Double Jeopardy

by Emma Sinclair

  “Yeah,” she said.

  Let’s get this over with.

  There was no denying that she desperately wanted to see Cal, but what about AJ? Once they got back to the city—she refused to think of it as an if—what was going to happen?

  “Don’t think of after, okay?” AJ said surprising her. “Just focus on what we’re going to have to do to get him out.”

  She nodded. She knew what she had to do.

  She climbed out of bed and started to dress. Knowing that time was going to be short, and she was going to have to move as quickly and quietly as possible, last night she’d taken the time to alter some of AJ’s clothes to fit her better.

  She stepped into his green pants, which she’d cut off at the bottom so they weren’t too long. She’d fastened one of his shirts into a fitted tank top.

  She slipped on some boots AJ had stolen for her, pulled her black hair back with a tie at the nape of her neck and she was ready to go.

  “Ready to kick some ass?”

  She turned around to see AJ dressed for action as well. He too wore a pair of green prison pants. His white tee shirt was fitted to his built frame. His hair too was pulled back at the nape of his neck.

  A sharpened piece of flint was latched to his thigh.

  “Can I have anything to protect myself?”

  He nodded.

  “I’ve got some more in the cave outside. Don’t worry, I won’t send you in empty-handed.”

  He smiled at her and her knees went weak. She had to look away. There was no way she was going to be able to do what she had to do with weak knees.

  After they were appropriately armed, they took off through the dark woods towards the barracks.

  It was eerie in the dark. The woods were mostly silent except for the occasional piercing scream. Di was pretty sure she didn’t want to know whether the sound was animal or human.

  She shivered.

  Somehow, even in the dark AJ was so attuned to her that he reached out and rubbed the back of her neck.

  She smiled in the dark for the first time, actually feeling comfortable about what they were going to do after they broke out Cal.

  They perched in the bushes next to the barracks.

  “Remember,” he said. “The brig is one floor down.”

  Di nodded.

  “How are we going to get in?”

  AJ sighed.

  “We’re going to need a distraction.”

  “Have any ideas?”

  As soon as the words were out of her mouth she knew what he had planned.

  Before she could stop him, or tell him that he was a dumbass, he leapt from the bushes. He dashed over to the guardhouse and began screaming.

  “Hey asshole!” he yelled to the guard. “This place sucks, what are you going to do about it?”

  The guard ignored AJ at first, she took the opportunity to move closer to the door. As much as she wanted to kick AJ’s ass at the moment, she knew she had to use what he was giving her.

  Almost exactly the time she reached the door, AJ let loose with a string of expletives the likes of which she’d never heard before. He also began tossing rocks, which he told her he was going to use as weapons, toward the guardhouse and against the windows on the first and second floors.

  Lights flashed on. Di flattened herself in the bushes, trying to hide herself while staying as close to the door as possible.

  Within minutes the door crashed open and several more guards streamed out of the building.

  Di held her breath as five men came running out of the building. She slipped in the open door, not releasing her breath until she was inside.

  There were no guards, thank gods, but still, she moved quickly and stealthily.

  She found the stairs quickly and for the first time breathed somewhat easier.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Cal awoke to thundering overhead.

  He moaned as pain stabbed through his skull. Pulling himself from the bed was almost an episode in futility. He was barely able to stand.

  And he was getting dizzier. But if this was the one chance he had at escape, he was damn well going to take it, even if it killed him.

  “Cal?”

  At first he thought he must be hearing things.

  “Cal, can you hear me?”

  “Di?” He called back, though he never actually expected to get a response. He figured he must be dreaming.

  “Cal, there’s too many doors here. Which room is yours?”

  Not quite sure whether he believed his ears, he managed to make his way to the door. He banged loudly wondering who would answer, Di or his captors.

  “Cal, is that you?”

  “Di, what in the hell are you doing here? Are you all right?”

  Rather than her answer, he heard the bolt on the door slide open. The heavy metal door swung open to reveal the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

  “Oh my Gods, Cal are you all right?” What did they do to you?”

  She rushed towards him. He wanted nothing more than to crush her in his arms. Instead, she started examining his injuries.

  “I’m all right,” he said, suddenly feeling much lighter on his feet. “Are you all right? Did they hurt you?”

  “No,” she said. “I’m fine. Come on, we have to go.”

  “It’s too dangerous,” he insisted. Not that staying here was an option.

  “I’m not alone. I have your brother with me.”

  “Ajax?”

  “He prefers AJ.”

  What in the hell had happened?

  Di was obviously impatient. “You’ll be able to meet him if we all get the hell out of here.”

  A sudden influx of strength infused his body. He followed her out the door and up the stairs. The sound was louder up on the main floor. The sounds of laser pistols firing filled the air along with shouts.

  “Out the back door,” someone yelled.

  Cal instantly knew the voice belonged to his brother.

  “Come on,” Di grabbed his hand and pulled him along. “AJ will be right behind you.”

  He reluctantly moved along without his brother. They dashed out of the barracks and into the woods. The flashes from the laser pistols followed them toward the trees. They were almost free when Di screamed out and collapsed to the ground.

  “Di?” Cal rushed to her. She was obviously in pain. Tears swam in her eyes though she was trying hard not to let them fall. He ran his hands over her body. Her curves felt absolutely amazing. He had to temper down his desire to see where she was hurt.

  “My leg,” she bit out through clenched teeth.

  And then he saw it. The laser burn smelled like charred flesh. Her shin wasn’t the creamy color he remembered, but black and charred. Cal whipped off his shirt, ripped off one of the sleeves and wrapped it around her shin.

  “Are you going to be able to walk?”

  She hissed through her teeth as she struggled to stand.

  “I have to,” she said. “Come on.”

  Cal watched her closely and she winced with each step.

  “You can’t walk,” he said.

  She started to argue with him but quieted when he hefted her into his arms.

  “Where are we going?” he asked.

  “Up the hill and then there’s a path. We’re meeting your brother at a waterhole.”

  Cal struggled carrying her. He hadn’t eaten in a few days and his captors had worked him over pretty well.

  Once they reached the path, he paused.

  “Which way?”

  She pointed to the left.

  “Cal, why don’t you let me walk? You’re hurt too and it’s dangerous at night.”

  He wanted to keep her as close as possible, in his arms was really good, but she was right.

  He set her down carefully. She didn’t put any pressure on her injured leg. Cal hoped desperately that the boat Trevor was supposed to leave for their escape was equipped with medical supplies.

  The two of them hob
bled along quietly. Cal had a ton of questions but they both needed all of their concentration to walk.

  “There you are.”

  As soon as the waterhole came into view, a large blonde man jumped from a rock and rushed towards them.

  “Where in the hell have you been?”

  Cal was dumbstruck. This was his brother. The man he’d spent the better part of ten years trying to find.

  “Ajax,” Cal said.

  “It’s AJ,” the other man said, stepping a few steps in front of the duo.

  The two brothers simply stared at one another.

  Cal wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there staring at his brother but eventually Di made a strangled sound.

  “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

  Sweetheart? Cal was shocked by the endearment AJ used. The other man rushed to Di’s side.

  “She got hit by a laser pistol.”

  AJ was much stronger. He picked her up and carried her to the rock he’d just been sitting on, setting her down gently.

  Naturally, she argued.

  “We need to get out of here,” she insisted. “The guards are going to be looking for us.”

  “There’s a boat,” Cal said. “It should be waiting for us. It’s in a small bay on the East side of the island. There was a map in my suitcase but I haven’t seen that since they gassed us on the boat.”

  “I know the bay,” AJ said.

  “Let’s go,” Di said.

  “We have to make sure you’re all right first,” Cal insisted.

  “No. She’s right,” AJ said. “We have to get out of here. I made sure the guards would be detoured somewhat but they won’t be too far behind.”

  AJ unwrapped the piece of fabric around her wound. It was getting even uglier. Now, along with the charred skin, her leg was turning purple and red.

  She whimpered and Cal pulled her close.

  “It’s all right.”

  AJ gave them a questioning look and then walked to the pond. He dipped the cloth into the water, wrung it out and then came back to wrap it around her leg.

  “This is going to burn,” he said.

  As Cal held her close, he could tell that it did. Her body tensed.

  He leaned back slightly to see AJ running his hands up and down her leg. What was their relationship? Did AJ want her too? Would a woman come between him and the brother he’d worked so long to find?

  “Are you going to be able to walk or should I carry you?”

  Both men laughed when she insisted that she could walk. It wasn’t an unexpected answer. She pulled herself from the rock and stood up. But when she tried to take a step, she crumpled.

  AJ caught her before Cal was able.

  He lifted her up. Cal was shocked that she didn’t complain.

  AJ turned to him.

  “We’re going to need to be quiet and move fast, okay?”

  Cal nodded. He’d take his battered and bruised body to the brink if it meant he’d get off this island. But before he could say anything AJ took off, Di in his arms. Before he took off after them he wondered briefly just who was rescuing whom?

  ****

  AJ led the now trio deep into the woods. He hoped to hell the boat was really waiting for them. If not, and if the guards caught up with them, well, that didn’t even bear thinking about.

  “Cal, are you all right?”

  AJ trudged through the woods with Di in his arms, his brother following behind.

  His brother.

  He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to greet the other man. How did long lost brothers greet one another?

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said.

  The fact was, he did feel some kind of weird connection with the other guy. And if he wasn’t mistaken, memories of before he was brought to the island were slowly filtering back into his brain.

  “Let me know if you need a break. We can’t stop long, but…” his words trailed off.

  “That’s okay. As long as there’s a boat at the lagoon when we get there, I’ll push on until I collapse.”

  AJ nodded and kept moving.

  He tried hard to keep his attention focused on their surroundings. The people, now more animal than human, in the woods could make life at the barracks seem like a tea party. But the fact was, the pain of the man behind him kept creeping into his conscience. And while Di’s weight was negligible, he was getting absolutely exhausted.

  “How much further?” Di asked.

  There was concern in her eyes as she looked from AJ back to Cal.

  “Not too far,” he said, praying that it was true.

  “Maybe--maybe I should walk,” she suggested.

  AJ didn’t really have the strength to argue but was happy when Cal spoke from behind.

  “You’re hurt Di, you can’t walk on your leg.”

  She didn’t argue. Whether it was because she respected Cal’s answer or because she knew she couldn’t walk, he didn’t know. And really, it took too much effort to think about at the moment.

  But the trio kept trudging along. They stopped briefly to answer nature’s call, but other than that, they walked for hours.

  The sun was just starting to appear on the horizon when they reached the coast. AJ could smell the freshness of the seawater and hear birds chirping before the bay actually came into view.

  “What? What’s that?”

  Di stirred in his arms. At one point he and Cal had been worried about her being overcome with fever, but she remained cool throughout the night, so they simply continued to let her sleep.

  “Shhh,” AJ whispered. “It’s just a bird. Don’t worry.”

  “Are we almost there?”

  “Should be there within the hour.”

  “Will you let me walk, yet?”

  It was Cal that spoke, “No.”

  “But…”

  “Shhh.”

  AJ put his hand up and stopped his head cocked.

  Nothing.

  “Stay quiet and pick up the pace.”

  The fear was evident in Di’s eyes. He looked back at his brother. Cal. When had he started actually thinking of him as his brother? Cal must have heard something too because his eyes scanned the horizon.

  They moved so quickly, even though their exhaustion, that the ‘within the hour’ he’d told Di, actually turned into a matter of minutes. They stood at the north end of the bay.

  “Where’s the boat?”

  “You don’t see it?”

  Why was Cal smiling? There was nothing in the bay.

  “No I don’t see it,” AJ said. “Where the fuck is it?”

  Di shifted in his arms and he lowered her gently.

  “Cal, what the hell is going on?”

  “Just wait here,” he said before disappearing back into the woods. A few moments later he appeared, picking his way to the very edge of the deeper water.

  “What the hell is he doing?”

  “I have no idea.”

  The two of them watched as Cal balanced himself on a boulder and leaned forward to fiddle with the leaves of a mangrove tree.

  “He’s crazy. What in the hell have we done?”

  “He’s not crazy. I don’t think,” Di said.

  But AJ was becoming more concerned by the second.

  “Holy shit!”

  Cal stepped back from the boulder while AJ and Di watched in awe as a massive metal structure rose out of the water. There were a few windows but it really reminded him of a giant insect.

  “I told you he wasn’t crazy,” Di said.

  Cal jumped onto the metal beast and opened a hatch before climbing into the belly of the beast. In only a matter of seconds a rumbling filled the air.

  “I’m not so sure.”

  The boat moved forward slightly, stopping right in front of them.

  “Are you ready?”

  Cal stepped out and motioned them aboard.

  Di looked up at AJ.

  “You ready?”

  Was he ready?

&
nbsp; Ready to leave the only home he’d ever known? This hellhole? Hell yeah, he was ready to leave! But he was so damn exhausted that he couldn’t work up too much enthusiasm.

  Di took one step forward and faltered. AJ was barely able to catch her.

  “Damn it,” she screamed. AJ didn’t know if it was in pain or frustration.

  He used his remaining strength to pick her up and carry her in the boat. As soon as he stepped inside, the world started to go fuzzy and then…nothing.

  Di fell to the ground when AJ passed out. She cried out when she fell onto her injured leg.

  “Di, I brought you something for your leg… What the hell happened?”

  He rushed in when he saw AJ collapsed on the ground.

  “I don’t know. He was carrying me and then he fell.”

  “He was exhausted. I guess it caught up with him.” Cal handed her some antiseptic, a syringe and some cream. “Take care of your leg while I get him to the bedroom. I already set the ships Navigation computer.”

  “Okay.”

  Cal only wobbled a little bit when he picked up AJ. They disappeared down the long hallway and for the first time Di had a chance to take a look at her surroundings.

  Even though there were no windows the main room was lush and inviting. It was painted a warm yellow and the furniture looked soft and lush. She toed off the borrowed shoes and stepped onto the plush carpet.

  Hobbling over to the oversized chair, she plopped down to examine her leg.

  The flesh was painfully inflamed. She opened the bottle of antiseptic and poured it over her wound. It bubbled up and she hissed through her teeth and bit her lip to keep from trying out in pain. Quickly, and before she had a chance to change her mind she picked up the syringe and plunged it into her leg.

  After slathering the cream liberally over her wound, she stood. Her leg felt immeasurably better. That was the one good thing about laser burns. They hurt like hell, but they were quite easy to treat.

  “Cal?”

  She was able to walk now and the stabbing pain had lessened into a gentle throb.

  She yelled a little louder as she walked down the long hallway.

  “Cal?”

  But there was still no answer.

  Starting to get a little bit concerned, she forced herself to bypass the kitchen.