by Nathan Combs
When the convoy continued north on US-27, the Whidden Corner team relayed the enemy numbers, position, and ETA.
“Cole, on my mark, pull out and block their advance. I’ll block their rear. We’ll give them an ultimatum.”
“General Kirilov, they have us boxed in with Bradleys, front and rear. They’re giving me thirty seconds to surrender.”
A wan smile creased Kirilov’s face. “Then I suggest you comply, Lieutenant.”
McNulty cleared the communications center of personnel and turned to Kirilov. “What do you have, Misha?”
When he finished the briefing, Kirilov said, “The evidence is clear. This is a well-organized and capable military unit. They now have prisoners and new AFVs, not to mention thousands of gallons of fuel.”
“AFVs, General?”
“Armored Fighting Vehicles, Mr. McNulty. AKA Strykers.”
Finished interrogating the prisoners at the salvage yard, Bill joined Wade in the Powwow Room.
Bill said, “Those clowns don’t know anything. Their team leader was a clerk in the fucking Air Force, for crying out loud. He questioned the mission himself. Said it made no sense. Their General, an ex-Russian GRU Spetsnaz, briefed him. Name’s Misha Kirilov. He said he was instructed to call Kirilov before initiation of hostilities, which he did, and Kirilov told him to surrender. Means Kirilov knows what went down. What do you want to do with them?”
“How many are there?” Wade asked.
“Fifty-four.”
“Where are they?”
“Still at the salvage yard. They’re blindfolded. Haven’t seen anything.”
When Wade didn’t respond, Bill shook his head from side to side. “Please tell me you aren’t thinking of cutting these pieces of shit loose?”
“You said yourself they were clowns.”
“Yeah, they are, but only because we forced them to surrender. Do you think these assholes came halfway across the country to sing Kumbaya?”
“We are not going to murder them.”
“Choose a different word. Just because the circus is in town is no reason to— Argghh.” He threw his hands in the air. “You’re making another mistake.”
“Maybe, but we’re sending Kirilov’s men back to him. Have Cole cannibalize their vehicles. We’ll keep the tanker and four of the Strykers. Keep them blindfolded, cram their butts into the other AFVs, give them enough gas to get home, take them to Tampa, and cut ’em loose.”
“You must have a damned good reason for this, Wade, but for the life of me, I can’t see it.”
“Gut instinct, Bill. I don’t think Kirilov wanted them to succeed. No one worth his military salt would have sent this type of patrol in harm’s way. They were cannon fodder. The only way it makes sense is that Kirilov sent us a message the only way he could without compromising his ethics.”
“Ethics? He’s a fuckin’ Russian.”
“Yeah, but he’s also Spetsnaz. That has to count for something.”
The door opened and Randal, Stuart, and Cole entered.
Wade looked up and said, “Great timing, Cole, Bill needs you to accompany him on a humanitarian mission. Stuart, I want you to get McNulty on the horn and hand him off to Randal.” He turned to his son. “You tell McNulty we’re willing to let them live if they stay on their side of the Mississippi…something like that. Make it clear that you were there on a recon mission. He’ll remember you. Plant some seeds. Make him wonder if we have operatives inside.
While you’re doing that, I’m going to have a chat with General Kirilov. With luck, we can end this right here, right now.”
Chapter Nine
Reborn
Noah returned from a scavenger hunt and placed his treasure on the kitchen table. “Anna?”
“In here, honey.”
He stepped into the living room, finding her on the couch nursing Stormy.
One look at his face and she gave him a serious look, saying, “What?”
He sat down next to her. “We’re not alone.”
Her brow furrowed. “Not alone?”
“No. I followed three men to the school. About 500 people living there. Looks like the remnants of Nirvana.”
“Noah, that’s only three miles away. What are we going to do?”
“I identified their leader. Maybe I’ll go talk to him.”
Anna was silent a moment. “Is that safe, Noah? Maybe we should move.”
He shrugged. “Let’s not jump the gun.”
“What did he look like?”
“Big guy. Arrogant. Had initials on his forehead.”
“Initials?”
“Yeah. It was difficult to tell from the distance, but it looked like a capital T and a capital L.”
Her eyes went wide. “Describe him.”
“Why?”
“Humor me.”
Noah shrugged. “Over six feet tall. Good shape.”
“Blond hair?”
“Maybe. Could have been white.”
She jumped up, nearly dropping Stormy, and screamed, “Horst! I knew that prick was alive.”
“Jesus, Anna!”
She appeared furious, and he realized he was talking to Nina. Taking Stormy from her, he asked, “Who the hell is Horst?”
“He was one of my lieutenants. He betrayed me. If it weren’t for him, you never would have found me, and I wouldn’t be here.”
“Then Anna and Stormy wouldn’t be here either.”
She pondered for several seconds. Noah could almost see the wheels spinning in her head.
“You asked if I changed, Noah. The answer is yes, I have changed. You didn’t know it because you thought it was Anna, but you’ve made love to me many times since we met.”
“Wha…you… How?”
“How? Really, Noah?”
“I mean…where was Anna?”
“She was sleeping. Making love is totally different than fucking. I never made love with a man before, and I liked it. I liked it a lot. But that doesn’t change the fact that that asshole doesn’t deserve to live. I’m gonna kill him.” She turned away.
Her disclosure that they had made love touched him strangely, and he gently took her arm. “I don’t care who he is, or what he’s done, Nina. I want to talk to Anna.”
Nina’s eyes revealed nothing. She said nothing.
“Anna, are you there?”
Silence.
“Anna?”
“Anna’s on a sabbatical, Noah. It’s just you and me. Tell me where he is.”
He put Stormy in her crib, then stood in front of her. “Be logical, Nina. You can’t be certain it’s him. And even if it is, and even if he does deserve to die, I’m not going to let you go off half-cocked. I don’t care what he’s done. The last thing we need is to get into a firefight. I’ll—”
“There won’t be a firefight. This isn’t—”
He yelled, “Stop! This is what’s going to happen. I’ll check him out. I’ll find out where he sleeps. If it’s possible, I’ll bag him and bring him here. After that, if it’s Horst, you can do whatever you want to do with him, but you are not going there yourself.”
She stood, mouth gaping, eyes wide, and then resigned herself to his demand. “What if you can’t snatch him?”
“Then we go to plan B.”
“What’s plan B?”
“Make plan A work.”
Noah spent the next day watching the school. After ascertaining where the leader lived and that he lived alone, he laid out his plan to Nina. “He sleeps in a house by himself. It’s kitty-corner from the main school building. I’ll go in tonight and get him. I want to talk to Anna. Now.”
“I told you, Noah, she’s not available. You can talk to her when I finish with Horst.”
“Nina, that’s not fair.”
&
nbsp; “Fair? I’m nursing your child, Noah. How is that fair?”
At 0200 hours, Horst felt the cold steel of Noah’s Glock inside his right ear and was instantly awake. He kept his eyes closed, remained motionless, and tried to slow his breathing and rapidly accelerating heart rate.
“I know you’re awake, asshole. Sit up. Slowly.”
Horst didn’t recognize the voice. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“Are you Horst?”
“Who wants to know?”
Noah cleaned his ear with the gun barrel.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m Horst.”
“Get dressed.”
Working quickly, Noah duct-taped Horst’s hands in front of him, slapped a strip over his mouth, grabbed him by the back of his shirt, hustled him outside, and closed the sliding door. Five hundred yards from the house, under a full moon, Noah stopped and ripped the tape from Horst’s mouth.
Horst took a deep breath, licked his lips, and said, “I assume you’re with Coltrane.”
“Then you assume wrong.”
“Well, you didn’t come to kill me, or you’d have already done it, so if you tell me what you want—”
Noah glared at the man. “I don’t want anything from you. An old friend wants to see you.”
“An old friend? Who?”
“Nina.”
The blood beat a retreat from Horst’s face, leaving it as white as his hair. He stood perfectly still, then started shaking his head from side to side. “Jesus Christ, no.”
“From what I understand, Jesus isn’t going to be able to help you.”
Horst exhaled loudly. “Who the hell are you? How do you fit in?”
“It’s complicated.”
A sheepish grin spread across Horst’s face. “I have time.”
“Unfortunately, you don’t. Tell me about your group.”
The desperation in Horst’s voice was palpable as he whined, “You don’t have to give me up to her. She’s a fuckin’ psycho. I can offer you whatever you want.”
“No, Horst. You can’t. As I said, it’s complicated. Time’s up. Talk.”
Their eyes locked.
Horst trembled as he spoke. “There’s nothing to tell. There are about 500 of us. We’re just tryin’ to survive. We aren’t cannibals, and we aren’t lookin’ for trouble. We just want to be left alone.”
Noah nodded. His statement had the ring of truth, but since he didn’t know Horst, he assumed he was lying. “Have it your way.” Noah pushed him forward. “Let’s go.”
Nina was sitting at the kitchen table when the door opened and Noah pushed Horst inside. He stumbled into the room, gained his balance, and stood in the center of the kitchen.
Nina stared up at him, then grinned maliciously. “Well, well, well. Hello, Horst. Love the TL on your forehead. Looks good. Other than that, I gotta say, you look like shit.”
Her beauty was still breathtaking. Horst had always thought she was one of the most stunning women who had ever lived, and his irrational fear of what lurked beneath that beauty was responsible for the puddle of urine he found himself standing in.
The fact that Horst had pissed his pants wasn’t lost on Nina. “Horst, I could have sworn I potty trained you. Whatever am I going to do with you?” She stood and walked to where he stood silent and shaking, then put her arms around his neck, pressed herself against him, and looked deep into his eyes.
Nina’s forgotten but familiar scent invaded his nostrils, and inexplicably, he got excited. When she felt the pressure against her groin, she kneed him in the nuts.
Groaning, Horst fell to his knees in front of her.
Grabbing his hair, she brought her knee up swiftly into his face. He fell backward and sprawled on the floor in the puddle of his own urine.
With a hand rubbing her knee, Nina smiled at Noah. “Damn, that felt good.”
“I need to talk to Anna, Nina.”
She screamed, “Not now, Noah!”
Noah was nearly as helpless as Horst. He couldn’t do anything physically to Nina without harming Anna.
The feeling of helplessness and weakness was an unpleasant and alien emotion, and instinctively he moved to stand between Horst and Nina. “Nina, I swear to you, I will tie your ass up. Do whatever you need to do with this asshole and let’s get back on track. In case you’ve forgotten, he has people three miles down the road.”
Nina stared at him for several seconds. “I’ve come to respect you, Noah. In another lifetime, I might have even cared for you. But nothing—and I do mean nothing—is going to happen until I take care of this.” She nodded toward Horst.
Noah’s jaws clenched and unclenched, then locked up. He started shaking. A tick developed over his right eye. The muscles in his neck corded. Their faces were inches apart, their eyes locked on each other for five seconds.
Ten seconds.
Out of the blue, Nina’s body started to vibrate. She shuddered mightily as tears formed and streamed silently down her cheeks. Soon her features softened and the appearance of exhaustion replaced the crazed determination and anger that had been there before.
Noah’s face showed the astonishment he felt. In a gentle voice, he said, “Anna?”
She retched once, twice, and then vomited onto the floor. Moments later, after the palpitations ceased, she wiped her mouth with her forearm and said, “No, it’s me…Nina.”
Noah was dumbfounded. “What…are—are you okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
Still stunned from the knee to his head, Horst managed to sit up.
Nina took two steps and stood above him, glaring down at the man.
Horst shuddered.
Once again without warning, something fluttered deep inside of Nina, and she knelt down, took Horst’s bloody face in her hands, and placed her forehead against his.
Horst gasped, then started sobbing as he blubbered, “Nina, I’m so sorry. I am. I wish I could undo what I did, but I can’t. I was an asshole.”
She pulled her face away from his but maintained eye contact. “Well, one cannot change one’s essential nature, Horst. A leopard can’t change its spots, and you can’t change who you are. Once an asshole, always an asshole.”
He peed again.
“You really need to have that bladder looked at.” She stood, went to the sink, brought him a glass of water, and held it for him while he slurped it down. “I’m at a crossroad…also referred to as a dilemma. I don’t know why, but for some strange reason, I no longer want to off your dumb ass.”
A ray of hope pierced Horst’s brain, and his face reflected the possibility that there was a chance he might not be worm food.
“Don’t get too excited, Horst. I can’t let you go. You’d find us in an instant, and I know you wouldn’t be benevolent.”
“Nina, I swear to you, if you let me go, you won’t ever see me again. None of my guys will bother you. You have my word. I’m tired of fighting. I’m tired of all this shit.”
“Really, Horst. Your word?” She was silent for a moment and then said, “What do you think, Anna?”
“I believe him, Nina.”
“Really? That’s interesting, but you don’t know him like I do.”
“Maybe not, but he’s pretty easy to read.”
Horst looked at Nina, eyes wide and disbelieving. She must have looked like a nine-headed hydra to him.
Noah turned toward Horst, who was now staring bug-eyed and open-mouthed. “She’s not crazy, Horst. There are two different women—entities, whatever—living in the same body. Nina, who you know, and my wife, Anna, whom you just met.” Turning to Nina, he said, “Whatever you decide to do with him, Nina, Anna and the baby have to be safe.”
Horst stammered. “Ba-ba-baby?”
Nina laughed and said, “Yeah, Horst. Baby. I’m a mo
m.” She went to the bedroom and brought Stormy into the kitchen.
Watching Nina kneeling in front of Horst showing off Stormy was the last thing Noah ever expected to see.
“Isn’t she gorgeous, Horst? I love her so much.”
Confused, Noah took her arm. “Anna…we have to decide what to do with—”
“I’m not Anna, Noah. I told you. It’s me, Nina.”
He stepped back, a look of amazement on his face.
She looked at him and smiled. “It’s going to be okay, Noah.” She stood and hastily handed the baby to Noah, hustled to the sink, and ralphed. When she finished retching, she turned back and smiled wanly, then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I have the strangest craving for pickles and ice cream.” She reached out and took Stormy back from Noah.
This one’s mine, Anna.
No, Nina. It’s ours. Stormy is ours. They’re both ours.
You’re right, Anna. I’m so excited. I hope it’s a boy—a little Noah.
We have to stop talking to ourselves, Nina. It confuses him.
Yes. I know. I love Noah so much. What do you think we should do?
I think we should join, Nina.
How do we do that, Anna?
I’m not sure, but we’re smart. We’ll figure it out. But we’d better do it quickly. Look at Noah’s face!
Noah was just as confused as he’d been when he’d discovered that Anna was Nina, or Nina was Anna. This wasn’t as scary, but it was definitely mind-boggling. And he realized it would take time to come to grips with what was happening. Who was pregnant? Anna? Nina? They? It made his head spin, and for a few minutes, he forgot about Horst sitting quietly on the floor watching.
Horst simply sat with his mouth open and stared.
A minute went by and Noah moved to Horst and put his hand under his arm. “Get up.” He maneuvered Horst to a kitchen chair and pushed him down.
