Shades of Gray

by Vicki Hinze

  Laura pulled Timmy behind her and motioned for him to get to the back of the building. She then positioned herself and waited for the man to walk out. When he did, she grabbed him from behind, snaked her arms around his neck in a choke hold, and twisted until she heard bone snap. He crumpled to the ground in a heap at her feet.

  Her eyes stinging, her heart rocketing, her blood gushing through her veins, pounding in her temples and toes, she dragged him back into the shack, and then tossed a blanket over him.

  Sweeping her hand down his face, she closed his eyes. If anyone looked inside, they’d think him simply asleep.

  She stole his pistol, and then returned to Timmy.

  He grinned up at her. “Did you find my rabbit’s foot?”

  She pressed a shushing fingertip over her lip and nodded that she had, giving him the best smile she could muster. “Later, Tiger,” she whispered. “Have you seen your dad?”

  “No.”

  Torn between getting Timmy out to safety and looking for Jake, she touched the implant.

  The light snuffed out.

  Twenty

  It’s a system glitch. Has to be a system glitch. A fault in the design.

  The thought of leaving without Jake made her sick inside, but she had to do it. Jake would expect her to, and she expected it of herself. She’d get Timmy to safety with the convergence crew, and then come back for Jake. That’s the only way she could play this out.

  She had no choice.

  Working her way toward the fence, her hand linked with Timmy’s, she paused to check her watch. Fourteen minutes had elapsed. It would be close, she thought. The guard would be within spotting distance.

  Near the fence, she stopped, scanned, but saw no sign of the guard, so she urged Timmy through the hole in the chain link, then crawled through herself motioning for him to drop low onto his stomach. “Get to that clump of weeds, Tiger. Fast as you can on all fours.”

  Timmy scurried, a lot more agile than her, and waited there. She dropped down beside him and pulled him half under her, shielding his head with her arm.

  “Now I know how come you carry gum,” Timmy whispered.

  She winked at him. “It’s a different kind of dike.”

  “Yeah.” The smile faded from his mouth. “Mom, I’m glad you came after me. I knew you and Dad would come.”

  “Always,” she promised.

  “Madeline shot Bear two times. He was bleeding a lot.”

  “He’s in the hospital, honey.”

  “She made me go with her. I fought her, but she’s bigger. Her and Hawk are here.”

  Vulnerable. “I know, baby.” Laura stroked his hair, wondering how long it would take Timmy to get over this experience. Would there be long-term effects? Her rage at Madeline doubled. “Are they the ones who tell everyone what to do?”

  “Uh-uh. There’s another man. He’s their boss.” Timmy shuddered. “I didn’t like him.”

  James. “Do you remember Colonel James?”

  “Uh-huh. But it wasn’t him. It’s a different man.”

  Someone other than James was running ROFF? But who? “Did that man hurt you?”

  Timmy shook his head. “I didn’t see him. But he sounded mean, like Grandfather.”

  To Timmy, sounding like Sean Drake was the ultimate insult. He’d never liked Madeline’s father, though he’d tried to downplay that truth with Laura because of her feelings about them having compassion for Madeline. Still, they’d seeped through.

  “I told Madeline I didn’t want to go with her. But she made me. I hate her, Mom.”

  “It’s wrong to hate, Tiger.” God, but those were hard words to say to him when Laura was hating the woman herself. No. No, she hated Madeline’s actions. And the fault for them fell largely on the shoulders of Sean Drake for making his daughter an emotional cripple.

  “I hate what she does, then.”

  “Me, too.” Hearing the guard’s footsteps, Laura clamped a hand over Timmy’s mouth and whispered, “Shh. Get ready to run, okay?”

  He nodded.

  The guard swept his flashlight’s beam along the fence. He passed the break, then swung back. He’d spotted it.

  “Let’s go.” She jerked Timmy by the arm, darted with him through the swamp. “Hurry, Tiger,” she whispered urgently. “Fast. Fast.”

  They were making enough noise to wake the dead, but the guard was still there, examining the fence.

  A fallen twig snapped under her foot, snagging his attention. “Run, Timmy. Full out, son.”

  The guard fired his gun, sounding the alarm. Near her right shoulder, bark flew off a melucca tree. Laura fired the stolen pistol, and the man fell.

  She caught up with Timmy and they kept running, burrowing deeper and deeper into the swamp. Minutes passed; how many she wasn’t sure. When under siege, time seemed to move a lot slower.

  “Mom, my side hurts,” Timmy said, grabbing himself.

  She slowed down, listening for sounds of them being followed, and heard none. “Can you walk, honey?” They had to keep moving.

  “Yeah.” He reached for her hand.

  Holding the gun in her right hand, she gave him her left hand and kept going, heading toward the rendezvous point where the convergence team should be waiting.

  There were still no sounds of anyone following. Feeling the immediate threat of danger had passed, Laura slowed their pace, but only slightly. There’d be a few minutes lead time, but not much, and the men would have greater physical stamina than her and Timmy. They couldn’t linger, or they’d be caught.

  “Timmy, how long have you known Hawk?”

  “Ever since I can remember.”

  Laura’s blood ran cold. Madeline had been working with Hawkins all along. The queen of soaps and Scotch had lived her entire adult life pretending to be something she wasn’t. But why in the name of God would she jeopardize the life of her own flesh and blood? Why would she do this to Timmy?

  She hated Laura. And because Jake didn’t hate Laura, Madeline hated Jake. What didn’t make sense was Timmy. Why would she hate Timmy?

  Because Jake had divorced her and taken Timmy? Because, remembering her neglect, Timmy had shunned her? Or maybe she didn’t see kidnapping Timmy as dangerous?

  No. No one could be that deluded. There had to be more.

  And there was.

  Sean had wanted her to abort, and she had refused.

  She hated Timmy because she could twist the truth, tell herself that no matter what she did she’d never win Sean’s approval, and then blame it on Timmy. If only she hadn’t had him, then Sean would have loved her. Then he would have accepted her.

  She was sick. Twisted and deluded, rationalizing and sick.

  Laura checked her implant. Still no signal. She should contact home base and let them know she was out with Timmy. But if she did, they’d converge and trap Jake inside. If he was still alive, he wouldn’t be for long. No. No, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t do it!

  God, please. Please, let home base be picking up Jake’s signal. Please, let Jake be alive.

  They passed the two oaks and continued on. Twothirds of the way back to the rendezvous point, Laura’s trained senses picked up on someone following them. She looked for cover and found no suitable place. She couldn’t outrun pursuers, not with Timmy. She had to dig in.

  Dropping to her knees between two roots of an ancient oak, she shoved mud, prepared a bed for Timmy, and then urged him to lie down in it on his back, his head turned aside. Knowing roots protruded from the ground near oaks, the pursuers would steer clear of them to avoid tripping, especially if they were moving with any speed. She worked quickly, efficiently, frantically, covering Timmy with mud and leaves and grass, then shook loose leaves on him. “Don’t move. For God’s sake, whatever you do,
don’t move. Not until I come for you.”

  He didn’t utter a sound. Grateful for that, Laura rounded the oak, bent low to the ground, bracing the flat of her arm against a distant tree trunk, and aimed toward the approaching sounds. God, Jake. I need you. I’m scared. I’m so scared I won’t be able to protect him.

  The sounds stopped. Laura stayed still, pouring sweat, smelling her own fear.

  A crackling noise sounded—sixty degrees south. A twig on dry leaves. She arched her trigger finger, prepared to fire, and felt the hold-heated metal gain pressure from her finger.

  The man stepped into the open.

  Fire. Fire.

  Laura tried to squeeze, but something stayed her finger. She couldn’t pull the trigger. Why in the name of God couldn’t she pull the trigger?

  Twenty-one

  The silhouetted man came closer, and she realized why she couldn’t shoot. She recognized him. A whine crawled up her throat. “Jake.”

  “Laura,” he whispered on a rush of sound, then ran toward her.

  She jumped to her feet and flew into his arms. Her chin collided with his chest. “Oh, Jake. Jake, I thought you were dead. The signal—”

  “I know, baby. I know.” He moved the flat of the gun jabbing into his side. “Are you okay? I found the guard’s body. Where’s Timmy?”

  “He’s right here.” She turned toward the tree. “Timmy, come out.”

  He sat straight up, and Jake jerked. When the mud and leaves started falling away, he smiled and grabbed his son in a hug that lifted him off the ground.

  Timmy wrapped his legs around Jake’s waist, and over his shoulder, Laura met Jake’s gaze. His relief and gratitude shone in his eyes.

  “Are you all right, Tiger?” He swiped mud from Timmy’s face, his big hand shaking, his voice emotional, low and husky.

  “I’m okay.” He swallowed hard. “Madeline shot Bear, Dad. I saw her do it. She said they kidnapped her, but they didn’t. She shot Bear two times.”

  “We know about Bear,” Jake said softly, stroking mud from Timmy’s face.

  Jake refrained from commenting on whether or not Madeline had been kidnapped. Laura wasn’t sure how she felt about that. It would be easier for Timmy to think Madeline had been kidnapped than for him to know she’d played a part in kidnapping him. Yet playing ostrich was dangerous, especially for Timmy. Now, however, wasn’t the time to discuss it. And while Laura hated to spoil the tender reunion between Jake and Timmy, she knew standing still wasn’t wise. “Jake, we’ve got to get out of here.”

  “Right.” He set Timmy down on the ground, but held tight to his hand, leading the way.

  Laura understood that need to hold. She felt it herself, for both of them, but she was determined to bury the urge until she could do it safely. They rushed through the brush and tall swamp grass, hurrying toward the rendezvous point.

  About ten minutes out, a forward team met and escorted them back to an airboat. There were half a dozen others on-site now, and several crews. Connor, bless him, had pulled out all the stops.

  Laura sat down on the floor of the boat and bent her knees. Timmy scooted back against her, and she hugged him, looping her arms around his middle. Jake got behind Laura, sat down, and fitted her hips between his bent knees, then held them both. With Timmy in front of her and Jake behind her, Laura knew her time to hug and be hugged had arrived.

  They sat that way all during the ride back to the chopper. And long before they got there, Laura swore to herself that life would never again feel this good. This sweet, or this good.

  She’d expected death, and instead, she was alive and unharmed, and with Jake and Timmy. A tear leaked from her eye.

  Timmy, his hair slicked from the headwind, looked back at Jake. “It’s okay, Dad. She’s not really crying. She’s touched.” He nodded to add weight to his claim. “Bear said.”

  Jake winked at Timmy and then gave Laura a tender smile, one that said how much her being touched by him and Timmy meant to him. “Yeah.”

  Leaning her head against Jake’s chest, she smiled back. “Yeah.”

  The chopper ride to the base gave Jake time to get his heart out of his throat and back into his chest where it belonged. If he lived to be a thousand, he didn’t think he’d ever forget the look on Laura’s face in the airboat. She loved him. She’d given him the words, though she’d been careful not to reveal that she meant them as more than friends. But she felt them. He’d seen it on her face in his bed, in the swamp when she’d recognized him, and again on the airboat. And he knew exactly what he wanted to do, first chance, to show her that he loved her too. To hell with their agreement. To hell with them having no future. They’d make one. They’d make memories. He’d show her that they could.

  Fifteen minutes before their California ETA, the pilot relayed a message from the general. Judge Barton was doing fine. His condition had been upgraded to stable.

  “All right.” Timmy offered his dad a high five, then one to Laura.

  She clapped their hands, laughing. Jake laughed too, and so did the crew.

  Then Timmy went on to tell them how Bear had hidden him and Mrs. Barton. Bear had faced the men who’d broken into the house alone. Even after he’d been shot, Bear wouldn’t tell where he’d hidden Timmy.

  Laura, with my life. She recalled Bear’s parting words to her. “How can we ever repay him, Jake?”

  “We can’t. Some things you just can’t repay. You’re grateful for them, and you never forget, but you can’t repay them.”

  And looking into Laura’s eyes, Jake knew the reunion with Bear would be a tearful one.

  When the plane landed, a car stood waiting for them on the flight line. They rode to base headquarters, then hit the showers. Connor and the team were waiting for a briefing, and to debrief Jake and Laura on developments. Someone scrounged around and got some clothes for Laura and Timmy—surgical greens. Connor’s secretary, Gladys, Jake guessed.

  When they were ready for the briefing, Laura held out a hand. “Come on, Timmy.”

  Jake started to object. “I don’t think he should—”

  Laura interrupted, looking as opinionated as a heart attack. “I’m not letting him out of my sight again until Hawkins and Madeline are in the brig, Jake. Be testy if you want to, but Timmy’s coming with me, and that’s final.”

  Jake couldn’t blame Laura. Hell, he loved her for being so protective. He felt the same way, though he doubted the team would give two figs about either of their feelings on the topic. The information being discussed in the briefing room was extremely sensitive.

  Not wanting to rile her, Jake held his tongue. Connor could have the pleasure of trying to convince her. Jake already knew that when Laura tagged an “and that’s final” on something, that’s exactly what she meant. Nothing short of laying her out cold could sway her.

  They walked in, and Connor smiled. So did the rest of the team. “It’s good to see you all,” Connor said. “Timmy, are you okay?”

  “Yes, sir.” He clung to Laura’s hand.

  “I, er, suppose you’ll be joining us here.”

  “My mom said.” He nodded, then shrugged. “She’s really nice, but I don’t mess with her when she gets like this.”

  Connor bit his lips to keep from laughing, and around the table, hands clapped to mouths to hide smiles, and fake coughs muffled chuckles.

  Jake tensed, waiting for the surefire objections.

  They never came.

  “Sit down,” Connor said. “Perry, grab Timmy a chair.”

  Captain Perry slid a chair to Connor’s right, next to the two empty ones waiting for Jake and Laura. They all sat down.

  Ten minutes into the briefing, Jake stopped being stunned.

  Laura finished narrating events from her perspective. “Timmy left his lucky rabbit’s
foot where I’d find it. There was an armed guard sleeping in the tent. I elected to try to get Timmy out without killing the guard. But he awakened and followed Timmy outside.” She couldn’t make herself look at her son, not during this disclosure, and she prayed that he’d never look at her with hatred in his eyes for her killing a man. “It was a clean kill,” she said, her voice low but even. “I broke his neck, dragged him back into the shack, and then got Timmy out of the compound. I had to shoot a fence guard. I don’t know if he’s dead. I didn’t slow down long enough to check.”

  “He was killed,” Jake interjected. “I saw him when I left the compound.”

  Feeling something touch her hand and forearm, she looked down. Jake held her fingertips. Timmy, her forearm. A wad of emotion gushed through her, and her chest went tight, her eyes stung. She glanced down at him.

  “They would’ve shot us, Mom.”

  She gave him a shaky nod. “Yes, they would have, Timmy. But I didn’t have to like killing them.”

  “You hated it,” he said solemnly.

  “Yes, I did.”

  “But you had to do it.”

  Absolution. Choked up, she couldn’t answer, so she nodded.

  Jake cleared his throat and then began sketching out the layout of the tent city, giving descriptions of weaponry and resources he’d noted. Laura added her findings, giving the team a clear picture.

  When they had finished, Connor began debriefing them. “ROFF headquarters is now under our command. The biological lab has been locked down. Last count, forty-three members had been apprehended, but neither Hawkins nor Madeline was among them.”

  Jake didn’t like hearing that. From her expression, neither did Laura.

  “The convergence crew reported a lot of movement in ROFF’s tent city. Obviously, the intent was to bug out. Team crews overtook it and seized their weapons. Normal ordinance, with a few exceptions that are typically found only in Intel circles.”

  That had happened along about the time, Jake figured, they’d been flying over the Gulf of Mexico.

  “It appears from a communications intercept,” Connor said, “that the terrorist attack on Jacksonville’s water supply is still operational and imminent.”