Saint’s Passage: Elemental Covenant Book One

by Hunter, Elizabeth

  Brigid was still skeptical, but it might work. Might.

  “And what are we supposed to do with all these children when we get them out?”

  “We’ll figure that out later, but you cannot argue that they’re safe where they are, Brigid.”

  She couldn’t deny him on that. “We can’t do this by ourselves. We’d need…” She thought through a very basic plan. “At least half a dozen people to do anything.”

  “So we’ll find six humans to help us. Try to think through this strange cloud of self-doubt that has suddenly descended on you, because these are not government agents, Brigid. These are contractors. The likelihood that they’re as competent as actual federal agents is very slim. And you and I are far more skilled than the average federal agent.”

  She stared at his handsome, optimistic, resourceful, punchable face. Damn him, he was actually making sense.

  “Say we do this,” she started, “who are these scrappy compatriots you’ve clearly already thought of?”

  Carwyn grinned, and Brigid knew she was doomed.

  * * *

  Brigid walked back into the living room where Ruben was pacing near the door and Grandma Lina and Melanie were sitting on either side of Lupe on the couch. Lupe rose when she saw Brigid enter the room.

  Brigid came to stand right in front of the girl, forcing her to meet her eyes. What she saw in Lupe’s expression put the last nail in the idea of returning the girl to her mother that night and bidding this job farewell.

  Utter, complete, stupid determination.

  Brigid said, “If we take you home, yer going to find more money and run away again to help these kids as soon as you possibly can, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  She felt a twitch starting around her left eye. “Fine. We’ll help you. But you have to do exactly what we tell you to do, and you have to pay attention.”

  Lupe’s eyes lit up. “Serious?”

  “Dead serious,” Brigid said. “As long as I have a guarantee that you are absolutely not going to run from us again.”

  “As long as you’re going to help me get them out, I’ll stay with you. I promise.”

  Brigid held her hand out to shake, warming it before Lupe could touch her skin. “It’s a deal. Now go pack your things. We’re headed back to Liberty Springs.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The night wind cut a frozen chill through the Bronco as they drove south through the desert, and the moon shone off the snaking tar lines in the cracked asphalt leading to Liberty Springs.

  Brigid was sitting in the back of the car, trying to talk to Lupe. “Daniel’s friends,” she started. “How many do you think there were in the Springs?”

  Carwyn looked at the girl in the rearview mirror. Her body language was relaxed, but her eyes were still wary.

  “It was really hard to tell in that place,” Lupe said. “A lot of people keep to themselves. I mostly talked to Jitters and Didi, but only during the day because Didi drinks a lot. That place reminded me of the homeless camps in LA, but you know… different too.”

  “Where did you stay?”

  “At Didi’s. She has a spare couch in her trailer. It was pretty comfortable. She’s not like the other people out there. She had like, a normal life and everything. She went out there after her husband and baby died.”

  Carwyn was surprised. “When was that?” Didi had to be in her sixties.

  “A long time ago, I think. She only talks about it when she drinks a lot. But that’s every night. She wasn’t violent or anything, but she could be real grumpy. But I’m pretty sure she and her husband had a restaurant or something. That’s why she’s such a good cook.”

  Carwyn glanced over his shoulder. He was watching the two of them in the rearview mirror, trying to figure out if Brigid was softening to the idea of helping the immigrant children. As far as Carwyn could tell, she was still in interrogation mode.

  He’d looked at a map of the area, and even leaving Daniel’s friends out of the equation, Liberty Springs was surprisingly well-situated for an assault on Miller’s Range, which was an old missile-testing site with a surprising amount of information about it published online. It seemed to be the center of several different conspiracy theories as well as antigovernment sentiment.

  There were existing barracks in the middle of the base and a large building that could have been a mess hall visible online, along with a large warehouse-type building and a row of what appeared to be offices lining the side of the base that fronted the public road.

  Quite a bit of speculation flew around the internet regarding the purpose of Miller’s Range, whether it was still in use, and if so, what was it used for?

  There was one particularly paranoid chap who ran a website called Miller’s Watch. Watchdog_46 had been keeping track of the comings and goings of the range for over three years. It was roughly six months ago that black SUVs with no government markings whatsoever entered the site, were waved through by two servicemen, and followed by more vans, more trucks, and more SUVs. The range had been a hive of nonstop activity since.

  It wasn’t unheard of for the federal government to farm out detention centers to private companies, but in Carwyn’s opinion, it was a dodgy practice. There was less accountability and a profit incentive to keep people locked up. What motivation would there be to find homes for the detained minors if the company made money on each child? It was a system ripe for corruption.

  “If there are fences and guards and everything, how are you guys going to get in?” Lupe asked. “Do you, like, know government people or something?”

  Brigid shot Carwyn a look that very clearly said Now she asks?

  “We’re going to get in the old-fashioned way,” Carwyn said. “We’re going to tunnel in.”

  “That can take months!”

  “It won’t,” Brigid said. “We have a machine.”

  Lupe looked confused. “A digging machine?”

  “Something like that.”

  “How do you know it works?” Lupe asked. “Won’t they be able to hear it or something?”

  Carwyn said, “We’ve used it before. It’s highly reliable and very quiet. Never breaks down. One of Brigid’s favorites actually. She loves getting her hands on it.”

  Brigid bit her lower lip. “Funny you say that,” she said. “I was just thinking it was a minor miracle that the tunnel-boring machine operates at all considering how old it is.”

  “A well-built machine can last for decades. Centuries even.”

  “So you say.” Brigid glanced at Lupe. “Ignore him. We’ll be tunneling into the range; then I’ll sneak through to get the lay of the place. It’s not going to happen quickly, but it won’t take forever either.”

  Lupe settled back in her seat and clamped her mouth shut. She looked out the window at the desert flying by in the moonlight.

  “Moonlight.” Carwyn hadn’t even thought about that. The moon was nearly full tonight. It would be madness to try to break into Miller’s Range with this much moonlight. They’d have to wait until the night gave them a little more cover before they could think about breaking the children out.

  Timing was going to be everything.

  * * *

  They pulled into Liberty Springs well after midnight, and only a few lights flickered in the sprawling settlement. One of those lights was Didi’s, so they parked the car in front of the long picnic tables in front and walked Lupe up to the trailer.

  “She showed me where she keeps her key.” Lupe crouched down and looked under a large stone tortoise with a cactus growing off its back. “You can leave me here. You said you have a place to stay?”

  “We do. Are you sure you’ll be okay here?” Carwyn asked. “Do you want us to wait?”

  “It’s cool.” She stood up with a key in her hand. “Didi will be pretty out of it, but I’ll just go to the couch and crash.” Lupe rubbed her eyes. “I’m pretty tired. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “Not until the evening,” Brigi
d said. “We have some details to take care of during the day. Digging things.”

  “Right.” Lupe nodded. “Okay, I’ll just hang out here and help Didi.”

  “And if anyone asks what you’re doing here, just tell them that we brought you and we’ll be back tomorrow night,” Carwyn said. “Oh, and Daniel’s here.”

  Lupe’s cheeks went a little red. “Daniel Siva is here?”

  “He is,” Brigid said. “Maybe just… avoid him until we can figure out what the plan is. I don’t want Daniel to do anything stupid.”

  Lupe pursed her lips. “Too late.”

  Carwyn gave her a wry smile. “Now you’re getting it. Seriously, avoid Daniel tomorrow. If he tries to ask you a bunch of questions, just ignore him. Brigid and I will deal with him tomorrow night.”

  “Okay.” She hiked the strap of her duffel bag up. “I don’t even know what to say to him. I gave all his money to—”

  “You did what you thought was the right thing after he left you at that inn,” Carwyn said. “He’s got nothing to complain about, does he? If he asks you where the money is, tell them you gave it to us to pay for supplies.”

  Lupe nodded. “Okay. Hopefully Didi will have some extra work for me to do tomorrow.”

  “And don’t forget,” Brigid said, “we’ll be close. Just hang in there until tomorrow night.”

  * * *

  They retired to their previously dug cave. Carwyn usually filled in any dugouts as sizable as the one he’d previously created, but he’d had a sneaking suspicion that they might be back. He spotted the massive three-branched Joshua tree near the hill where he’d dug out their shelter and turned the truck toward it, trying to avoid as much brush as he could.

  “She’s going to be all right there back with the old woman, isn’t she?” Brigid asked.

  “Lupe?” Carwyn nodded. “I have a feeling that Didi is a softie. And that girl has a keen sense of people, that’s for sure.”

  Brigid nodded. “Good judge of character. She’s suspicious of me.”

  “You’re a lethal predator even if she doesn’t know that consciously.”

  “She has no fear of you whatsoever.”

  Carwyn grinned. “Of course she doesn’t. I’m a lamb.”

  “Yer a master of disguise is what you are,” she muttered. “Digging machine, my arse.”

  Carwyn stepped out of the Bronco and immediately took his shoes off. He loved the feel of the earth in the desert. There was ancient peace in the ground there, but also a vivid sense of life that always surprised him. The earth beneath his feet was old, but few creatures had trod it. Its energy was fresh, even invigorating, despite the cold, dry air.

  He took a deep breath and let his amnis reach down deep in the soil, searching for the echoes of his previous work. “I love it here. Don’t you feel refreshed?”

  “I have to admit my amnis is quick here. The air is dry, so the fire comes easily.” She reached in the Bronco for the small ice chest she’d stolen from the blood bank. “The fresh air makes me hungry though. I’ve been battling it since we left the highway at Dillon’s Corner.”

  “You eat. I’ll rebuild our tent.”

  “An excellent plan.”

  By the time dawn came, Carwyn was tucked into a comfortable den in the earth with Brigid at his side.

  “Sleep.” He felt her fighting it. “Let the day take you.”

  “Love you, big man,” she mumbled.

  He brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead. “And you’re my world, darling girl.”

  * * *

  The next night when they met with Daniel and Jitters, Brigid was like a snake who’d shrugged off her old skin. Her eyes flashed and her movements were sharp and elegant as she spread the map out on the pool table outside Jitters’s trailer. She’d moved from finding a lost girl to coordinating an attack. She was in her element.

  “Miller’s Range is only five miles from here as the crow flies. In fact, some of the infrastructure you have here isn’t from an old farm like Jitters thought. It’s from a base that was planned out here after the Korean War. They were going to expand the range and enlarge it to include a proper Air Force base. They eventually decided to close it down, and the land reverted to public use.”

  “But Miller’s Range is still military,” Daniel said. “Technically.”

  “Not just technically,” Brigid concurred. “Practically. It’s military one hundred percent. When we break into it, we will be breaking into a military installation.”

  Jitters looked uncomfortable. “Daniel, you know I don’t want no trouble here. We got a lot of people here in the Springs that are trying to lie low. Keep off the radar, so to speak. If you bring the military down on us—”

  “He’s not going to,” Carwyn said. “They’re not going to be able to trace the tunnel back to him or anyone in the Springs. When I’m done, there won’t be a tunnel, so no one in Liberty Springs will have to worry about the government following them back here.”

  “And how on God’s green earth you gonna build a tunnel like that without anyone knowing about it?”

  “Leave that to me,” Carwyn said.

  Daniel looked between Carwyn and Brigid. He must have suspected that one of them was an earth vampire, but he said nothing.

  “So why you telling us?” Jitters said.

  “Because we’re going to need help.” Brigid turned to Daniel. “You thought some of your friends might be willing to help get these kids out.”

  “Yeah, it’s not right.” Daniel looked uncomfortable. “But I don’t know about breaking into a military base or anything.”

  “Direct action,” Brigid said. “Or was it all bullshit? To accept a system is to participate in it.”

  A voice came from the side door. “You told me you’d help.”

  Carwyn turned to see Lupe standing there. He’d heard her approaching but didn’t know if she’d be comfortable showing her face. He should have known the girl was tougher than that.

  “You told me,” Lupe said again, “that you’d help. That you cared. That no one should live like a prisoner.”

  Daniel stood when he saw her, and Carwyn saw the deep shame on the boy’s face. “Lupe, I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t want to hear about you being sorry. I left home and made my mother so worried. I didn’t even leave a note or anything because you said there wasn’t time.”

  “The money—”

  “I don’t care about the money,” she said. “The money didn’t help anything in the end. Right now you have people standing in front of you, telling you they can help you rescue those kids, and you’re not sure because it’s on a military base?” Lupe was clearly disappointed. “I thought you were so brave, Daniel.”

  The young man was gutted. Carwyn watched as his insides wilted under her righteous anger.

  Good. That was good. He needed to realize that talk was cheap.

  “I’ll help,” Daniel said. “And so will Wash and Steven and Oso.” He glanced at Brigid. “After all, it’s practically in our backyard, and no one in Liberty Springs is supposed to ignore their neighbor if they need help.”

  “Good man.” She patted his shoulder. “Let’s spread a map out and call in your friends.” Brigid glanced at Lupe. “Is there any way we might get some coffee? It’s going to be a long night.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Brigid, Carwyn, Daniel, and two men named Oso and Wash were standing around a pool table in Jitters’s yard, staring at an old map spread out on the pool table. Four empty beer bottles held down the edges.

  “What we need to determine tonight is where the best route for the tunnel is.”

  Oso looked at the map, back up at Carwyn, back to Brigid, then pointed to the red target marked on the map. “Did you not hear anything I just said?” He was, contrary to his name, a whip-thin man with a skinny black beard and a shaved head. His hands bore multiple tattoos that Brigid guessed were gang related, but his voice and manner were soft. “We can’t dig a tunne
l to get into Miller’s Range. I mean, we could, but it would take months and months. Maybe a year.”

  “That’s because you said you don’t have equipment to do it,” Carwyn said. “I’m telling you we do.”

  Jitters walked out of the trailer and wordlessly handed Brigid a beer. She looked down at the cold bottle in her hand and saw a Guinness.

  “Thanks, Jitters.” She took a drink of the dark stout and schooled her face when the bitterness hit her tongue. “That’s very thoughtful.”

  “I do what I can.” He nodded at the pool table. “They making any progress?”

  “Not so far.”

  “What kind of equipment are you talking about?” Oso leaned on the pool table. “A boring machine or something? I know more than a little bit about tunnels, and man, I’m telling you there ain’t anything that—”

  “It’s experimental,” Brigid said. “From Europe. That’s why we can’t show you. Just trust that we have one, will you?” She pointed at Carwyn. “He’s used it before, and it’s about as tall and wide as he is. So the tunnel will be large enough for all of you and the kids to walk through.” She pointed at the map. “Just tell us where to put it.”

  Oso, Wash, and Jerry looked at Jitters.

  The old man walked over and leaned on the table. “Well… I suppose if you was looking for the most direct route, you’d want to start about here.” He pointed to a spot roughly a mile from the fences. “But that’s real visible.”

  “Where can the entrance be hidden?” Carwyn said. “We have to keep it out of sight.”

  “Then I guess it’ll be here,” Jitters said.

  The point he indicated was nearly twice as far as the first.

  Damn.

  “Unless,” he continued, “you want to know about a way that’s not on your maps and such. Might be a little trickier to get equipment there.”

  Carwyn crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m open to it. What do you have in mind?”