyle had come to meet him, an extra mug in hand. “All quiet now.”
“Now?”
The mobster took a quick glance around to verify there was no one else in hearing distance. “She had a nightmare. Said you need to talk to the new woman, Samantha.”
“She say anything else?”
“Something’s coming within the week.” Kyle’s voice dropped. “You think Samantha’s special too?”
“The odds just went up on that bet.” Adrian turned toward the larger camp, taking the hot coffee. “Bring her by while I’m breaking down my canvas and we’ll find out.”
3
“Ready?”
“Yes.” Angela blew out an annoyed sigh. “And stop warning me. It’s like training with someone’s nervous grandmother.”
The Eagles laughed, their eager noises carrying on the wind.
Flushing a bit, Seth lunged with a leg sweep that she jumped and returned, sending him to the ground in surprise.
“Never underestimate your opponent!” Doug growled, huge form moving between them. “Who’s next?”
They’d been at it for half an hour despite her passing the self-defense part in the first few minutes. She’d insisted on more.
“Me.”
Marc stepped forward. His tone was hard to read, but his thoughts said he hated witnessing her wrestle with these men.
“You guys are too easy on her.”
There were scoffs from the four disheveled men she’d cleared and the senior Eagles monitored closely, evaluating. It was obvious that she was better than some of Adrian’s rookies and this would tell them where to place her in training when Adrian openly declared her an Eagle. That he would, his top men had little doubt, though it had only been a few days. When Adrian wanted something, he got it, and female members of the guard were high on his list. He’d just been waiting to put his faith in the right one.
“Don’t hurt yourself, now.”
Marc’s challenge came from their mornings spent this way and Angela’s face stretched into a grin. Lower level men exchanged disapproving looks at her lack of seriousness, but again the top Eagles wondered. The determination behind that smile said she was anything but distracted.
From the beginning, it was fierce. Marc did what none of them had been willing (in this situation) to do. He tackled her.
Prepared and glad to be on his training terms, Angela locked her ankles and used the momentum from their fall to roll him over and off.
Marc pushed to his feet, hair messed sexily as he stalked her. Contentment melted his angry face back into her best friend and Angela crouched low. “Say it. Say it!”
“I’ve missed this.”
Her grin widened. “Even the pain, grunt?”
He barked a laugh. “Especially that!”
“Then, let’s get to it.”
Before he could rush her again, Angela lunged upward to deliver a harsh hit to his shoulder that he absorbed, wrapping his arms around her upper body to trap her in a tight hug.
Angela immediately dropped to her knees and twisted her elbow into his side. Able to slip free, she ducked his swipe for her braid and kicked out, shoving him away from her.
Angela flashed to her feet, eagerness spilling out. “More, Brady, more!”
It was a blast from their past and it lit up his heart. “Whatever you want, baby cakes.”
In her happiness, Angela didn’t get set for his lunge and the shock of being on the ground under a man sent fear rushing into her mind, freezing her.
“Lock those ankles!”
Angela steeled her panic, calming, and then Marc had his hands full keeping her on the ground as she punched, twisted, elbowed.
As they struggled, there was the sound of their harsh breathing and the mutters of the Eagles, who all wore deep scowls at a woman being on the ground under a man they didn’t trust.
As they rolled over again, Marc still coming out on top, Seth stepped forward to break it up.
“Leave them.” Adrian had come from the caution tape with quiet steps, and it eased his men to have him present, even as their frowns grew.
“Still want more?”
Angela had freed herself and was staying low as Marc circled her, rapidly closing the space.
She didn’t answer his taunt and he eased closer. “Very good. You remember the next lesson?”
“Trade-off.”
“That too much?” Angela shook her head and Marc came forward aggressively.
This time, even Neil went to stop it and only Adrian stepping forward halted the rush to help her.
He stopped as soon as the men did, though, enrapt by the battling warrior woman of his dreams.
Angela swung, connecting with his open palm and Marc immediately returned the motion. Angela had her feet braced and didn’t budge as her hand absorbed the hit.
She threw the next punch with a quick twist at the end and she could feel his surprise that she’d remembered the single five-minute lesson. The blow made him sway to the right and she waited for his hit, gaze locked firmly on his.
Marc knew what she wanted, what Adrian also wanted, and was unable to resist the pull from them both. Angie wanted the Eagles to know she could do this and Adrian wanted the same.
Fine, Marc grunted at the hope as she read his thoughts. At least with me, she won’t be hurt.
“Level Two.”
Angela swung at the words, following a right with a left, and Marc stood pat so he wasn’t pushed off balance.
His turn now, he stomped toward her with a raised hand and the fear froze her again. He’s so big!
Unsure and very aware of his duty, Adrian stepped forward as Marc’s slap neared her face and then she cupped her hands into one fist and slammed it into Brady’s unprotected jaw.
Expecting it, Marc grunted at the impact, but kept coming and she flashed out with a punch to his kidneys that sent him to his knees at the unexpectedness of it.
Calming, Adrian motioned the Eagles back, but he stayed close as Marc lunged for her legs and got a boot in the shoulder that sent him rolling and then onto his feet.
“Switch.”
Angela’s grin stretched her lips into a fierce snarl as she attacked.
Now mostly confident they’d done this enough times to keep her from getting hurt, Adrian observed the reactions of his men. He tried not to wonder how many of Marc’s hits had landed when she’d first begun to learn these moves.
Angela swung from the hip, letting her anger out a bit and Marc’s duck was quick. He jumped from her leg sweep and managed to avoid her left hook, but the right caught him squarely on the forehead and he hit the ground.
Stunned, Angela rushed to him, not thinking about anything but him falling from the mangled Blazer. What was she doing?
“Marc?”
Marc’s body was shaking, but not from her hit, and his snort shot out at her worried tone.
“I’m fine,” he ground out through the laughter, “Just finished thinking you wanted me on my ass and then here I am.”
Angela chuckled, offering a hand up that he took and kept for a second.
“Nice switch. That enough or you want some more?” he challenged as if he’d won, making her grin. The sparks between them were thick.
“That’ll do, Brady.”
Her amused sigh was full of long-suffering and she exited the circle with his chuckle in her ears and a lighter heart. Marc didn’t want her to be an Eagle, but he did want her to be happy. If this was what it took, he would give it to her.
“Let’s have a lesson.”
Adrian’s words caught Angela’s attention and she lingered nearby, hoping she’d be allowed to observe. Sweat rolled down her spine and she shivered as a cold gust of wind gave her a chill.
Adrian led them toward the rear of the long tent that Neil had indeed directed them to less than five minutes after they left the little mess.
“Open matchups.”
All the Eagles grinned, stripping off their gear, and when Angela stayed near the door, Adrian gestured toward her. “Eagle Four has lead. Rookie session during, Eagle Three.”
For reasons she soon understood, their spirits went up another notch.
Neil motioned toward her. “You should have a front row seat for this.”
Angela went willingly enough, happy to be allowed to watch, but she was aware of Marc’s good mood being gone as he fell in on her left. She also noticed a few of the Eagles giving her strange looks, but their thoughts weren’t open in her distraction.
“What was the first thing you learned in my self-defense class?”
Adrian’s voice was full of a command that he hadn’t used with Angela yet and the sound of it was mesmerizing, drawing her closer.
“To duck!” the Eagles answered in unison.
“And the second?”
“To hit back!”
Adrian gestured to the empty space in the center of the tent. “The basics. Square off and show me.”
Angela observed in fascination as the men chose each other and started brawling. Except it wasn’t a chaotic fight with wild swings and reckless moves. It was a choreographed play of punches and ducks that made the men doing it come across as puppets on a stage, their strings being wielded by a master.
“That’s the first set you’d learn if you were an Eagle,” Neil stated.
Angela was mesmerized. Not a single swing was out of place, no missteps that sent them into each other or to the floor. This was the basics?
“It wasn’t so smooth in the beginning. It gets this way over the course of time and repetition.”
Not sure why Neil was telling her these things, Angela was aware of Marc’s disapproving grunt on her left.
Adrian spun a finger. “Level One.”
Now the hits were landing into open palms, much the way she and Marc had done. Only these punches were hard and fast, making men move from the force being used.
The slaps of skin meeting skin rang violently through the tent and Neil waited for the right moment to speak, surprised to find he could read her as easily as he did the males. “By the end of this level, your arm muscles are so sore you feel like you can’t move, and the bruises on your palms last for weeks.”
Angela didn’t respond, thinking she’d had a small taste of that when Marc had finally agreed to give her the training she wanted. He’d pulled most of his hits, she knew that, but she’d also made him stay at it until she ached, just to make up for his easy touch.
“Level Two.”
The first punch took Seth to his knees and Angela stiffened her lips into a line to hide the fear that bubbled up. This is what she needed to discern, what she had to know.
Seth wiped the blood from his mouth, slinging the scarlet drops as he swung back.
Marc had refused to do more than trade hits with her open-palmed. Would she be able to take that? If not, she’d never be an Eagle.
“Three.”
Adrian led them up the levels, giving them the release and nerve-steadying workout they needed, and he studied Angela as the fighting got harder. She needed to know what she was walking into.
“Camp rules say when you bleed, you’re out,” Neil stated with a tone of longing. “But as an Eagle, there’s no crying off. Blood is part of what we do.”
Angela could hear Neil wishing he was part of the lesson instead of sitting here with her and she kept quiet, hoping he’d understand that he didn’t have to miss the fun to explain things to her.
To teach you, the Witch corrected, awake and scenting the tent’s odors of strength and pain. You’re the rookie he’s instructing.
“Level Six.”
Angela winced as Daryl smacked into the ground near her feet, but his wink and grin told her he wasn’t unhappy and when he delivered a brutal ankle kick to his opponent, his roar was full of life.
“They love this,” she murmured wonderingly.
“Enough to follow his orders no matter what they are,” Neil said pointedly.
Angela heard the warning, and the tone that said she wasn’t strong enough to do this, and raised her chin. Just because she was scared of something didn’t mean she couldn’t do it, especially when there was so much at stake. When the slavers came for her, when Dean came, she had to be able to hold them off long enough to kill their leader. With the head cut off, Adrian and his men would be able to go in and wipe out the rest.
“You okay?”
Marc’s voice brought her back to the lesson and she gave a nod, frowning as she realized the men were all cleaning themselves up. She’d missed the end.
“We have another half hour. Anyone feel like a challenge?”
Adrian stepped into the center of the tent, removing his 9mm, and the excited reaction of the men was nothing to the thumping in her heart as Adrian stripped his shirt. She surveyed the tattoos, recognizing some as Marine and others that she suspected went much deeper into the underside of the military. They stretched over his back and arms in beautiful, exotic detail.
Eagles moved his way and Adrian’s stance said he wanted it as much as they did. Angela sighed. What is it with men and fighting?
“They won’t hurt him,” Neil assured her. “Now them, well, that’s another story.”
“Let’s thin things out a bit,” Adrian stated. “No one below Level Three.”
There were good-natured groans and movements that left half a dozen men in the ring with Safe Haven’s nearly naked leader. When they all rushed him, Angela tensed, drawing a disdainful thought from the other man at her side.
She knows they won’t hit him, right?
Thud!
Marc’s lids narrowed as Adrian took a sharp hit on the jaw and fired a blow that sent the offender to his knees.
Thud!
Another punch landed on Adrian and a second Eagle hit the floor an instant later.
Damn, he’s fast, Marc thought, surprised. He had known Adrian was lethal in many ways. It was in his body language, but Marc hadn’t expected the 40-something-year-old to be so quick.
Angela observed with her hands balled into fists to keep her emotions from showing. The witch was whispering, muttering of the wasted energy, but Angela could feel their need for this. Adrian was giving them a release from the tensions of being perfect all the time in front of the camp.
And showing you what to expect, the Witch cautioned, fading. Pay attention, if this is what your future holds. You’ll have need of it.
Another man went down and Adrian took out the last two in one very fast leg sweep that made the Eagle next to Angela almost whimper in longing.
“He’s been practicing,” Neil muttered, forgetting his duty as the desire to join in flooded him. Matchup with Adrian was an incredible rush.
“Anyone else?”
Unable to stop himself, Neil asked, “Request permission to trade off.”
Adrian allowed it and Neil motioned Seth over to cover his duty as he moved toward the blond.
“Level Ten.”
Neil froze for a brief second before starting to strip his hat and Beretta. “You got it.”
Each Eagle there suddenly didn’t envy Neil the personal time. They recognized the punishment. Level Ten was only for tests and even then, few passed.
Angela had never witnessed anything so brutal. The hits were cruel, intended to inflict pain as well as injury, and yet it was a vivid show of the power in a human body that had her cheering along with the rest of them.
Certain that Neil needed a reminder of his place and the plans being made, Adrian didn’t pull his punches.
Neil hit the ground, hard, and quickly rose. He adjusted his strategy and attacked, only to be driven back with a brutal hit to the shoulder blade that sent him to his knees. For every swing he got in, Adrian’s fist was there to make him pay double.
“Get him, Neil!”
“Come on, man!”
With Marc also cheering next to her, Angela was caught up in the rush, and she let the witch free in a burst of uncensored pleasure. We like it here!
Energy exploded, sending a gust of heat-drenched air through the tent in a resounding blast that echoed off the canvas walls and bounced. It hit men with an unexpected flare of furious need that sank deep and immediately vanished, leaving them all a bit confused as to what had happened.
Angela wanted to slip out, sorry she’d lost control, but they would know she was responsible for sure then. She turned to Marc with a casual tone instead. “I’ll be adding that one to the journal. Remember the heat flash we felt in Indiana?”
Marc’s words were careful. “That one lasted longer.”
She shrugged, aware of the men listening. “Things are different now.”
There were mutters of agreement and the two men in the center shared a look that said they were done.
Adrian collected his gun belts and shirt. “We leave in an hour. Is everything set on this side?”
He barely sounds winded, Angela observed as Adrian used the shirt to wipe his bloody face. His jaw was already swelling, skin bruised, and she realized Kenn and Marc having shiners wasn’t something so big here. The camp had to be used to witnessing their men this way.
“All set, Boss.”
Adrian handed out the next punishment he’d settled on. “Good. Neil has Point until midnight.”
Neil stiffened, recognizing another reprimand, but didn’t say anything as Adrian left. Point man was a great duty during camp times. On travel days, it was hell.
“What did you do?” Kyle asked curiously.
Neil spoke without thinking. “I wasn’t paying attention to the lesson he wanted me to give the Barbie doll.”
Silence fell, and this time Angela did duck her head.
How does that feel? the Witch asked bluntly. Because there’s more of the same waiting, if you choose this path.
Angela’s cheeks were blazing, and most of the men expected tears or a tirade.
“Don’t blame me for slacking off,” Angela fired Neil’s own warning at him coldly. “When he gives me a job, I’ll follow orders, no matter what they are.”
She spun from the tent as voices rose behind her and stopped when she saw Adrian waiting outside the flap.
“You handled that well. Would have been better if you’d hit him for the insult.”
Inside the tent, there was now a fresh silence while ears strained to hear and Neil cringed.
“I’m not that good yet, but I want to be.” Angela gave the wolf a comforting rub when he appeared at her heel.
“And will you give everything? They do.”
“Yes. I want to be an Eagle in your Army.”
Inside the tent, Marc froze and everyone waited, almost holding their breath.
“I’ll get back to you on that,” Adrian said finally.
“I’ll be here,” she stated evenly.
Behind her, the Eagles started coming out of the tent and Angela went to the bathroom to clean up and get herself under control. She was also anticipating a couple minutes alone to think. Adrian had given her a clear view of what she was in for and she’d asked anyway. Was she insane?
Marc watched her, trailing behind, and heard Kyle’s well-meaning words.
“He woulda said no if he thought she couldn’t do it.”
Marc didn’t answer. That wasn’t the problem. He’d known Angie when she was that young girl playing with fire and delighting in what she learned from the burns. In time, she would be able to hold her own with most survivors, man or woman. Then, why was his gut all twisted? Because these men would be training her and not himself? That they were getting his Angie time?
Marc grimaced. If that was the only reason, then she’d had every right to be upset with him. Not that it mattered either way now. A no from Adrian would have shut it down, but instead, she had his support. The leader hadn’t said yes, but Marc knew clever tactics when he saw them. That whole show had been about getting her in, drawing her closer, and it had succeeded. The biggest part of his issue with that was how willing Angie was to turn control over to Safe Haven’s leader. She’d only known him for a few days!
Marc was sure whatever she was getting from Adrian’s thoughts must be the reason, but it still bothered him and he was glad when she spent the next hour sitting on the hood of her Blazer.
Busy writing in her journal, Angela didn’t notice it had been parked between three trucks, blocking it from even the best sniper, but she was aware of how many guards lingered near her, all wondering in silent speculation.
4
“Kyle said you want me?”
Adrian and the rest of the large camp were taking down tents and packing to go, and Samantha wished she were as good. It had taken her half an hour to dismantle her own.
“I’ll be right with you,” Adrian stated.
Instead of waiting, Samantha started on the last side of his large tent. She needed the extra practice.
“Thanks. How’d you sleep last night?”
It was a normal question and shouldn’t have drawn a nervous twitch.
Adrian frowned at her. “Why are you hiding, Samantha? You pull your weight and I know you’re one of us, but you still don’t have a single friend here. You don’t eat meals in the mess and you’re neutral about what comes out of your mouth. There’s something keeping you from the shelter of this camp and I want to know what it is.”
“You know all,” she retorted sharply, flushing. “You tell me.”
“Okay, I will. You’re a loner and you think you’re different than anyone else here.”
Samantha snorted, flashing to the man in the compound. The man she’d killed. “I am different.”
“You’re special, Samantha, but not more so than everyone. Angie said I should talk to you. Today.”
Samantha crossed her arms over her chest, not letting his aura of persuasion distract her. “Speaking of special, I don’t know her. I didn’t even think she remembered my name.”
Blank blue eyes waited for his response and it pleased Adrian that she used one of his favorite tactics against him. Women were always harder to handle than men, but they were also more likely to be gifted.
“We are not adversaries, Samantha. You’ve been hurt enough since the war to know that.”
She flushed again under the scolding tone. “It’s good here, really. You’re good.”
“So are you Samantha, but as long as you cast that outsider image, these people won’t pull you in where you can relax and belong. You have to give them a fair chance.”
Samantha’s expression didn’t change and while her control impressed him (like Angela, this one was a fighter who didn’t know her own worth), he hated how censored she was. Where were the real emotions, the fire?
“How do I do that when every simple conversation goes bad?” Samantha asked.
She was referring to the argument she’d gotten into yesterday with a small group of women who didn’t like her opinion on making a stand against the slavers. Their town had been attacked by Cesar, let through the barricades by a traitor who had left buried messages, and they were terrified. Samantha, who had been face-to-face with the Mexicans and escaped, hadn’t been able to stop herself from recommending they should have tried harder to kill the evil men. One of the Eagles, Jeremy, had broken it up before it had come to blows.
“By being useful and honest. I don’t expect blind loyalty and from some people, it wouldn’t mean as much anyway, but I have to have the truth.” He lowered his voice, pushing. “What’s coming for us?”
She only stiffened for an instant, and again, it was impressive.
“The final hand of God? How would I know?”
Samantha’s tone held deep sarcasm and she expected a threat or at least a warning, but Adrian only waited with a raised brow.
Samantha’s shoulders slumped. She wanted to tell him, but then she would have to leave. “I don’t know what you’re–”
“Don’t lie to me!” The bark was mild, but it still drew attention because of her flinch.
“Say you’d rather not tell me or you don’t trust me yet or even tell me to go to hell and walk, but lies are not allowed.”
“You won’t believe it if I tell you.” Samantha’s countenance was covered in the fear that she was about to be alone again in this hard new world.
“Try me. You might be surprised.”
She studied the packing camp for a long moment, feeling much the same as Angela had when she’d made her choice to tell him about Danny being the thief. When she spoke, her voice held the first true emotion of her arrival–terror.
“Might as well tell you, I guess. These people can’t hurt me as much as the war did.” Samantha drew on her courage. “I don’t always track a storm in the ways I told you. Sometimes, I see things…things that happen.”
“Like what?”
There was no doubt in his voice and the surprise of that let her answer openly, unlike the conversation in his tent, where she’d been very careful to imply she used computer data for her predictions.
“Weather. Bad weather is coming.”
“What was it in your dream?”
“Water. Rain was everywhere.”
“When?”
“In the next week… You believe me?”
She was shocked and he answered patiently, “Why wouldn’t I?”
Samantha shrugged uneasily, preparing to lie again. “Because–”
“In the old world, you were mocked and scorned, and then feared when you were right. They turned you into a necessary evil and you’re certain the same will happen here.”
“You lie to me now,” she demanded. “Tell me it won’t.”
“I can’t. Everything is balanced on the edge.” He indicated the camp around them now climbing into the neatly waiting vehicles. “These people need you, even though they don’t know it. Help me keep them alive.”
“I don’t want to be in charge of anything or responsible for them,” Samantha quickly denied. “I know that’s selfish, but I can’t. I’m not worthy.”
Adrian let that go. “Just tell me when something’s coming, so I can prepare for it.”
Samantha had been expecting much more and she let out a tired breath. “I think I can do that.”
“And in return?” he asked, needing to be sure of her ethics.
“That was the old world.” She regarded him coolly. “I don’t want to be a prize rat anymore.”
“Tell me what you do long for, Samantha. Maybe I can give it to you.”
Horrible pain flashed and her voice choked. “Can you give me back my dignity?”
Adrian pushed his magic over her. “Most of it, yes. You’ll earn the rest and then you’ll be able forgive yourself for surviving when so many others didn’t.”
“How did you–”
“Angela.”
Samantha frowned. “She knows a lot about me for someone I’ve never had a real conversation with.”
Adrian chose his words carefully, hoping this would bring the two women together. “You’re not the only one here who is special, Sam.”
She let that sink in, realizing things had changed for her again. Angie was different, too. And she was already on Adrian’s payroll.
“What else would you want me to do, besides the warnings?” Her tone was leery, but hope lurked.
“Ride with me and we’ll talk.” Adrian was careful not to show too much excitement. “Later, that’s up to you.”
“Okay.”
Nearby, Neil watched Samantha climb into Adrian’s rig, almost gawking, and his right-hand, Jeremy, took notice. Was there anything he could do to help that along? Samantha was cute and she shared Neil’s feeling on taking out the slavers. Maybe some match making was needed.
5
“This is Safe Haven mobile refugee camp. Is anyone out there? Hello? Can anyone hear me?”
Mitch’s cheerful voice rang through the radios as Safe Haven pulled out five minutes late, with everyone accounted for. Adrian was always afraid they’d be short people and the fear of hearing that allowed him to offer Samantha the honesty she obviously required.
“I need to know when it’s coming, Sam. I have to have time to get ready.”
He noted her sigh.
“I can’t tell you the exact moment. I know it’s within a week, but probably less. I’m listening for it.”
Adrian felt the frustration rise up and forced it down. Beginnings were always hard and he wasn’t prepared for this conversation any more than she was. Keeping that in mind, he softened his tone.
“Where should we be when it comes? Where would you take us?”
Her unease grew. “We need a basement area that’s underground and out of sight. Sometimes, storms…hone in on things.”
“Things like heat or even people?”
“Happiness. The big ones are jealous of peace and happiness. It’s a calm state they achieve only when they die.” Samantha wasn’t quite able to believe it was her mouth spilling these long held theories.
Adrian took a minute to decide if he could accept storms as living things with not only intelligence, but also emotions, and found it easier than expected. How many times had he heard stories of survivors swearing the funnel cloud had come down just for them?
“I’ll get you a list of places like that near us and you’ll circle the ones we’d be safest at. I’ll have Kenn give you a sheet each week.”
“I’d rather not know which ones you pick, if that’s okay,” she stated, shifting pressure off the healing cigar burn on her hip.
“Why not?” He already knew by her nervous tone.
“I…I’m still keeping track of Rick, even though you said I don’t have to and it might get people hurt if he catches me.”
Adrian’s anger grew with his certainty that the man was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but the sights out his window confirmed his choice. Everything they were passing was burned, charred. A battle had taken place here, one of thousands still happening across their broken country, and most of his people wouldn’t last long on their own. If he spooked them and they ran, it would be a slaughter.
“Why haven’t you thrown him out?”
That was a question he’d been asked too many times already by his top men and Adrian gave her the rehearsed answer they’d all received.
“If there’s a rabid dog on your farm, you can track him. You have an idea where he’ll attack. If you put him outside the fence, he’s hurting others, and sooner or later he’ll find a way to slip back in and rip your throat out.”
“And if you put a bullet in its head?”
“Are you sure enough to pull the trigger yourself?” Adrian demanded, surprised.
That stopped her next words and he gave her pale profile a brief glance. “Personally, I think you’re right, but until he makes a mistake, I can’t…remove him. For now, he’s being monitored. Letting him loose out there is like condoning murder. At least here, he’s following the rules and that alone is a better alternative than to have him hurting others.”
“And that’s why these people will follow you anywhere,” Samantha realized. “They know you give a damn.”
Adrian’s heart twisted with his secrets. “I’m giving that and more.”
6
“It’s time. Switch to channel seven.”
Kyle consulted his glossy notebook again, getting settled as they followed Marc’s new black truck out of the parking area. They were seventh in a line of ninety.
Glad to have noise filling the tense silence between her and Neil, Angela listened in fascination as the two Eagles riding with her held what was clearly a lesson on a second radio that was cleverly hidden in the glove box.
“From where we left off last night,” Kyle instructed.
“A first instinct is to use the hostage for protection. Don’t give them the opportunity. Make contact with the enemy when he is as far from the victim as possible,” Neil relayed over the mike. “Never direct attention to the hostage or depend on them to react the way you need them to. Assume they will either panic or freeze.”
Word for word, Neil repeated it into the radio from his front seat position. He was also working on a drawing of the camp at the same time.
This lesson is about me, Angela realized. She steered carefully around the charred frame of a school bus, purposely not viewing the small skeletons still inside. What awful, new landmarks the war had left!
“Be ready to shoot the hostage, to kill the enemy. Minor leg and arm wounds are preferred in this situation, but at no point should the hostage ever be in mortal danger from a stray round. Be precise. If not sure on the angle or line of fire, do not take the shot. I repeat, an Eagle who accidentally kills a hostage, even if the enemy is eliminated, has committed murder.”
Angela wanted to protest that one, but caught Kyle’s headshake in the mirror, and clamped down on her words as Neil repeated it over the secure channel.
“Break for discussion. Questions?”
The radio was silent and Angela opened her mouth hesitantly. “Are there exceptions to that rule?”
“Such as?” Kyle demanded, ready for her.
Angela flushed at being put on the spot as the rookies were. “Well, like if the enemy throws or pushes the hostage into the line of fire, or if there’s a big fight.”
Kyle gave her an assessing once-over, thinking many of Adrian’s Eagles were likely discussing those options right now. “Yes. There are exceptions to every rule, but each situation has its own way of being handled. During a fight, we would ideally try to wait for an end to it or for a sure opening.”
“Rescue missions are chaos. Care has to be taken,” Neil added tonelessly.
She responded the same way. “And it has to be made a priority, thus the harsh rule. Got it.”
They exchanged a look at her casual acceptance, not certain she understood the gravity of what it meant.
“An Eagle found guilty of murder, accident or otherwise, isn’t tossed out of Adrian’s army or banished. They’re executed, by Adrian himself,” Neil clarified.
“It ever happen?” she demanded of Kyle, trusting him not to lie.
“Not on my watch.”
“Would he?”
“Yes,” Kyle answered immediately.
Angela let that sink in, not sure that their impressions were correct. That sense of life having great value to Adrian was hard to miss. Maybe he did these things anyway and dealt with the pain afterwards? That, she could believe.
Neil took a quick sip of water and when Kyle made a motion, Neil pushed the button on the mike. “Discussion questions?”
There was silence and the lesson resumed.
“In a hostage situation, we do not negotiate. We will not meet demands or even talk about them honestly. We do not allow the enemy time to think. Quick and hard plans work best.”
Angela listened to the rest of the lesson in rapt silence, absorbing as much as she could. She would have been just as interested in the conversation going on between the three Eagles in the black truck ahead of them.
7
“What if they come during the night?”
“I expect them to, or in the wake of a storm,” Marc answered. “Too many stories going around to ignore their pattern of attack. They’ve met no challenge so far doing it that way. They won’t change what works.”
“How do we guide the sheep to the trucks?” Seth asked.
“Red, white, and blue lights,” Jeremy answered from the backseat. “Adrian will love that.”
Wrapped in a heavy blanket because of the windows being down to clear the smoke, Seth was busy taking notes. He hadn’t adjusted to the cold weather yet, despite spending all winter in it. “I can rig that up. Can you connect it to the wrist alarms?”
“Yeah, but it would be more dependable if Kenn did it,” Marc answered as they slowed to make a turn.
“Only way that’ll happen is if Adrian tells him to. He won’t listen to anyone else,” Seth stated.
Marc shrugged. “If Kenn won’t, I can. It just won’t be as solid. He’s better at that shit than I am.” He lit a smoke, hating it that some of these plans rested on Kenn being forced to cooperate.
“What about the maps?” Jeremy asked.
Marc was glad for the reminder. “Neil says he has that covered. Kyle and I will look them over when he’s done and adjust where we need to. Who gets to make her driving schedule?”
“Kenn does those.”
Marc motioned. “Add that to the list.” He sighed. “There’s no way we’ll be done by morning with all this.”
“Adrian will distract them so we can keep working,” Seth soothed. “Don’t sweat it.”
Marc allowed himself to be drawn back into the plans. They had to get these things set up before the slavers or the remaining twin came. He wouldn’t rest until it was done.
Marc scanned the dim sky above them. Not that there would be much of that if those clouds meant the storm Angela had warned of.
His gaze went to the lead rig, wondering what those two were talking about–Rick or the weather.
8
“Have you always been able to predict the weather with your gift?” Adrian steered the conversation to a more personal level.
Samantha opened her mouth to lie and gave honesty instead. “Yes. Used to freak my parents out at first, but it helped them, so they learned to accept it.”
“And the rest of your family?”
Samantha was facing the dusty window, where the burnt frames of buses, cars, and bodies littered the road. “My cousin stopped coming around right after I told her a tornado was coming for them and then her roof blew off.”
“You saved her with a forbidden call?”
Samantha shut her lids as they rolled by a farmhouse with an obscenity on the porch that she didn’t want to view later. “She never came to our home after that. Ever.”
Adrian was quiet for a minute, letting her deal with the grief of the past. Sometimes those ghosts didn’t want to let go, no matter how hard you tried to escape.
“I learned to shut up or push my information off on data from my parent’s lab so I could keep friends, but none of them were close. I think they knew that deep down there was something…wrong with me.”
“Wrong? You think of your gifts that way?”
“I saved Milton’s life so he could sabotage us into the end of the world,” she admitted shamefully. “I can’t feel any other way.”
She missed the reaction to his father’s name and Adrian was quick to skip the conversation along. “You are not responsible for this new world, Samantha. Surely you know that?”
She didn’t say anything and he frowned. “Samantha?”
“If I’d left it alone, he would have died.” Her expression said she was lost and searching for which way to go.
“And then the next president would have caused the end. This was in the works long before your warning.”
“I want to believe that, but it’s too easy.”
“I know it to be true. It sickens me that he was spared that day, but it wasn’t your choice to make. It was fate’s and she’s a tough bitch to understand.”
Samantha snorted, smiling wryly. “No argument there.”
Needing to give her something to ease the worry lurking in her tones and body language, Adrian switched subjects. “You’ve made good progress already, in the gun class.”
Samantha’s mind flew to Neil. “I like it.”
“I have a couple of other things you could work on, while you listen.”
“Sure. What?” Samantha knew he didn’t want to talk about the past anymore, neither did she, but she was unprepared for his distraction.
“I think you’d be a good hunter. If you pass the first level in the gun class, you can go.”
Her first instinct was to say no, but the waking heart told her he’d hit his mark. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Adrian hid a grin at her stubborn refusal to show interest in anything. She’s definitely a female, he thought. Now, where did I put that pry bar?
“I’d also like to have you supervise the new garden.”
That got her full attention. How had he known she liked to play in the dirt?
“Sounds fine.”
“Good. I’ll set it up.”
Yeah, I’ll bet you will, Samantha thought. She knew she could trust him, but that genius could just as easily be used for evil. If he ever became corrupt, it would be the same old shit starting up again.
Bright light winked at them from the rear of the convoy, drawing her attention. She would bet some of that old world pettiness was being planned in the last truck. What she wouldn’t give to be a fly in Kenn’s ugly green bronco.
9
“You want me to pick a fight or something?” Zack’s voice was low even though he and Kenn were alone in the truck. “Plant something dangerous next time to get him thrown out?”
Kenn flipped on the heat. I’ve gotten soft during my time here, he thought. On missions, he never used to notice the cold.
“Sure, and while you’re at it, slap her a few times, right in front of Adrian.”
The truck driver snickered meanly, loving the idea after having her pull a gun on him, and the two men let that roll around for a minute, enjoying the images.
With most of the top Eagles in the QZ for a full day, Kenn and Zack would be busy and in charge, the way they both preferred it. Sometime after they made camp, Angie and the others would be out and then the issues would restart, but without Kyle, Neil, and Seth, very few of the lower level men had the balls to stand up to Kenn. As a result, he and Zack had been able to work on plans of their own.
“You got her driving schedule sorted out?”
“It’s in the glove box, along with yours and mine for the next two weeks. Keep her busy,” Kenn ordered, spotting Lee, one of Zack’s men, glaring toward Angela’s Blazer. Good. At least the trucker had them in line, unlike his sons.
Zack got the sheets of paper out. “No problem. Someone needs to shovel the dog shit and dig the new latrine holes.”
Kenn chuckled, knowing Adrian wouldn’t let it happen, but wishing it just the same. “You talk to your boys yet? Make it clear Charlie’s off limits in this.”
Zack shrugged. “If the wolf isn’t with him, I can’t make any promises. Your boy pissed mine off and they hold a grudge.”
Kenn wasn’t as worried about it as he had been before. “Yeah, getting your ass kicked by someone younger and smaller will do that.”
Zack frowned, but didn’t answer and Kenn continued, confident he’d made his point.
“You have the surprise waiting for Brady?”
“All tucked into his bedroll, even as we speak.”
“Good. It won’t drive him out, but it’ll keep him unhappy.”
Zack let his mouth fly. “Hard to get laid when you’re busy being punished. He’ll have to leave her alone for a while once we set him up to attack you.”
It was only the truth of their plan, but to hear it spoken so openly, made Kenn wince at how wrong it sounded. He switched them to the next item.
“And his pet?”
This time, Zack scowled. “No takers. None of my team will do it, even for more privileges or a rank jump.”
“Damn. Keep working on it.”
“I could–”
“No, you can’t. It has to give the impression of an accident. Adrian will know if we kill the wolf.”
10
All of the important conversations came to a grinding halt as the convoy reached Rapid Valley.
The refugees stared in horror at what remained of the buried tourist town. A recent slide had sent waves of the debris-laden glop straight through most of the small neighborhood. The mud was across the streets in thick layers that Safe Haven had little hope of driving through. In the near distance, the small town peered at them from mud-slicked hills and garbage-covered valleys that used to be rooftops and windows.
“Convoy halt. Kenn, find us a turn-around.”
“Copy.”
“He should keep going. Turning around is a bad idea.” Angela’s words were low. She didn’t expect Neil to believe her.
“It’ll take us hours to clear the road,” Neil stated, frowning when Kyle immediately took the maps from the kit at his feet. “We’ll lose a lot of time.”
“Better time than lives,” Kyle stated, thinking about the slavers who were catching up to them.
Neil frowned. “If there’s a problem here.”
Angela didn’t want to wait for them to argue it out and alert Adrian, but she didn’t want Kenn or Marc to hear a mental call. She watched the door open on Adrian’s rig, understanding what would do it quicker. “He’s not safe here. None of us are.”
“And what do you suggest?” Neil demanded, terrified of the next thing Adrian would ask of him where she was concerned. To get Adrian’s vote for the Eagles, each man had to pass a private lesson that only Neil taught and he had no idea how he would be able to do it for a woman. “Don’t go back, can’t go forward.”
“Go Around.”
“Around.”
She and Kyle spoke at the same time.
Neil let out an annoyed sigh, picking up the mike. “Three to base.”
Adrian ducked into the truck and Angela closed her lids, trying to estimate exactly where it would happen at. “Faster would be good, guys.”
“Go ahead.”
“We’d like to suggest going around instead.”
There was silence for a minute as Adrian considered what that meant. Around was venturing off the beaten path to the south and into the Dakota wilderness. No way of knowing what waited to be found.
“We do know what’s behind us, though,” he muttered, ignoring Samantha for the moment. “Death.”
Adrian pushed the button on the mike. “Agreed. Five minute stop, full guard and then we’re on the road.”
“You have a lot of faith in them,” Samantha stated.
Adrian didn’t tell her that the message was from Angela. “Yes, I do.”
“And if they’re wrong?”
Adrian surveyed her with a teacher’s patient gaze. “Sometimes they are. It’s part of learning how things work now. Without risks, it means nothing.”
“And it creates bonds that draw these people closer to you and what you want.”
“What I need, Samantha. Only what I need to keep them alive and free.”
Her gaze went over the mud-covered town. “Will you do any searching for survivors?”
“No,” Adrian denied. Angela would have mentioned it if she felt any life still here. “If there’s anyone left, they’ll hear us and follow. We can’t stay out in the open and wait for the next slide.”
Adrian nodded to Daryl as he went by the truck on his first sweep, but his words were for Sam. “You should probably go ride with Hilda and the others now. It might get rough up here.”
Disappointed, her shoulders slumped. Her time being useful to him was over until the storm came.
“Samantha?”
She looked over as she opened the door and her breath caught at his inviting expression.
“Why don’t you sit with us for mess?”
“I’d love to.” Flustered by her response, she quickly left.
Adrian waited until Samantha was out of hearing distance before closing his lids, concentrating. On his line, they would only hear each other. He would teach Angela to do the same. Which way is it coming from?
Northeast. Something’s happening there. Not sure what.
Her answer was quick and Adrian could feel her impatience with the stop. The slavers?
Maybe. There’s a clear sense of danger.
Adrian swept the people getting out of the cars now that the Eagles had given the okay. There’s always plenty of that. Watch your six.
You know it.
11
Minutes after Adrian directed the convoy south, she had them stopping again.
It’s coming. Hold on here.
“Convoy, halt.”
Adrian didn’t answer further. Like the rest of the refugees, he was staring in surprise at the enormous herd of deer crossing the valley below. At least a thousand of the grass-loving creatures were slowly venturing through the area and most of the camp observed happily, lifting younger children to their shoulders for a better view.
“Well, she said big,” Adrian murmured. There wasn’t a sense of danger yet, but if she’d been right about one, she was right about the other as well. He pushed the button on the mike. “No shooting. If they stampede, we’ll lose half our vehicles and people will get hurt. Let them go by. We’ll wait.”
It was something that would have raised brows in the old world, giving wild animals the right of way, but Adrian had no wish to draw more fire from nature than they were already under just for being alive. They could roll through with the trucks first, shooting and crushing until the others scattered, or they could wait fifteen minutes for the herd to go by. It was moving south and would be past them shortly.
That thought made him uneasy. It was spring. Shouldn’t they be migrating north?
Yes, unless something was bad there, too. And what would make so many deer band together? Herds were never more than a few hundred at most. This was as if every deer in the state was migrating southward and had joined up along the way.
“Like us,” he muttered, picking up the map as Daryl went by again. How far south could they go?
“Four to base. There’s something moving in from the north. Sounds…big.”
Every head craned that way, hands reaching for guns.
Mike still in hand, Adrian stepped onto the foot rail of his truck for a better view. She’d tell him if they needed to move, right? Unable to take the chance, he questioned. “Should we roll, do you think?”
It was very unlike him, to ask openly over the radio, and each Eagle listening knew it had something to do with Angela.
“Negative, Boss,” Kyle responded. “We’re 5-by right here.”
North of Rapid Valley, a dam had burst, sending shocks into the ground that rushed out ahead of the debris wall. Already blocked with garbage blown there by the war, the riverbed overflowed and a huge mud wave was sent into the valley below. The slide thundered down the hillside like a rocket, cutting down fully-grown trees and tearing houses away from their foundations in its fury. As it got close to the convoy, the sounds grew louder.
The deer in the valley below heard the rumbling, ears tilting up in fear, noses scenting the rank air and then the entire herd stampeded…right toward Safe Haven.
An instant behind their panicked reaction, the wall of muddy water poured into the valley without mercy. The running herbivores had nowhere to go. The front of the stampede disappeared under the brown weight in seconds and more liquid death crashed down the hills. It cut off any hope the animals had for retreat and half the chaotic herd vanished as the hillside ran brown.
“Stand your ground!” Adrian ordered, heart squeezing painfully as the roaring sound magnified until his ears hurt. If she were wrong, the entire camp would be lost.
“What’s he doing?” Neil demanded, horrified that Adrian would risk them all this way.
“His job,” Angela stated coldly. The Blazer rattled harshly around them. “Saving their lives.”
“And you’re sure?”
Angela didn’t respond over the roar of the debris barreling toward them. She’d already given her answer to the man who mattered.
Two hundred yards from the stunned convoy, the mud found the path of the valley and turned away from them.
Adrian rested his head against the seat, waiting for the pain to fade from his arm and chest. The risks he took were never assumed lightly and he wasn’t sure how many more like that his heart would survive.
The flow of mud down the hill dissipated quickly after the first huge wall, leaving the refugee camp untouched and the herd decimated. The difference had been one ‘go around’ and one ‘hold on here’–roughly half a mile. She’d known he planned to take them north for a pickup from the mental map.
Adrian’s voice belied the chaos of his thoughts. “Let’s get ready folks. Check your lists. We leave in five.”
All around him, people moved quicker than usual and Adrian allowed himself a brief second of weakness. How many more of those would he face and win before these people were safe? With each one, the odds against survival went up. He had to get them to Little Rock, alive.
Neil, scared of what came next and still upset over being corrected publicly, couldn’t stop his mouth from opening. “Guess you think this proves you were right, but all it shows is how close to death you put Adrian.”
Angela sucked in a wounded breath as Kyle stared at Neil in surprise.
“I don’t agree. At least here, we had a chance to go uphill and get away. If we’d still been on 34, we’d all be gone,” the mobster argued.
Pissed, Angela pulled her iPod from the glove box. “It’s not my fault you were slacking off Neil. Try doing your job and you won’t feel this way.”
She traded the driver’s seat for the gusting wind before he could respond.
Neil stared after her for a moment before unhooking his seat belt. “Guess I’ll drive.”
He got out and found himself alone in the Blazer when he slid into the driver’s seat, Kyle also leaving him to his bitterness.
Parked nearby, Marc rolled the window down and was surprised when Angela opened his door and immediately ducked behind the seats to climb in with Dog and Jeremy.
“You don’t mind an extra passenger, do you?”
Marc ignored the curious witnesses. “Not at all.”
“You can have front.” Seth offered.
“I’d rather be right here,” she stated, putting her earbuds in. “If I’m riding in the rear, I’m welcome.”
Adrian observed it in his mirror, not doubting Neil had said something stupid and he waited for all of them to be settled before pushing the button on the mike. “Count-off as we go. Eagle One, here.”
12
They made camp at the top of the highest hill that Adrian could find, trees and wind-blown greenness their evening view. The signs of a world gone by were three gigantic crosses in the far distance, made to capture the light of the day to make them glow at night. Much dimmer than before the sky had been blanketed with grit, they were still a shining beacon that had people tripping as they stared.
Angela exited the truck, yawning tiredly as Kyle fell in on her right. In time, the crosses would burn or fall like everything else and she had no trouble ignoring the unusual view.
“He didn’t mean it.”
She shrugged, not wanting to talk about Neil’s meanness. “The first of many I’ll have to put up with to be one of you.”
“You’ll never be one of us!”
Kenn’s voice at the edge of the tape drew attention. He flushed as men gaped at him, but didn’t back down. “You’re a female. There’s no place in his army for you.”
“That’s not true.” Kyle’s voice was angry, keeping Marc, who was behind them, from answering. “And get on the right side of the camp before I tell him you broke quarantine.”
“That’s what he wants,” Angela muttered, stepping around them all. “Doesn’t understand he’d be getting himself thrown in quarantine and we’ll be out in a couple hours.”
She entered the cold shadows, feeling the guard on her heels. “Later, Marine, we’ll talk.”
Kenn watched her go, ignoring the hard glares from the Eagles. He knew Angela was responsible for the convoy avoiding the mudslide and he couldn’t help being grateful that she’d saved them, but the anger of her actions afterward wouldn’t leave him alone. She’d broken the driving schedule to ride with Brady. She would pay for that, but right now, there was another moment of vengeance he wanted more.
Kenn lingered around the QZ as Zack got things squared away, needing to be close by when Marc found his surprise.
Angela spotted Charlie on the other side of the tape, glad to discover the wolf by his side. Kenn was in a strange mood and she felt better knowing her son had protection. Dog and Charlie were together more often than not now and she gave them both a warm smile as she stopped a few feet away.
“Hey, boy. You okay?”
“You did it, right? Made him stop?”
“Nope.”
Charlie stared at the lie. “I know you had him turn us around.”
Angela sighed, not sure how much of this side of their gifts he was ready for. “Can we talk about it later? I need to help John get us tested and cleared.”
“You’ll be out tonight?”
“I should be. We have a few results coming and two tests left to do.”
“Yours and John’s?”
“Very good.”
Distracted, Charlie’s face eased at her praise and he turned toward the larger, well-lit camp. “See ya later.”
“Yes, you will.”
“I love it that you taught him that.” Marc’s tone was full of emotion. “I haven’t thanked you for not turning him against me. You could have.”
“Not me. I secretly hoped you’d get to be his dad someday.” She smiled softly. “Still do.”
“Me too.”
Eagles walking by broke the moment and her warmth faded. “We’ll be out tonight. John about has us all cleared.”
Marc wanted to ask her what Neil had said, but knew it was better not to make the anger fresh again. “Great. You need anything?”
Angela swallowed her first response (yeah, you!) and went toward the medical tent. “I’ll be fine after I get some sleep and calm down.”
Marc snickered, but wasn’t fooled. She’d gotten her feelings hurt and it would get worse if she meant to try out for the Eagles. Some of these men were dead set against it.
That thought made him feel worse. It was unfair of them to deny her the chance that Adrian had given them, and Marc suddenly wanted her to succeed as much as he wanted her to forget the idea. He hated her being refused anything she truly wanted, and it was clear that this was top on her list right now, even above his feelings.
“Not fair,” he muttered, ashamed. Their time was in the future if they had one and he had no right to expect her to sit quietly and wait. Being a Marine had been the highlight of his life most years and she wanted the same comforts.
“And strength,” he stated to himself, drawing attention from passing men that he ignored. “In case they come for her and we can’t protect this camp.”
“You think so, too?”
Marc wasn’t surprised to discover Adrian outside the perimeter, behind the QZ. “Yes. She’ll turn herself over to save her son and these people. Never doubt it.”
“I don’t.”
“That’s why she’s agreeing to this.”
Adrian didn’t tell him that wasn’t the only reason. Deep down, Marc already knew it was more. “It won’t come to that. Those are not my reasons.”
“I know yours, too, but I don’t agree with all the secrecy. You’re lying to them too much.”
“I know,” Adrian agreed, surprising Marc.
The leader paused to light a smoke in the thick breeze. “But until they’re stronger, this is the way it has to be. When they’re ready, honesty will come from all of us.”
Adrian slipped back into the shadows with those words and Marc frowned. What did that mean?
Tired and stressed, he went to the only empty tent with his kit. Seth was on Angie’s heels, the wolf was out defending Charlie, and Marc intended to get a couple extra hours of sleep. Hell, maybe he would stay in the QZ until morning and be saved the trouble of putting up his tent.
Trying to let go of his thoughts for a while, Marc tossed his kit into the corner and followed it down. One quick tug had his bedroll open and him laying on it, not bothering with his boots. It felt good to stretch–
Marc’s hand brushed something stiff under the thick padding and he was up an instant later.
He snapped on the penlight around his neck and yanked the top layer up. There was a slip of paper and something dark swaying with the breeze he’d created. Uneasy, he bent down and picked them both up as he holstered.
The wind howled against the tent, pushing the cold draft through and the scent of vanilla teased his nose. He relaxed, thinking Angie had slipped him a note like a school kid. He inhaled deeply of the lock of hair, its softness and ebony color marking who it belonged to, and he flipped the small photo over eagerly, wondering what she’d left for him.
Marc gasped, entire body clenching in hurt.
The photo was one he recognized instantly from his time on base, and fury pounded at the graphic image of Kenn and Angie in bed together. Showing her upper body, it was enough to tell she had ropes around her wrists.
Marc felt the rage filling him, and didn’t try to pull it in. Kenn had flashed this photo around, making cracks and snide remarks about how he owned the woman in the picture. To realize that had been Angie was more than Marc could take.
Kenn will pay for every word! he vowed, storming from the tent with eager feet. Where is that cruel bastard?
Kenn was waiting on the other side of the yellow tape, full of triumph, as their glares met across the distance.
Boo-ya! he celebrated silently as he braced himself to take what Brady was about to dish out. It wasn’t only members who would witness it, but also Adrian, who was talking with the guards on the QZ. Perfect.
Angela stepped from the camper with wet hair and hurriedly thrown on clothes, finding Marc’s furious form already moving toward Kenn. She ran hard, but it wasn’t fast enough to stop the effects of Kenn’s surprise.
Picture now wadded inside his clenched fist, Marc registered his target, and didn’t stop to duck the tape as he swung.
Kenn hit the ground, grunting, and held himself still as Marc swung again. This hit sent blood flying from his mouth and so did the next.
Beyond reason, Marc used his fists steadily on the Marine, fury growing when Kenn didn’t fight back.
That’s how Angie felt! his pride shouted and Marc swung again.
Kenn waited for someone to pull Marc off, allowing himself to be hit repeatedly.
Thud!
His head snapped to the side, blood spraying, and then Marc shoved the photo into his mouth, sitting on his chest to hold him down.
“Eat that you worthless fuck! Isn’t so easy when your victim hits back, is it?!”
Kenn was struggling now, but Marc’s rage made him stronger as he shoved the wadded image deeper.
“Fucking coward!”
Marc was grabbed from behind and torn away, slung into the dirt by Doug’s huge arms.
“Stop it!” Angie’s voice barely registered.
Marc lunged toward Kenn the instant he hit his feet. “I’ll kill you!”
Kenn saw the Eagles were now standing between them and rolled over, coughing.
The photo he’d torn from his mouth drifted in the scuffle and Neil casually put his boot over it. He’d seen everything except the image that set Marc off.
“Stop it!”
Doug’s rough shake had Marc drawing back.
The Irishman gave him another jerk. “Snap out of it, grunt!”
He sounded so much like a superior officer that Marc was able to regain some control–until he noted Kenn’s smirk and then he lunged again.
“What did you do?!” Kyle demanded of Kenn, he and Seth using their bodies to keep Marc away.
“Nothing. I was just standing here and he attacked me!”
“You lying bastard!” Marc exclaimed, struggling harder.
Neil retrieved the photo while everyone was distracted.
“I’ll rip your heart out!”
“That’s enough.” Adrian stepped in front of Marc, words cold. “Stand down!”
Jarred out of his rage at the tone, Marc was startled at the hostility. Why is the boss pissed at me?
“You need to work off some steam. Go help Chris.”
Realizing the mess he’d been provoked into creating, Marc wrenched away from the strong arms holding him and stormed toward the vet area.
Angela let him go with worry lurking in her heart. They were pushing him too hard. If Kenn wasn’t careful, Marc would kill him.
Satisfied he’d done the best he could; Kenn picked himself up, subtly hunting for the photo.
“What did you do to him?” Angela demanded.
“I told you, nothing.” Assuming the wind had blown it away, Kenn turned toward the larger camp, wiping at his bloody face. “He’s not safe to have here if this is how he acts. I didn’t say one word to him today.”
The Eagles sent a disapproving glare after his retreating form.
“He did something,” Kyle insisted.
Neil nodded, the photo tucked safely in his pocket. “Yeah, he set him up to get in trouble and got away with it. We can’t let that happen twice.”
13
Adrian’s last stop of the night was Kyle and Neil, who were monitoring the far corner of the QZ while they waited to be cleared. Adrian approached them from the rear, listening hard.
“That’s the worst thing he could have done, though. Didn’t he know Kenn was trying to get him in trouble?”
“Check this out and tell me you’d have done different.”
Kyle’s quick intake of breath was part lust and part anger. “That son of a bitch! Those are ropes!”
“Exactly, but we can’t show this or it’ll help seal it with the camp, that she’s Kenn’s. Or get him banished and hurt Adrian’s plans.”
“Burn it.”
“I will… Did you hear that?”
“A patrol going by.”
“I’m telling you–”
Kyle waved a hand. “It’s Adrian.”
The blond stepped from the shadows, grinning. “I remember the first time I did that. Both of you nearly shot me.”
Kyle joined in the amusement, but Neil shut his mouth, now feeling on the outside after everything that had happened with Angela.
“One of the rookies still might, Boss,” Kyle joked, doing a fast sweep to ensure everything was okay.
Adrian didn’t say anything about what he’d overheard. “I’d like to talk to you guys.”
Guilty, Neil opened his mouth, “I’m sorry, I am.”
Adrian pinned him with a hard look, while continuing as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “I need honest impressions on what value she might add to my army and that means yours too, Neil.”
The jab hit and Neil was ashamed. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”
“Answer my question and we’ll handle the other shit later,” Adrian snapped, tired. “We’re wasting time with your emotions.”
Kyle winced at the slap, but it woke Neil from the self-pity haze he’d been functioning in all evening.
“Her…power speaks for itself. I’d vote for it on that reason alone…” Neil sighed, realizing he believed what he was saying. “And she’s good on some things. She likes it as much as we do–the fighting anyway. She’d probably be easy to teach.”
“No one expects this to be smooth at first. Ease up on her and yourself. If it all falls, I seriously doubt either of you will be the cause of it.” Adrian raised an expectant brow at Kyle.
“She’s got my vote, did after the airport kids, but today seals the deal. We mighta lost half the camp if she hadn’t stopped us.”
“The slide was east of us, not west,” Neil pointed out, not understanding what they meant. Kyle was the only one Adrian had told about the mental map. They’d marked the places together.
Kyle ignored him. “She’s a Level Two fighter right now and a Level Four, or maybe even Five with a gun. That sounds like the start of a good Eagle with the right personal training.”
Adrian took a sheet of paper from his pocket and gave it to Kyle. “Check those lessons over and tell me what you think.” His voice lowered. “You and Neil only, for a while.”
“You think he’ll come around enough to do it?” The mobster asked, not worried that his friend could hear them.
“Absolutely. Neil is one of the good guys. He needs to accept that he can trust her with our lives. When he does, he’ll be her biggest defender. After the wolf, of course.”
All three men laughed at that, the tension broken, and the light of Safe Haven’s boundaries began to glow with powerful magic.
Their bonds circled the camp and wove a golden net of invisible protection over them. Weakened by anger and strengthened by love, the glimmering strands crisscrossed through the night, creating a bubble few of them could discern, but all of them felt in one way or another. Six of Safe Haven’s guardians had gathered and their power was strong.
14
“The problem is fuel.”
José’s voice was annoyed. “They have to drive the tank in some places, to crush a path through.”
Cesar slammed his scarred fist onto the hood of the muddy gold convertible, knocking his bottle to the dirt. “They must come faster!”
José reluctantly held silent. One day soon, this camp would be his and maybe sooner than Cesar may suspect, if he didn’t find a fresh batch of women to ease the restlessness of their men. “I will tell them.”
Careful not to let the wind rip it from his fingers, the younger Mexican handed Cesar a dirty baggie with slips of paper inside. “Rick’s message.”
Cesar read the sheets quickly, glowering at the warnings he read. The white man was telling him to wait, but Cesar wasn’t going to do that. The tank team was on their way and in a few days, Safe Haven would belong to him!
The slaver scanned the remnants of the refugee camp, despising the signs he saw of rebuilding and strength. These people were organized, powerful. He had to stop them now.
“No whiskey. Tell them that as well.”
Groans met this order, but no one protested despite Cesar rolling them by a town yesterday that clearly had survivors. They hadn’t taken a town in over a week and the guerillas were unhappy. Not nearly as much as Cesar, though. The stocky slaver was in a foul mood today and they knew better than to cross him.
One of his whores had managed to get his gun and kill herself. Normally, he wouldn’t have cared, but this one had been pregnant with the first of his many bastards and he took it as a bad omen for his plans to seed America with his descendants. Timed with the defiance of these patriotic refugees, the only answer seemed to be death for them all.