Heat Waves
March 30th, 2012
Chadron, Nebraska
1
He hadn’t really expected to see her again, not even the body. He’d honestly hoped she would have already been dragged off by wild animals.
Kenn observed the couple as they slept, ignoring the unpleasant feel of the tall ash tree between his legs and the darkness that only let him hear the animals padding restlessly below. The beasts sniffed and pissed, trying to find a way into the truck that he had parked against the thick trunk, but the furious Marine paid them little attention.
Kenn had found the ranch house just before dawn, hitting shapes in the fog that were either dogs or coyotes as they attacked his tires. He’d taken up a window-high vantage point as a dim, foggy morning lit up the area, sure she was in there. His starlight scope had penetrated seven windows, and then he’d found them.
Covers tangled, limbs entwined, it appeared that a night of passion had worn the couple out. The woman wore a sleeping shirt that barely covered her thighs, flashing white panties as she stirred. The man, the wife-stealing, walking dead man, had on a pair of green boxers that the intruder recognized even from a distance. They were military issue…
Kenn’s grip tightened on the rifle in his hand, nails digging shallow grooves into the stock as he spotted a dog tag, familiar tattoos, and that careful scan upon waking that every Marine did.
Dread and cold rage formed a thick knot of hate in Kenn’s gut. Sergeant Marcus Brady was Angela’s show of force. He was one of the few people Kenn had ever felt threatened by.
The Marine struggled with himself–the old Kenny wanting to aim and fire, the new Kenn not wanting to kill without justification–and he waited tensely to discover how close his wife and his team leader were.
2
Curled against Marc’s back, Angela woke all at once and tensed. She sensed danger, though the voices were sated and silent.
He is close.
Her eyes snapped open.
She glanced at the window, and tried to focus. Had she seen something?
“Are you all right?”
Angela told herself it was just more nerves. She would be reunited with her son today…and Kenny.
At least it’ll be Easter and not All Fool’s Day, she thought. “We should get moving soon.”
Marc stretched, loving the feel of her pressed tight against him. “You regret it?”
“No.” Angela lingered despite feeling they should hurry. “You?”
“A little. It wasn’t what I had planned.”
Angela’s face was red. Watching him had been a blast from their stolen past–one she would be replaying in her mind for a while. “Hot as it got in here, I’m surprised it didn’t go further.”
Marc slowly rolled over, sliding an arm around her tense waist. “Don’t go back to him, honey. Please. We’re so good together.”
Angela was tempted. The time they’d spent together was seared into her, but the first thought upon waking had been one of fear. “I can’t make any promises. You know that.”
Marc did know, but he slowly lowered his lips to hers anyway. He would take whatever she let him have.
3
Kenn couldn’t take this.
Rage exploded in his mind as their mouths touched. When she let out a moan that Kenn couldn’t hear but felt anyway, blood pounded in his brain. How many times had that sound brought him to a thick, instant climax? A hundred? A thousand?
Kenn kept his finger away from the trigger by sheer will. If he killed them now, like this, he could never return to Adrian. Those sharp eyes read the blood on a man’s hands.
He had to do something, though. He couldn’t sit here and let her betray him, not while he was in range.
Angela pulled back suddenly, another swell of fear interrupting a moment that she didn’t know the ending to.
Even the wolf was tense, fur bristling.
Marc raised a brow. “Problem?”
She hesitated, very aware of him lying mostly on top of her. “Just wolves, I think. We should get up.”
Marc let her arm slide off his bare shoulder. “It didn’t happen, right?”
Angela flushed in the cool morning air. “For now.”
Marc sighed and sat up. “I didn’t expect it and neither did you. I won’t even try to forget it, but I can pretend it didn’t happen. Because in my heart, I know it did.”
Angela rolled out of the bed, and though he could now, Marc didn’t peek at her bare skin, respecting her choice. When she figured out what she wanted, she would let him know.
4
Knowing he should leave, Kenn lingered. Her creamy flesh was enticing as he studied them from a quarter mile away. The rifle was still clutched tightly across his lap as dozens of wolves continued to circle below. He had yet to find a woman whose body called to him as strongly or promised as much. Weak, Angela might be, but she was also hot. Always had been.
On the edge of murder, Kenn saw a clear moment below and took it, pulling the string to open the hatch of the sunroof. He quickly slid down the slimy tree, rifle over his shoulder, and was safely inside his truck with the roof latched before the hungry predators could react. They lunged onto the truck anyway, but it did them no good.
Viewing everything through a red haze, Kenn plowed into the animals mercilessly. He wasn’t going far, just to the Blazers he’d discovered. He had until the couple returned to the vehicles to figure out how to get rid of Brady so that he could give Angela what was coming to her.
She had brought a dangerous man who Kenn had hated long before the war. His thoughts raced with fury and fear. Coincidence?
I don’t believe in those. She’s been keeping secrets.
Kenn scowled. A fellow Marine had touched his woman, maybe even violated her. It was going to be hard to keep from killing him. Brady deserved to die for that.
5
“Will we have to fight our way out of here? Kill them?”
“No. She heard us last night and knows she was wrong.”
To Angela’s surprise, Marc flushed.
“That bothers you?”
He considered. “Might have been quieter.”
Angela laughed, tossing her small notepad onto the bed where he was tying his boots. “That makes two of us. Page seven is what I agreed to trade and what I got for it.”
Marc picked up the small notebook, subtly observing her as she moved around the room, getting ready to deal with what was coming. She left her hair down, braids mixed in, and when she tugged her jeans up over a creamy cheek, Marc forgot to breathe.
“Well?”
He mentally snickered as he replied, “Looks good to me.”
“Max said to leave it at the barn. The wolves don’t usually come out until dusk. I also agreed to have you check their venting system while I give the kids a checkup. We’ll probably be here until mid-afternoon,” Angela said. “I wanted to ask you first, but she’s set in stone on this “woman in charge” shit.”
“Works for me. I’m well trained, remember?”
The amusement was forced, the room suddenly tense, and Marc wasn’t sure how to begin. There were things he needed to know, things he needed to say.
“What do you think about Safe Haven? Do they feel okay?”
“They seem organized. Careful.”
“They’re his people. What he’s told them, they’ll believe.”
“Beyond grabbing Charlie and running, which you already know I won’t do, we’ll have to hope they’re good people who can recognize the truth.”
“So, you do plan to stay with them.”
“Plan? No, but I’d like to try. What I won’t do is pledge my loyalty to some asshole who thinks he’s God because his nuts still work. I want to try with other people, but I’ll be picky. I’ve just gotten my freedom back, and I won’t give it up.”
“How do you want to handle it?”
“Get Kenn alone, if possible.”
“I meant about me.”
“You’re a very good friend who’s helped me, a lot.”
“Most of the problem’s solved if you tell the truth,” he pointed out. “We’re family.”
“That would mean you can’t claim Charlie.”
“It’s probably for the best anyway, right? At least until you decide what you want.”
Angela was shaking her head. He had been too good to her. She wouldn’t allow Marc to make that sacrifice. “You’re a good friend.”
“Okay. Just tell me beforehand, so our stories match.”
“You make it sound like I plan to lie.”
“Don’t you?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure yet.”
Marc was always impressed with how she would choose to be honest first, and lie second. “I understand. Say what you have to. I’ll support it.”
She was warmed. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you, honey.” Marc’s attention dropped to her shoulder, to the scar showing from under her tank top. How it had got there, was really the only unanswered question he still had at this point, though, he would insist she get it all out now. It would be one less thing for her man to use against her. “Did he give you that?”
“…yes,” she answered slowly.
“As a punishment?”
“Mostly as a reminder,” she muttered. “He’s the boss.”
“Will you tell me about him?”
“Why?”
Marc grunted. “Because we’re a day out, and all I know is that he’s a Marine, an abusive bastard, and a walking dead man if there’s any justice, but that’s not enough. There has to be something I can use. I need you to tell me.”
Angela was quiet for a minute, considering how much honesty she wanted to give. You had to know your own mind when you dealt with Kenny or he would rip you apart. It was only fair that Marc be warned.
“You won’t find anything. At least I don’t think you will, but I’m only going to go so far. I can’t live it during the day too.”
Marc thought her nightmares had gotten a lot better since their night around the fire…since the morning she had woken in his arms.
“He’s strict on everyone but himself, and he’s obsessed with appearances. He can’t admit it when he’s wrong and he had a bigger shoe collection than any man should. He hates to be dirty, unshaven, or out of style in any way and demands the same of those around him. He’s manipulative and honestly believes that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
“Now, really tell me about him,” Marc instructed patiently. “Get it over with.”
Angela stared at the foggy bedroom window, not hearing anything now. “I hid what I could do. At least, I thought I had. I knew he was dangerous when we met, knew I couldn’t trust him, but I honestly thought I could hide it. I thought if I was careful and did what Kenny wanted me to, that I could have the same connection that…you and I had.”
Angela perched on the window ledge. “We only dated for a few weeks before he was inviting us to live with him. When I declined, bad things happened.”
Marc’s countenance darkened. “Like what?”
Angela couldn’t believe she was about to bare her shame to the one person she wanted to respect her more than anyone else. Finally, she answered, “My sitter’s daughter was hurt in a hit and run accident that required her to be there while her daughter went through therapy. The sitter’s mother, who was already a heavy drinker, suddenly had an endless supply and stayed too drunk to talk, let alone care for an active one-year-old. I had to call off, miss classes. Stress built up, and one night Kenny found me crying on my smoke break. When he offered again, I accepted so I could keep my son.”
She sucked in a calming breath to keep speaking. “I couldn’t apply for welfare because I was underage and didn’t know if the family had reported me as a runaway. I always assumed they didn’t care, but I wasn’t taking the chance, not after having my baby for all those months.” Angela paused, voice sad, heartbreaking. “Charlie was my only joy.”
“You moved in. Did he know then, about what you can do?”
Her tone grew cold. “He wasn’t a Marine then, but he was still sharp. I doubt he didn’t at least have a clue.”
Marc was certain her man had known exactly what he was getting into. “How did he find out?”
“He kept up the act for almost a year. I was…content. I began to doubt he was the threat I’d first sensed. It made me careless. I would reach for the phone when it rang, stare toward the door before someone knocked. Sometimes…I’d respond to things I picked up from him.”
She forced herself to continue. “I met the real Kenn in our bedroom a little after our first year anniversary. We were about to…and I picked up an image of him with one of the teenagers at Brendamores, where he was a salesman.”
“And you didn’t hide it.”
Angela gave a bitter laugh. “I went nuts. It got bad fast, and after I’d slapped him a couple times, the police showed up. I was arrested and he kept my boy!”
Her voice was rough with hurt and anger. “He left me there until the court date. Five days. When we got in front of the judge, he told them I had a violent side and that he was considering filing for custody because he loved the boy but didn’t want me. I was put on probation and 241-Kids opened a file. When I got out, he let me find my own way home and made me sit outside the door until I’d pissed on myself before he would let me in.”
“Son of a bitch!” Marc shouted, furious. “Why didn’t you kill him?”
Angela didn’t react, still in the past, and continued as if Marc hadn’t interrupted. “When he let me in, Charlie wasn’t there, and I knew immediately I was in trouble, but it was too late.” She sighed heavily. “I don’t even remember there being any neighbors home.”
“What’d he do to you, Angie?”
She turned slowly, pulling up the sleeve of her shirt. “He marked me as his.”
“Why didn’t you use your power on him?”
“I couldn’t. Between the Child Protection people, his mom’s money, and my age, I would have lost my baby. Even if the court ordered Kenn to give him up, he wouldn’t have. Kenny would have sold Charlie off on the black market first. He told me so. He said he wanted control of what I could do, and then things would return to the way they were before I fucked it all up.”
“Back to him being in charge and you being his slave.”
“Yes, but he didn’t count on the witch inside. She decides who we use these gifts for, not me. When I would have given in, the demon locked it all up. It went away, and there was nothing he could do about it.” Her voice shook. “He was so mad…”
She closed her eyes against those days of living hell, and Marc unclenched his fists, angrier than he had ever been in his life.
“He didn’t believe me at first, tried to make me use it to defend myself. That’s how I got this.” She tilted her arm so he could see that it was, indeed, a letter K.
“After he cut me and…took me, he made me stitch myself up and then I was his.” Her voice lowered. “Every hit he ever gave me after that was because I let the witch deny him what he wanted most–my power. Deep down, he always suspected I could still access it.”
Angela took a deep breath and brought herself back to the present. “I think maybe he did give up after a while, believed I had no access to it anymore. As long as I was defenseless against him, he was content with that. In time, I learned I could have some of what I wanted–if I was willing to pay the price. His affairs continued, I was the perfect woman, and the witch stayed asleep. Until the war, I hadn’t used my gifts in over a decade.” She let the true pain bleed into her voice. “I lost who I was to keep him from getting it.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” Marc demanded, full of fury and guilt he didn’t know what to do with. He should have been there for her!
“I was ashamed. I made a bad deal. And because…Kenny was my punishment for our love.”
Awful hurt filled Marc and his rage crumbled. “That’s not true! I was the one who should have been punished!”
“Because we were wrong to give in. Our love was a sin.”
“No. Because I let them keep us apart. Our love wasn’t wrong, honey, it was meant to be. They were wrong for getting in the way.”
Angie was afraid to believe. “You mean that?”
Marc opened his soul to ease her pain. “Even when we were apart, baby-cakes. I only stayed away to give you a chance at a better life. I’m sorry you paid for it…sorry I was too weak to recognize the trap. I let them keep us apart! I’m so sorry.”
Tears fell as a huge chunk of ice around her heart blew off.
“We should have run together. If I could do it over, I wouldn’t leave you twice.”
“But you will if I…choose to stay with Kenn?”
“Not until you’re safe, content.”
She stared at him sadly, already sure Kenn couldn’t give that to her.
“Think. What’s the first thing he’s gonna do or say when we pull up?”
She gaped in dismay, finally understanding. “He’s going to ask, no, order me, to tell him who you are and why we’re together.”
“He’ll force your choice right away. Tell him we’re family, and let him cool off.”
“If I do that, when it comes out that you’re Charlie’s dad, people will think he was born in incest.”
“We’ll tell the rest of it at that point, but if you say we’re just good friends, they’ll think there’s something going on between us.”
“Isn’t there?”
Marc was caught off guard and then stunned by her next words.
“I don’t want to ruin any chance we might have in the future.”
Hope and love filled him, but he controlled himself, replaying her words. Had she found a way for them to be together?
“Wow. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Yeah, well, I haven’t made a choice yet. I can’t until I get my son back. I’ll handle the rest after that.”
“But you’re thinking about it…about us?”
“Even more after last night.” Angela blushed at her own boldness.
“I won’t push. You’re in charge.”
“I know better,” she snorted, putting the last of their things into the two kits. “It’s all spinning faster now, and I’m sure these are our last hours together before the collision.”
Marc became quiet, thinking there was still so much he wanted to say.
“Now’s the time for it, Marc. Speak your mind.”
It was a good opening, and he took it.
“I still love you, Angie, so much it hurts. I want us to be together if you can forgive me for all the hell you’ve survived. I don’t blame you if you can’t, but you can count on me now.”
Marc leered, trying to lighten his somber words. “I’d also agree to be your man-toy, but I can’t wear leather. It gives me hives.”
His joke surprised a laugh out of her. “Thanks. That’s another beautiful picture in my head.”
The tension thickened as they stared at each other. When he advanced, she stayed still, wanting his kiss but still afraid of what it might lead to.
“Nothing,” he whispered against her jaw. “Just this.”
Marc pressed his mouth to the corner of her lips and Angela sent her arms around his neck with a sigh of pleasure that he responded to.
He tasted her, coaxing, and Angela felt him tense when she deepened the kiss, tongue touching his, breath mingling.
Angela pulled away, eyes wide with desire, and Marc reluctantly let her go. “It’s gonna work out somehow. You have to believe that.”
“It may take a while,” she warned, locking down on the loneliness that was already trying to overwhelm her heart.
“I understand. We’ll handle things as best we can, and maybe there’ll be a time for us later.”
There will be, Angela vowed silently. I won’t give you up twice.