True Deceptions (True Lies)

by Veronica Forand

  She swung her leg off the bike and fell against one of the larger trees. It provided a bit of protection from the rain and helped her stand.

  Simon pushed the bike into a hiding spot and came up beside her. The headlights continued closer, and Cassie’s heart thumped hard in her chest again. The rain, the sopping clothes, the cold, her hunger, and her worry for Simon overwhelmed her. With a break in the get away, she took the opportunity to fall apart.

  He held her close in his arms and brushed his hand over the wet hair. “It’s going to be all right, angel. This is the fun part.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “The fun part?”

  “You and I traveling the world together on an adventure.”

  Before she could tell him how idiotic that sounded, his lips came down on hers, and he crushed her body against him.

  His hands molded her sides, feeling her shoulders and arms, her back and her stomach. Rain fell around them and created a barrier from all of the bad things that had come before. He stopped, resting his forehead on hers. She could feel his inhalation. He was breathing her in, and she was hoping to be fully absorbed by the hero before her.

  They remained locked in each other’s arms as the trucks drove past.

  “I prefer a boring life. Would you be able to handle that?” she whispered.

  “I was thinking of starting a kitchen garden. Grow my own herbs and vegetables to cook with. I intend to be every bit as boring as you.”

  Throngs of trucks passed their location in both directions, searching for them, but never coming close. As the silence returned, Simon’s tense body eased. He had Cassie in his arms. They’d be fine.

  “Come with me.” He led her to a small group of bushes and crawled on his hands and knees, dragging his backpack.

  “Where are we going?”

  “No questions.” He loved her curiosity. He loved her so much he couldn’t get enough of her in this lifetime or a thousand others.

  The branches hung to the ground, but underneath it was like a pop tent. A very dry pop tent.

  “I thought you might like to get out of the rain for a few minutes before we continue.”

  “How far do we have to travel to get back to South Korea?”

  “We’re about ten kilometers from the border if we head due south, but the security is high and the terrain not conducive to a motorcycle. I took a small boat here on the coast. If we can make our way back there, which will take about two hours or so, we’ll be back in time for a late dinner and a long and leisurely bath.” He couldn’t see her clearly through the darkness, but her silhouette made an appearance now and then as the clouds shifted in the sky and allowed the moonlight to dance among the branches. “We should stay for about an hour to let them move away from here. It’ll also give us a chance to dry our clothes a bit.”

  He pulled out a Mylar blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. She tried to cover him as well, but he refused. He had his own method of finding warmth, and it involved his fiancée, not metallic blankets.

  “You rescued me, like a warrior from another time. Get under this blanket so I can take care of you.”

  “Get a grip, Watson. I’m not doing for this you, so don’t get all high and mighty. It’s for Junior. She’s cold, and what kind of father would I be if I didn’t provide warmth to my only child.”

  She sighed. “I wonder if this will be our only child.”

  “We’ll stop having children when I say we’re done and not a minute sooner. Remember, I’m the head of this family.” He could see her with a whole gaggle of children.

  She burst out laughing. “A thousand children, and I’m stuck working for you forever?”

  “Exactly. You’ll love it.” And he’d love her challenging every decision he made.

  The rain became a drizzle, almost a soft humming in the background. A slight mist rose from the cool drops hitting the warmer ground.

  He pulled off his shirt and his Kevlar vest, and then he reached over to bring her closer.

  “Slow down, Tarzan. If you think we’re having sex when we’re running for our lives…”

  “I could be quick.”

  “Tell me you didn’t drag me under this bush for sex.”

  “As much as I crave your body constantly, I chose this spot to keep you dry for a few minutes. We need to wait a bit until the searching moves further afield. One more leg of the journey, and we’ll be safe.”

  He reached into his backpack for a bottle of water and a few crackers.

  “Drink and eat quickly. You’ll need energy to make it through the night.”

  He refused to mention the baby on the way. The thought of her losing the baby would be unbearable.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Cassie remained under the blanket with one of Simon’s arms wrapped around her shoulder waiting out the men who wanted to kill them. “I think it’s time to go.”

  He shifted in place, but continued to hold her. “We have enough time for a fling in the foliage.”

  “Get up.”

  “It’s now or never.” He grinned, and some of the terror lifted off her shoulders. In the middle of hell, he was charming.

  “That’s a weak ultimatum. Never is a long time, and you wouldn’t be able to hold out.”

  “I could last years longer than you, but I don’t see the point when we could enjoy each other as much as possible in this lifetime. In my next life, I may end up with a very angry woman who hates sex and owns three ferrets.” His words came out slow and relaxed, but he’d be at full alert within seconds of hearing her plans.

  He lifted onto one elbow. “Put on the vest.”

  “It’s yours.”

  “Have you forgotten who the boss is? It’s not for you anyway, it’s for Junior.”

  “You use that excuse for everything now.”

  “Exactly.”

  His eyes, lit up by the emerging moonlight, bore into her as though bending her will with a mere look. He won. He usually did. At this point, she didn’t have the energy to argue. When she gave him a slight nod, he handed the vest to her. Her torso was almost as long as Simon’s, but his chest was much thicker. She pulled the straps hard to tighten them. The stiff material hindered her ability to turn sideways, and weighed her down.

  Simon watched her dress, but didn’t move to help her. He couldn’t have anyway. The space under the bush didn’t allow too much room unless they shifted in tandem as they had minutes before. He took off his black knit hat and handed it to her.

  “Cover your hair. It’s beautiful, but not the right time to show it off to the world.”

  She tied her hair in a bun and pulled the hat down over it.

  Would he be mad at her plans? Yes, but he’d go along with them. When his black shirt finally covered his perfect body, she took a deep breath and spoke.

  “We have one thing left to do before we leave. I need to blow up the drones. I want to be within range to make sure the job is done right.”

  That caught his attention. His brows lifted. “I thought you already rendered them useless with the handheld controllers.”

  “I did, but they still have the Pelican markings on them. Do you have a phone that works?”

  “Why?”

  “I programmed codes into a system that uses remote satellite transmissions to activate a detonation sequence so I can destroy the drones.” She understood the job now, and it didn’t scare her. She’d save as many people as she could and work like hell to protect Simon and Junior’s lives as well. Although if she had the choice, she’d rather bake vegan cookies for her children and leave the life and death stuff to people who preferred this line of work. “How many men, do you think are left at the base?”

  “I’m not sure. Probably ten, although I’m sure reinforcements are on their way.”

  Reinforcements? More casualties. She had to do this as soon as possible. “I need your phone. Right now.”

  He hesitated, but after a solid moment of tension, he unlocked his phone.
Good. Her attention veered away from their reconciliation and back to their job. She punched in several numbers. The service was spotty.

  “Come on.” She tapped the phone to log into the server.

  She crawled back out into the rain, now more of faint drizzle. A branch pulled some of her hair out of the hat and the rain littered down from the leaves, sending a chill across her back.

  Simon followed. He moved easily for such a large guy. He stared over her shoulder and watched her input the codes.

  “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” He reached to take the phone away from her.

  “Can you disarm a drone packed with explosives and acid with a computer program that will cease to exist if you make one faulty keystroke?”

  “No.”

  “Then I have no need for you right now. Go check the motorcycle.”

  The stubborn male didn’t move. He stood next to her being an intimidating force on her psyche. “Why did you do it?”

  “I couldn’t let them have such dangerous weapons, and I don’t want to start a war, militarily or diplomatically. Give me a second.” She had one shot to make this happen. They didn’t have time for her to reprogram everything. “I won’t leave here without some blood on my hands, but the families of those soldiers will survive.”

  He stood close, but didn’t touch her. He understood her need for space. He understood so much about her. She shook her head to get back into the game. Three more buttons to lock the detonation for all twenty drones. Three, seven, four.

  “Brace yourself.” She tucked into his arms and dropped her head into his chest.

  The explosion rang out and the earth moved. Simon’s arms secured her to him. With the grace and strength of a panther, he rode the shockwaves and kept them upright.

  The explosion could be heard for miles. She turned back in the direction of the camp and saw a white cloud rise over the horizon with flames stretching over the tallest buildings.

  “Bloody hell. You blew up the whole bloody camp.” He stared at the fireball erupting to the west.

  “Dane will be happy to know the drones are gone.” She spoke with a calm that unnerved him. Where was the pacifist from a few weeks ago? “People may have died, but a lot more would have if they’d declared war against South Korea. I’m hoping this is like the atomic bomb in Japan.”

  “You’re now in favor of atomic bombs?”

  “Simon, stop talking. I don’t want to think about what I did until we’re back in London. Okay?” A dark fog covered her emotions, but the sadness in her watery eyes and the tension in her neck revealed her understanding of her decision.

  “Fine.”

  He went over to his backpack and pulled out a water bottle and a bottle of pills. He handed one to Cassie with the water.

  “What’s this?”

  “Electrolytes. You need them. Eat one.”

  She didn’t argue, which struck Simon as funny. She listened to him and followed orders better than most of the young new recruits now. Her obedience kept her alive most of the time. On the other hand, without asking for permission, she blew up a military base in a hostile territory, destroying millions of dollars of equipment and weapons, and killing more men than he’d led her to believe. She could survive without him. When she learned a skill, she took it to the expert level with a rapid assuredness unparalleled in other agents. The thought didn’t make him upset, it made him proud.

  “You need a gun.” He rummaged through his pack for a Glock. It was heavy enough to keep from flying around in her hand and would kill on impact. If she needed to use it, she’d have her back up against a wall, and he probably wouldn’t be with her.

  “I hate guns.”

  “I don’t have any extra explosives at present, so you need a gun.”

  She held it with an unsure grip and was about to slid it into her trousers.

  “Take this.” He handed her a clip holster from the backpack.

  “Your bag is like the one in Mary Poppins.”

  “I don’t have the flying umbrella, which would have worked real well both in the rain and in flying over the DMZ.”

  Before they left the clearing, he called Dane. His news wasn’t promising. His contacts in the South Korean government had been notified, but were embroiled in politics and didn’t want to send the troops out to play. He told Simon to try to reach the boat. There’d be no fancy rescue. They needed to rely on themselves.

  The rain had slowed, leaving a light haze on the road, which made the darkness even darker. An occasional glimpse of the moon was the only light around them. Without the use of headlights, maneuvering the motorcycle around potholes was near impossible, especially at high speeds. They traveled slower than he wanted to avoid a blowout.

  Ten kilometers into the trip to the coast, the rumble of a convoy caught Simon’s ear. They were coming back. He needed to hide Cassie.

  Several trucks sped closer toward them. He pulled off the road near a small broken-down farmhouse with crumbling concrete sides and a partially collapsed roof. The area seemed abandoned.

  As they approached the old barn to take cover, a motion detector light turned on, acting as a spotlight on their location for the troops following them.

  Why the hell would a remote barn have a motion detection system? He couldn’t spare the time to think about the answer.

  The sound of brakes took their probability of success from near-sure-thing to no-fucking-way-in-hell. The vehicles turned off the road and moved toward them. He couldn’t flee. There was no place to hide besides the barn and miles of open fields. They hid the motorcycle on the backside of the building.

  He crouched behind a rotting wooden cart with Cassie close by. With a few minutes before the arrival of the soldiers, he pulled out a spare magazine and reloaded his gun. Four vehicles drove up, already shooting in the direction of the barn. He couldn’t risk her getting hurt. His chest tightened at the possibility of her death. She had to live. He’d be her shield as long he was breathing.

  “Get inside. I’ll try to hold them off.”

  “There are too many. Come with me. We can hide together.” She tugged at his arm and tried to move him. If he left his post, they’d be found and dragged into a heinous situation. He couldn’t bear to watch her undergo a harsh interrogation.

  With a strong shove, he forced her toward the barn entrance. “Go. That’s an order.”

  She hesitated, but he ignored her to prepare for the battle. He heard her move away from him and said a quick prayer for a positive outcome. A dozen soldiers by his count, half of a platoon, exited the vehicles. Way too many.

  He didn’t have a chance to dial Dane’s number again. The gunshots came too close. He ducked down behind the cart, but the wood didn’t stop these caliber rounds. It didn’t even slow them down. He aimed at the closest man and hit him in the neck. Three more men surrounded him and four men started around the back of the barn. He blanketed the area with rounds from the assault weapon he’d taken at the camp, the same weapon used against him by these men. He took a few more out, but the barrage heading his way overwhelmed him.

  Cassie needed the best possibility of survival, so he held his position, taking down as many men as he could. His luck died on the impact of the first bullet. It struck him in the leg, near his ankle. The impact tore his leg apart. He wouldn’t be able to run anywhere. He fell low to the ground to avoid being hit again. In the process, another bullet hit him. Clenching his teeth, he tried to stay coherent. The newest wound was high on his shoulder. Just a nick. He could still survive if his leg didn’t bleed out.

  The two wounds burned. The pain kept him alert. He lifted himself again and continued shooting. Six soldiers dead. He needed to take out six more before Cassie was safe. The stolen assault weapon would only last so long before it was out of ammunition. Ironic if he died because he ran out arms. His entire adulthood, he’d always had more ammunition than any one man needed.

  Blood seeped through his trousers and dripped from his
leg into a puddle next to him. Too much blood. He needed to protect Cassie’s position in the barn, because it didn’t look like he was going to have the chance to move her out. No regrets. He’d die a million times to keep her safe.

  He maneuvered himself to the other side of the cart and shot at two men headed toward the barn. Ignoring the growing weakness in his leg, he dragged himself away from the cart. The two men refocused on him. Exactly as he’d planned. He opened fire on them again. A soldier to his left came into focus a second too late. A single shot hit him in the chest and stopped any chance of saving Cassie.

  Chapter Thirty

  Cassie hid in the back of the barn amid cobwebs and a musty smell. Her hands trembled when she pulled out the gun Simon had given to her. She knew how to use it and might be forced to aim it at another person, but she didn’t want to. The sound of gunshots moved closer, accompanied by men shouting in Korean. Simon was alone facing all those soldiers, and she was hiding with a gun she didn’t want to use. This was not where his partner should be. The numbers worked against him. He couldn’t survive alone. She needed to help despite his order.

  She headed to the back door, stepping over a pile of rubbish that smelled like rotting cabbages. Flies swarmed over the garbage. Using her gun hand to wave them away, she worked her way to the back entrance, stepping lightly. The shadows of two men crossed in front of the main door. They were coming too close now. Gunshots sounded again, and the men hustled away. She pushed open the back door as slowly as possible without making noise and drawing attention to herself. There was no one behind the barn. She crouched down and crept around the corner, avoiding puddles and areas of mud.

  She stayed as tucked into the side of the barn as possible. Focusing on helping Simon, she ignored the danger of running toward the soldiers instead of away from them. Then she saw him at the edge of the lit up area. Face down in the mud, twisted in an impossible position, with blood oozing from everywhere. He wasn’t moving. Ice frosted her limbs. She needed to scream, but the sound caught in her throat.

  A soldier standing over Simon held a gun to his head. He laughed as he spoke to his comrades. Cassie undid her safety and fired the handgun at the soldier. It missed, but drew his attention away from Simon. She aimed again and missed. All three men ran toward her, pointing their weapons. They screamed something in Korean. Ten feet from her, a soldier reached out to grab her. Her third shot was successful. She hit the man in the head. Directly in his forehead. He crumbled, but she caught him and used his bloody body as a shield.