“Why?”
“Because it’s my duty to help you kill him.”
“And we will do that,” he swore, face twisting with a hatred she’d never thought to see from him. “My life or his. Only one of us will walk away.”
“…still using our old campsites.”
Samantha stopped, staring at the two men as they walked by.
“Makes us all feel wrong, but we’re not sure why…”
Sam climbed out of the passenger seat of Hilda’s minivan and closed the door, noticing, but not returning Neil’s friendly smile.
“Using our old campsites.”
“You okay?”
The words jarred her concentration and she shook her head, seeing the Trooper had come over to her. “What?”
“I asked if you were…”
“I heard someone say the Slavers are using our old camp sites,” she interrupted, mind full of those beautiful webs of connection.
“It’s bothering all of us. I’m sure it’s meant to.”
Sam’s unease grew. “Using our old sites.” She’d heard that before. Where? She picked the thought back up, moving slowly toward the bathrooms and Neil stayed with her, sensing she was onto something.
“What would they gain? An already cleared area? Leftover supplies?” she muttered and shook her head. “We don’t leave anything, and sure, it’s easier than the streets but… they have to be getting more or they would take our cleared roads and ambush…”
Her face paled. “To do that, they’d have to know where we are.” She turned to Neil with fury on her face. “I know how he’s doing it. Someone has to go back and search our last campsite!”
She swung toward the place she’d seen Adrian, and Neil grabbed her arm, pulled her back. “I’ll do it. Tell me.”
Sam let her discovery out in a fast, low rush of words. “Check where his tent was, dig if you have to. He’s leaving them messages.”
“How do you know that?”
“One of the refugees from Trinidad said that was how they were beaten. One of their people was leaving messages in baggies at their camping spots.”
Neil’s mind slammed it into place and his head turned wildly, picking a team. “Jeremy, Daryl, Jeff, Kevin, find a replacement and mount up. Recon.”
He ignored their surprise and turned back toward Samantha. “Tell Adrian and then Angela. Let them know where we’ve gone.”
She stared at him apprehensively, wanting suddenly to say something and Neil felt the moment for what it was. “When this is done.”
She flushed, but didn’t smile, too worried for him. Sam watched until the jeep was out of sight and then turned for the lights of camp.
Rick ducked further into the shadows as Sam stepped by, heart beating furiously. All of his attempts had failed. He’d caused damage, but not the huge chaos he’d been hoping for. Neil had even escaped Kenn’s pain with the early morning switch so he could cover Kyle’s team. None of it had gone like it was supposed to and now that they knew, Rick couldn’t even go back to his tent for the gun. He would have to sneak out to Cesar, empty-handed.
The traitor frowned. Did he have to go back to the Slaver? He’d done everything he could to take out the leadership here. They were just too strong. Not that Cesar would care for his excuses. If he ran to the Mexican now, he wouldn’t see dawn come.
Rick’s thoughts flipped to Samantha. Leave without her? He shook his head, wincing at the increase of guards flooding the area. He would lay low, follow the camp maybe. He wasn’t done with her yet. Maria had been a poor substitute.
What about the cook? He asked himself. Did he need to get her out of here? Rick shook his head, pulling off his grimy black bandana. If they thought he’d escaped they might be quick to come hunting. Unless they had a distraction, and who better than traitor number two?
3
Leveled out and covered with trees, it was cool and shady in the field where they made camp. Dinner was a wet, but loud, comfortable affair and Adrian listened to his people. There was little time left for enjoyment now and it didn’t matter if they traveled for another day or let it happen right here.
He stood up, drawing their attention. “Everybody ready for travel in the morning?”
There were half-hearted responses and Adrian smiled. “My feeling, too. How about we start our break now?”
The cheers were huge and he held up his hand, pretended to stumble back. “I can take a hint.” He motioned at the corner, where two Eagles were sweeping the damp trees. “Kyle and Angela have point. Set us up.”
Adrian took his seat and resumed eating, very pleased that the call had only drawn a little interest. Even the Eagles were going about lunch like it didn’t matter. Good. He’d run out of time to get her ready. These men would have to teach her the rest as they went.
Kyle and Angela had the camp set up in decent time, the Eagle mostly standing back and guiding, teaching her. The effects of the drug had faded quickly, allowing the top men to support Adrian’s claims of coincidence. The camp thought they’d gotten food poisoning.
“You see how it has to be?”
“Yes. Don’t rush them, but use your approval to encourage the results you need.”
Angela hadn’t questioned Adrian’s lessons, but when the Witch muttered lowly, she couldn’t help but notice the demon inside was right about her observations. He’d been doing it a lot. Training lessons and even simple workout moments had become leadership sessions. He was training her differently than the others. This wasn’t just catch-up.
4
Short hours before dawn, Neil rolled back into camp and each guard who saw him knew there was trouble.
Neil took the baggie straight to Adrian, face a grim mask of loathing. When the Boss gave an order he hadn’t heard before, the Trooper called his team over and filled them in with a simple action. He let them read the letter he’d found buried under Rick’s tent space.
Where are you? The time is now! They’ll be on Interstate 183 for the next two days, near Hays. Maria has enough powder left to dose the entire camp for a meal. They’ll be out for 6 hours. We’ll use it as soon as we hear from you.
The small group of men moved silently toward the tent area and Adrian held his guilt in place, letting them do their duty. The fact that Maria was a woman wouldn’t matter now. She would soon be another body on the side of man’s roads and nothing more.
As the Trooper and half his team headed for the men’s side, the other half moving for the women’s, the blond Leader strode that way to start singing. The camp would be told Maria was being banished and escorted from camp. Only he and Neil’s team would know otherwise. As for Rick, there wasn’t even a need for a trial. Once the camp read the letter, that shifty-eyed traitor would be killed on sight. His justice would come from the people he’d betrayed.
“There’s a call for you, Boss.”
Kyle’s voice told him everything he needed to know and Adrian changed directions after waving the Mobster toward Kenn’s tent. The Marine would have to pick a tune. Another crisis had just sounded.
Still lurking in the shadows, Rick began to snicker softly. He also knew who had finally made contact.
“Rick’s gone.”
Adrian had known it, felt it, before each of the guards reported back. He wasn’t surprised, only worried. Traitors had a keen sense of self-preservation. Likely, they’d tipped him off by sending Neil back. Returning to their old sites was something they didn’t normally do.
“Keep the watch on double and put an extra man on Samantha.”
Jeremy’s eyes said he would handle it and Adrian let it go. He and Neil could fight that out later.
“What about the camp?”
“Tell them he was banished, too.” We have bigger problems, he thought, zipping his jacket against the chill.
The only one to frown at the lie was the one none of them had noticed.
Marc waited until the senior men left and moved out of the darkness. “I know who you are…
who you were.”
Adrian spun to see Marc standing by the supply truck. Filled with dread (he wasn’t sure Marc was a convert even though he and Angie were a legal couple now) Adrian only raised a brow. Would this be the moment it came out? There was no worse time for it.
Marc studied the blond man without mercy, Dog at his heels. “When they find out…”
Adrian chose to act like Marc was one of his all the way. “You’ll help her hold them together and finish what I’ve started.”
Marc grimaced resentfully. “I thought it was like that.” His weary eyes went over the half a dozen shadows working hard behind the cover of darkness. He had only a little sympathy for Adrian’s worry. Despite the show of confidence by divulging the truth, they weren’t friends. In fact, Marc secretly loathed the blond Leader for making the Eagles more important to Angie than him.
Adrian read it, the time for truth fully here, and the Leader lit a smoke as he leaned against the tailgate. “Tell me something, Brady. What did you really expect to happen when you guys got here?”
Marc didn’t hesitate to give the same honesty. “I thought he’d hit her in front of me and I’d kill him. After that, we’d leave together, with our son.”
Adrian didn’t point out the obvious flaws. Again, Marc hadn’t accounted for the reactions of the camp or Angela, and they both knew it. The failures he wanted to expose were not the cause of the Wolfman’s anger. Would Marc do it anyway? He’d lose her if he did.
“I know that, too.” Marc didn’t look away from Adrian’s guilty face. “I don’t need mental powers to read your mind right now. If I tell these people, Safe Haven falls tonight, instead of tomorrow when Cesar comes.”
Not correcting him, Adrian pushed back. “Do you have so little faith in your own plans?”
Marc’s face twisted cruelly. “I have that little faith in you. All these lies and manipulations! And for what? So you can have a flock of sheep.” Marc kept his voice low even though he wanted to shout. “These people would be fine on their own. They don’t really need you or this place.”
“If you believe that, then you’ve been lying and manipulating them as well, to get her.”
“I’ve never made any secret of how I feel.”
Understanding the man wouldn’t be talked out of it, Adrian tried surprising him instead. “If your hatred of me is that strong after being here these weeks, then maybe you should go wake Hilda and the others now. They’ll get the board together for a vote or a trial.”
The blond Leader didn’t bother with the warnings about Angie’s reaction. Marc already knew what would happen.
“Why?”
Adrian gave him an incredulous snort. “You’re kidding, right?”
Brady shook his head. “These people worship you. The truth could have come out at any time.”
“Not with these results.”
“Yes. You underestimate them.”
Adrian knew Marc hadn’t been here for the unrest, but he was quickly growing annoyed with the Wolfman’s lack of understanding. “Do you know that I saved your life, grunt?”
That hard tone was impossible for Marc to ignore. He’d lived too much of his life by it. “What?”
“They thought you were the traitor.”
Marc slammed that into place with a loud click, explaining the curtness when he’d been the one to arrive driving the ambulance. “Why the hell would they think that?” he demanded angrily. “I’ve never given them any reason!”
“But you have,” Adrian explained tonelessly. “You’ve bucked the setup here from day one. They’ve tolerated it because of her.”
“It was never openly.”
“No. You’ve kept your head down and played it well.” Adrian crushed his butt under his boot. “But, they know a fake when they see one.”
Marc snorted. “They missed you.”
Adrian’s eyes blazed with scorn. “I believe in everything we do! I’m not on a power-trip. I never have been.”
He surveyed the very faint glow in the distance behind them, voice tinged with not only pride, but also the weight of it. “They need me.”
“They need to care for themselves,” Marc protested lightly, unable to hold onto his anger. Neil had been right when he’d said the need to repay the debt would come after he and Angie became a legal couple. Even now it was telling him things had to be this way.
“That is a slow process. I’m pushing them as hard as they’ll take.”
Distracted, Marc’s mind went to their plan. “What if you get them ready to fight? We can dig in here.”
“Come morning, that’s exactly what will happen.”
Marc lit a smoke with steady hands. “Morning? Why not now?”
Adrian’s heart thudded. “Look at them, Brady. Use that sharp military mind that can see so much, and tell me how many of my sheep would grab their shit and head for parts unknown before you finished talking.”
Marc did, taking his time. He saw a large number of people still at the bonfire, all sporting their first gun. Five new camp members had graduated today. Tent lights were still on and the soft murmur of voices floated over the camp. They weren’t asleep. “They’re scared,” he muttered, surprised. He hadn’t felt it through his own new layers of happiness and heavy discovery.
“Look deeper,” Adrian instructed, chest starting to ease a bit as Angela appeared in the darkness behind her man. “See where they are, too.”
Marc noticed it as soon as it was pointed out. “They’re grouped around the supplies, the ones we put out in case there’s an attack that pins them down.”
“Yes. They feel danger in the air the same as the Eagles. And like my men, they’re making their choices to stay and fight or run for their lives.”
Marc stared at him in shock. The camp knew, and yet they trusted him enough to pretend they didn’t. Adrian only had the illusion of control! What did that mean?
Nothing, Marc realized. All leadership was an illusion. Wrapped around a tyrant, that image would eventually shatter on its own. In Adrian’s case, it was a mirage of complete confidence coating a fanatical patriot.
“Is that so bad, Brady? We’ve been led by worse.”
Angela’s voice in his head had Marc blowing out a worried breath, but he refused to let her influence his choice either.
“I’m not here for that. I’m on duty.” She stepped from the shadows, sweeping Adrian the way the Eagles did.
Marc grimaced at the subtle warning that he was to be protected, not fought against. “Until Seth’s leg is stronger?”
“And even after. Sometimes, I can hear things they can’t.”
Marc didn’t look at either of them. “I think they should be told everything. You, your father, the Slavers attacking - all of it.”
“Go ahead.”
Marc frowned at Adrian’s calm answer. “What’s the catch?”
“There isn’t one. I’ve always known it would come out and I have no intentions of running, from either group of survivors.”
Marc stared in disbelief. “They’ll kill you for it.”
I won’t let that happen!
Adrian ignored Angela’s silent words. “Yes.”
There was thick tension as Marc considered that. He’d thought maybe the blond would have him removed before he could tell, or maybe he’d send Angela to try to change his mind. He hadn’t expected Adrian to own up to being the son of the man who’d caused the War.
Marc’s eyes went over the camp again and Adrian waited, giving him time to accept what Angela, and the others who knew, already had. This was the only way.
“But it was your own men who caused the problems…”
And that was why Zack was an Eagle, Marc realized. Keep your enemies closer.
“Yes. What would have happened if Zack hadn’t been one of mine?”
“A real riot.”
“Yes.”
He understood the reasoning, but it was the sight of his son that finally sent that truth into Marc’s hear
t. Matt and Charlie were on third shift duty in the Mess, keeping the coffee flowing. He was smiling; calmly leading the other boy through what was expected of them, and happy.
After their day together, their secret viewing of the past, those feelings Marc had tried to keep back had grown instead. He loved that boy, but Charlie was only alive and happy because of Adrian’s manipulations. If not for being found by Safe Haven, would his son be dead right now?
And what about the rest of these sheep he wanted to take the blinders from? How many of them would also be dead right now or slaves? Most, Marc answered his silent question reluctantly. He wanted to expose the lies, but when these people found out, they’d hang Adrian and run. All that happiness would be gone, for all of them. Just to ease his conscience. The scales weren’t even close when he weighed them and Marc let go of his need to see Adrian out of control.
“So, how do we get them to fight?”
Angela grinned and Adrian let out the breath he’d been holding. “You, Marc. You’ll get them to fight while we lure the main group out.”
Marc’s dismayed gaze went straight to Angela and he watched her smile fall to the dirt.
“Yes, I’m going.”
He closed his heart against the panic. He’d vainly hoped she wouldn’t leave Charlie here to go play this role. “What’s first?”
Adrian didn’t quite dare to smile lest he push the man into changing his mind. “I’ll tell you exactly how to make them work for you.”
“What if the Slavers attack this camp instead of following?”
Adrian’s voice was grim. “Then get my people to the trucks and send ‘em out. At least they’ll have their lives and their freedom. It’s more than most victims of this War have ended up with.”
Pushing away his own needs, Adrian motioned toward the empty training tent. “You guys should steal a little time alone.”
While you can, he thought. Come tomorrow night, all of them would either be free or dead.
Marc turned to see if Angela wanted to take Adrian’s suggestion and found her already moving that way. “I need a workout, Brady.”
Adrian's Eagles: Book Four (Life After War) Page 56
