Scavenger Vanishes (The SkyRyders Book 3)

by Liza O'Connor

  “Thank you,” Alisha whispered.

  “Don’t thank me yet. First, we have to get you somewhere safe, and even then, six months is a long time and shit happens.” Alisha knew she was thinking of Carol.

  She had just disconnected when the door to the exam room opened and Jack stepped inside. “Are you decent?”

  Alisha looked down at the paper exam gown. “As much as one can be when wearing a paper towel,” she said, trying hard to be brave. She even tried to smile, but her lip quivered and ruined the effort.

  “Come here,” he said, and held out his arms.

  Alisha didn’t hesitate upon his offer of comfort. She buried herself in his strong arms, wishing she could hide there for the next six months.

  “I assume by now Sandy has verified you aren’t a virgin?”

  Alisha nodded her head, but remained buried in his arms.

  “From a phone call the general just received, I’m not certain that’s going to be enough to make this bastard go away, but you’d definitely be safe if you were married to an officer of the Corps.”

  Alisha shook her head and buried her face deeper against his chest as she cried in misery.

  “I tried calling Logan, but he wasn’t picking up,” Jack told her.

  “Leave him out of this. He made it very clear he never cared about me.”

  “Alisha, you don’t believe that,” Jack said.

  “I have to, Jack. Our last conversation was direct and to the point. He never loved me. He used me to get his promotion and he’s moved on now. He has a new lover and the only bone he threw me was that he cared for her no more than he did me. She’s convenient and useful. That’s all he wants.” Alisha sniffled. “This is my problem, alone.”

  “No,” Jack said. “You’re not alone. You have me. It would be my honor and great pleasure to marry you.”

  Alisha unburied her head and looked at him in shock.

  “Not your first choice, I’ll grant you, but a strong friendship isn’t a bad foundation for a marriage. In fact, it’s probably better than the way most marriages begin. And from our kiss this morning, I may not be as gay as I thought.”

  Alisha put her hand to his face. “You are the most generous person I’ve ever met.”

  “Is that a yes?” he asked uncertainly.

  “No. I can’t let you do this. I’ve screwed up so badly that marrying me won’t do anything but destroy your life along with mine.”

  “Hey, I’m not sacrificing myself. I happen to love you very much. We can make this work.”

  “I wish it were that simple. I wish marrying you would make everything all right, but you can’t save me, Jack. In fact it would be better for your career if you stayed far away from me.”

  “Not going to happen!” he assured her. “So tell me why you don’t think marrying me will get Brown off your back.”

  “Because David is no longer my problem. I’ve got a much bigger problem now. I’m three months pregnant.”

  “Oh, Alisha,” Jack cried, and pulled her back tight against his chest. “How?” he asked in confusion.

  “The event every girl in the world prays for happened. One time and I’m pregnant,” she said with false glibness.

  “Then it’s more important than ever that we marry. I’d be a good father for your child, Alisha.”

  His words caused her heart to break with pain. “You’d be wonderful—the best father in the whole world—but it’s not going to happen that way. I can’t prove it’s a virgin birth without undergoing a psych test, and doing so will hurt the baby.”

  “What are you talking about? We’ll pull the medical records. This is very simple to prove.”

  “Not with a screw-up like me. I didn’t go to a doctor the day after to get my BCD. I went to battle. I never got a BCD implant. There was only one time, so I know absolutely it’s a virgin birth, but I can’t prove it. And you know my reputation around here. Except for you, there isn’t a person who would even believe I’ve only had sex once in my life.”

  Jack pulled her tight against him. “There’s got to be a way to prove this,” he insisted.

  “I could take a psych test and prove it was a virgin birth, only the test could kill or severely damage the baby.”

  “What if Logan were to take the test?” he asked.

  “First, it wouldn’t be conclusive, since I’m reputed to have slept with every man in the Corps. Second, he wouldn’t take the test, nor would I ask him to risk his career by doing so.”

  “Not even for your child’s life?”

  “Don’t look at me like that,” she begged.

  “You cannot let your pride get in the way, Alisha. The baby is more important than pride!”

  “It’s not pride, Jack. I’ll do anything to save this child, but I have to choose my best chance of success, and that’s not it. I don’t know how many men would have to take the test, but minimally you and Logan would have to take it. If it comes to a choice between quietly aborting this child and pretending it never happened versus having two of the Corps’ most valuable assets undergoing psych tests, which do you think the general’s going to choose?”

  “I have no problem taking the test,” he assured her.

  She smiled and stroked his face. “I know. You’ve proven many times that you care more about me than your career, but this time your sacrifice isn’t necessary. I’ve come up with a different solution that will hopefully work.”

  “What?”

  “If I don’t tell you, you can’t be held accountable. I’ve done more than my share of damage to your career already. Just stay close to the general for the rest of the day so he doesn’t think you had any part in what happens.”

  “No. This is too important not to use every resource you have. Tell me what you’re planning so I can help you.”

  “Jack, you don’t have to be involved.”

  “Alisha, I am involved. I love you! Now what are you planning?”

  “Do you remember my friend Denny?”

  “Of course.”

  “Well, you can’t tell anyone, but Denny had to disappear, so he faked his death and became Betty, our wizard dressmaker. She’ll personally deliver some new suits today so she can check out a malfunction with my suit. When I get to the equipment shed, I’m going to reject several of the suits for a flaw I’ve discovered, and then I’ll slip into the box and leave the camp with Betty. From there I’ll disappear for six months until the baby is born. Then, I’ll sneak into the MAC lab and present myself for testing, proving my baby is not an illegal.”

  She mentally pleaded for him not to find a fatal flaw in her plan.

  “There’s a problem.”

  “There can’t be! It’s all I’ve got!” she cried in frustration.

  He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Listen to me. You’re right about the general. When Sandy tells him the situation he’s going to order the abortion and keep you under twenty-four-hour guard until it happens. You won’t have a chance to go to the shed.” He paused for a moment. “But wait here…I’ve an idea.”

  Ten eternally long minutes later, he returned.

  “What time is Betty coming?” he asked as he undressed, revealing one of the new fly suits. He took it off and handed it to Alisha while he redressed in his uniform.

  “At 1600. She’ll call me and ask to me to check the new suits she brought.” Alisha replied as she put on the suit and then pulled her jumpsuit over it.

  “You’ll never get her call. I’ll tell Gunny to forward it to me. At 1600, be in your bathroom fully camouflaged. Have the shower on and the curtain closed. I’ll come in, open the bathroom door, and tell you I’m taking your suit to Betty so she can check on the problem you’re having. Sneak out past me while I’m talking to the shower. Then I’ll close the bathroom door, get the suit, and leave. Stay close by me, because your room will not only be monitored, but you’ll have at least two guards at the door you’ll need to sneak by.”

  “Then what?”

 
; “Then we follow your plan. Except I’ll check the suits while you get in the empty box. I’ll return a few to go back with Betty.”

  “If we get caught, your career will be over,” she warned him.

  “If we get caught, your baby will be aborted. You cannot believe I value my career over your child’s life?”

  Alisha reached up and kissed him on the lips. “You are and always will be my best friend,” she assured him. “And in six months, if you still want to marry me and help raise this baby, it will be my honor to accept you.”

  Jack responded by deepening the kiss.

  Sandy barged through the door. “Oh, for God’s sake!” she yelled at Jack. “That’s the last thing we need right now!” she snapped, then looked at Alisha.

  Alisha had seen Sandy angry on many occasions, but she had never seen her look as sad as she did now. “I see you’re dressed,” she said, then looked at Jack. “Why don’t you see her back to her quarters?”

  “What did the general say?” Alisha asked.

  Sandy turned away and played at organizing her files. “He’s favoring a fast, quiet solution,” she replied, then turned to look at Alisha. “It’s scheduled for tomorrow morning. Think about your other option over the next couple of hours—after that it’ll be too late,” she warned.

  Alisha nodded and took Jack’s hand in hers.

  Sandy gave her a pained smile. “I’m sorry, kid. It could be a lot worse. There aren’t many people the general would go this far to save.”

  Jack thanked Sandy, put his arm protectively around Alisha, and led her from the exam room. Two soldiers escorted them all the way back to her quarters.

  “Do you want me to stay?” Jack asked.

  “No, I need time by myself, but thank you.”

  After he left, she lay down on her bed and stared into space. In her peripheral vision, she could see the clock. She marveled at how slowly time could pass when her child’s life hung in the balance. At five before four, she went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, closed the curtain and undressed down to her camo suit. She pulled the gloves and head cover from the jumpsuit pockets and put them on. She looked in the mirror to ensure she was completely invisible. Absolutely nothing looked back.

  Satisfied, she sat on the closed toilet seat and waited for Jack to arrive. As the minutes passed and Jack didn’t come, she grew frightened that something had gone wrong with their plan. Frantically, her mind searched for an alternative.

  Then the door opened and Jack walked in. “Alisha, I’m going to take your suit down to Betty so she can take it back and try to figure out what’s going wrong with it. It was red that’s going off, right?”

  Alisha was almost out the door when she realized Jack needed an answer to his question. She stepped back in and replied “yes”.

  “All right, then. I’ll take care of it for you,” he said, the sadness in his voice unmistakable. Alisha wondered why he sounded so sad until she stepped into her room and almost ran into the general. She eased around him as Jack came out of the bathroom and closed the door.

  “She’s a fighter,” the general said. “She’ll recover faster than you think.”

  “She’ll have to,” he replied, and went to her closet and grabbed her suit.

  The general frowned. “It’s a damn good thing they called you about her suit. It hadn’t even occurred to me she could just don the suit and walk out without the guards seeing her.”

  Jack opened the door, then stopped and looked at Powell. “There wasn’t much risk of that, sir. I warned them to keep a watch for doors opening on their own. I mentioned it to the men watching the monitors as well.”

  “You could have just pulled her suit,” the general observed.

  “No, sir, I couldn’t. I think she’s got enough on her plate without us treating her like a criminal who can’t be trusted,” Jack replied. “If you’ll excuse me, sir, I have to get this suit to the gear shop.”

  Alisha waited impatiently at the end of the hall for Jack to stop chatting with the general. Finally, he opened the door and let her out. They walked in silence all the way to the gear shed. She could tell Betty was surprised to see Jack, but she caught on when he began to explain the problem they were having with the color red. By deftly turning the dial slightly as he talked, he demonstrated the red had become unstable, going from maroon to orange over a span of seconds.

  Betty was very apologetic and pulled out the new suits one by one to see if they had similar problems. Most were fine, but four proved to be faulty. She put the four back in the box Alisha presently lay in. Then she closed the lid and Jack helped her lift the box onto the truck.

  Alisha was thankful the gear officer didn’t insist on loading the box himself. While she was light, he might have thought the box too heavy for a mere five suits.

  The moment the truck moved, Alisha pushed up the lid and got out. She rearranged the suits and closed the lid. She had barely made her way to the back corner of the trailer when the vehicle came to a halt. The back door opened and a soldier inspected the box while Betty presented the paperwork showing she had permission to remove five suits for repairs. The soldier was very diligent in his scrutiny of the box. He carefully searched each suit to ensure nothing else left. Alisha realized had she remained in the box, it would all have been over.

  Satisfied everything was in order, the guard signaled the truck through the gates. The moment the truck passed over the bridge, Alisha sank to the floor and wept in relief. She wasn’t yet safe, but her baby at least had a chance now.

  A small metal window opened between the cab and trailer. “You okay?” Betty asked.

  Alisha forced herself to stop crying. “I’m fine.”

  “Thank God you got out of the box. I didn’t know they were going to go through them. I was just about to let them jump my bones for a distraction when I realized the suits were too low for you to be inside the trunk.”

  “I had this feeling I needed to get out of the trunk,” Alisha admitted.

  “How are you feeling now?” Betty asked.

  “Fine…why?”

  “Because I’ve got a goddamn army jeep escorting this truck. It could be because I’ve got suits going back with me, but it means I won’t be able to drop you where I planned. We’re going to have to play this by ear. I’ll have to stop for a battery charge in Vegas—be ready to jump out when I open the back and check on the cargo.”

  Alisha was ready, but Betty never opened the back. When she got back into the cab, she apologized. “Remember me telling you about Freddy, who can get me anything I want? Well, he’s in the vehicle following me. He noticed I didn’t have a lock on the back. Always helpful, he just happened to have one, which he slapped on and locked before I could do a damn thing. Sorry, kid, but it looks like you’re going to be working on a manufacturing line for a while.”

  “I can’t lose this baby,” Alisha moaned.

  “Don’t give up, Alisha. Game’s not over. We’ve just had a setback. Actually, this could be a better place to hide you. No one from the outside even knows this place exists, so the police won’t find you if the asshole sends them after you. Nor will the Corps think of looking for you in their own secret manufacturing site. The more I think about it, the more I like this change of plan.”

  “Except won’t someone notice a non-authorized pregnant woman wandering aimlessly about?” Alisha asked, failing to see how this was anything except a nightmare.

  “Yes, a pregnant woman would stand out, but an old, fat woman…we’ve got lots of those. I’m adding to my current staff this week. I’ve just been waiting for security clearance on the people I want to hire. When approval comes in tomorrow, I’ll call them all in except for one, and you’ll take her place. You’ll be a legitimate employee, so no one will question your right to be there and you’ll have your own private room and good food. With a little luck, you can hide in plain sight until the baby’s born.”

  Chapter 23

  Copulating with Marge t
aught Logan a new way to survive. It taught him to separate his self from his body. He could take pleasure from Marge, but it was only physical pleasure. It did not touch whatever was left of the essence that defined him. He could send young Ryders into battles guaranteed to kill them, but it didn’t touch him. He was separate and apart from his actions.

  He used Marge frequently to fine-tune his ability to separate himself. Whether Marge knew it, whether she enjoyed it, he didn’t care. It was as irrelevant as the young men’s deaths. Nothing meant anything to him anymore. There was only basic human needs and the job he had to do for the Corps. As to whether the Corps appreciated his efforts, well, he didn’t care about that either.

  Despite the relentlessness with which he crushed his enemies, if one of them came up behind him and shot him in the head, he wouldn’t care. He had no more interest in dying than he did in living. It was all simply something to do, and the something he was supposed to do was root out the evil, the corrupt, and the criminals in the Corps.

  He knew both Tucker and Marge discerned a difference in him now, and neither seemed happy with the change, but he was no more concerned about that than anything else.

  When Marge admitted one night she had a headache, he suggested perhaps he should replace her with a younger model, one who could bear his requirements. Marge assured him it was just a minor headache, and he used her that night as he used her every night, short and hard. He made certain Marge knew there was nothing personal in the act. She was a convenient vessel to provide him a moment of pleasure.

  Chapter 24

  The work was tedious and boring, and sitting all day hurt Alisha’s back, but she had food, shelter, and Betty’s company in the evenings, so she couldn’t complain. The only problem about hiding out in the open was the stress of knowing any day someone might recognize her, although Betty insisted it wasn’t likely. Her hair was frosted gray and her dresses, bought at the consignment store on the grounds, were large enough to cover the thick waist padding she currently wore. As her body grew, she would reduce the extra padding, so to the casual observer, she was fat when she came to work, and she’d still be fat six months later.