“We’re trapped.”
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Hours dragged by. Alicia and the others hunkered down in the shadow of two tents, sprawling out and keeping a close watch. Their perceptions were full of the chaos that comprised the criminal encampment; their immediate concern the wild, bare-knuckle boxing contest going on to their left.
They kept their heads down, willing it to end. Alicia found herself beside Russo who still seemed to be giving her the cold shoulder.
“What’s up, Robster?”
Russo eased his bulk around to talk to her. “I don’t like you, Alicia.”
The blonde nodded. “You’ve joined a big fucking club, mate.”
“But I did respect you.”
Alicia frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Russo’s face scrunched as he thought hard, trying to choose the right words. “You used to run with a criminal outfit?”
“I’m guessing Marco told you that.”
“Does it matter?”
“To a degree—yes. We all should know who we can trust. And the answer to your question is—yes. I worked with a nasty piece of crap, helped him carve out a decent stake in the underworld. I didn’t hurt innocents and I didn’t do immoral. I kept my principles... just about.”
“Why?” Russo couldn’t seem to get his head around it. “You’d just left the SAS.”
“It had nothing to do with the regiment or the Army. It had everything to do with me. My past. My history. Back then, I was broken mentally. Not so strong, though you’d never have known it. The only way to survive, to see a new day and look forward to it, was to bulldoze forward. To never look back. To find new experiences and new dangers. To put myself in harm’s way and see where it took me. I hated my life, Russo, but I still wanted to live.”
“Didn’t try to join a private military company?”
“I fell where I fell. Doesn’t mean I liked myself back then.”
Russo finally nodded. “I understand you a little better now.”
“Shit, man, I don’t understand 90 percent of the things I do, the crap I say. It’s rarely planned.”
“You know, if you ever want to become a leader, it has to be.”
Alicia nodded, knowing he was right. To gain the next step in her development she was going to have to make some changes. She turned away from Russo and stared up at the stars. The remote vault of the sky took her away, letting her drift, switching her mind to neutral where it just had to stay for a while.
Twenty minutes later, still in the darker reaches of the night, Crouch spoke up. “Look lively. They’re moving.”
Everyone shuffled around, stretching tired limbs. They made themselves small and stayed low as several rowdy groups threaded through the tent town all around them. Two tried to walk through them, but realized there was no space and moved on without speaking. After a while, Alicia rose to her knees.
“Campfire’s out,” she said. “A dozen or so sleeping around it. That’s as good as we’re gonna get.”
Cautiously, they stole out of their cover, stretched and slowly walked forward. Alicia could feel a stiff breeze coming in from the sea that set her teeth on edge. Smoke from the fire stung her nostrils. The camp was quieter, but still active in many ways. They threaded through dozens of tents, careful to avoid stumbling over guide ropes or into the fragile material. It was a hard slog. Twice more, Crouch engaged with those that approached them.
By the time they left the tent city behind, a faint dawn was lightening the eastern skies, pale through the trees and surrounding slopes for now, but moving inexorably closer. It was just another case of bad luck, but it was luck they could do nothing about.
Ahead, the wide, flat plain led to the graveyard and the ocean. Many obstacles still stood in their way. A group of men were washing in a narrow stream to the right, stripped to the waist. Alicia didn’t see them until it was too late. As soon as she stepped into sight one of the men noticed her and wolf-whistled.
Another saw Caitlyn.
It was a big group. Most were stripped to the waist, some to their underwear. Ordinarily, Alicia might have wandered over to investigate, but this was entirely the wrong moment. Her backup was limited and their time was short. It wouldn’t do to ignore the men, so she glanced over and gave them the middle finger. Caitlyn shook her head. Russo and Marco came into sight next, which quieted the men somewhat, but then came Elyse.
The sight of her got them shouting and calling out again as if they hadn’t seen a woman for weeks. Alicia guessed many of them were jailbirds so maybe that was true. She kept her eyes ahead and didn’t break stride.
“Hey.” A broad-chested, scarred and tattooed man was running toward them. “At least tell me your name.”
Again, it would be worse to ignore the attention. Alicia glared at him but noticed he was staring at Caitlyn.
Bollocks.
He was dripping wet, his hair hanging loose. His clothes, what little he had on, were also waterlogged. Alicia noted several of his friends watching and knew that if he made any progress they’d be right over. She also noticed an assortment of guns lying on the ground close to the stream.
“Piss off,” Alicia said. “We’re in a hurry.”
“Not talking to you,” the man said. “Talking to her.”
Alicia cringed a little for Caitlyn, but this was the time for the office girl to step up and be counted.
“Not interested,” she said, not even looking at the guy. “Get lost. You’re depriving some village of an idiot.”
Not a half bad put down, but it wasn’t appropriate for this place. The approaching man only frowned at her as if he’d suffered a terrible insult.
“What did you say?”
Russo swore and whirled around, grabbed Caitlyn by the arm, and shoved her forward. “Fuck off,” he growled at the man. “Bitch is mine.”
A hand went up. The man backed off. They continued unchallenged for a time. Russo whispered an apology to Caitlyn. They passed a sizeable drug operation, passing through several sets of long, wooden benches where men and women sat, filling packets, bags and rucksacks. Some of the areas had makeshift canvas roofs, most didn’t.
By the time they made it beyond the drug compound, the sun was up. Alicia welcomed its strong rays on her face and body, loving the new warmth. But the growing light only made them more vulnerable. A fact that was proven when a large man built even broader than Russo yelled at them.
Crouch stopped, seeing that they’d attracted some attention. “What’s he saying?”
Ralston spoke up. “It’s Persian. He’s asking for help.”
“Doesn’t look like it.” Alicia squinted at the wildly gesturing man who was slowly going red in the face.
“No choice.” Marco started to walk over. Alicia followed, hoping it wasn’t a trick of some sort. Maybe they’d found the poachers. Maybe someone had seen them walking all night and gotten suspicious. And she didn’t trust Marco and his crew any more now than she had yesterday.
Ralston spoke briefly to the Persian, then turned to Crouch. “He wants help to load his truck. Says he’s on a bad timeline and doesn’t have enough men.”
Crouch decided quickly and nodded, moving off. Alicia followed him around a wooden building. A big truck with a canvas-covered back end stood there, half full of wooden crates. Four men were shoving more crates onto the truck. Alicia followed Crouch’s example and got stuck in, hefting the heavy chests and lifting them onto the truck. They soon formed a line, passing the containers from one person to the next until the truck was full.
The big man thanked them profusely, sweating, then jumped into the driver’s seat. The engine roared.
“I wonder what the hell we just helped load?” Alicia whispered.
“Doesn’t matter,” Marco said. “It’s out of our hands and we’re almost at the beach.”
“You know where to go, right?”
“Of course. I pinpointed it back on the slopes.”
&nb
sp; Alicia pursed her lips. Of course he had. He’d probably also pinpointed a way to escape. So far though, he hadn’t been alone with his colleagues and able to tell them. Alicia caught Crouch’s eye and saw the same distrustful look.
“C’mon,” Russo said. “We’re nearly there.”
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
A line of trucks stood ahead, parked end to end, marking the edge of the vast camp’s boundary and the start of the long slope leading down to the beach. The trucks were high, canvas-covered haulage vehicles. Russo headed straight for them, thinking the long row made for good cover. They emerged from the last of the tent cover, walked across a wide patch of rutted ground, and passed between the trucks.
Alicia slowed. They didn’t know what was on the other side. With care, she looked out, staying in concealment. Ahead, the long slope led straight down to the beach and into the ship graveyard. This close, it was even more daunting and even more incredible. She saw ruined monsters for as far as the eye could see, filling her vision. She couldn’t even see the ocean, just shattered wrecks rising, forgotten, abandoned forever.
Elyse was at her back. “We good?”
“You actually risked that? In the dark?”
“It’s worse in the day. You can see much more.”
Alicia wished she hadn’t asked. She leaned forward to check left and right but at that moment there were several shouts. Alicia drew her head back.
“What—”
Alicia put a finger to Elyse’s lips, quieting her. Several guttural commands were spoken from a place beyond the far side of the trucks but quite close, she guessed. She hoped the others had remained in concealment. She heard more harsh words and then the scream of a woman.
“What’s going on?” Elyse said and tried to push forward.
Alicia held her back with difficulty. She shuffled to the very edge of the truck’s shelter and peered out.
“Get ’em over here!” a stubble-haired, bearded man shouted, waving a big arm. He was dressed in camo trousers and a thick, black jacket and carrying what appeared to be a brand new Heckler and Koch rifle. He stood off to her right, at the side of a truck, hidden from the camp by its bulk.
Two more men dragged a figure between them. The figure was being carried by the arms. His head was down, his feet dragging. Alicia saw long straggly blonde hair, matted with mud, hanging down. The two men and one other hauled him up to the side of a truck and threw him against it. The man slithered but caught himself, managing to stay upright. He was bare chested, his jeans ripped and bloodied down one leg. Alicia saw that he had been beaten.
“How we gonna kill ’em, Mac?” a man barked.
Alicia watched the bearded man called Mac drag another figure into sight. A woman wearing a leather bomber jacket and jeans. Her hair was long and black. Alicia couldn’t see much apart from the blood that covered her face.
“Steal from us will ya?” Mac bellowed. “Right here? In our own backyard?”
“Fuckin’ gypsy scum,” another criminal said, kicking out at the bare-chested man. The blow struck his shin which sent him down to one knee. He held up a hand in protest but punches rained down on him from above.
The woman held her head high, keeping the attention of Mac. “My loyalty is not to you,” she said in a quiet voice. “It is to my brother.”
Mac looked across at the man his men were beating. “That piece of shit? He’s a thief, good for nothing. Can’t even fire a gun. But he’s your blood, and that’s all you care about. Well, what the hell am I?”
The young woman stood ramrod straight as Mac bellowed into her face. Alicia realized Elyse was alongside her now, watching the drama whilst Russo had come up behind them.
“Follow me,” Russo said. “There’s a place further down where we can crawl down the slope to the beach without being seen.”
Alicia shook her head. “Haven’t you heard all this?”
“They’re criminals falling out. Let them fight. They don’t deserve our sympathy or our help.”
Alicia felt torn. There was something different about this woman and her brother. She felt it inside. Something that told her she should wait.
Ignoring Russo, she turned back to the confrontation.
“You?” The woman was laughing in Mac’s face. “You think because you boned me you have me? I am free. I am with the wind. Tomorrow is my destination. Always.”
Alicia cringed as Mac backhanded the woman across the face. He was livid. The fury of the storm was in him and it was full-on Category 5.
“You gypsies,” Mac hissed. “So full of shit. The only reason you move on every day is because you’re running away from someone.”
“Yes.” The woman nodded. “Always being chased. We leave broken hearts in our wake because we are wild. We are free. And we are victimized.”
She kicked out, catching Mac between the legs. He grunted but didn’t fold. Instead, he grabbed her head in one large hand and flung her back against the side of a truck.
“Not this time,” he said. “You were gonna steal a fortune from me. You’re never running again.”
By now the bare-chested young man had risen to his feet, blood running down his chest and face. Mac made a rough gesture to his men. They moved in, pinned the young man’s arms and marched him over to his sister.
“Cam,” the sister said. “Camden, are you okay?”
“Yes, little sister. Yes, Ruby. You know me. These fuckers can’t hurt me.”
Ruby smiled at Mac in defiance. “You’ll never hurt either of us.”
In light of their predicament, Alicia was a little stunned at their words. She tried to temper her admiration. This brother and sister were about to die, no matter how obstinate they were. It was then she realized what had initially moved her and why she stayed watching even now.
Both Cam and Ruby reminded her of herself at the young age of early to mid-twenties. They moved forward relentlessly in life, chasing a better future because the past held nightmares so terrible you couldn’t slow down, you couldn’t stop, for fear that they might close in and catch up with you, knocking you stone dead with their violent forcefulness.
“We have to help them.” Alicia didn’t realize she’d spoken until Russo growled at her.
“This isn’t our fight.”
“Then fuck off, Russo. I don’t care if they’re criminals. They’re young kids about to get murdered by a bunch of mercs. You run off if you want to.”
Without looking at him, Alicia took out her gun and her knife. She rolled her shoulders, cleared all the shit from her head.
“We can’t hurt you, eh?” Mac sneered at both brother and sister. “You think bullets won’t tear you in half. Split your head open?”
“You don’t understand,” Ruby said. “You can’t hurt us because, together, we don’t fear death. We are family, the only true love that there has ever been in this hostile world. No matter what you do to us, you can’t truly hurt us.”
Mac bared his teeth. “Let’s see about that, shall we?”
Many things happened at once. Alicia saw what was coming and darted out of hiding. Cam raised his head fully for the first time, piercing Pacific-blue eyes glaring out from under his ragged blond hair. Ruby stepped into Mac’s personal space.
A merc rushed in and thrust his large knife through Ruby’s ribcage. Seeing it, Cam went wild, exploding into action. His face was twisted, feral beneath all the blood. The sight of his sister’s agony made him crazy.
Alicia caught Mac’s eye. The gun came up. Alicia was on him long before he could fire, stabbing him twice in the neck. She then twisted and caught Ruby, stopping her from falling onto the hilt of the knife that protruded from her ribs.
Cam hit the other men solidly with all the hardest points of his body. He had been trained to fight, although not in any conventional way that Alicia could see. The first merc got a double elbow to the face, the second a rising knee to the throat, both blows perfectly placed to crush soft cartilage. Cam couldn’t quite reach
the third, who had trained his weapon on him.
“I’m gonna enjoy—”
He never finished. Elyse, it seemed, had followed Alicia into the fight and now leapt from the still-dying Mac’s body, onto the last merc. Blindsided, he collapsed under her. Elyse fired two point-blank slugs into his chest.
Cam was wild-eyed as he stomped hard on the faces of the two mercs he’d debilitated, pounding their skulls into the dirt. Then, suddenly, he straightened and whipped his head in his sister’s direction. Leaving the mercs to die he ran for her, grabbing her out of Alicia’s arms and clinging on tight.
Cam stared into his sister’s eyes. “I’m here. You’ll be okay. We’ll bind you. I’m right fucking here for you.”
Glancing up for one second he beseeched Alicia with wet eyes. Alicia already knew there was no hope for Ruby, but ripped off the bottom of her T-shirt and pressed it to the flowing wound.
Above them, Elyse and now Russo stood guard, looking out for trouble. Crouch and the others were coming up from the south.
“Ruby, I... I...” Cam gazed into his sister’s eyes. “I brought help.”
Ruby smiled, eyes glazed but hearing and responding to every word. “I’ll never leave you, Cam.”
“I know. I know. We always said we’d follow the long road together. We always will.”
“I’ll be with you, Cam. If tomorrow, we can’t be together, know that I’ll always walk at your side.”
Cam squeezed his eyes shut to hold back tears. Alicia looked away. She could feel the young girl’s heartbeat fading. Life was leaving her. Cam held her hand tightly. Alicia looked out over the ocean.
When Ruby had passed, Cam gently laid her body down and glared at Alicia.
“You helped us.”
“I’m sorry she died. I wasn’t fast enough.”
That touched Cam. His eyes softened. “I was slower. I failed her.”
Alicia rose and pulled him up with her. By now, the entire group had gathered and stood silent under the bright sunlight.
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