The Dragon Tree Legacy

by Ali Vali

  The barracks where she’d stowed her gear was a block away, so she adjusted the weight on her back and started walking. With a few hours before her flight, she had time to shower and change into a fresh uniform. A hundred yards from the tarmac she was blown down by a catastrophic explosion. She elbowed her way to cover on her belly. Behind her a minivan was in flames, and unless she was wrong it was the vehicle Billy had loaded his family into. None of them could have survived.

  She was numb by the time they mustered for a briefing. Their operation had been successful, so successful it’d warranted payback. At least that’s what the base commander said.

  “You think this was random?” she asked.

  “A group has taken responsibility for today’s actions. It wasn’t random because they had the names of everyone we deployed, as well as their personal information. We’ve started our inquiry, but obviously we have a leak.” The man spoke softly, but all the guys with her heard him clearly. Their actions had put not only themselves in danger, but their loved ones as well. “We’ve found two more devices so far and are reviewing surveillance of the area where your plane landed. Whoever did this was close enough to detonate it.”

  “Excuse me, sir.” Outside the room she dialed Aubrey’s number. No one here knew she existed or what their relationship was, but she had to be sure. “Aubrey, where are you?”

  “Hey, what took you so long to call? I thought I’d hear from you hours ago.”

  “I know, baby, I apologize, but tell me where you are.”

  “We’re headed to the ninth ward. The mayor is cutting the ribbon on a children’s center this afternoon. Don’t worry, I’ll be waiting with tassels on.” Aubrey whispered the last part and she came close to laughing.

  “Isn’t that bells?”

  “It’s New Orleans, lover. Tassels are a bit more titillating.”

  “Are you traveling with your boss?”

  “You’re sure interested in my position today, Lieutenant. What’s up?”

  The smell of that burning death trap seemed to be trapped in her nose. She couldn’t think of anything but Billy’s little boy swimming without floaties. That would never happen again now, and for once her confidence was blown as effectively as the minivan.

  “Nothing, I wanted to hear your voice. I’ll see you tonight.”

  On the flight home she thought only about the case the base commanders had laid out. They had gone into the bowels of that hot hell and eliminated the rebels that were giving the government huge problems. The United Ways needed the strong alliance between their countries, but she’d always left the battle on the field. Having it follow her home was giving her a hard time. It had snapped a fundamental belief and left her afloat.

  She’d tried to dismiss it since she wasn’t a part of Billy’s team, but that had fallen to hell too when the commander gave her the list and the pictures that’d been e-mailed before the fire had been extinguished. The rebels’ contact had been kind enough to include her information. Thankfully only she and her parents had been listed. Not that she wished them ill, but the military probably had them in a bunker by now.

  Aubrey didn’t understand why she wanted to rent a car, but had promised to wait at home. During the drive into the city Wiley experienced a sense of dread, but she stopped at the hotel she’d booked for the night to try to control the panic. If something happened to Aubrey because of her need to prove herself, her life would hold no more meaning.

  She stripped off her uniform and changed into a dark shirt and jeans. The airline had changed her outgoing flight to the morning, and she left through the service entrance as a precaution. She couldn’t take the chance she’d been followed because she’d kept her personal life private.

  Aubrey flew into her arms when she answered her door, and she didn’t let go for a long moment. She wanted Aubrey’s touch, scent, and essence tattooed on her heart before she made the break. To keep her whole she had to let her go. Even without the threat, the life she’d subjected Aubrey to wasn’t fair to her. She deserved better than waiting for those few moments together, even if that situation wouldn’t last forever.

  “God, I love the way you hold me,” Aubrey said as she kissed the side of her neck. “I missed you, honey.”

  “I missed you too.” She held on tighter as the ramifications of a life without Aubrey hit her full-on. The bleakness made tears swim in her eyes, but she couldn’t and wouldn’t back down. “I have to talk to you.”

  “Can’t it wait?” Aubrey clung to her so she could wrap her legs around her waist. “I want to prove how much I missed you.”

  The temptation made her wet. Wasn’t this what she’d fantasized about when she wasn’t on post in the trees? “Aubrey, really, we need to talk,” she said, not having it in her to make love to Aubrey and then leave.

  In her mind her argument was sound, and she tried her best to explain without a lot of emotion. Her leave was canceled and she was being deployed for perhaps a year or more. She didn’t expect Aubrey to wait, didn’t want her to, in fact, so she was giving her the freedom to go on without her. Her words caused pain so visible her chest constricted.

  “You don’t get to decide that for me,” Aubrey choked out. The tears that turned to sobs were full of agony, and Wiley cursed her training not to break, because she didn’t.

  The echoes of Aubrey screaming, “Please, Wiley,” were seared into her brain, and she’d never forgiven herself for inflicting that kind of pain on the one who owned her.

  Her morning flight took her to Nashville and the Ewart funeral. Only one coffin held the remains of an entire happy family lowered next to Billy’s grandparents. With it Wiley buried the future she’d planned on since she was fifteen.

  *

  With Aubrey’s pain ringing in her head, Wiley reached for the card and dragged it toward her without turning it over. “What does she want?” She had no reason to hide anything from Don since he knew enough about their relationship to have had her court-martialed but understood the consequences of doing so. Giving her up for being gay would’ve also meant giving up the perfect killing machine.

  “If you want to know, you’re going to have to call her because she only left her number. She understands that you might not be reachable.”

  “Fort Hood told her that?”

  Don shook his head. “I told her that as a warning in case you decide against it.”

  “Thanks,” she said, put the card in her back pocket, and went back to eating. She’d repaired the temporary crack in her composure. Don did the same and didn’t say much else until he left with promises to regroup in a couple of days to plan her trip to Mexico.

  Alone, Wiley lay on the sofa and stared out the window. Eight years was a long time to go without the one person she wanted and needed, and she hoped Aubrey didn’t hate her for her choices.

  She’d never been curious about the life Aubrey had made for herself, and strangely she wasn’t now as she closed her eyes and went to sleep. Curiosity led to searching and searching led others to make the same discoveries, only they didn’t have happy reunions in mind. As soon as her eyes closed, Roth Pombo dominated her dreamscape. She’d willed it so.

  Chapter Three

  “Did you get your homework assignment before we left school?” Aubrey asked Tanith as she grabbed the grocery bags from the backseat. This was her usual shopping day, and for now she wanted everything to appear normal. One glance at Maria’s car, though, and a sense of dread spread over her head as if someone had cracked an egg on it. “How did my life get so screwed up?” she muttered to herself.

  “I got it right here,” Tanith said, holding up her bag. “You need help with that?”

  “It’s only a couple of bags, honey, so go up and get started, and maybe later we’ll order pizza.” She relaxed her smile as she faced Tanith, but seeing Maria standing at the door was making it difficult.

  “You sure you don’t need help?” Tanith asked again as she followed her line of sight. “I don’t have
that much homework so I can do it later.”

  Aubrey almost laughed at how perceptive an eight-year-old could be, though she’d missed so many things. “Don’t forget what we talked about,” she said softly, “so go up to your room like usual.”

  “Problem?” Maria asked Tanith when she stepped aside to let them in.

  “No, you?” Tanith shot back, and kept walking.

  “It’s like she forces herself not to tag ‘asshole’ to the end of whatever she says to me. That kid needs an attitude adjustment,” Maria said when Tanith was out of earshot.

  “She has a great attitude, but she’s eight. At that age they’re like a mirror of emotion.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Aubrey started putting groceries away, surprised at how ordinarily domestic the scene was despite how out of whack it really was. “They reflect whatever you show them. If you want her to be nicer, then put out a little effort.”

  “I would but it’s a waste of time. That kid hates me.”

  “Her name is Tanith, and that’s how she thinks you feel about her.” She enjoyed the cold air from the refrigerator as she put away the milk and cheese, glancing at her watch when she put her hand on the handle to close it. Maria was usually on her way to the bar by now. “Are you taking the night off?”

  “I own the place, so I can be late,” Maria said, rolling down her sleeves to button the cuffs. “I wanted to talk to you before I left and apologize for earlier. Like I said, we’ll be fine, and I’ll do everything I can to take care of this fast so it doesn’t become a problem.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate that. If it was only you and me I wouldn’t freak, but you know Tanith comes first.”

  “With you, yeah, that’s more than apparent.” Maria hesitated after she grabbed her jacket from a kitchen chair but didn’t come near her. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

  As soon as Maria put her car in reverse, Aubrey ran upstairs and pulled the cord to bring down the folding ladder to the attic. Her luggage was stored up there, along with some of the mementos she’d collected throughout her life that were worth more to her than anything else in this house, aside from Tanith. When she put her foot on the first rung to head up, she heard the back door slam open.

  “Where you going in such a hurry?”

  The man who asked the question had a deep voice Aubrey didn’t recognize, and she almost panicked when she heard a crash from the kitchen, as if someone had knocked the furniture over.

  “Come on, Ralph, not here,” Maria said loudly.

  Aubrey put her finger calmly to her lips when Tanith appeared in the door of her bedroom, but the sudden onslaught of fear made her freeze.

  “The kind of talk we need to have is going to be tough at the bar, so I decided to make a house call, since you aren’t too good at returning phone calls.” More breaking noises followed the man’s words. The air conditioner came on and muffled whatever he said next.

  With her finger still to her lips, Aubrey waved Tanith up the ladder, and she followed closely. From the edge of the opening they worked together to fold the ladder back up and hopefully keep whoever was downstairs from finding their hiding spot.

  “Let’s move back there,” Aubrey whispered in Tanith’s ear, pointing to the air-conditioning unit at the other side of the open space. They carefully navigated the rafters when the plywood flooring ended and sat with their backs to it. She put her arm around Tanith and closed her eyes to concentrate on any noise from downstairs. The heat made the sweat seep out of every pore of her body, and Tanith’s forehead already felt wet, but the real pressure cooker was steaming downstairs and she wanted no part of it.

  She’d missed her opportunity to leave by one night.

  When the air unit cycled off she covered Tanith’s mouth when they heard slamming doors from what seemed to be right under them.

  “Nothing,” Aubrey heard a man yell, which meant that more than one man was down there with Maria. She glanced at her watch again—a few minutes before eight. It was almost dark outside, and they’d probably have to stay put until the next morning. No matter how long it took, she wasn’t moving.

  “This is my house, Ralph, anywhere but here,” Maria said, her voice much clearer now.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll try to be as neat as possible.”

  Aubrey couldn’t be sure, but the man’s voice was different from the first one she’d heard, making it three men. The conversations became muffled again as the intruders moved away from below where they were sitting. The attic opening was ten feet from the top of the stairs, then came the vent for the air intake, followed by the master bedroom at the end of the hall. From their footsteps it sounded like they’d taken Maria there.

  “No matter what, we have to stay quiet, okay?” Aubrey whispered to Tanith, who nodded. But she came close to screaming when she heard what sounded like a chain saw start. She pressed her hand to Tanith’s ear and held her to her chest to try to keep her from hearing whatever came next. When the engine revved up to a whine she prayed they’d live to see the end of this nightmare.

  *

  The chime of the clock over the fireplace woke Wiley to hear the last three of the eight. Her three-hour nap wasn’t enough to make her feel rested, but she got up and went to clean the kitchen as a way to clear the fog from her head.

  She’d planned to start another painting for the show one of the local galleries had booked for November, but the message in her back pocket had burned away the urge. She placed it on the countertop like Don had, blank side up, but the white square didn’t give her a hint as to why, after so much time, Aubrey had reached out to her.

  “I did say life or death, didn’t I?” she said out loud. “I stayed away, so you should be safe.”

  Typed on the other side were Aubrey’s name, number, and the short message to contact her as soon as possible because it was important for them to speak. The area code was local, which meant Aubrey had to have been content to stay close to home all this time. Wiley picked up the card and ran her thumb over the writing.

  Before she could talk herself out of it, she dialed the number and exhaled when it started to ring. After the fifth time she took the receiver away from her ear to hang up, intending to throw the card away.

  “Oh, God,” a woman who she assumed was Aubrey whispered harshly, making her whip the phone back.

  “Aubrey?”

  “Wiley, we’re in trouble,” she said, still whispering and barely audible.

  “Where are you?” She pressed the phone harder to her ear and searched for a pen. Aubrey gave her an address and a small explanation as to what she thought was happening. “How many?”

  “I think three.” Aubrey paused, then said, “Oh, my God.”

  “Hang up and call nine-one-one, if you haven’t already.”

  “I didn’t remember having my phone with me.”

  “Aubrey, make the call. Whatever’s happening isn’t worth your life.” She slipped her shoes back on and opened the freezer door to step into the room behind it. She quickly keyed in the codes to unlock the gun cabinet near the desk that housed her collection of pistols. The two nine-millimeter semiautomatic weapons with silencers should be enough firepower. “Did you hear me?” she asked when Aubrey stayed quiet.

  “If these guys hear sirens, they’re going to come looking—”

  “Aubrey?” Wiley flew down the stairs when Aubrey abruptly stopped talking and all she heard was faint breathing. “Stay on the line and tell me if anything changes.”

  “Please, Wiley, help us.”

  “I’m close, so hang on.” The van from the night before was the best vehicle for this, but she didn’t have time, so she chose the black motorcycle she’d had since her first days at West Point. After wondering about Aubrey for so long, she found it strange that they’d ended up about ten minutes from each other.

  Uptown, where huge mansions sometimes sat next door to small shotguns in need of major repair, the address Aubrey had given h
er led to a fairly large home with beautiful landscaping. She’d always imagined Aubrey living in this type of home, but the phone call and the reason for it didn’t fit the picture she was looking at.

  She passed the house and parked her cycle, then took a shortcut through the neighbor’s yard to reach the back without being seen. In the dark the separate garage building provided good cover as she looked through the windows for any sign of life and, through the small earpiece she wore, listened to Aubrey breathe.

  Four cars sat in the drive, all of them empty, as was the outside of the house, so Wiley moved toward the back door. It had been ages since she’d entered a situation without knowing what and who she was up against, and the scars along her left shoulder were proof as to why she seldom did. She’d been shot more than once, but that old injury was the only one she chalked up to a stupid necessity. Answering the call meant she could drop the word stupid from the description if something happened to her. She’d accepted leaving Aubrey only because she knew her absence would ensure Aubrey’s safety and happiness. A future alone was better than a repeat of what had happened to Billy Ewart’s family.

  Sweating under the jacket she’d grabbed to hide her guns, she slipped on a pair of gloves anyway. The door was locked but opened easily with the use of her tools, and she stood at the threshold listening for where anyone in the house was located. After she quietly stepped inside and locked the door behind her, she tried to ignore the overturned and broken furniture.

  Shit, she thought, when she heard the distinctive sound of a chain saw revving up. The noise made her imagination skitter off into a dark place.

  On the first floor the only light on was the one over the stove, giving Wiley enough to make out where the stairs were. She unholstered both guns and started up the stairs to the landing, which was halfway up and headed in the opposite direction. The next flight over her head made it impossible to see if someone was waiting to ambush her at the top. Even if that was the case, the saw revving up again and the screams that accompanied it gave her no choice but to move.