by Jacey Ward
Even in the dimming light, Audrey saw him bite back a laugh.
“I never said that!” he protested with a grin, but Audrey ignored him.
“My grandfather, Drake Conway, was a military man. He was involved in some kind of black ops style weirdness in the seventies and eighties, stuff that got him into huge trouble.”
“With the military?”
“With a group called Oculus.”
“Go on.”
Audrey sighed and reached for two more small pieces of wood before she carried on with her tale.
“I have no idea what was done to him but I suspect that he was experimented on in secret, part of a program to develop the perfect killing machine,” she hesitated, obviously reluctant to continue. But then she steeled her shoulders and blurted it out. “That, or possibly some kind of alien…experiment?”
With just the slightest pause, Jameson encouraged her, no trace of incredulity in his voice. “The seventies were messed up,” he grunted, piling the wood he’d found into a small pit. Audrey added hers to the pile.
Encouraged, Audrey continued.
“By this time, Drake was working for the government, trying to expose Oculus. He managed to stay off their radar for a while and hide the existence of his family – or so he thought.
“But they weren’t really looking for him. His abilities, while impressive to the average bear, were nothing compared to those of his…sons. The second-generation soldier, I suppose you’d call it?”
Jameson stared at her in shock.
“Drake knew he needed to stay away from his family, even though he missed them terribly, but one night, he broke protocol and went home. Oculus had been watching, and that night, my grandmother, who was Drake’s wife, died and their four boys were lost for almost thirty years.”
“Your father?”
“Yes. He was one of them.”
Audrey watched in fascination as Jameson began to rub two sticks on a strip of bark. Tirelessly, he worked until small wisps of smoke began to rise. He blew on the heated spot and glanced at her, still spinning the twigs.
“I’m listening.”
She blinked and recalled where she was, amazed by his acceptance of her tale.
Who is this guy? Is he really an innocent bystander or…?
She shoved the thought out of her mind. Whether he was Oculus or not, he was the only hope she had of getting out of that jungle alive.
If he’s Oculus, I’m dead anyway. Or captured. Or whatever they intend to do with me. If he’s not, he’s the only reason I’m still breathing right now. Either way, he needed to hear the truth of why he was in such danger.
“A lot happened in the years after that. Drake searched tirelessly for his sons, who had been sent away by one government agent for their own protection, but the only man who knew where they were had been killed when Oculus learned of him. Like I said, my father’s and uncles’ story is a long, and…twisted tale.”
“Why don’t you give me the Cliff’s notes?” Jameson urged and as he spoke, the fire lit, the last of the light fading at precisely that moment.
“Drake eventually located his sons and together, they’ve spent the last twenty years trying to flush out Oculus. But over the years, their priorities changed and they focused on their families and the security of the compound we lived on. They still searched, don’t get me wrong, but it was more about keeping the home ground safe and less about search and destroy missions, you know?”
“You’re not in hiding,” Jameson observed, fanning the fire with little effort.
“My step-mother knew I was going to want out eventually and she planned for that. She and my uncles made sure I was educated and secure before sending me out in the world. I was sick of hiding, Jameson, and I thought if I could be out in the open, maybe Oculus would come to me. So…”
She cleared her throat and looked away.
“What?”
“I started working with the CIA, doing recon when I was on tours. I had knowledge about the way Oculus operated, somewhat. I’d listened in on my uncles and granddad enough times to get an idea.”
“Isn’t that risky? I mean, what if Oculus has people inside the CIA who knew what you were doing?”
“I was a CI. There was only one man I ever reported to and he fired me just before I got here. I’ve been looking over my shoulder ever since I left Berlin, sure that there’s an execution order out on me.”
“So that’s why you came here…” Jameson finished, sighing as he leaned back on his heels, dusting off his hands. “You wanted to get out of the States in a hurry.”
“And I walked right into an Oculus trap. Maybe Peterman was working with them all along. I mean, the timing is ridiculous.”
“If the CIA was working with Oculus, wouldn’t they have come for you a long time ago?” Jameson asked reasonably.
“Nothing makes sense. Why offer me a job at all?”
Jameson was silent for a moment.
“Maybe they thought you were a decoy.”
She blinked uncomprehendingly.
“A what?”
“A decoy. You said yourself that you weren’t hiding anymore, that you were right there in their faces from day one. Assuming that it is Oculus who’s after you, maybe they brought you out here to make sure you really were who you claimed to be and that you were in an area where it would be easy to go missing.”
“If anything happens to me,” Audrey told Jameson with conviction. “My family will tear Earth apart from top to bottom to find me and I promise you, that will be a war that even Oculus wants to avoid.”
In the light of the fire, she saw his eyes brighten with interest.
“Maybe that’s what they wanted. To bring your family out of hiding.
“Just what can you do?” he asked slowly. “I know you can read minds but…anything else?”
A wry smile touched her lips and she ambled toward him to sit at his side.
“Reading minds is the least of my talents,” she told him suggestively and he laughed, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh, I know you have many talents,” he conceded.
“I can read people’s auras,” she told him and he groaned so loudly, a bird chirped nearby. She punched his arm.
“I really can. I can tell what mood someone is in even without reading their thoughts. I can tell their intentions from miles away. I know it’s Oculus who’s chasing us because I saw their auras from the jungle. They are black. All black. I’ve never directly encountered an agent but I’ve seen them in crowds, too close for my liking.”
She could see that Jameson didn’t believe her.
“Well…that’s cool,” he said slowly. “But reading someone’s mind…”
He let out a low whistle.
“So is that what everyone in your family does? Read auras and minds?”
“I’m not sure I like your tone,” Audrey told him crisply. She was suddenly glad she hadn’t told him about any other “talents” she had.
He’s still mocking me.
A look of surprise crossed his face.
“I’m not making fun of you,” he told her as she turned to look out into the darkness falling around them. “It’s a hell of a lot more than I can do.”
The words caused Audrey’s head to turn and the hairs on the back of her neck rose inexplicably, the indication she got when someone was…lying.
Is that true? Can I do more than he can? Can he do anything out of the ordinary?
The questions were unwarranted and Audrey had no idea where they came from but as she studied his profile, she read nothing but a brooding honesty in his face.
He’s here with you. Any other man you know would have taken you up on your suggestion to run when he had the chance but he stayed. Why?
The fire crackled, adding to the trance-like state of the atmosphere and for a split second, Audrey forgot that they were being hunted. A sweetness fell over her heart as she watched him and he returned her gaze with steadfast intensity.
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“For some reason, they must want you too,” she reasoned, breaking the spell between them for a reason she couldn’t fathom. “Or they would have found a way to take me alone.”
“That makes no sense! There’s no reason for them to want me,” Jameson said firmly.
A little too firmly.
“We’re not going to figure this out tonight anyway,” he said, rising again and looking around. She was beginning to feel like Jameson was incapable of sitting for long periods of time.
Like he’s afraid to spend too much time thinking. He’s a doer. That explains his methods. If you keep going, the bridge can’t collapse under your feet.
She was grateful for his mentality for the first time since she’d learned who he was.
“We need to keep going, Audrey. And we’re going to need to find more water and food.”
She nodded in agreement.
“Lead and I will follow,” she told him. He shot her a look over his shoulder and removed his shirt to fashion a makeshift torch on a stick.
“What are you doing? You’re going to get eaten alive by mosquitos!” Audrey protested.
“At least we’ll be alive,” he countered and she could do nothing but sigh in resignation. There was no arguing that point.
He moved through the brush and together they found a trail in the inky blackness.
“You need to keep an eye on your feet,” Jameson warned her. “If you step on a snake…”
“Yeah,” Audrey grunted. “I Googled the wildlife, when I arrived with Bennet. I’m keeping watch.”
“Good.”
They continued through on, each lost in their own thoughts until Jameson abruptly stopped. Audrey ran directly into him, her gaze trained on the forest bed.
“Up there,” he breathed and Audrey looked where he held the torch.
“Is that…?” She shook her head, sure she was hallucinating. “Is that a cottage?”
He turned and looked at her, a beam overcoming his face.
“If we’re lucky, it’s abandoned or seasonal. If we’re less lucky, someone in there will have a phone.”
“Who would we call?” Audrey asked nervously, certain that no one in the middle of literally nowhere had any kind of phone to call out for help. There was barely electricity in town. Phone towers seemed to be a stretch.
“Your family,” Jameson told her softly. “That would be our only real option, wouldn’t it?”
And it will be back to the compound for all of eternity for me. What about Jameson? Perhaps he could join me… Now that’s an intriguing thought. And one that makes staying in the compound much more acceptable for some reason.
Audrey inhaled and exhaled slowly, meeting his gaze, setting aside that thought to ponder later.
“Come on,” she muttered. “We won’t know what waits for us unless we get up there.”
She pushed past him and together the ascended the low hill toward the dark cabin beyond.
Audrey silently prayed that it was empty.
Chapter 9
They approached the cabin with caution but it became evident very quickly that there was no one around.
“It’s not locked,” Jameson chuckled but that was hardly surprising. They were in the middle of nowhere, after all. If anyone even used the small house, they certainly weren’t worried about marauders out there.
“Well, that’s something,” Audrey said but the strain in her words was clear. They entered the one-roomed shack, not unlike the huts they had been assigned at the hospital and instantly, Audrey commented on it.
“This is exactly the same layout as the huts in La Esperanza. This could be an Oculus house.”
Jameson eyed her speculatively.
“You really haven’t spent a lot of time in third world countries, have you?” he asked, mildly amused.
“Not really,” she admitted. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Oculus or not, this is how all the huts look. One room, maybe a fridge if we’re lucky but there’s clearly no electricity in here.”
He moved the torch around, careful to keep it at a distance, lest the flame touch something flammable. There was nothing but a stained mattress on the ground among spiderwebs. Whoever had last been there had been away for a long while, he was certain.
“It’s shelter,” Audrey conceded and closed the door at her back. “The problem is, it’s conspicuous. This is one of the first places they’ll look.”
“If they know it’s here,” Jameson told her calmly. “I doubt this is on any map and we’re still on the outskirts of the trees.”
She gaped at him dubiously.
“What?”
“What do you mean, we’re on the treeline?”
Jameson shrugged and gestured for her to sit. On closer inspection, there were more supplies than he’d initially thought. Two empty burlap sacks sat near the door next to a machete and three plastic gallon jugs were strewn over the room. There wasn’t even plumbing but Jameson suspected that there had to be a water source nearby if the owner of the cottage had chosen the location.
“Jameson, why are we still on the edge of the jungle?” He turned his attention back toward Audrey’s stricken face.
“It’s smarter for us,” he assured her. “They’ll be expecting us to run inward and away from them.”
Understanding lit her eyes and she nodded slowly.
“I guess you’re right,” she said nervously. “But it can’t be safe for us no matter where we go.”
“We need to get out of the jungle,” Jameson told her. “Head northeast toward Las Puertas.”
“How can you know that?” Audrey asked, amazement in her eyes. “Do you know this area?”
“No,” Jameson explained patiently. “You’re not the only one who knows how to Google. I researched it before I came out here. I know the next town north is Las Puertas de Granada. It’s slightly south of the city but it’s big enough that we can call someone from there.”
“But…how can you know which way we’ve been traveling?” she insisted as Jameson found candles to illuminate the interior. The torch was already losing its brightness and he knew the fabric of his shirt had disintegrated enough to make it useless.
“Instinct ... and training ... the army taught me a lot. I was tracking the light as we moved and I stayed on course.”
He popped back outside to extinguish the makeshift torch and his eyes scanned the terrain again, ensuring that there weren’t any eyes beyond before re-entering the cabin.
Audrey was shaking her head in awe as she continued to stare at him.
“Jesus,” she muttered. “I really would have been dead if you weren’t here.”
He stalked toward her and pulled her into a embrace, brushing the dishevelled hairs away from her face.
“We’re going to get out of here,” he promised her although he knew he had no right to vow any such thing. Even if they managed to evade capture from Oculus by stealing through the jungle, they had no supplies, no tracking gear and no guarantee that he would be leading them in the right direction.
“So what’s the plan then?” Audrey asked, pulling away to look at him worriedly and Jameson realized she had read his thoughts again.
“The plan,” he growled, dropping his arms and turning away. “Is that we need to set some boundaries. You can’t just…read my mind whenever you want. It’s…violating.”
Contrition colored Audrey’s face and she bit on her lower lip.
“I know,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry. It’s…I don’t mean to. Outside of my family, no one has ever known I could do that. It’s instinctual.”
She hung her head, realizing how the words sounded perhaps and laughed mirthlessly.
“I know that sounds terrible,” she sighed. “That I read people’s thoughts at random because they don’t know but it’s been my armor in this crazy life I’ve lived.”
Jameson swallowed his resentment and nodded.
“I guess that makes sense,” h
e agreed. “But I don’t want you doing it to me anymore. Can you control it?”
She bobbed her head vehemently.
“Yes. Of course. I mean, unless the circumstances are that where someone might be calling out for me but I don’t need to read your mind.”
This is so strange. Am I really buying into this?
A hot flush touched his cheeks and he waited for Audrey to call him out on his doubt but she didn’t. Her expression didn’t shift in the slightest to indicate that she had heard what he was thinking.
“I swear, I won’t read your mind anymore,” she told him earnestly and Jameson had no choice but to believe her.
How would I know anyway unless she gives herself away? Something tells me that Audrey McMahon has never given up more than she’s willing to part with.
“Tell me what you want me to do to get us out of here,” Audrey continued, her eyes locking with his. “I won’t fight you.”
He snickered softly and flopped onto the depleted mattress, patting it for her to join him.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I’m just thinking that we’re in deep shit, is all,” he offered truthfully. “No matter what I plan, it could blow up in our faces spectacularly.”
Exhaling in a whoosh, she sat, crossed-legged on the flimsy bed and studied his face in the dim flickering of the candlelight.
“You’ve got us this far,” she told him encouragingly. “Don’t sell yourself short. Your military training has come in handy and saved our lives more than once on this adventure.”
His jaw locked slightly, a fleeting thought flowing through his mind but it was gone before he could capture it and ironically, he wished that Audrey had been reading his mind in that moment because he was left with a sense of longing he didn’t understand.
“Let’s hope so,” he said grimly, casting her a sidelong look.
Audrey gulped and eyed him in return.
“So…?”
“So…we lay low here for a day and feel out our situation. I’ll go out for food before dawn so we can stay inside and lay low.”
There was a helpless expression on her face but she only shrugged.
“Whatever you think is best,” she muttered and he could see her mind was working furiously.
