“We’ll be fine,” she whispered and hoped what she said was true.
“Alex,” Grant called to her friend from behind them. Laura and Alex turned to look at him.
“Rafe, Justin and Bo knew you would be safe here with us. It’s the only reason they volunteered. You have to understand, there is an orphanage in the town.” Grant ran his hand through his hair.
“I shouldn’t be telling you this, but Rafe was raised in one and it wasn’t good. When he noticed the home…well, he couldn’t leave the children, and neither could the others who stayed.”
“Thank you, Grant, that explains a lot to me.” Alex patted his arm and smiled at her. “I’ll be okay. At least there is a reason other than me. So I can hope.”
Before Alex could turn away, Grant handed her an envelope. “Rafe wrote this real quick for you.”
“Go help Nadine. I’ll be fine.” Alex pushed Laura away before ripping open the letter.
“I’ll see you at lunch?” Grant asked, drawing Laura’s attention.
“I want to be there. I need to know what is going on.” Laura pivoted to help Nadine, but once more Grant captured her around her waist.
“We’ll watch out for her. They are committed to Alex—you’ll see. If I have to, we’ll bring the kids and them back here. I won’t let you down,” Grant promised before swatting her butt and leaving her there, stunned.
“You know it is something to think about, bringing those children here. I mean we are surrounded by men. What better place to protect them?” Nadine said as she pulled out a steel rolling cart.
The doors to the mess hall swung open and Tracy and Sandra came in with two other women. “We’re set up,” Tracy said, grabbing two of the racks of cornbread while Sandra and the women grabbed the bowls, chili and butter.
The drinks were already in the room. They had made pots and pots of coffee. Of course, Laura was now zinging along on a caffeine buzz.
Placing a bowl in front of her, Nadine pointed. “Sit. We’ll eat here first. I’m sure they are setting up the tables in the control room and getting settled.” Nadine grabbed herself a bowl and handed one to Alex as she stepped up.
“So what did the letter say?” Laura asked, taking a bite of the chili and moaning.
“More or less what Grant had said, but I still think they’re giving me the time I asked for, which is fine.” Alex also moaned when she took a bit of her chili. “This is amazing.”
“It is good. You were right, Laura, the turkey hamburger adds just the right touch. Plus it will save on the hamburger. We’ll have to have the men go hunting soon too. I want to add deer meat and some wild birds in the freezer too.”
Nadine tapped her fingers on the pad of paper she’d pulled out. “Can you think of anything else?” She looked at them both.
“Well, we used to have turtle soup. If you have lakes, there are bound to be snapping turtles,” Alex added.
“There are rabbits, but they don’t give much meat,” said Laura. “I think the best things would be the birds, deer, any wild hogs too. I just hate the thought of killing all those animals.”
“Then let’s pray this thing get settled before any more happens, but right now I think we better stick to raising our own cattle and such,” said Nadine. “I’m also thinking we should board up our well supply, protect it. You never know if they want to strike against our food supply.”
“You need to have the men find some underground water supplies. How far is the town from here?” Laura asked, eating the last bite of her chili.
“If you’re driving, about twenty minutes, but you can’t go there now.” Nadine eyed Laura and Laura laughed.
“No, I was just thinking it might not be a bad idea somehow if we can connect the town’s bunkers to the tunnels you have,” said Laura. “One, it would give another escape route if need be, and we could share our resources. The more people we have helping, the better we’ll be.”
“You’re right,” said Nadine. “We’ll bring that up when we serve them lunch. Let’s check and see how the chili is holding out in the mess, then we’ll head to the control room.” Nadine stood, taking her dish to the sink.
“You two go to the control room. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on Max. He’s sound asleep—there’s no sense in waking him.” Alex finished her lunch and reached for her coffee.
“Are you sure? You’re going to get sick of watching him,” Laura teased and Alex laughed.
“Never! Now let’s get this cart loaded while Nadine loads the mess hall up.” It took them fifteen minutes to make sure everything was filled and ready to go. Nadine pushed the cart since Laura had no idea where they were going.
“Warning you right now—the general is a jackass, so be prepared. I’ve had the displeasure of meeting him a few times and I was not impressed.”
“Great, just what we need around here,” Laura mumbled and Nadine agreed. One thing was for sure—there sure were a lot more hot men in the complex.
“Well we aren’t going to be without eye candy, are we?” Laura said, forgetting for a second who she was talking to as her gaze followed a few men walking by.
“Hell no, but don’t let my sons catch you staring. If they’re anything like their father, they’ll be very jealous.” Nadine laughed and even nudged her when two other soldiers walked by.
“What would you two be looking at?” They both jumped at the sound of Roman’s voice. His mother laughed until she spotted her husband right behind Roman.
“Well shit.”
Daniel watched as his mother and Laura came into the control room with their lunch. Grant stood and pulled Laura into his arms. “You’re not out of the woods yet, dear,” Grant whispered in her ear before turning her to meet the general.
“General, this is our woman, Laura McGill. Laura, this is General Liam Teeter. He’ll be staying here with us while we work at getting everything back to normal.”
She held out her hand to Teeter, but the way he looked at Laura sent up warning signals. Daniel never did like the guy.
Teeter took her hand into his and kissed the top of it. Daniel was ready to punch the guy when he said. “You must be something to hold three men’s interest, my dear.” His gaze raked down her body as Laura snatched her hand back.
Grant kissed the side of her neck. “Why don’t you help Mom while I have a word with the general?” He pushed Laura over where Nadine was speaking with his dad and brother Haden.
Standing, Daniel stepped behind his brother, knowing this was going to be interesting. “General, if you ever disrespect our woman again, you’ll find your ass outside and fending for yourself.” Grant leaned forward, his hands in fists at his side. “I’ve already apprised the president of your attitude and the only reason you are here is because of your knowledge of this group who has joined Hager. So I really suggest you watch yourself.”
The small man leaned forward, almost in his brother’s face. “You do know I could have you court-martialed for talking to me like that?”
“No you can’t, but I can.” Grant opened a file on the table and shoved toward the man. “I was going to hold off showing this to you, but now there seems to be no point in waiting.”
Daniel frowned looking over his brother’s shoulders. “What is it?”
“The president knew the general was unfit to serve. The only reason he’s here is because it’s his last chance and if he screws this up, he loses everything. Pension, all of it. One word from me or anyone, and he’ll be brought up on charges. The president has had too many complaints about him.” Grant looked at Daniel, then at Roman.
“She is not to be left alone while he is here,” Grant said. “I also have men who will be watching his every move. Also, he is not to know passwords or anything to do with security.”
“I don’t understand this. How could the president do this to me? I’ve served him for the past seven years,” the man snapped and sat down.
Taking his seat across from the general, Daniel leaned back
in his chair and smiled up at Laura as she placed a bowl of chili and cornbread in front of him.
“There’s fresh coffee, milk and I think your mom brought some iced tea too,” Laura said.
“The tea would be great,” Daniel said, squeezing her leg. She nodded and looked up at Grant.
“I’ll have coffee. It’s going to be a long day.” Grant cupped her cheek.
Daniel couldn’t take it anymore—the general’s nasty looks at Laura were too much. Daniel stood and his chair went flying back. “Laura, honey, why don’t you and Mom leave the cart here and we’ll serve ourselves? I’m sure after all that cooking you’d like an hour or so to just sit back and relax.” Daniel took her hands, raising them to kiss each one. “Plus, I know standing on your feet like this has to be pulling on your side.” He looked at his mom.
“We’ll come and help cook tonight,” Daniel said, but Nadine was already shaking her head.
“There is no need. We have hams in the oven cooking now. Come on, Laura, let’s go. Oh, here is a list of things we were talking about. You might want to consider putting some men on it.” Nadine handed Grant her list and grabbed Laura’s hand. “Come on, we’ll get Alex and I’ll show you my private retreat down here.”
They were walking out the door when Grant looked to Roman.
“No, I’ll go. I’ve eaten and your grandfather can fill me in tonight,” his father said, glaring at Liam. “I for one can’t stand being in the same room as that man.”
“Dad,” Grant warned, but his father was already out the door following the ladies.
“Let’s get this over with. We have too much finish before nightfall to be sitting here.” Grant pulled his chair out as Roman followed his father out the door. One of them would stay with Laura now, since the little weasel sitting across him had a reputation for attacking woman.
“Okay, General, what do you know about this new group who has joined with Hager and why would they join him?” At first the man said nothing, but ate his lunch and watched the monitor.
“At last count, Tallen’s little army was well over ten thousand men. If Hager promised him these EMPs or any other weapon, Tallen wouldn’t hesitate in helping him. Not only is this man crazy, he believe everybody owes him. If I were Hager, I’d be watching my back.” Liam reached over and poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Look, I apologize. I have this stupid problem when women are around. I can’t keep my mouth shut.” The general sat back, sipping his coffee. “Anyway, when I was leaving Washington, the groups in California and Texas had been neutralized, but the other two groups hadn’t been. They used drones and we’re still trying to figure out how they did it. We brought one with us. We figured your brother Hayden would like to take a look at it.” He moved closer to the table and looked at Grant.
“From what intel was gathered, we believe the biggest group is moving this way. They don’t know where you are, but Hager knows you’re in one of the northern states. Ever since you wiped out half of his men, including his brother, he’s lost it. Of the group left alive, half of them left Hager, claiming he was suicidal and crazy.”
“How do you know this?” Daniel could always tell a lie and this man wasn’t lying about this.
“He might not like me and I’m an ass, but I will never betray our country. Your teams are the best we have. One of the men who left Hager was captured. He’s talking like a bird. He also warned us he won’t stop ‘til he finds you, but I have to say that is not what has the president worried.” He reached down and dug through his brief case before pulling out a file about an inch thick.
“This is all we have.” The general looked at his watch. “This time tomorrow we’ll have one more truck filled with others who want to see this man just as dead as we do. Their information is in here, but it goes no further than us. You can read over this tonight and we can meet in the morning before they arrive.” The general stood and looked from Daniel and then to Grant, ignoring the others in the room.
“Only a handful of people know about this and the president has ordered all files on this destroyed except for what we are transporting here. He’s ordered the rest of the information to come to you when it’s safe. This will now be the secured location for any other survivors we find until we know more. Thank your mother and your woman for the food. It was great. I’ll go to my room for now.”
Grant waved his hand and two members of their team stepped up. “Take the general to the sixth wing. His room is B9, and make sure his fridge is filled with water.” Both men nodded. Each had known ahead of time they were not to leave this man alone. Others would relieve them when the time was right, but the general was under twenty-four hour watch.
Every muscle in Daniel’s body was tense. “Were there others? Did we forget someone?”
His brother shook his head.
“No, we went through that compound three times before we blew it,” his grandfather said, squeezing Daniel’s shoulder. “You won’t know ‘til you open the file.”
With shaking hands, Grant opened the file. Grant’s face had to be as white as his. There on the first page was written Genetic Codon Humans.
“Son of a bitch! I’ll kill every last one of them!” his grandfather yelled, jumping up he threw his cup of coffee at the wall smashing it into pieces. “Haven’t you boys been through enough?”
Chapter Fourteen
As soon as Laura stepped into the kitchen, she knew something was wrong. The tension in the air had shifted. Growls could be heard in the mess hall and next to her Nadine stiffened.
Nadine spun around and stared up at her husband. “What’s happened?”
Before Richard could say anything, Roman answered for him as he surrounded Laura with his strong arms. “It seems we were not the only ones to have been experimented on. Another group of men are on their way here.” Roman turned her around to face him.
“Grant and Daniel will meet us in our room. Grab Max.” He looked up and over at Alex as he nodded. “Alex you come too. You have the right to know. Mom, the general is being watched so you and the other women don’t have to worry. We’ll meet you back here in an hour or so.”
Kissing the top of her head, Roman released Laura as she went to gather Max, but Alex was already there, picking him up. “You forgot again, didn’t you?” She pointed her finger at Laura and Laura nodded.
“Yes, with everything going on my brain, and my hormones are all over the place,” Laura mumbled gathering up Max’s binky, blanket and a few of his toys. “Nadine, I’ll just leave the playpen up, since we’ll be back later.” She turned to see Nadine gone and Roman there waiting.
“Dad took Mom to their room. She needs some time alone with him. I’m sure the playpen will be fine. All ready?” He looked at them both as she and Alex tucked Max into the stroller.
Alex pushed the stroller ahead of them as they walked through the tunnels. “This section is new, isn’t it?” Laura asked, running her hand over the steel walls.
“Yes, all our personal quarters are in the newer section. We added more security, exit doors and other things the both of you will learn eventually,” Roman sighed. “There are things you’ll see that you won’t understand or might scare you. Just keep an open mind is all we ask.”
She held out her hand and he took it. “We’ll be fine. Alex and I know how to survive. We’ve done it enough.”
In front of her, Alex snorted. “That’s an understatement.” She looked over her shoulder and winked. “But then again, we can get through anything as long as we have each other.”
“That we can, my friend, that we can,” Laura said as Roman reached around Alex and opened the door to their private quarters. Inside they had a sitting room with a fake fireplace, three bedrooms and a bedroom with a small fridge, warming plate, microwave and toaster. The only thing they were missing was a coffeepot and Laura was going to insist on that.
But all thought of the coffeepot vanished when she stepped into the room and noticed Grant, Daniel, his gra
ndfather, brothers and two of his team going through papers. They all stood noticing them.
“We’ll give you time and come back in say an hour?” Their grandfather asked and Grant nodded.
“Thanks, Granddad.” Grant came over and scooped Max up into his arms. “How are you doing, little guy?” He held the baby up in the air and before Laura could warn him Max had just eaten, the baby upchucked.
The small stream of vomit landed square on his face. Grant held out the baby to Daniel as he used his shirt to clean himself off. Laura tried to hold her giggle back, but she couldn’t, and burst out laughing. “I was going to warn you he’d just eaten, but you were too quick.”
She was not the only one who was amused. Alex took Max and cleaned him up while Daniel and Roman struggled to stop laughing.
“Thank you, baby, we need that laugh,” Daniel kissed her cheek and hugged her tight. “Please Alex sit what we’re about to explain to you is going to be hard to take.”
After going into the bathroom, Grant came out with his hair wet and wearing just jeans a few minutes later. “Well, I’ll never do that again.” He winked at Laura before turning serious and sitting down across from her and Alex.
“About twenty years ago my mom took Roman, Daniel and myself to New York. We were making a day of it and we’d just sat down in Central Park when all hell broke loose. Mom didn’t know what to do. About thirty masked armed men came into Central Park and started grabbing people. Come to find out later they only took the children, including us.”
She gripped Alex’s hand and waited. They didn’t have to wait long.
“It was a program called Genetic Codon Humans. The compound where they kept the three of us had over sixty children. These extreme scientists, as we called them, had captured a few other world species a few years before. Not only did they decide to kill and dissect the poor things, they took it a step further. They wanted to see what would happen if they spliced their DNA with human DNA. What better way to use children?”
MySugarDaddy Page 10
