by Stasia Black
He loved her.
It was as simple as that.
He loved her.
He had for a long time. Maybe as far back as when she used to bring him meals in his cell.
It didn’t matter that he now knew she’d been doing it on Travis’s orders. She’d needed him as a believable entrance to Jacob’s Well.
It would have been much harder buying the story of a woman all on her own showing up at the border of Jacob’s Well. There would have been more questions. But with Charlie by her side, with his sister already established in the town, no one even batted an eye about the woman with him. Other than to be excited when she was so agreeable to the marriage lottery.
She used him.
She used all of them.
But it had changed… hadn’t it?
He squeezed Shay’s hand and her eyes flashed gratefully as she clasped his back.
Yes, it had changed for her.
He didn’t know if she loved him, loved him, but she had feelings for him. For all of them. For now, that was enough. After they saved her children, she’d finally be free to explore those feelings without a sword hanging over her head.
If the Commander would let her back in to Jacob’s Well, that was.
And if there was even a Jacob’s Well to go back to once Travis got through with it. Henry didn’t have any updates about what was going on in Jacob’s Well when Charlie had last asked him.
Then again, it wasn’t like back in the day of cell phones. Henry had a sat phone, sure, but he couldn’t just use it to check in every half hour. Battery life on those things was precious, so they were used as sparingly as possible.
The door from the cockpit opened and Henry came out. Speak of the devil.
“We’re almost there. Everyone get ready.”
Shay’s hand clenched Charlie’s tighter and he gave her a reassuring squeeze. It felt like they’d barely been in the air and now they were landing. He swallowed hard and sat up straighter. If he acted confident, then maybe he’d start to feel it, right?
All he knew was there was no fucking way he’d let Shay down like he had his sister, time and time again.
If he had his way, she’d have gone to the safehouse with the others and not gotten within a hundred miles of Travisville.
But Shay was stubborn. She had that in common with his sister.
And when it came to her children, it was more than obvious there was almost nothing she wouldn’t do.
Henry came and sat down on the seat across the aisle from them. Jonas was all the way in the back. Charlie had ignored the asshole the whole flight.
Charlie’s ears popped as they started descending. Shay squeezed her eyes shut.
Charlie looked out at the window, watching the greenish brown fields dissected occasionally by a road. The seconds ticked by and the ground grew closer and closer.
But his stomach really leapt into his throat when he realized Rafe was aiming for one of those tiny ass roads as a makeshift runway.
Holy shit, no way.
No way Rafe was going for that one.
It was a narrow two-lane country road that looked barely big enough for two cars to pass each other.
What the fuck was that maniac thinkin—
SHIT.
The wheels bumped down, bounced, then they were briefly airborne before they touched down again.
Shay let out a little shriek but didn’t open her eyes. Charlie shoved the arm rest between them up and pulled her into him, shielding her with his body.
Not that it would do anything if the whole damn plane crashed and they ended up a giant fireball of burning metal and—
Another bounce. Jesus.
Charlie’s eyes widened and the little breath he had left in his lungs went out in one giant whoosh.
The runway. Road. Whatever.
It wasn’t empty.
Up ahead there was a tangle of cars, like people had been fleeing but then a wreck or a barricade had congested everything.
Jesus Christ. They were gonna die.
Charlie squeezed his eyes shut too and held on to Shay as tight as he could. If there was anyway his body could shield hers then maybe—
The squeak of tires burning rubber shrieked so loudly around them Charlie wanted to clamp his hands over his ears. But nothing in the world could make him let go of Shay. So he kept his eyes shut and prayed and held Shay and—
The noise finally stopped.
And—
The plane… Had it… stopped moving?
Charlie hesitantly blinked one eye open.
Right in time to see Rafe jump up from the cockpit with a loud whoop.
“Did you see that? Did you see that? There had to be less than two-thousand feet of runway. And I stopped this bird with at least ten feet to spare. Damn, I still got it.” He started to do a dance in the tiny aisle like football players used to do in the end zone when they made a touchdown.
Charlie’s eyes went back to the window and holy shit. They were so close to the barricade blocking the street Charlie would swear the nose of the goddamned plane was all but touching it.
Shay laughed a tremulous laugh and pulled away from Charlie.
He immediately wanted to yank her right back. And never let her go. Ever.
“Okay,” she said, her voice shaky. “Where to now?”
Was she serious? They’d just survived a death defying landing and she was all gung ho to hurry into the next life and death situation?
Because while Charlie might not have seen much of Travisville, he’d heard enough rumors when he and Audrey lived with Uncle Dale and seen enough when he was prisoner here and briefly during their escape to know that Arnold Jason Travis was an evil fucking bastard.
One he and Shay had both been lucky to survive the first time.
But he wasn’t here.
And her children were on the line.
So he took a deep breath and undid his seatbelt, then Shay’s.
“Everybody solid on the plan?” He looked around and everyone nodded, even Jonas.
Charlie took Shay’s hand. “Let’s go save your kids.”
Chapter 33
SHAY
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Charlie asked Shay as Rafe spread dirt on her face and shirt. She pulled her hair out of her ponytail and shook it out.
“I’ll be fine,” she said, squeezing his hand again.
He huffed out a breath. “I’m supposed to be the one reassuring you.”
She smiled even though, truth be told, her insides were churning at the thought of voluntarily walking back in to Travisville.
It had been hell on earth for most of her adult life. And everything in her experience told her that what they were about to attempt would fail.
No one who stood up against Jason came out the other side.
He was too strong. Too ruthless. He had too many allies who were just as brutal as he was. Somehow, he’d just assassinated the President.
If the sculpture had exploded and it wasn’t her who’d planted the bomb, it had to be someone else who knew she was supposed to plant it.
Jason and his damn Plan Bs.
But she only had to think about Matthew and Nicole and her resolve came back. She was so close to having them in her arms again. So close.
She wouldn’t turn back.
She’d failed them as a mother too many times.
“We’ll be right behind you,” Charlie said. “I won’t fail you. I promise.”
“Yeah, babe,” Rafe said, leaning in for a quick kiss in spite of the grime he’d just spread all over her face. He looked far too cheerful considering the fact that they were about to walk into an enemy encampment. “We got this.”
Then he stepped back, examining her critically. “Lookin’ good. You have the—”
Shay nodded, touching her back pocket just to double check it was there.
“And you know how to use it?”
Shay nodded again, looking down at herself.
<
br /> Rafe had ripped her t-shirt and rubbed dirt and grime all over it and her jean shorts. It was important for their purposes that she was noticeably female. “No, wait. Your hair looks too clean.”
After closing her eyes and letting him rub dirt in her hair as well, he finally pronounced her ready for real.
Jonas brushed past her as the guys headed off the road and Shay’s heart clenched. He hadn’t said a word to her since they’d left Fort Worth.
She reached a hand to stop Jonas and he turned back. “Please. I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you. So many times.”
He shook his head, disdain clear on his face. Then he leaned in and she’d never seen his eyes that hard before. “I know what betrayal feels like and this, baby doll, this is it.”
She flinched at his use of her pet name said so hatefully.
She shook her head slowly. Because screw him. He didn’t have children and he hadn’t even tried to understand.
When he turned to go again, her arm shot out to grab his elbow and she continued through clenched teeth. “Do you think I didn’t second guess myself every day? Do you think I didn’t fall in love with Alex and Tim? I would have done anything to avoid Jacob’s Well being attacked.”
He sneered cruelly. “Anything except tell someone Travis was coming.”
She let go of his elbow and took several steps back.
She laughed humorously. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. You warned me, right? Your fatal flaw? You don’t have the capacity for forgiveness.”
She turned away, if only so he wouldn’t see how well his last barb had landed. Anything except tell someone Travis was coming.
Maybe it was foolish to expect Jonas to forgive her when she wasn’t sure she’d ever forgive herself.
She kicked off her shoes and started the long trek down the road. It was time to forget all that and focus. Worrying about what was happening in Jacob’s Well would only distract her when she needed all her concentration in the here and now.
The barest movement in the woods off to her right assured her that her clan was following with her, but she’d never felt more exposed.
It was still mid-morning and there were no clouds in the big blue sky to shield her from the Texas sun.
At least the pavement wasn’t as molten hot as it would get later on in the afternoon. She’d kept her socks on, but even through them, she felt the heat of the asphalt on her soles.
After about fifteen minutes of walking, a neighborhood came into view, and beyond it, the university buildings up on the hill.
A familiar sight even if she hadn’t seen it from this angle since before The Fall.
More importantly, though, she saw the guard station in the center of the road up ahead. She dropped her shoulders and let her left leg drag a little as she approached.
The road was empty other than the guard building, and behind it, a small pick-up truck.
Both guards stood up and came outside the guard station to wait for her.
But, she noted, neither of them reached for the radios on their hips. Well, most likely only one of them had a radio. There were only so many short-wave radios to go around and Jason liked to spread resources as thin as possible.
If one of the guys had approached, the guards would have radioed first thing. That was why it had to be her. She let her hair fall forward over her face and smiled.
But as soon as she got closer, she arranged her features and cried out, “Oh thank God!” She staggered forward like she was at the last of her strength. “I thought I’d never find civilization again.” She coughed and then grabbed her throat, gasping the last bit. “A man. There was a man. He had me, but I got away. Please, you have to help hide me from him. I’ll do anything. Just hide me.”
She stumbled the last bit until she was right in front of the two guards.
They were wearing the green military fatigues Jason had all his soldiers don, but unlike his elite forces, these two men were obviously out of shape. Well, one of them was, the other was just really young.
They were the kind who’d be left behind when all the other more able-bodied men went off to war.
The older one had a pot-belly that threatened to bust the buttons on his shirt. He stepped forward after exchanging a glance with the young, swarthy-faced one.
“You’ll do anything, eh?”
Even though the lascivious look in his eyes made Shay’s skin crawl, she just kept nodding guilelessly.
He took several longer than necessary moments looking her up and down. Shay caught movement out of her periphery but forced her eyes to stay on the guard in front of her.
He smirked at her, eyes locked on her chest as he reached for the short-wave radio at his belt. “Let me just let some folks know that you’re here and then we’ll take you into the town proper. We’ll make sure you get looked after real good.”
That was when Shay struck.
She jerked the taser out of her back pocket and shot it right into the chest of the man before his hand could even get to the walkie.
His entire body began to shake and he dropped backwards to the ground, stiff as a board.
“Hey!” the younger one shrieked, reaching awkwardly for the billy club at his waist. He didn’t even have a chance, though, because less than a second later, Rafe was standing behind him, a wickedly sharp knife at his throat.
“You know, I wasn’t so sure about this whole left-handed thing at first, but it turns out practicing a couple hours a day for three years straight will really do a lot for coordination.” A disturbing smile crossed Rafe’s face. “And it’s been far too many years since I got to spill the blood of coward scum. A man gets an itch after a while, ya know?” He scraped the edge of the knife down the man’s cheek like he was giving him a shave before lining the blade back up at his jugular.
The kid immediately froze, his hands lifted in surrender. “I-I won’t. Please, mister. I ain’t d-done nothing to ‘er. You can have ‘er back.”
“Well, how generous of you,” Jonas said sarcastically, coming up behind Rafe.
Rafe narrowed his eyes, only glancing over for the briefest moment at Jonas before moving his knife and dropping an arm around the guard’s throat.
“Wait,” Shay said. “What are you—”
Rafe just looked at her coolly over the man’s head as he choked the life out of him and Shay’s skin went cold.
“No one can know we’re here.”
“You don’t have to kill him,” Shay hissed.
Rafe just gave a shrug, his bicep flexing even more as he applied more pressure. Shay took an involuntary step right as he went limp in Rafe’s grip. Rafe let go and he dropped to the ground.
Shay gasped but Rafe just said, “What? He’s not dead.”
“I’ll tie him up,” Henry said, grabbing his arms and pulling him into the guard station. Wordlessly, Jonas and Rafe each grabbed the arm of the larger man and did the same. Shay looked up and down the road. She didn’t see anyone else. That was good, right?
Security cameras were a thing of the past, thank God. At least outside the President’s Palace anyway.
Even though it was hot, Shay rubbed her arms up and down. Charlie and Rafe came out of the guard building, Charlie holding up a pair of keys and smiling. “Look what I found.”
It took longer for Jonas and Henry to make it out, and when they did, they were wearing the guards’ uniforms. The pants on Jonas were so short they looked like capris, only coming up to mid-calf. But he’d be in the truck most the time, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Right?
Shay put a hand to her chest like she could somehow slow down her speeding heartbeat.
Charlie jumped up into the back of the pickup and held a hand down to Shay while Henry and Jonas climbed up into the cab. Rafe joined Shay and Charlie in the back of the truck, all three of them laying down flat.
Rafe unfolded a tarp they’d brought to cover the three of them. He and Charlie settled it so that it laid flat over them, holding the edges down.
Only moments later, the roar of the engine turning over cut through the quiet of the morning. Shay’s heart beat so loud it rivaled the engine. She was in between Rafe and Charlie and she grabbed onto Rafe’s pocket since his good arm was in use holding the tarp. Charlie clasped her other hand as they began the bumpy drive up the road that led by campus and then wound around town up into the hill country.
Jason had claimed the wealthiest property in the entire area as his own soon after arriving and rechristening the town Travisville. It was a mansion high up on a hill with a spectacular view of the hill country.
He owned—or well, had commandeered—all the property for miles around as his own. So if they could just skirt the town without any trouble, then they’d be golden.
A big if.
Shay felt the bump bump pause bump bump that meant they’d just crossed the railroad track. She gulped. The railroad track was right next to the old college football stadium. They were in town now.
Jason had converted the stadium into a huge tent city for his soldiers. She didn’t know how big his army was now. He’d first come into town with five thousand men but in the eight years since he’d been here it had grown to fifteen.
How many were still in town?
Surely he would have taken almost all of them to Jacob’s Well, right?
Then she squeezed her eyes shut. Was she really hoping he’d taken more soldiers to Jacob’s Well just so they had a better chance of getting to Jason’s house and her children undetected?
She knew when she accepted Jason’s offer, it was as good as selling her soul to the devil. But he had a knife to Matthew’s throat, what else could she have done?
Something else.
Anything else.
A smarter woman would have figured a way out of it. All that time wasted, when in the end, none of her husbands had been in league with Jason at all.
Stupid. Stup—
Wait. Why were they slowing down? It wasn’t like there were traffic laws to obey anymore. There were barely any vehicles on the road.
Shay held her breath as the truck slowed even more and turned her head the slightest bit to look at Charlie.
His eyes were just as wide and alert as she imagined hers were.
