His response was to blush.
“Any one of you decides to get frisky with me is gettin’ a boot up the—”
“I like her,” Mitch said with a laugh.
Cami turned to Mitch, but he hid behind his beard. She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "Teenagers. I'm surrounded by teenagers and hormones." She opened her eyes and looked at them all. “We’re all gonna die, you know that, right? And somewhere out there my husband is being held captive and…God, Cisco might have already killed him if he finds out who he is…” Cami said as her vision blurred with unshed tears. Her throat tightened. After all this time, to find out Reese had been alive and fighting his way south to her…he was so close.
“He’s not gonna die,” Jo said and put a hand on top of Cami’s.
“Yeah, you’re right, we are all gonna die," Flynt admitted frankly.
Jo glared at him.
"But it ain't gonna be today,” he continued. “And it ain’t gonna be tomorrow, not if I have anything to say about it. I got my own score to settle with Cisco," he growled. "If you want, I'll handle him, and you take care of Harriet."
"Oh, I'll handle her," Cami snarled.
"Whoa there, simmer down now, y’all,” Jo interjected.
“You’re not suggesting we go on the offensive here, are you?" asked Mitch.
"This from the kid who wanted to charge off in the middle of a hurricane to hunt down Cisco?" Flynt asked looking incredulously at Mitch.
"Hey, for the record," Mitch said as he jabbed the table with his finger, "I wanted to charge off into the hurricane to look for her," he said as he pointed at Cami. "If I had a chance to blow Cisco's head off, then that would’ve been just a bonus…”
Flynt grinned. "Get in line, kid."
“I take it y’all don’t like this Cisco person,” Jo said.
“Understatement of the year,” Mitch muttered.
“You really need to tell her…” Flynt said.
"Okay, okay,” Cami said. “This is getting us nowhere. What are we going to do about Harriet?”
“I got an idea," Amber said from the hallway leading to the front door. “But I have a feeling you're not going to like it."
Cami pinched the bridge of her nose again. "What part of ‘I need a few minutes to myself’ doesn’t anyone around here understand?”
“Come on in, little lady,” Jo said, pulling a chair out for Amber.
“Okay, let's hear it," Cami said with a sigh.
“And by the way…” Amber said with a grin as she sat. “I told you so. Shoulda told everyone about the supplies back in the beginning…”
“Yes, yes, I got it,” Cami sighed. “What’s your plan?”
“I like her,” Jo said to Gary, with a nod to Amber.
“I do too,” Mitch replied with a grin.
Amber blushed, but kept her composure. “So, here’s my idea…”
Chapter 21
Braaten Forest Preserve
Northwest of Charleston, South Carolina
Reese walked next to Jenkins, fighting the urge with every step to choke the life out of the monster next to him. The man had just admitted he'd had a part in kidnapping his wife and daughter…the thought of the cretin next to him with his hands on Cami or Amber…
Reese was so mad he could hardly see straight. His heart raced, his breathing came in short bursts, and sweat dripped between his shoulder blades. His hands opened and closed into fists. He needed to hit something. He turned and looked at Jenkins. He needed to hit someone.
"I know what you're thinking," Jenkins said, unconcerned as they walked back to camp. "Why should I trust this guy?" He stopped and looked at Reese. "You probably shouldn't. But, think about it this way. Why would I have any reason to lie?"
Reese stared at him, jaw clenched tight and didn't say a word.
"I know, I know," Jenkins said with a nod. "It's a trap, I'm trying to set you up, right? Look here, if I wanted to kill you, I would've done it already.” He drew his pistol, but kept it pointed at the ground. "If I wanted to, I could put this right up against your forehead and pull the trigger and no one would bat an eye. Shoot, Cisco would probably congratulate me on removing a troublemaker. That's the reputation you're getting, by the way—did you know that?"
Reese blinked. "Troublemaker? I haven't—"
Jenkins holstered his pistol again. "You haven't done anything. But you've been talking. And like I said, the people you talk to have been talking to me, or the people under me. Either way, word’s getting out, that you're trying to start something."
Reese blinked. “But I—"
"I get it,” Jenkins said with a hand up. "You don't have to convince me. I'm glad I found out about you before Cisco did." Jenkins smiled, and it sent a wave of cold down the back of Reese's legs. “He was right—that speech he gave the other day? This is a hard world we're livin’ in, one completely different than what we all knew before." Jenkins looked up at the trees and the darkening sky above them. "It's been a long time since any of us have seen an electric light—or a plane fly overhead—or anything like what things used to be, you know?"
Reese stared at him. The world had already turned upside down thanks to the tsunami, and Jenkins was making things even worse. Emotions roiled inside him. Anger and fury fought with nostalgia and loss. He'd taken too long to get home. He'd left Cami and Amber vulnerable, and animals like Jenkins and Cisco had swept in…
Reese closed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists again. Panicking, or losing himself in what-ifs and should have's wouldn’t do his family any good at all.
"All I'm saying," Jenkins continued, “is Cisco was right about the world, but he's the wrong person to do it. He's an animal, a psychopath—nothing more. The man gets off on violence, and he doesn't want Bee’s Landing because he wants power, or to establish law and order…he wants revenge on some guy named Flynt. Well, now he wants revenge on your women, too.”
Reese swallowed. "Why does he want…revenge? What did my wife and daughter ever do to him?"
Jenkins laughed. "Well, he's already attacked your neighborhood twice, and they were the leaders of the defenders. They kicked his butt twice."
"What?" Reese gasped. "None of this makes any sense. My wife isn’t some soldier…”
"Where the heck you been anyway?" Jenkins asked.
"I was in Maine when the tsunami hit," Reese said as he ran a filthy hand through his hair. "It's taken me till now just to get back."
Jenkins whistled. "Bet you got some stories to tell."
Reese stared at him. "I'm not gonna sit around and take a long walk on the beach with you…what do you want from me?”
Jenkins smiled. "I thought I already told you? I want you to kill Cisco."
“Why me?” Reese asked.
“Because you’ve got motivation,” Jenkins said through his oil-slick smile. “And, if anything goes wrong, I can let you take the blame.”
“What makes you think the prisoners will follow you?” asked Reese.
Jenkins scoffed. “Prisoners…those people back at camp would be dead by now if we hadn’t taken ‘em in. But you’re quick—I like that.” Jenkins spat into the bushes and adjusted his belt. “They’ll follow me because Cisco is insane, and everyone knows it. He’s already caused the deaths of something close to 75 people between us, Bee’s Landing, the people in Rolling Hills, and the National Guard.”
“Rolling Hills?” Reese blurted. “I—we—have friends that live there…”
“Well, they don’t live there anymore. Cisco burned it to the ground and killed anyone who fought back. Only a handful escaped.”
Reese’s knees grew weak. He dropped to the ground and held his face in his hands. “This can’t be happening…”
Jenkins snorted. “It already happened, friend.”
“I‘m not your friend!” Reese hissed as he looked up at Jenkins. “If I had a gun—“
“I know,” Jenkins said with a smile. “That’s why I’m going to turn you loose on Cisco.
I can run this show better than he ever could, but I don’t have enough men on my side to straight up take over. If you remove Cisco...I’ll be the natural choice to take command.”
Reese eyed him for a moment in the fading light. Jenkins was lying, that much Reese was sure of—the fool probably had only one or two men willing to go against Cisco. After the stories some of the other prisoners told him, Reese was confident Cisco would put down any insurrection with extreme violence. Anyone that survived would likely wish they hadn’t.
“How do I know you won’t attack my home once Cisco’s gone?”
“I got no need to,” Jenkins said with a chuckle. “He wants payback, not me. I’ve seen enough of Bee’s Landing to get that you people ain’t never backing down. I say we make a little pact.” He offered his hand and helped Reese to his feet. “You take out Cisco, and when I take over here, I’ll take anyone who wants to stay with me and head somewhere else.”
Reese hesitated. “Agreed. On one condition.”
Jenkins laughed. “You got guts. Go on, what is it?”
“Anyone—anyone—who doesn’t want to join you must be allowed to join us.”
Jenkins considered this for a long moment and looked away. He sighed. “If that’s the price it takes to get rid of Cisco, I suppose it’s worth it. Wouldn’t want a bunch of useless women and kids holding me down anyway.” He grasped Reese’s hand and they shook.
“So,” Reese said as he discreetly wiped his hand on his pants. “You gonna give me a gun?”
Jenkins laughed again. “Seriously? You think I’d give you a gun?” He shook his head. “Besides the fact that I don’t trust you, Cisco would have my head if he found out I gave you a weapon—and the first guard that spotted you with a gun would shoot you on sight.”
Reese walked next to Jenkins in silence. “Did he hurt my—”
“No more than a little roughed up,” Jenkins explained. “Cisco sent some men to get your wife’s friend, Flynt. When they couldn’t get him, they were supposed to get his woman. Instead they came back with your daughter.”
Reese staggered off the path and caught himself on an oak sapling. His vision blurred. He hadn’t been there to protect Amber. His little girl…memories of her as a child flashed through his mind. He took a deep, shuddering breath.
“Don’t worry,” Jenkins crooned. “I don’t think they actually touched her. Your wife and friends from the ‘hood showed up in force. Big firefight,” Jenkins said as he pushed a tree branch out of his way and held it for Reese. “That’s why all the trucks are shot up.”
“The people from Bee’s Landing did that?”
Jenkins nodded. “With a little help from Flynt’s friends.”
“How did my wife—”
“One of my men captured her as she retreated after the rescue mission.” He grinned and his teeth flashed white in the dim light. “Cisco hit her some, trying to make her crack. We were gonna use her to unhinge the people back in Bee’s Landing. Captured one of your radios.”
Reese clenched his hands so tight into fists his palms ached. “How did she get away?”
Jenkins shook his head. “Don’t know. We think one of our new recruits…well, the ones before the road refugees joined us…cut her loose one night.” He shrugged, looking more like a walking shadow than a person. “Slipped away as the hurricane hit and took out a bunch more of our men. She’s a real Rambo, you know?”
“She got away?”
Jenkins nodded. “Fought her way all the way back home. Between that and the old man’s house blowing up, we ran out of steam. Me and Cisco bugged out—he wanted to keep going. If I’d let ‘im, I’m sure he’d be dead by now.”
“Why didn’t you?” demanded Reese.
“Oh…I got my reasons. And all this,” he said as they approached the edge of the gravel parking lot that served as home base, “is part of it. I knew he’d rebuild his forces. And I convinced him to do the hard work. I’ll take over at the right moment.”
“And this is the right moment?”
Jenkins grinned. “Not quite yet. But you’ll find the right time, I’m sure.”
Reese grabbed Jenkins’ arm and stopped him before they left the safety of the forest. “How am I going to get close to Cisco?”
Jenkins looked at Reese’s hand on his arm until he let go. “When the time is right, I’ll find you.”
Reese nodded. His hands trembled and it felt like the world was spinning around him. “When?”
Jenkins grinned and shoved Reese forward through the tree line. “Soon.” For the benefit of the guards, who turned at the noise, Jenkins raised his voice. “Keep moving, slacker!”
“He try to slip away?” asked one of the guards, a slovenly bald man covered in tattoos.
“Nah, just slow as molasses runnin’ uphill in January,” Jenkins replied, as he gave Reese another shove.
Reese glared at him over one shoulder.
“Oh-ho! We got us a live one!” the other guard hooted.
“Go on, loser,” Jenkins said with a smirk. “Get your chow before the others take it. You need your beauty rest. Got another hot day tomorrow, and them trees ain’t gonna cut themselves down.”
Chapter 22
Braaten Forest Preserve
Northwest of Charleston, South Carolina
Cisco smiled as he watched the woman—a new recruit from the latest crop of road refugees—move about his tent, lighting candles for the night. Outside, the sun hung in the sky like a fat pumpkin above the horizon, but well on its way toward night. Inside the tent, as she lit one candle after another, moving around the interior of the command tent with halting steps and nervous looks over her shoulder, the area continued to glow brighter and brighter.
The soft orange light cast a lovely glow on the exposed skin of her shoulders and neck. Cisco licked his lips. The woman stumbled over her own feet and caught herself at the four post bed. She gasped at the look on Cisco's face and hurried to light the final few candles with shaking hands.
Unlike with the Lavelle woman from Bee’s Landing, the exquisite specimen before him was absolutely terrified. He could almost smell her fear. If only that had been the case with Lavelle…
Cisco frowned. Even the mere thought of that troublesome woman ruined all his fun. He ground his teeth together and clenched his fist as he sat at his makeshift desk. "Go on, get out of here," he growled as he waved at her with a dismissive hand. "And tell Jenkins I want to talk to him.”
“O-okay…” the woman said haltingly as she made a beeline for the exit.
Cisco reached out and snatched her wrist in a painful grip. She cried out, and spun around, unable to go any further without damaging her arm. "Is that how you’re supposed to talk to me?" he demanded with a menacing growl.
“I-I’m sorry! I'm sorry, sir! Boss!”
Cisco let her go and gave her a hard slap on the rump. "That's more like it! Now get!"
She left the tent and broke down in sobs as soon as she was free of his domain.
Cisco had to keep himself from laughing. "It's good to be the king…” he muttered to himself.
"All hail King Cisco," Jenkins said with a redneck twang.
Cisco turned in his seat. "Come in, brother,” he said as he stood. "Let me get you a drink."
"What's the occasion?" Jenkins asked as he took off his hat and collapsed into a comfortable chair in the corner. His bald head shone like a lamp in the candlelight.
"Planning session…” Cisco said as he opened his last bottle of rum and poured two healthy shots. The filthy glasses clinked as he picked them up in one hand and turned to point at the map. "I think we're about ready to take on Bee’s Landing, but this time were going to do it right. I'm going to have a plan laid out ahead of time. No mistakes. No excuses this time. And no hurricanes."
Jenkins nodded as he took the offered glass and held it up in salute. They both took a drink, and Cisco exhaled loudly.
"Yeah, that's the good stuff right there," Jenkins said.
"Only the best," Cisco replied in jest. “Can you imagine what they got hidden away in that ritzy neighborhood?"
Jenkins licked his lips. "I can almost taste it now…all the hard liquor and fine wine we could want…”
"Well, we ain’t gettin’ anything until we come up with a plan. You handled the diversions like I asked?"
Jenkins nodded. He pulled himself up out of the chair like a stretching cat and ambled over to the map. "Sure did,” he said as he examined the map for a second. "Here we go…here, here, and there," he explained as he tapped his grubby finger on three different locations. “North of the neighborhood. There's ain't no roads or anything up there, so it’ll be easy for people to slip on through. Down here," he said as he pointed at the southeastern entrance to Bee’s Landing, “we've been through here a couple times already. There’s a couple burnt houses, but that road leads to—”
"Lavelle," Cisco said through clenched teeth. "What about the third place?"
"That's over here," Jenkins said, shifting his finger on the map. “Over here, this is the northeast entrance. Bunch of cars all jammed up over here.”
"I remember," Cisco said as he took another slug of the rum. The MRAP had smashed headlong into the cars, but the way they’d been packed made them jam together even tighter. Even the huge monster armored truck had been stymied.
Jenkins nodded. "That stopped our vehicles, but it ain’t gonna stop these rookies…not on foot. I'm having ‘em come in around here and pass this house here," he said as he used his finger to draw out a pincer shape. "Even if one group gets picked off, the other will probably get through."
"What's the plan then? They stealing, fighting, or setting fires?”
"That's the best part," Jenkins said with a grin. "I've been talking with them all afternoon, the groups I got set up—they’ve been separated from everybody else. I only selected men who have families here. They’ll do whatever I say, because if they don't, the guards will do whatever I say to their wives and children.” Jenkins looked up at Cisco with a sincerely confused look on his face. "I just don't get the appeal of families. Nothing but a weakness. Grab a hold of a man's family, and you can make him do anything." He shook his head. “It don’t make a lick of sense.”
Broken Tide | Book 6 | Breakwater Page 16
