“Sorry,” he said. “I had no choice.”
“I know,” she said. Then, already moving off again, “Let’s get out of here before your messenger boy decides to bring back more of his friends.”
*
“So how’s this brilliant plan of yours going to work?” Jordan asked. “You’re going to kill him when he shows up on the bridge? Then what?”
“Killing him isn’t going to get me closer to Gillian,” Keo said. “That’s the whole point of this, remember?”
He looked out of the tree line and toward the bridge, almost a full 200 meters in front of him. They were far enough to be invisible among the woods, but close enough to see with binoculars. It had taken them an hour to find the location, most of that time spent skirting around areas that could potentially have soldier presence.
By the time they reached a safe spot, his watch had ticked to 2:16 P.M.
He could see the two behind the guard station in the middle of the bridge easily enough. They looked alert behind the M60, as did the four soldiers walking around them. Four, instead of just the two that were there yesterday. They kept to their half of the steel structure, probably because they didn’t want to get caught in front of the machine gun. Smart.
There were no signs of Steve, which was problematic. It shouldn’t have taken Eric all that long to report in. Unless Steve sensed an ambush, then he wouldn’t show up. It wouldn’t surprise Keo if he was wary of just that, especially after what he had done to Tobias less than twenty-four hours ago.
Maybe he’d even send Jack in his place—
Or not, Keo thought as Steve himself appeared on the other end of the bridge with Jack riding on a horse next to him. The lesser Miller, perched in his saddle, made for an awfully tempting target.
Next to him, Jordan was clutching her rifle so hard he could hear the sound of her fingers tightening.
“Don’t,” he said. “I need him alive for now.”
Jordan didn’t say anything.
“Jordan…”
“I heard you the first time,” she snapped. Then, in a softer voice, “So what now?”
“I’m going to go out there and give him the ring.”
“And then?”
“Hopefully he’ll keep his word and take me to Gillian.”
“‘Hopefully’? Christ, Keo. I didn’t know you were that stupid.”
“I think he’ll keep his word.”
“What makes you think that, for God’s sake? He can’t be trusted.”
“I’m relying on what I know about men like Miller.”
“What, that they’re all assholes?”
“That, too.”
“And if he does exactly what I think he’ll do, and shoots you as soon as you hand the ring over?”
“That’s what you’re here for.”
She didn’t say anything.
“Can you hit him from this distance?” he asked.
“Are you kidding me? It’s too far. I’m not that good.”
That makes two of us.
“Then you’ll have to get closer,” he said.
“How much closer?”
“As close as you need to make the shot if I’m wrong. But you have to promise me you won’t kill him if I’m still alive.” He looked at her, catching her eyes and holding them. “Remember, we’re here to save Gillian. After I make sure she’s fine, we can all get out of here. I told you about the Trident?”
“The yacht?”
“Yeah.”
“What about it?”
“I know how to contact them. All I’ll need is a ham radio. When I get Gillian, we’ll leave Texas behind. The three of us.”
“Your friends on the boat will come get us?”
He nodded. “All I need to do is make contact.”
She clenched her teeth for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. But what about Miller?”
“If he gets in the way, I’ll kill him.”
“What if Gillian doesn’t want to leave, did you think of that? She didn’t want to leave with me last time.”
“Yes, but I have to find out for certain. I spent six months looking for her, Jordan. I can’t just half-ass it now.” He paused, still holding her gaze. “Agreed?”
“You’re risking a lot on a hunch, Keo. Miller could order them to shoot you down as soon as you show up and just take the ring from your cold, dead hand.”
“I agree, he could do that. But I’m going on faith that he won’t.”
Jordan almost laughed. “Faith in Miller?”
“Not in him, but in men like him. He thinks of himself as a commander, and every commander collects soldiers. Certain types of soldiers. If he believes that I’ve killed Tobias for him, I think he’ll want to keep me around.”
“I don’t understand…”
“Any man who accepts the kind of job I did—and can pull it off—is valuable these days, don’t you think?”
She smirked. “You ever consider that maybe you’re thinking way too highly of yourself?”
He chuckled. “That’s entirely possible, but I don’t think so.”
“You willing to bet your life on that?”
“Why not? I’ve been doing it for the last six months, looking for you guys. What’s one more day?”
She shook her head before staring intently back at him. “Just shoot him, Keo. Then we can try to save Gillian my way. Without Miller around, the town won’t be nearly as dangerous. We can do this together. You don’t have to go out there and risk everything on some stupid hunch.”
“I’m relying on human nature.”
“Whatever you want to call it, it’s not worth your life.”
She looked conflicted, as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t put it into words. Keo wished he were better at reading women, but he didn’t know what was going on behind those deep brown eyes of hers at the moment.
“If everything works out, can you find someplace to survive the night alone?” he asked.
“Big if…” But she nodded. “There are plenty of places around here to lay low. Don’t worry about me.”
“I can’t help it. It used to be I was just worried about me, but these days, I find myself worrying about other people, too. Frankly, it’s annoying.”
“Welcome to the human race.”
“Eh,” he shrugged.
She smiled, and he thought it was a very nice smile despite the dirt on her cheeks and flecks of something green and brown in her hair.
“If this blows up in your face, there’s another way out of town,” she said.
“Your inside guys?”
“One of them. His name’s Dave. I’ve never actually met him before, but Tobias seems to trust him.”
“How do I make contact?”
“He works in the main cafeteria. Most of them wear name tags when they’re working, so you won’t have any trouble finding him. Oh, and he’s a black guy.”
“Okay. A black guy named Dave who works in the cafeteria.”
“The main cafeteria.”
“There’s more than one?”
“Two. One for the soldiers and one for the general population. Big town, remember?”
“So what does Dave look like?”
“Didn’t I just say I’ve never met him?” She looked annoyed, which wasn’t anything new. He had that kind of effect on women lately.
“Right. So Dave the black guy who works in the cafeteria.”
Keo turned back to the bridge.
Miller had reached the middle and was looking around with his hands on his hips. Jack, on the horse next to him, was saying something.
He looked back at her. “You don’t have to do this. It’s not too late to catch up to Tobias.”
“Are you tired of me already?” she asked with a slight smile.
“It’s not that—”
“I’m just messing with you, Keo.”
“Ah.”
She stood up. “Good luck. I hope you’re right about Miller, because otherwise you�
�re a dead man.”
Tell me something I don’t already know.
He watched her jog off with her rifle. When he couldn’t see her anymore, he listened to the soft crunch-crunch of her boots against the ground. Eventually, even that faded, and he was left with just his slightly elevated breathing.
Why was he breathing so hard?
Right. Steve. The soldiers.
And that M60…
He slung the MP5SD just as Steve shouted, “Keo! You out there? You said you wanted to see me, so here I am!”
He paused for a moment at the sight of a squirrel perched on the biggest tree he’d ever seen in his life. The tree had been there before Wilmont was a glimmer in its founder’s eyes, and would likely be here long after he and Steve and everyone else in T18 were gone. The squirrel was staring blankly at him.
Keo grinned back at the animal.
“Keo!” Steve shouted. “Where are you?”
He could hear the growing agitation in Steve’s voice. Apparently everyone was getting annoyed with him today.
Keo decided to let the man keep waiting a little longer, just to give Jordan enough time to get to her spot.
“Keo! Get out here or I’m gone!” Steve looked down at his watch for dramatic effect. “You have one minute!”
Keo stood up.
This is such a bad idea. A really, really bad idea.
The squirrel must have agreed, because it seemed to shake its head at him before turning and trotting off along the massive branch of the tree.
“Keo!” Steve shouted. “You out there? I don’t have all day!”
He sighed and took a step outside the tree line and onto the road and waited for the M60 to cut him down like the idiot he clearly was.
Any minute now…
CHAPTER 16
He reached the bridge, and he was still alive, so he kept walking.
Steve watched him coming, but Jack and the other soldiers were scanning the area with binoculars. Even the two perched on the water tower to his right were focused on the bridge. One or both probably had their rifles pointed at him at this very moment, though they were too far downriver for him to be sure. He’d rather not know anyway.
He hoped Jordan had found a decent spot to shoot from if this whole thing went sideways. What the hell was he thinking anyway, putting his life in the hands of a man like Steve? The guy had sent him out there to kill his best friend. Okay, former best friend.
Of course, that wasn’t entirely true. Steve had sent him out there more as bait to lure in Tobias’s fighters, who he knew were hiding in the area. That was clever, and exactly the kind of thinking Keo was relying on: a man who could make that kind of tactical decision would see the value of keeping someone like him alive and working for his cause. How different was Steve from all the men Keo had worked for in his ten-plus-year career with the organization?
If the answer was a lot, then this was going to be a very short walk.
But he had made it onto the bridge, and a full minute later, he was still alive.
Definitely a good sign.
If Steve was going to kill him, he would have done it by now. Probably. Instead, the man stood perfectly still, hands on his hips, and squinted across the steel structure at Keo as he walked toward him.
Keo looked from Steve to the two behind the M60. One of the soldiers was permanently fixed behind the machine gun while the other held the ammo belt, waiting to feed it into the black metal monster. The other four guards continued moving around, looking for danger around and under them.
He walked with his hands at his sides, the MP5SD behind him. There was a good chance he could draw the Glock in his hip holster if someone started shooting, but it was unlikely he was going to hit much of anything from this distance. Especially when those two behind the sandbags started unloading.
“You look good for a dead man!” Steve shouted. “A little worse for wear, but apparently still in one piece! What happened to your face?”
“A painful birth!” Keo shouted back.
Steve said something to Jack, and they both chuckled. Then, back at Keo, “I didn’t think you’d survive the ambush!”
“Yours or theirs?”
“Either/or!”
Keo was close enough to the middle of the bridge now that he didn’t have to shout when he said, “You couldn’t have given me a heads up about that?”
“I could have, but then you wouldn’t have walked so casually into their sniper fire.”
“You saw that.”
“Not me, but guys I snuck into the area before you even showed up.”
“You had it all planned out.”
“I’ve been fighting Tobias for a while now. You have to understand the enemy in order to defeat him.”
“Now where have I heard that before?”
Keo finally stopped a meter in front of Steve.
“Let’s see it,” Steve said.
Keo fished out the ring and tossed it over. Steve caught it and held the jewelry up to the light. The sun glinted off the diamonds and washed over the shape of the Lone Star State in the middle.
He took a moment to look up at the sky. Jordan was right; it did look like rain. Not quite here yet, but he guessed before the night was over T18 was going to get a lot of extra water. Maybe they could hang the clothes out and save themselves a day at the riverbanks tomorrow.
Steve had all but ignored him and seemed focused entirely on the ring. If Keo didn’t know better, the older Miller looked almost…sad?
“They were friends, you know,” Jordan had told him. “They were friends for a long time after everything happened. They were in the camp together, then one day they were running things…”
“He loved this,” Steve said, then smirked. “I don’t know why. It’s ugly as fuck. What do you think?”
“I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing it,” Keo said.
“Yeah, me too.” Steve pocketed the ring. “But I’ll keep it anyway. In memory of him.” Then he fixed Keo with a suspicious look. “How did you do it? Take out Tobias?”
“Does it matter?”
“I’d like to know.”
“I shot him in the back of the head.”
“How did you know about the ring?”
“I didn’t, but I figured it was better than dragging his entire corpse back here. The ring was the most obvious personal possession he had on him.”
He expected more of an interrogation, but Steve just nodded. “Come on, I think I still have a bottle of spirits stashed somewhere in my office.” He turned to go, but then suddenly stopped and looked back at Keo. “Oh, just for your safety and mine, give Jack your weapons.”
“And here I thought I’d earned some trust,” Keo said.
Steve smiled. “You have. But you can never be too careful these days.”
Keo unslung the submachine gun and unclasped his gun belt and handed them over to Jack. “You’re looking spry.”
“Feeling spry,” Jack grinned back. “Won’t be running around for a few more weeks, though. But hey, things will be calming down with Tobias out of the way. Looks like they turned tail and ran from what our scouts saw back at the YMCA building.”
“I wouldn’t know. I was out of there by first light.”
He followed Steve off the bridge, but not before sneaking a look back at the woods on the other side. Jordan was there, somewhere, among all the green and brown. Of course he couldn’t see her, but he could feel her watching him back.
He turned to Steve. “So where’s Gillian?”
“You in a hurry?” Steve asked.
“I haven’t seen her in half a year, so yeah, I’m in a little bit of a hurry. I want to make sure she’s fine.”
“She’s fine. I saw her this morning.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why were you seeing her this morning?”
Steve shrugged. “It’s a small town, Keo. Don’t read too much into it.”
Keo didn’t believe him
, but he said, “How did she look?”
“Definitely worth killing a guy for.” He walked on for a moment, before adding, “So, six months without any action?”
“I’ve seen plenty of action.”
“But no sexy times.”
Keo didn’t confirm or deny. He said instead, “When do I get to see her?”
“After you and I have a little chat.”
“About what?”
“Where we go from here,” Steve said, “and whether you’re more useful to me dead or alive.”
Keo sneaked another look at the woods on the other side of the river, wondering if it was too late to signal Jordan to take the shot.
*
“He was a star football player, but you probably already guessed that,” Steve said.
He was pouring from the same bottle of Jack Daniels from yesterday, though there was, at most, just three to four more pours left. He pushed the shot glass across the table and Keo took it, then cringed at the burn as the whiskey went down.
“I think our schools might have even played each other’s once or twice, but I can’t remember,” Steve continued. “Way before your time, obviously. What are you, late twenties?”
“Sounds about right,” Keo said.
“You’re pretty impressive for a guy that young.”
“I didn’t have a lot of choices.”
“Hard life?”
“Hard enough.”
“I can respect that. Jack and I were the product of divorced parents; we were raised mostly apart when we were younger. Barely saw each other until our parents kicked off. I can understand having to do what you have to in order to get by. That’s what we’re doing here.”
They were back in Steve’s office in Marina 1. Keo hadn’t been certain he was going to make it off the bridge alive, but that turned out to be his paranoia getting the best of him. Steve seemed happy to keep him breathing, at least for the next few minutes.
“He was good,” Steve was saying. It took Keo a moment to figure out that he was still talking about Tobias. “Got himself a scholarship to UT in Austin. Didn’t play much there, though. As fast and big and skilled as you are, there’s always one or five other guys faster, bigger, and more skilled.”
Steve nursed his drink, staring at the glass as if he expected to find some kind of revelation swimming among the golden honey liquid.
Purge of Babylon (Book 6): The Isles of Elysium Page 17
