Camouflage

by Aaron Pogue

  "SpectreShields." She nodded at the sudden shock in his eyes. "Yep. All capable of remote operation now. Our analysts will have to interrogate Eddie to get the full details—"

  "Jesus!" he said, and she hit him with a sharp glare.

  "You know..." she said. And then, after a moment, "Well...exactly."

  Reed frowned, still confused, and that made her laugh.

  "Velez is involved in this," she said. And then she laughed again. "I'll give you the simple version later."

  "You'll have to," he said.

  She rattled the keys at him. "Someone should go check on Faye."

  He nodded. "We need to get an inventory of that bunker, too."

  Phillips spoke from behind them. "Oh, you two go right on ahead," he said. Katie turned and found him wearing Avery's gunbelt on his hips, Wade's rifle resting against his left shoulder and Ken's resting against his right. He tipped his head back toward the Jeep.

  "I'll drag these miscreants to justice."

  Katie looked over at Reed, and met his eyes. "What about Eddie?"

  "Oh, Eddie's going to prison, too," Phillips said happily.

  Katie hesitated. "Well, for what it's worth, some of what he did here he probably did under duress." She didn't make it sound too convincing—she didn't really want to—but she did feel a little sorry for him.

  Reed dispelled that with a harsh laugh. "It's got nothing to do with what he did here. Remember that new information we got on him just before you left?" She nodded, hoping for an explanation, but all he said was, "Yeah. Eddie's going away for a long time."

  Phillips came to Katie with one hand open, palm-up. She stared at him blankly until he said, "Key. These old cars use ignition keys—"

  "Of course!" she said. She let him find the right one on the ring, then they ushered the prisoners into the trailer and locked them in with the padlock. Katie gave Phillips that key, too. Then she hesitated. "You sure you know how to handle one of these things?"

  He gave her a broad grin. "Grew up in farm country, babe. This'll be easy. I'm only hauling it as far as the highway, anyway. Charleston PD should be along any minute now to cart them off for us."

  Reed nodded. "Once you turn them over come back and get us, would you? And bring the trailer. We may have another full load to bring back from the bunker."

  "Oh, at least one," Katie said, and Phillips nodded. Katie and Reed watched him go until he was well out sight, then she gave a big sigh and turned west. She didn't move right away.

  Reed stepped up close beside her, not looking at her, and said quietly, "Everything okay?"

  "Yeah." She nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'm just so tired of being out here." She took a deep breath, and it took some of her strength with it when she exhaled.

  "I could've sent you with Phillips," Reed said, concerned.

  Katie shook her head. "No. We need to get this done." She forced the first step, and then the second came easier. Reed came along beside her, twirling the keys absently on their ring.

  Katie watched the motion for a while, then she said, "Oh, poor Faye!" Reed looked over at her, an eyebrow raised in question. "She's been waiting on us all this time!"

  Reed laughed. "You're a good woman, Katie Pratt."

  She looked to him for an explanation, and had to blink a couple times to focus. She yawned, big and ostentatious, and Reed chuckled. He put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "Come on. Let's get this done."

  They walked a little way in silence, and it felt strangely pleasant. Like a vacation. It was the sharp contrast that did it. After two straight days alone, cut off and in constant peril, she suddenly found herself standing beside the one she'd most wanted to talk with. And safe. Her enemies were dealt with—one way or another—and her life was back to normal. As if to punctuate the point, her headset reconnected with a little beep as they moved into range of a new recorder node.

  She waited for Martin to whisper a welcome into her ear, but he didn't. Still, the sun was bright overhead and the breeze that rattled the leaves was light and cool. The colors all around her were brilliant, lush summer green just starting to give ground to the rich copper and gold of autumn. Apart from their footsteps and the little rustle sounds of wildlife, the silence stretched for miles.

  Katie breathed deep of the clean mountain air and let it go with a satisfied sigh. She bumped a shoulder into Reed and turned her neck to look up into his eyes. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

  Reed chewed it over for a moment. He nodded. "Well, it's only been a couple days, but yeah. I lost contact with one of my best agents and put together a damning federal case against my newest recruit."

  She opened her eyes wide in mock astonishment and he laughed. He squeezed her against him again. "Yeah, I guess you already heard about all that."

  "How damning?" Katie said.

  Reed frowned. "You remember those Triad guys you nailed for trying to steal national secrets? The Gevia case?"

  Katie nodded.

  Reed smiled, lips tight. "We finally uncovered Eddie's suppliers."

  "What?" Katie asked, in genuine shock this time. "How? What are the chances?"

  "Pretty good, actually," Reed said. "You led him right to them."

  "No!" Katie shook her head violently. "I never...oh." She looked up at Reed's face. "He did know an awful lot about my story."

  Reed nodded. "Eddie was a real fan. Old days, they might've called him a stalker. Phillips is the one who spotted it—how much time Eddie spent in your records—and we all pitched in to see what he might have been doing there. Turns out he started importing the SpectreShields right after he first discovered your casefile from Boulder. Dimms made the connection—"

  "Wait!" Katie said. "He was following me before I went after him?"

  "Oh, yeah. For most of a year now." Reed dropped his arm from her shoulder, just when she needed the comfort. He frowned. "Any idea how he found you in the first place?"

  "Three good guesses," Katie said. "He was obsessed with Martin and Velez, and almost the same when it came to Ghoster."

  "Makes sense," Reed said. "Well, you've surpassed them all now."

  A shiver chased down her spine at the thought. "So...umm, are we sure he's going away?"

  "No question this time," Reed said. "Jurisprudence doesn't look kindly on trading with blacklisted militant groups, and we were able to trace several huge cash transactions. I'm afraid Eddie's getting his clearance revoked even as we speak."

  Katie thought for a moment. "Senator Bruin can't be too happy about that."

  Reed's frown deepened. "Oh, no, he's not. The whole thing was pretty embarrassing for him."

  Katie looked over at him. "Any chance it'll get him to leave us alone?"

  Reed's harsh laugh was answer enough.

  "I thought not," Katie said.

  "No," Reed said. "He's as set as ever on getting us some 'industry oversight'—"

  "Oversight?" Katie shouted. "Really? Did he actually use those words?"

  Reed nodded, grim. "On the Senate floor."

  "But...but we are supposed to oversee the industry! They're the ones selling the services we're fighting."

  "Yep," Reed said. "They're also the richest, most important companies in the world right now. They get what they want."

  Katie stopped, furious. "Why even have a Ghost Targets, then? Why not just close it down?"

  Reed put his hands on her shoulders and held her eyes. "Oh, Bruin would love to, but... mostly, Katie, it's because of you."

  "What?"

  He nodded, and a wicked grin curled at his lips. "You just keep saving the damn world."

  She couldn't resist smiling under that radiant grin. "Well, I do my best." She fluttered her lashes and twisted her toe in the dirt, doing her best "aww shucks" pose. She laughed at the expression it drew from Reed, then turned away and started walking again.

  They were to the pass now, and it was every bit as ominous as Katie had imagined, even b
y the light of day. Even with Reed at her side. It was made worse by the deep shadows waiting at the end of it.

  Katie hadn't really considered that, but the total coverage by canvas overhead bathed the bunker's clearing in perpetual darkness. The gap in the top allowed in just enough light to make midmorning look like twilight. She could see all the way to the bunker, and she picked up her pace toward it.

  Reed pointed past her shoulder. "What's that?"

  "Storage shed," Katie said. Its doors stood wide open now, and it was empty. "I thought that was strange, with everything they had downstairs, but I guess that's where they had the SpectreShields."

  They got to the bunker's heavy steel door, and Katie reached for the keys in her pocket. Reed stopped her with a touch on her arm. "Are we sure it's not rigged?"

  Katie looked at the door for a long moment, then nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Eddie said so." She saw the look in Reed's eyes and added, "Before he knew we were sending him away."

  She found the right key for the first lock, and despite her assurances she held her breath as she turned it. And did the same with each of the other three.

  Then she put her hand on the doorknob and paused. "Besides," she said, as much for herself as for him, "he liked me, remember? He wouldn't lie."

  Reed didn't answer, but he dropped a warm hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. She closed her eyes and tried the door.

  It swung easily open. The stairs inside were just as Katie remembered them—cramped and black. She pulled out her handheld, but Reed had a flashlight ready. He pushed past her and led the way down.

  Halfway to the bottom, Katie heard a distant thumping. It was weak and irregular, but Katie recognized it right away. "The door," she said, and she smiled. "Move it, Reed. She's alive."

  Reed got through the locks much faster than Katie had upstairs and heaved the door open just as Faye was swinging another desperate kick at it. She was just inside the control room, tied to the office chair, but she'd tiptoed her way over to the door and resorted to thumping with her steel-toed boot when she realized her voice wouldn't last long enough.

  Now she sat there, arms pinned behind her back, and squinted defiantly past the glare of Reed's flashlight. Katie shoved past him and knelt at her side.

  Faye recognized her right away. "You actually came for me," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "You really are as dumb as he thought."

  Katie laughed and shook her head. "I brought help. And I took care of him first."

  Faye's eyes searched Katie's for a while, then she asked intently, "Took care of him how?"

  Katie sank back on her heels. "Avery and Ken are in custody."

  "And Wade?" Faye's voice shook with urgency. "You didn't let him get away? He's...he's the bastard who shot Timmy." Her voice broke and tears filled her eyes. "He laughed about it. Please don't tell me you let him get away."

  Katie took her hand and caught her eyes. "He's dead," Katie said firmly. "I handled it myself."

  While Katie talked with Faye, Reed slipped by and worked on Faye's restraints. As soon as she was free he turned and shone his light around the room. He whistled softly.

  Faye ignored him. She sat for a moment rubbing her wrists, then she clutched at Katie's arm. "Can I go? I need to get out of the dark."

  "You and me both," Katie said, helping her to her feet. She threw a glance over her shoulder at Reed. "Here, take a look around." She tossed him the keys, then followed the younger woman back up the spiral staircase.

  At the top Faye stepped into the gloom of the canvas canopy and turned her face up to it like glorious sunshine. "I thought I was going to die in there," she said, matter-of-fact.

  Katie nodded. "I really thought I was going to die in the woods." Faye sank down to sit on the ground, and Katie settled beside her. "We've got a man coming back soon who can give us all a ride out of here."

  Faye nodded, silent, and Katie looked over to see tears streaking down her face. Faye noticed Katie's glance and ducked her head, dabbing at her face. "Is it really over?"

  Katie squeezed her hand again. "It's over."

  Faye got quiet then, and Katie just sat with her. After a few minutes, Faye looked the other way and said softly, "Hathor, connect me to Paul. Thanks."

  Katie smiled and ducked her head. Then she made a call of her own. "Martin?" she asked softly.

  It took him a moment to answer, but he came through for her. "I'm here."

  She bit here lip. "And where's here?"

  He gave an embarrassed chuckle. "I'm sorry, Katie. I know we sort of talked about this, but...I've got to go."

  "I understand," she said with sincerity.

  "I know you don't, but it's important," he said. "I left your gun in your hotel room, and I'm packaging some information I managed to recover for you to hand over—"

  "Martin, shut up," she said. He did. She took a deep breath. "Listen...if you hadn't been here for me this time, I'd be dead."

  "Don't sell yourself short," Martin said. "You were amazing in there."

  "Thanks." She sat in silence for a while, staring at her hands. Then she said, "But it's still true. I need you out there. I need you free."

  "That fits with my plans," he said, a wry twist in his voice.

  "But I also need you alive, Martin."

  He started to reply, but she cut him off. "I took some stupid risks today. I did it for good reasons, but I could be dead."

  "Funny," Martin said. "You just stole my argument."

  "I know," she said. "Just...leave it to the professionals, okay? And keep in touch."

  "Promise," he said. "Take care, Katie."

  She sat there with Faye for a while longer, until the rumble of the Jeep announced the return of Phillips. Then she rose and helped the other woman to her feet. "That's Agent Phillips," Katie said. "You'll be safe with him. He's one of the best men we have."

  Phillips jumped out of the car with the engine still running. "I heard that!" he called and gave Faye a winning grin. Katie caught his eye. He nodded. "Perps are in custody, crates are en route to DC."

  Katie nodded. "I'll go get Reed," she said.

  The dim light of her handheld led her back down the stairs, one more time. Her Hathor connection died just beyond the steel door, but she knew it would be waiting for her as soon as she got back. She moved a little quicker at the thought.

  Down at the bottom, she found the control room's opposite door standing open. She called out, "Reed?"

  He answered, "Here!" from just beyond the open door. There was a strange note in his voice, and Katie crossed the room quickly. She found Reed in the corridor just beyond.

  He stood still, a SpectreShield from the storage room in one hand and a brick of plastic explosives from the control room in the other. And he stood staring down the row at the wall all stocked with assault weapons.

  He turned at the sound of Katie's footsteps, and his eyes were haunted. He looked her up and down with concern, as he'd done before, and stepped up right in front of her so she had to look up to meet his eyes.

  "Reed?"

  He just stared into her eyes for a long time. Then he shook his head. "Katie...I'm glad you're safe."

  She gave him a smile. "Me too." She turned and stepped away, then tipped her head toward the exit. "Come on, boss. Let's go home."

  ~

  THE END

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  Did you love Camouflage? Then you should read Taming Fire by Aaron Pogue!

  "From all directions, in the darkness, a great terror approaches this world. I mean to fight the terror, Daven, and I would make a weapon of you."

  Daven Carrickson grew up as a beggar in the filthy alleys beneath the shadows of the palace. He's the son of a known th
ief, disgraced and despised. His only real talent is his ability with a sword, and his only real chance at finding honor or a home is a desperate dream of joining the King's Guard.

  But Daven receives a new future when Master Claighan invites him to study magic at the Academy. The wizard offers to make him into a new kind of soldier: a swordsman equally skilled with forged blades and mystic forces.

  Yet when conspiring forces destroy the wizard's plans, Daven finds himself wanted for treason and murder. Hunted by a great black beast of a dragon, caught between the King's Guard and a rebel force led by a rogue wizard, Daven's only hope of surviving is to become more than he's ever dreamed possible.

  Taming Fire is the first book in the Dragonprince's Legacy.

  Read more at Aaron Pogue’s site.

  Also by Aaron Pogue

  A Consortium of Worlds

  A Consortium of Worlds No. 1

  A Consortium of Worlds No. 2

  A Dragonswarm Short Story

  Remnant

  From Embers

  Auric's Valiants

  Notes from a Thief

  Auric and the Wolf

  Ghost Targets

  Surveillance

  Expectation

  Restraint

  Camouflage

  The Dragonprince's Arrows

  A Darkness in the East

  The Dragonprince's Legacy

  Taming Fire

  The Dragonswarm

  The Dragonprince's Heir

  The Original Dragonprince Trilogy

  Watch for more at Aaron Pogue’s site.

  About the Author

  Aaron Pogue is a husband and a father of two who lives in Oklahoma City, OK. Aaron started writing at the age of ten. His first novels were high fantasy set in the rich world of the FirstKing, but he's explored mainstream thrillers, urban fantasy, and several kinds of science fiction. Author of the Dragonprince's Legacy, the Godlanders War, and the Ghost Targets series, Aaron Pogue has sold a quarter of a million books since his debut in 2010.