Adrian's Eagles: Book Four (Life After War) (62 page)

Lee nodded, unable to speak and Angela pulled the Witch gently from view. She let go of Lee’s wrist and stepped back, fighting the wave of weariness. “Don’t take Zack. He’ll bring back the others just to spite me and they really don’t belong here.”

Lee wanted to argue, to say Adrian would want those sheep, and nodded instead. Those red orbs had been sure. Who was he to question such a power?

Lee looked to Kyle. “Permission to grab a team and go?”

Kyle nodded. “Get it set and you guys can roll as soon as we get back from McCook.”

Lee didn’t like the idea of waiting, but knew going into a city like Lincoln would take gear and planning and he moved into the darkness with a last searching look at Angela. It could be a trick to get him out of camp and make them look like fools, but he headed to gather a team anyway. If there was the slightest chance his Candy had survived, he would take it.

Kenn had headed straight for Adrian when they hit camp, along with Billy, who took over shadowing the blond. Once satisfied of Adrian’s well-being, Kenn went next to the one person he was very worried might have tried something and demanded to know the truth.

“No, I didn’t.”

Tonya’s voice was indignant, telling him she wasn’t lying. “How would I know what to do? I barely drive.”

Kenn thought differently, but was still too pissed over the attempt on Adrian’s life to be sidetracked. “Swear it!”

Tonya’s voice rose a bit. “I’ve told you. If you can’t accept it, that’s your problem.”

Kenn’s face tightened like he wasn’t convinced “We’ll be through if you’re lying.”

The redhead only gave a shrug. “I didn’t do it and I don’t deserve this from you.” She raked him with a sharp glance. “Maybe we should change our plans for later.”

Kenn was the one scowling now. “Why? Guilty conscience?”

Fed up, Tonya delivered a nasty sneer. “Sure. I spend a lot of time biting the hand that feeds me. I’m that stupid,” she snorted, turning away. “Jackass.”

Kenn let her go, in relief. He’d been hard on her, jerking her into the garden truck to interrogate her, but he had to be sure she didn’t do it. He couldn’t be sleeping with the enemy, especially not when he was trying so hard to earn back his place.

It would be rough, adjusting to seeing Marc and Angela together so soon after he’d threatened her death, but that old rage had shot out of him the instant he pulled the trigger on Dean. He didn’t like their relationship and never would, not to mention there was still a wall of bitterness about the whole Charlie affair, but he had his place as a top level man in Adrian’s chain of command and that mattered more.

Tonya stormed through camp, making people move out of her way long before she got to them and the guards tensed when someone finally stepped into her path.

“Let’s have a drink.”

The redhead started to say yes, but moved around the reporter instead. “Catch me in the shower. He’s got people on us now.”

Cynthia acted like the redhead had been rude and moved for the Mess as the camp’s interest went back to the better story; Marc and Angie.

They would be stopping near McCook, Nebraska for supplies and she and Tonya had signed up for the supply run. While the redhead provided a distraction, Cynthia planned to slip off for an hour and do some digging.

McCook was large enough to have some records, maybe old photos. The Eagles had already scouted the area and declared it abandoned, but more importantly, they’d said it was mostly undamaged. Adrian and his men would clean out the basic supplies they needed and then camp members would be allowed in on personal runs. Maybe she would find what she had been digging for in every town they passed close enough for her to search through. Busy getting set to take her shift, Cynthia didn’t see the extra shadow moving by or register Maria’s absence.

Rick had slipped into the dark supply truck behind the Mess while the Eagles were occupied with updating the returning teams.

Maria backed into the corner, face a mask of fear as his hands went to his… pocket?

Rick pulled out a small vial and slid it under a nearby potholder. “Top team of Eagles. Put it in their popcorn bags, the next time he calls a two-day break.”

Maria shook her head, but stopped the protest when he fingered the knife on his belt. “No one will know.”

“Www... why?”

Rick turned away. “So I can have some alone time with the boss.”

Sneaking out was getting harder and harder. He might only have one or two more night-time ventures left before he’d have to find a way to get his tent replaced. The ends were too frayed to keep lining up evenly enough to avoid notice.

He picked up the coffee mug she’d been filling for Adrian’s tray and moved toward the door. He took a small sip and smiled at the hot pain. “The next time we camp for a two day break, Maria, or I’ll tell Cesar you’re a convert and he’ll kill those two little boys.
Slowly
.”

7

“So, was it an accident?”

Now lurking in the shadows of the tents, Rick leaned closer. The sex was over and it was this conversation the traitor had stayed for.

“No. Someone’s trying to take him out.”

The female snorted. “Like I’d know how to rig that up.”

“Yeah. Sorry, I was pissed.”

“But you remembered me suggesting we cut his brakes and send him over a cliff.”

“Yes.”

Tonya giggled patiently. “I think you need to be punished for that.”

Kenn’s shadow grabbed hers.
 
“You know it.”

Rick grimaced in distaste, moving away. It seemed he wasn’t the only one plotting against Safe Haven’s fearless Leader. Wouldn’t it be great if he could kill Adrian and frame his second in command for it? The camp would lynch the Marine without a second thought. It would be a twofer!

Rick’s stride lengthened into a steady stalk as he prowled the camp, dressed like an Eagle thanks to Mitch’s boy, Matt, needing a bottle he couldn’t get on his own. Rick grinned wildly. Maybe he could find a way to involve Neil and make it a threesome.

8

“You can go now, if you want.”

Angela shook her head at Kyle’s words, ignoring the soreness invading her back and shoulders. “I’m good. Go about your business.”

Kyle snorted at her joke, moving toward the new Com truck. They’d been on rounds for hours, going over the wreck, securing things and getting updates. They had no idea who the traitor was, but they were sure they had one. Kevin had been right about the brake line. It had been cut.

“I’ve got two more stops and then we’ll call it good.”

Angela followed without comment, still feeling out the people they were walking by. The camp was uneasy and seeing the Eagles so alert wasn’t helping. If they had returned earlier, when more people were awake, there could have been trouble.

“What do you want?”

Mitch growled at Kyle, causing Angela to stop and stare in surprise.

“You already know.”

The slightly slurring radioman let out a frustrated snort. “He
ain’t
been around here. Waved hello to me once from across the camp, though. Quick, arrest him.”

Angela realized Kyle had been the one to reprimand Mitch for having Rick in the Com truck when the quake hit.

“Stop it,” Kyle ordered sternly. “If you keep acting like you’re on the other team, Mitch, you’ll end up there.”

Kyle left the drunk sputtering indignantly and Angela followed him back toward camp, frowning. Not at the cool treatment, but at the way Rick had been able to con the people here. They didn’t have any real proof, but who else could it be? The man had admitted he was a spy. Where else would they look when things went wrong?

At him and no one else, she realized. He could have someone else doing his dirty work. “Have there been any reports of him spending time with anyone else? Does he have friends here?”

Kyle’s thoughts were along the same lines and he shook his head reluctantly. “No one that we’re aware of, other than Becky. He does his shifts, eats and showers, and stays quiet.”

“Too quiet. He makes himself seem suspicious with that.”

“Intentionally done to draw us away from his accomplice?”

“That feels right,” she stated angrily. “And it’s smart. He has to know we’re onto him. That’s why we can’t catch him. He isn’t the one doing it.”

Kyle’s steps quickened. “Let’s grab a cup of coffee and go over the duty sheets for the days we were gone. Maybe we’ll come up with something.”

An hour later, both of them were tired of the background noise of emerging cicadas and of searching through the papers. Angela stood up with a groan. “I’m done. Daylight’s just over the hill. I plan to be asleep before it gets here.”

Kyle began sweeping the papers together. They weren’t any closer to an answer, but he was hopeful about the morning, when he would check the accident scene again in the dim light of day. Maybe he would see something the others had missed. “Goodnight.”

“Good morning, you mean.”

Kyle shook his head. “That’s one of our rules. If we haven’t been asleep yet, the day doesn’t change.”

Angela snorted, thinking it might come in handy if she ever wanted to steal some personal time. “I’ll remember that.”

Kyle handed out a bit of praise, feeling it was well deserved. “You did real good.”

“So did Kenn.”

“He’ll adjust. I believe that now.”

“Me, too.”

Angela moved toward her tent, feeling Marc’s eyes on her. It was unmistakable, especially now that his anger had been converted into happiness. “You coming, Brady?”

“What?” Marc hadn’t thought she’d known he was her shadow until dawn.

“I’m tired. Aren’t you?” Implying they would share a bed.

He hadn’t expected her to be this open and was relieved when she laughed. He wasn’t prepared for that yet. Hell, he wasn’t prepared for the gift she had given.

“Night, Marc.”

“Night, honey.”

Angela ducked into her own tent, leaving him to smile. One day, it wouldn’t be a joke. They would share a life together and those images were the ones he fell asleep with a short time later. His happy-ever-after was waiting.

Chapter Nineteen

May 1
^st
, 2013

Swanson Rec. Area

Nebraska

1

“Your aim’s improved.”

Sam reloaded, but didn’t answer and Neil could see she wasn’t any happier. He and Jeremy had followed her after the wolf mission, hoping to apologize, but she’d refused to speak to either of them. She had finally called in Hilda and the other females to run block and they’d taken up places outside the shower camper. The German had gotten through to them with only a single sentence
“How’s the boss?”
and they’d left her alone.

Now, two days of traveling across the eerily deserted Swanson State Park had gone by since they’d returned from the mission and this was as close as Neil had gotten to her.

“I’m nowhere near
Zena
over there.”

They both turned to see Angela taking her turn at the targets. She stepped up confidently, fingers hovering, and then she was drawing and hitting everything she aimed at.

“Show-off,” she muttered good-naturedly, but Neil could hear the loneliness behind it. “Sam…”

“No.”

“We’ll wait years if you make us.”

Samantha looked back at him with tormented eyes. “You know why I can’t! Why are you doing this to me?”

Neil was helpless against the need. “Because you’re like a fire that burns in my blood.” He took a step closer. “I want you, Sammi.”

Samantha opened her mouth and snapped it shut just as fast. She couldn’t lie and tell him she didn’t feel the same, but she didn’t have to confirm it either. She shook her head and stepped around him. “You don’t even know me.”

“Sam…”

“No, Neil.”

She left him standing there with stiff shoulders and a red face. How much rejection was one man supposed to take? Neil caught a glimpse of Brady moving toward the Mess, face happier than the Trooper had ever seen, and his gut twisted. More. To get that, he could stand a little more.
But not like this
, Neil thought, turning to clean up for the next set of students. Sam didn’t want an open relationship. What did she want?

Jeremy waited until Sam was out of Neil’s sight and then fell in step. When he kept his mouth shut, she let him stay, knowing there were things they needed to get straight. It was different with Neil, who would become more determined with every “no”. He delighted in the game, the chase. Jeremy had tried to give Neil happiness and his own feelings had come as a surprise.

“I guess this backfired for you.”

Jeremy knew he was more like Sam than Neil. He wore button-downs on his off day, unable to completely escape that sense of looking professional to the public. He was quick to be a gentleman, or break up an argument before it could get started. He tried to keep the peace and the camp rarely saw him bent out of shape. He loved being an Eagle. He had been a sickly child, always weak and isolated from anything that might trigger an illness, but inside, he’d dreamed of being an explorer. He’d gotten his wish. It was a big source of pride to him that he’d come so far from that lonely little boy. He was now a man without an ounce of fat to spare. He was one of the few people in Safe Haven who was grateful for the end of the world. It had given him a life he’d never dreamed of. But it couldn’t give him Sam.

The Eagle shrugged, keeping his tone light. “I don’t know. Cynthia’s suddenly warmer to me than she’s ever been and the questions about what we do have stopped. Something good came of it.”

“Plus giving your team leader what he thinks he wants.”

“Neil knows what he wants now, Sam. We both do after listening to Marc and Angie.” Pain flashed and Jeremy dropped his head. “He’ll be good to you.”

“And if I don’t want him after all the trouble you’ve gone to?”

Jeremy’s voice was pointed. “If he had said love back there, would you have given him the same answer?” She didn’t respond and he pushed harder. “I give it a month, maybe less.”

“For what?”

“For him to wear you down.”

Sam snorted, thinking of her tortured dream last night… she and Neil made violent, passionate love and at the moment of climax, Rick shot them both. “Not likely. It’s more than just our wants at stake here. I’d never endanger these people that way.”

Jeremy frowned, letting her go on alone. What did her relationship with Neil have to do with endangering the camp? Did Neil know? Would he share her secret?

He found the Trooper getting set to enjoy a bit of quiet before they left, his fishing pole and a beer on the muddy bank.
He’s changed
, Jeremy thought, settling down next to him. The Neil he’d first trained with had been an uptight prig who always followed the rules. Having a beer and a smoke was something he wouldn’t have done before.

“Any luck?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

They stared at each other for a moment while a fight seemed inevitable and only a loud call from the camp interrupted the tension.

“Hold it higher. I can’t get it to stop squirting!”

Both Eagles, and most of the camp, turned to see Kevin and his team helping Marc with the fire engine hose. They were currently using it to flood out the huge ant holes around them, getting practice and hopefully killing the larvae of the shoe-sized mutations.

“Anyone got a condom marked super-sized?”
Jax
joked from his place on top of the truck.

“Someone ask Doug.” Kenn called, shocking everyone in hearing distance into a fit of laughing.

Jeremy and Neil stared.

“Did that just happen?”

Neil grinned. “Yeah. Super-dick made a joke. It might be his first.”

“You think he’s okay now?”

The Trooper’s sigh was relieved. “Yeah, I do” He began reeling in the line he expected to be stripped of the worms he’d dug out. “And if he can do it, so can we.”

“Why won’t she let you claim her?”

Neil tensed. “Or maybe not, if you keep being so stupid.”

“I know she has a secret that would endanger these people.”

Neil wasn’t sure about telling him because of Sam’s trust, but being an Eagle came first and he quietly filled in his XO. It only took a minute for Jeremy to understand.

“And you can’t tell anyone, not even the rest of the team.”

Jeremy nodded, shocked. Samantha had been government!

“Does it matter to you?” Neil demanded, not sure if he could trust his right hand anymore.

Jeremy bristled. “Yes, it matters. We have to keep an eye on her. If these people find out, she’ll be in danger…” And that’s why she wouldn’t become Neil’s mate, he realized. If it came out, her secret wouldn’t just hurt Neil. It would damage Adrian’s dream.

“How do we fix that?”

“
You
don’t.”

Both Eagles turned to see Adrian behind them.

“She’s had the worst trip here of any of these sheep and you two have spent the last weeks playing head games.” The angry blond took a step closer. “What about getting her accepted, instead of trying to claim a woman who doesn’t want to belong to you?”

The harsh tones were unexpected, but well deserved and they slumped under the weight of Adrian’s disapproval.

“Effective immediately, you will both stay away from her. When she needs a shadow, someone else will do it. The only time I want to see you two around her is during Mess, classes, or if she comes to your way.” His voice hardened even further. “If you can’t do that, maybe you should stay here instead of escorting the supply mission to McCook.”

2

“I need you to talk to Tonya.”

Moving by the fire truck, Angela looked up at Kenn in surprise, “Why?”

“Adrian wants it, said to ask you.”

Angela understood then. The blond wanted to be sure Kenn wasn’t abusing her, and who better to know than his former victim?

“I’ll do it before we leave.”

“Report to him, not me.”

Kenn turned stiffly back to the hose they had wrapped in duct tape to stop the leak, and though she could have assumed it was because he was scared of more transgressions being revealed, Angela thought it was really about trust. Tonya was a snake that would turn on a man if it suited her needs. The Marine wouldn’t have to have done anything for her to say it was true.

“That’s why he’s sending you,”
the Witch enlightened. “
We’ll know if she lies.”

Angela changed directions, heading for the small hooch the camp whore called home. Tonya was set up in the rear, under the sparse trees that were chirping loudly with young cicadas and Angela knew from her time with Kenn that it was to cover the noises they made.

She tapped on the flap, ignoring the dozen or so camp members watching her in surprise.

“Come in.”

Tonya’s face tightened at the Eagle stepping through her flap. “What the hell do you want?”

Angela picked out the new clothes, jeans and a t-shirt with a flag on the front, the clean tent, and the strands of red scattered around the vinyl floor. Kenn had taken her advice. He was trying to reform Tonya.

“Well?” Tonya’s snarl was more misery than threat.

“Is this a chopping party?”

Tonya snapped another large chunk with the scissors and tossed it on the floor next to her chair. “I’m making your Marine happy, as I’m sure you know.” Tonya glared at her. “And I agreed to it, so go back and tell the
Guardian
I’m fine.”

Angela stared in surprise. Was Kenn sharing that much information with her?

“Why does the hair have to go?” Already knowing, Angela waited.

“He said I’m vain, about these.” Tonya snipped another clump, and a tear rolled down her unpainted cheek. “I guess he’s right.”

Angela instinctively knew not to say anything yet and the cicada song-filled tension thickened.

Tonya kept her nasty comments to herself, following Kenn’s orders.
“Get along with them or get away from me. If I can do it, after everything that’s happened, this should be easy for you.”

“Well?”

“I’d like a prescription.”

That had Tonya stopping mid clip. “A what?”

Angela gave her a sharp look, moving toward the broom in the corner. It still had a tag on it and Angela took offense at the unwelcome reminder of their old world. She ripped it off and crumbled it up. It joined the red hair on the floor.

“Right now, you’re a drug dealer.”

Curious as to how smart Tonya really was, Angela didn’t add more. She wasn’t disappointed.

“But if I’m a... Pharmacist, the camp might go for it.”

“They will go for it. Most of them come to you in secret now. If it weren’t a backdoor transaction that reminded them of the past, they’d be willing. Especially the non-drinkers.”

“Why would Adrian agree to this?” Tonya asked, confused. Had Kenn’s attempts to get her accepted been green-lighted?

“Because it solves problems, of course. Why does he do anything?”

There was silence for a minute and the redhead’s eyes flicked over the newest bandage Angela was sporting. That alone would earn any other camp member a free joint at least.
To those she didn’t have a vendetta against
, Tonya amended. And other than a sharp remark during her first day here, this tough female hadn’t bothered her even though she knew about the affair with Kenn.

Tonya let out a deep sigh that Angela recognized. Whatever deal she and Kenn had made, the redhead was willing to do what it took to uphold her end of it.

“I’ll drop something off later.”

Tonya went back to cutting her hair, tears replaced with fast-connecting thoughts and Angela didn’t linger. The woman wasn’t being abused. If anything, they might need to put a guard on her. Tonya was sharper than Adrian had given her credit for.
Maybe,
Angela conceded. He had been able to keep the whore on ice for months.

Reaching the parking area, Angela slung her new rifle over her shoulder with a feeling of power she knew was shared by the nine men coming through the vehicles around her. With Zack and Kevin’s full teams on duty, plus the two rookie levels, they were free to go hunting for supplies. By the time they got back, Lee would have a small crew of friends together and be on the way to Lincoln for his cheating wife.