by Angela White
“Your plan was good, but a bit simple,” Adrian explained. “It didn’t account for the reactions of the camp.”
“Because they’ve never been my priority,” Marc muttered, recognizing the dooming flaw.
“You tried to keep them out of it, but you also didn’t count on Angela’s reactions. Now, we’ll do it my way.”
“Can’t be any worse than mine,” Marc gave in with bitterness they all felt.
“Sometimes fate throws in a wild card,” Kenn remarked.
They all stared at Angela and she flushed. “That’s one of the nicer things I’ve been called.”
The tension broke with their laughter and Marc ducked out to go over the scene. He’d just wanted to be sure she was okay first. Some of the glares he had been getting upon their arrival hadn’t boded well.
Angela, not finished with her checkup, looked to Adrian.
“We’ll wait,” Adrian said, keeping Kenn still for another minute. Those broken ribs hurt, Adrian knew. None of the times he’d suffered that particular injury had been fun.
“You guys will be cleared in a few hours,” Angela told her team a few minutes later.
“Bet you’re glad you had new arrivals to handle, huh?” Lee joked, starting to feel better with each bottle of water he kept down.
She laughed, thinking Lee was a firm supporter now, and his wife, a hairdresser with bright pink stripes, was a nice addition to her growing list of possible female Eagles. They’d come in alone, and settled into the QZ while she was on duty. She’d been about to scratch the scrappy woman from her list for being a cheater when Lee had apologized for the slap. Listening from the shadows, when Candy started crying, asking him to forgive her, Angela had reconsidered. If they were willing to let it go, so could she.
“You bet your sweet cojones.”
That drew more sniggers and she issued instructions without waiting for Adrian to okay it. His wants were clear enough to her right now, since she was listening to his mind, too.
“For evening mess, tell John you guys need something to help you eat. It’ll control the rocking and we’ll watch for reactions when you show up in perfect condition.”
“What was it?”
“We’re not sure yet. Some type of party drug most likely.” Angela gestured toward the tray near the rear of the tent. “You’ll get another blood test before you leave and a few more over the next couple days. Show up every 12 hours and we won’t have to hunt you down and siphon it.”
“We’ll be around.”
Angela was surprised when Adrian turned to her. “Next?”
Kenn frowned, notebook still in hand. He got it all without being told, but he didn’t like it.
“Double the sentries…talk to the men on the mess trucks and get a list of everyone who got supplies; including the cooks and assistants…it all needs to be checked for tampering?”
“Yes. I doubt we’ll find anything, but it has to be gone over anyway. Whoever did this knew the routines.” Adrian gestured at the notebook. “Can you two take care of that?”
One scowling, the other pleasantly surprised, Kenn and Angela nodded and Adrian continued toward his next stop.
The tension was suddenly thick again and Angela shrugged. “It’s only because you’re hurt. He wants me to be sure you don’t overdo it. You have serious injuries.”
Kenn relaxed a little and she gestured to his notebook. “Let’s get on this and get you back in a cot with a sandwich, a beer, and a pill.”
Kenn grinned, chest aching. “Best plan I’ve heard today.”
Around them, Kyle and his team observed the switch in power without comment.
5
An hour later, they were gathered for lunch mess, all but Marc, who had gone back to examine the scene, and Kenn, who was now in the medical tent resting.
“What’s she doing?”
Adrian glanced up at Neil’s question.
Instead of eating, Sam was currently rooting through a box of papers and folders, and had the table in front of her covered with them.
“Searching for proof,” Adrian answered.
“She knows who it is?”
“She has a suspect list, same as us.”
“Should we get hers?”
Neil’s voice was eager, but Adrian shook his head. “I already have it. She asked me for schedules for the last month for Rick, Maria, Tony, Mitch, and Zack.”
“Only one there I’d worry about.”
“Rick.”
“He’s on our list, too.”
“Should we help her search?”
“No.”
“No.”
Adrian and Angela shared a smile at the overlapping answers.
“Tell him why.”
Angela didn’t hesitate. “They have a history. No one can make him more nervous than Samantha can.”
“Very good. Kyle and his team are coming now. Keep talking to me and watch.”
Nothing. Not a flicker that didn’t match what it should and all of them were disappointed. Rick had been among the welcoming rush and they could find no fault with him, even when he spotted Samantha pouring over folders from a box marked ‘past schedules’. He hadn’t tensed, not staring in worry, and when she’d looked straight at him, he had given her only a casual nod and hadn’t glanced her way again.
“Yeah, model citizen. He’s thinking about presidential assassinations right now,” Angela exclaimed in horror.
“Thinking about next time?” Adrian asked, stopping Neil and Kenn from moving that way with a shake of his hand.
“Yeah. He’s our guy,” Angela confirmed, searching for anything in Rick’s mind that they could use as proof. Usually, she couldn’t get in the suspected traitor’s thoughts, but he was wide open right now and she dug deeper.
“We have to catch him,” Neil stated.
“We lost some, Boss.” Alex stated lowly. He’d been waiting for Neil to tell Adrian and received a glare from the trooper instead. Oops.
“Who?” Adrian demanded.
“The women from Omaha. Lee’s wife tried to hold them, but she said they wanted to be with Ernie. That he had the sense to hide when the slavers came.”
Normally, there would have been crushing loss, but this time, everyone at the table felt Adrian’s anger.
Neil saw Samantha stand up and come toward their table. Would she call it publicly? He’d stand behind her.
Sam handed a single folder to Adrian before returning to her seat, leaving Neil disappointed until he spotted Rick guiltily slipping out of the mess while everyone’s attention was on the center table.
Adrian sat back down and the conversations slowly resumed.
Sam left the folders and papers spread across the table without a second thought, following Rick as the camp stared in curious suspicion.
“Go on if you want,” Adrian told Neil.
When the trooper did, Angela looked to Adrian. “She’s sure.”
“Yes.” He slid the folder toward them, revealing Samantha’s note.
He has to be in contact with them by now. Better channel monitoring–search his tent and check for a radio on channels 24 or 83. Those are slaver standards. And stop Mitch from spending time with him! No access to anything, but especially whiskey, so he can’t bribe our radioman. Herd him now.
“Checking his tent will have to wait,” Jeremy stated, coming up behind them to read the short note. “His was one of a dozen burned during the trouble over Kenn. He just got a new one.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes, but it won’t matter,” Adrian stated with a soft menace that they rarely heard. “Our final battle with his master is coming soon. After that, the need to be careful with him vanishes.”
6
“I’ll tell you again, Ms. Quest. I won’t give you any details about his condition and as you can see, he’s resting and I’m busy.”
“Are you hiding something, Doctor? It was a simple question.”
“Please take your accusations and rudeness and g
et out of here.”
Marc threw his body in front of the flap as the reporter came out of the medical tent. They collided, and he grabbed her arms to keep her from falling.
Marc jerked her up against his chest, playing it as if they were about to fall. Her flowery perfume struck him in the throat, preventing the words he’d wanted to say and she twisted in his tight grip.
“Watch where…” She fell silent as she realized who was holding her. The feel of his hard body was enough to halt her power of speech. Cynthia had a thing for spying on him and Marc had noticed.
Taking a chance, he kept her close for a moment longer, making full, intense contact. Maybe the reporter could be convinced to switch sides.
Cynthia stared into those sexy eyes without a real thought, too absorbed in the feelings. She’d been observing Marc here and there, but she’d thought Adrian was the only one who held such magnetic appeal. With his feathered black hair and smooth, gypsy-tinted skin, Marc was as sexy as Adrian. His best feature, after those amazing blue eyes, was his lips. Full and sexy, they promised pleasure–the kind that took its time and hung around for a while. Women had been trying in vain to snag his attention since they’d arrived, but it was clear that only Angela would do.
Marc slowly moved the woman back from the instinctive lean-in she was doing and enjoyed her blush.
“You okay?”
His hands fell away from her hot skin and Cynthia shook her head. “Yes.”
Marc smiled at her, stealing her breath again as he used the charm usually reserved for Angie. “Didn’t mean to startle you, Cyn.”
His voice was a low octave of chills over her spine. “I’m fine.”
Marc leaned in to deliver the final blow. “Better than that, I’d say.”
A dark stain ran up her cheeks as her rate of breathing increased.
“Maybe I’ll run into you again sometime.”
Cynthia didn’t answer, couldn’t talk through the lump in her throat.
Marc left her with a satisfied smirk. Now, she would be distracted and that would give Adrian a little more time to get her under real control.
He ducked into the Bengay-smelling tent to find John chuckling in admiration.
“Very nicely done,” John admired.
“Just doing my part.” Marc responded to the doctor’s low words, thinking the man was exhausted. He was so pale that the white sheets next to him seemed darker.
Marc frowned as he glanced around the nearly empty tent. He’d been expecting to discover Kenn and Adrian here, along with Angela and Anne, but there was only Kenn, who had stopped snoring in favor of listening.
“The reporter wanted to know about Kyle’s team, but she moved on to Kenn pretty fast.”
“She’s connected the two,” Marc commented. Where is everyone?
“As have others.” John said as he finished writing.
“Is it right?” Marc asked suddenly, unaware that he was going to. “Lying, manipulating, all this undercover shit?”
Peeling off his gloves, John was tired. “I wish I could say no, but if you had been here two hours ago, I don’t think you would ask that.”
“Neil said it was tense,” Marc commented.
John snorted. “Tents burnt, fights, searches being conducted by Kenn’s allies, levels of Eagles confronting each other. It was more than tense.”
Marc was surprised. “I didn’t see any sign of that.”
“Kenn went out there, even though that man has three broken ribs and a concussion.” John gave him a pointed look. “People thought Kenn was dead.”
Marc understood he had been accused in his absence. “Guess that means I’ll need a new canvas. Zack stirred ‘em up?”
“Yes. They’ve been suspended from the Eagles.”
“And order was restored.”
“Yes. If people knew it was an attempted mass-murder, the peace and security here would be gone.”
“And I would lose them.”
Adrian entered the tent, closing the flap, and Angela took up a place outside in the shadows with the other guards after a fast scan of the tent that verified there was no danger.
“And I’ll do anything, say anything to keep that from happening.”
Marc shrugged, not hesitating to voice his concerns now. “I just don’t know that it’s right.”
To his surprise, the leader laughed.
“What’s funny about that?” Marc demanded.
“Right and wrong doesn’t matter anymore, grunt,” Adrian explained. “Only our survival does.”
Marc conceded the point. If things had been that bad here, that fast, it proved how unready these people were to be on their own.
“Anything found?” Adrian asked.
“A shovel and some prints that were too tracked over to make a mold of,” Marc answered. “We’re almost out of time.”
“I know. I feel it, too.”
“Three attempts in two weeks,” Marc stated in concern. “They’ll come for her themselves now, since their mole hasn’t been successful.”
“We’re as ready as we can be. And so is she, for the time we’ve had.”
“When they come, Angie will expose what she is to protect these people,” Marc replied angrily. “I hope you’ve got that covered.”
Adrian ignored the bitterness. “The Eagles are on board. She’s worked hard and the women here already regard her as a champion for them.”
“That’s not enough of them,” Marc stated. “They might still turn on her.”
“Yes...”
“You have to stop that from happening!” Marc ordered fiercely. “After all she’s already done for you, you owe her more!”
Adrian was scowling. “Don’t you think I know that? The herd needs more time that we don’t have.”
“Then you have to keep her from using her magic in front of them, even if the slavers attack us.”
“That won’t happen,” John stated. “Even I know it. The best you can do is to take the fight away from here so she doesn’t have to hold back.”
Adrian and Marc had a long moment of silent admiration.
“We lure them away.”
“Yes. And what will do that?” Adrian already knew, but needed Marc to say it.
“Angie,” Marc admitted reluctantly. “If she doesn’t leave, they won’t follow at all.”
“Yes,” Adrian sighed. “Dope it out according to the setup you gave me.”
The order to do it was short and awful, and Marc forced himself to pretend it was someone else’s love about to be used as bait. “I’ll have a final battle plan ready and in your tent before dawn.”
On a cot behind them, Kenn listened in shock.
Brady can have the XO slot anytime he wants it!
Kenn hadn’t known those two were doing deep-level work already and it was another of those life-changing moments to realize that Marc had been doing his job all along and hadn’t once tried to take credit for it.
I have now officially lost it all, Kenn thought.
You never had it to lose, the demon inside refuted harshly. You were just keeping the seat warm.
7
Early the next morning Safe Haven rolled out of Cedar Bluff with the annoying cries of mating cicadas ringing in their ears.
A few short hours later, the slavers rolled in and even the invading insects fell quiet.
They had been traveling for nearly a week, using the cleared roads to catch up, and they’d made great time thanks to Rick’s messages.
Cesar shook the dirt from the baggie and scanned the letter inside quickly.
Headed to Georgia. They plan to use the caves. Made 3 attempts, all failed. Bitch keeps saving him! I can’t do it from here–up to you now. Will listen at midnight for the next week.
Cesar scanned to the men now taking over the muddy, but cleared area. The fighters here were more than 300 strong, all seasoned killers.
Cesar brandished his deformed fist. “In three days, we have supplies and whores!”
There was a resounding cheer from the Mexicans. The last three towns had been empty upon arrival.
Cesar strode toward the center of the clumsily unrolling camp, eager to examine more of Adrian’s methods from the clues left behind. There had been problems among his men without fresh females to enjoy, but he had broken into his own harem and handed out the ones with no sign of pregnancy. It had calmed his men down and made him popular again, but it had also sent a hotter fury into Cesar’s heart. When my girls cry in pain, I am to be the cause of it! Safe Haven will pay for every scream I have missed.
Chapter Twenty-One
Tic, Tock…Hands on a Clock
May 10th
Near Hays, Kansas
1
“I’m telling you, that is too much weight,” Angela argued in annoyance. “Unload half of it and we’ll add a box or two to each vehicle that’s left.”
“What the hell do you know about it?” Zack sneered hatefully.
He and the others from the mini-riot had been taken back into the Eagles after just two days, but they were now Level Ones again and had to work their way up. Zack wasn’t adjusting well to being the same rank as her.
Angela shrugged, scanning the churning, debris-filled river. “I’m smart enough to know that if the pontoon’s sinking, you don’t send the truck across anyway.”
Zack went scarlet and waved an angry hand at the rest of the convoy that had already reached the other side and started up the hill. “We’re falling behind. We’ll get split up!”
Angela flashed those flecks of steel they were all familiar with now.
“What’s worse? We show up an hour late with the water, or go now and lose a reserve truck because you can’t stand to do what I say?”
They glared at each other for a long moment and then Zack dropped his eyes. “Losin’ water. We’re low.”
“Is there a problem?” Kyle asked from behind her.
“Not anymore.” Angela grinned sweetly. “Will you help us unload a little weight? The pontoon keeps going below the waterline with just the weight of the front tires.”
“Sure. Good thing you saw it,” Kyle praised. “That’s the last of our reserves after mess tonight.”
