Adrian's Eagles: Book Four (Life After War) (11 page)

“He did something,” Kyle stated.

Neil nodded, the photo tucked safely in his pocket. “Yeah, he set him up to get in trouble and got away with it. We can’t let that happen twice.”

7

Adrian’s last stop of the night was Kyle and Neil, who were standing watch over the far corner of the
Qz
while they waited to be cleared. Adrian approached them from the rear, listening hard.

“That’s the worst thing he could have done, though. Didn’t he know Kenn was trying to get him in trouble?”

“Check this out and tell me you’d have done different.”

Kyle’s quick intake of breath was part lust and part anger. “That son of a bitch! Those are ropes!”

“Exactly, but we can’t show this or it’ll help seal it with the camp, that she’s Kenn’s. Or get him banished and hurt Adrian’s plans.”

“Burn it.”

“I will… Did you hear that?”

“… a patrol going by.”

“I’m telling you…”

Kyle waved a hand. “It’s Adrian.”

The blond stepped from the shadows, grinning. “I still remember the first time I did that. Both of you nearly shot me.”

Kyle grinned back, but Neil closed his mouth, now feeling on the outside after everything that had happened today.

“One of the rookies still might, Boss,” Kyle joked, eyes taking a fast sweep to ensure everything was okay.

Adrian didn’t say anything about what he’d overheard. “I’d like to talk to you guys.”

Guilty, Neil opened his mouth, “I’m sorry, I am.”

Adrian pinned him with a hard look, while continuing as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “I need honest impressions on what value she might add to my army and that means yours too, Neil.”

The jab hit well and the Trooper dropped his head, ashamed. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“Answer my question and we’ll handle the other shit later,” Adrian snapped, very tired. “We’re wasting time with your
emotions.”

Kyle winced at the slap, but it seemed to wake Neil from the self-pity haze he’d been wearing all evening.

 
“Her… power speaks for itself. I’d vote for it on that reason alone…” Neil sighed, realizing he believed what he was saying. “And she’s good on some things. She likes it as much as we do - the fighting anyway. She’d probably be easy to teach.”

“No one expects this to be smooth at first. Ease up on her and yourself. If it all falls, I seriously doubt either of you will be the cause of it.” Adrian turned to Kyle expectantly.

“She’s got my vote, did after the airport kids, but today seals the deal. We
mighta
lost half the camp if she hadn’t stopped us.”

“The slide was east of us, not west,” Neil pointed out, not seeing what they meant. Kyle was the only one Adrian had told about the mental map. They’d marked the places together.

Kyle ignored him. “She’s a Level Two fighter right now and a Level Four, or maybe even Five with a gun. That sounds like the start of a good Eagle with the right personal training.”

Adrian took a sheet of paper from his pocket and gave it to Kyle. “Check those lessons over and tell me what you think.” Adrian’s voice lowered. “You and Neil only for a while.”

“You think he’ll come around enough to do it?” The Mobster asked, not worried that his friend could hear them.

“Absolutely. Neil is one of the good guys. He needs to accept that he can trust her with our lives. When he does, he’ll be her biggest defender. After the wolf, of course.”

All three men laughed at that, the tension broken, and the light of Safe Haven’s boundaries began to glow with powerful magic.

Their bonds circled the camp and started weaving a golden net of invisible protection over them. Weakened by anger and strengthened by love, the glimmering strands crisscrossed through the night, creating a bubble only a few of them could see, but all of them could feel in one way or another. Six of Safe Haven’s guardians had gathered and their power was strong.

8

“The problem is fuel.”

José’s voice was annoyed. “They have to drive the tank in some places, to crush a path through.”

Cesar slammed his scarred fist onto the hood of the muddy gold convertible, knocking his bottle to the dirt. “They must move faster!”

José reluctantly lowered his eyes. One day soon, this camp would be his and maybe sooner than Cesar may suspect, if he didn’t find a fresh batch of women to ease the restlessness of their men. “I will tell them.”

Careful not to let the wind rip it from his fingers, the younger Mexican handed Cesar a dirty baggie with slips of paper inside. “Rick’s message.”

Cesar read through the sheets quickly, glowering at the warnings he read. The white man was telling him to wait, but Cesar had no intentions of doing that. The tank team was on their way and in a few days, Safe Haven would belong to him!

The Slaver looked over the remnants of the refugee camp, despising the signs he saw of rebuilding and strength. These people were organized, powerful. He had to stop them now.

“No whiskey. Tell them that as well.”

Groans met this order, but no one protested despite Cesar rolling them by a town yesterday that clearly had survivors. They hadn’t taken a town in over a week and the Guerillas were unhappy. Not nearly as much as Cesar, though. The stocky Slaver was in a foul mood today and they knew better than to cross him.

One of his whores had managed to get his gun and kill herself. Normally, he wouldn’t have cared, but this one had been pregnant with the first of his many bastards and he took it as a bad omen for his plans to seed America with his descendants. Timed with the defiance of these patriotic refugees, the only answer seemed to be killing them all.

Chapter Three

April 7
^th
, 2013

Pitcairn Island

1

“I still think this is a bad idea.”

Luke’s voice was stern. “It might weaken your system to do so much, too soon.”

Kendle ran a red hand through her short black spikes. “It’s been four days since I’ve even sneezed!” She smiled innocently at him. “Can I come out and play now?”

Luke chuckled. “We’re going, under protest.”

Kendle was glad. Her minor cold had come on suddenly and LJ had made her stay in bed, wanting to be sure she didn’t have a relapse. If she didn’t get back outside for a while, she’d suffocate.

“I’m fine, really.”

“The second you start showing signs, I’m picking you up and bringing you back here.”

The movie star’s grin widened. “You know there’s only one way to make sure I stay in bed, right?”

Magic sparked between them and the former pilot laughed. “I thought about that, too, but we need provisions.”

“Yeah, like razors,” she muttered, thinking of the jungle on her legs. No way she was letting LJ get anywhere near her until she could shave.

“You got your jacket?”

This time, she couldn’t stop a slight sharpness to her tone. “Yes. I also have extra socks and water. Can we go now?”

Luke sighed, feeling her impatience. He was always impressed with her ability to do what she needed to without railing against fate. The woman he’d watched on TV before the War was a risk-taker, not afraid of any danger, and it had to bother her that she now had limits.

“Yes. Let me lock things up.”

That had her brow puckering. They’d only recently begun to lock the cabin when they went somewhere. It was a result of two women on the island going missing. All the evidence pointed to them being abducted from their bedrooms, and the townspeople were up in arms. There had already been two searches, both of which Luke had locked her in for and joined, but no signs of the women or their attackers had been found. It was causing changes on this small island that even the end of the world hadn’t.

Kendle turned toward the jungle, not wanting Luke to see what she was thinking about again. The people here refused to believe there had been a War, despite all the signs. She and Luke had made a second trip to town yesterday, and left without any supplies after getting into an argument with two other patrons in Baxter’s. The men had overheard her comment about the sunsets, comparing them to the shots of the sky after a nuclear detonation, and it hadn’t taken much from there to spark the fuse. Admit it or not, the people here were worried that whatever had happened might find its way to this tropical paradise and denial was how they were handling it.

“And sarcasm,” she muttered, flushing at the memory of their words. She’d never been called a whore so clearly to her face and it was still stinging. Even seeing Luke knock the snob on his ass didn’t help. He’d gotten her back on the bike and out of sight before the tears came and she’d let them run down his back, unable to do more than hang on. As LJ sped them furiously home, she had been sure that would be the last time they went to town for supplies. Whatever they needed from here, they’d make or go see the crazy woman for.

“Ready?”

Kendle shifted her pack more firmly onto her shoulders. “I’m right behind ya.”

Instead of moving toward the jungle, Luke stopped by her and held out a thin cord of strong rope. “Around your waist.”

Kendle did it without argument, handing him the ends back so he could tie it the way he wanted. She knew she should have thought of it, tied was the only way she’d ever let her crew travel through a jungle, but the time before seemed so far away most days that she often forgot who she’d been.

Luke dropped into the soft grass at her jean-clad legs, hoping this wasn’t as bad an idea as it suddenly felt like. His hands snaked around her, tugging the ropes into place.

When he stood up, so close and warm, Kendle leaned in to place a soft kiss on his jaw. “Thank you.”

He let the worry out a little, gruff tone covering his response to her action.
 
“Stay close.”

Kendle watched him move back and tie the other end of the rope around his own waist, leaving them about four foot of space. She laughed, “Like I could get far in this setup.”

Luke didn’t grin back. If not for them being out of so much, he’d put his foot down and stay here. This was a two day trek and funny things were happening on the island. Besides the missing women and fruitless searches, there were also rumors of townspeople seeing non-residents in the jungle that fled when spotted. There had also been two people who swore they had heard boat engines over the last week.

He and Kendle had only been in town for a little while, but there had been more of the residents there at one time than Luke had ever seen. Each of the small rooms the shopkeepers sometimes rented out were full of their neighbors who lived in the more isolated areas.
Bad times had found their way to Pitcairn Island after all,
he thought.

Luke set an easy pace and for a while, there were only the sounds of the island around them. Kendle let her mind wander. She was still so grateful to be on land that it was common to find her staring at the sand or trees for long minutes. Being surrounded by nature was a sedative to her nerves that increased when they continued to get further from the roar of the ocean. She was looking forward to the liquid death not being the first thing she heard upon waking for once and her steps were light. She’d survived and she wasn’t alone. It was still enough to make her happy and she followed contentedly, enjoying the sights and smells.

Luke was glad to be able to give her something she wanted, but he still wished he could have left her at the cabin. The searches for the missing women had only taken him away for a few hours of whacking and insult ducking, but there was no way he could stand to leave her unprotected for two entire days. Now that they were out here though, the feeling of danger was only getting stronger. Even so many years out of action couldn’t dull the instincts he had once trusted his life to and LJ sped them up a little, hand staying close to the sheath on his belt.

In his hurry to get her someplace safer, Luke stepped over the very shallow grave without recognizing it for what it was. Whoever had put it there hadn’t been concerned with the body staying buried.

2

An hour later, the feeling of menace had faded and the afternoon started with a sudden brightness that lifted Luke’s spirits. He loved being in the jungle again. Before, when he’d been so alone, the greenness had been suffered through. Now, because of Kendle’s love of nature, he’d begun to make peace with his past. She finally knew his full story. He’d told her while she was sequestered in bed last week, and he was still stunned by her easy acceptance of the mistake he had made. Adamant it hadn’t been his fault, her comforting arms had seemed to break the shroud his secret had built around him.

The enemy had purposely held the POW’s below that Laos village, hoping the innocent civilians would provide a cover. When he and Frank had gotten the others clear and called in that they were alive, the small town had been firebombed despite their attempts to convince HQ to handle it from the ground. Luke had carried the guilt all his life until finding Kendle on the beach. She’d gotten through the wall and her needs were now more important than his. When she’d said she wanted to start hiking, he’d had to force himself to agree, but once out here, the beauty had returned for him, bringing peace. Because of Kendle.

Who’s probably hungry
, he thought, able to hear her quiet footsteps behind him, but no sounds of her being winded yet. Their hiking was helping her body, returning her strength and he was glad her cold had been only that and not a return of the pneumonia she’d been battling when he’d found her.

Luke steered them around a huge, vine-covered Miro tree and stopped, using his arm to wipe at his forehead.

“Are you feeding me now?” Kendle joked, shifting her pack from her shoulders to the ground.

“Some bread and water and then you’re back on the road.”

She laughed, the noise echoing off the thick pad of treetops above them. They ate a small meal in the shade of an enormous Piñon tree that had more branches than she could count. Obviously old, she wondered what stories it might tell about those who had come this way before them. Some of its bark was petrified, and near the top of her head, Kendle could see lines that seemed like carvings. She spent a few minutes examining them while they finished eating.

The markings were rough, old, and she strained to see. What name was that? It started with an A, but that was all she could make out. The rest of the lines weren’t in any order that she could see, not even forming a picture, and she wondered if it was an ancient map. Maybe to a pirate treasure?
That was the old world
, Kendle told herself sharply. Fame and fortune weren’t worth shit now.

“Did you say something?”

Kendle shook her head; still busy trying to banish that part of herself that had sent her into films and the spotlight. “No, why?”

“Thought I heard…engines?”

They both waited in silence, listening hard, but there was only the jungle – chattering monkeys and chirping birds.

Luke laughed it off, gathering their mess. “Hearing things again.”

Kendle raised a brow. “Again?”

Luke’s shrug looked embarrassed. “I was doing…rounds of the cabin last night and thought I heard footsteps.” He grinned. “I’m old, it happens.”

Kendle smiled, but she wasn’t fooled by the joke. He was worried.

Luke handed her backpack over. “Let’s roll.”

She snapped a smart salute, eyes lightening. “Yes, sir!”

3

The excitement of the trip began to wear off for Kendle as the day warmed and sweat started rolling down her back. Skin covered for protection, the heat was thick, smothering, and she was very glad to see the sun glare finally start to fade behind the tree tops. Soon, it would cool off.

Luke passed a canteen of water back and she sipped at it lightly, stomach unhappy with the heat and walking. None of their hikes had lasted more than a couple hours and she was feeling tired, something she recognized as a side effect of the radiation or whatever she’d been blasted with. It hit her hard when it came and she swayed a bit, steps no longer light and careful.

Luke knew she needed a break, but he wanted to reach the creek before dark and he tugged gently on the rope until she was at his side. He slid an arm around her and kept them moving, feeling her relieved body melt against his. Damn, she was hot.

“Maybe we should make camp around here and go on in the morning,” he suggested and wasn’t surprised when she disagreed.

“I’m fine. The sun will go down and I’ll get a second wind.”

“We’ll be at the creek in another hour. We’ll camp there and get our supplies in the morning.”

Kendle was too uncomfortable to insist. She’d made good progress, but it was clear she had a way to go before she would be really healthy again.

The day got warmer as they wound through the jungle, following a faint path that Luke kept track of. The tracks he saw were old, mostly animals, and it made him feel better to know they were the first ones to come through here in a while. Much like when he had been Whacker in Vietnam.

“Do you smell that?”

Luke inhaled deeply. “No. What?”

Kendle sniffed again, sure it was strong enough for him to pick up too. “Sort of like…oil or gas fumes.”

Luke didn’t know if there was anything in the air or not. He wasn’t picking up much beyond the plants and animals around them. “People here have stashes. It’s probably a resident.”

Kendle slipped on a sharp rock, clutching at his arm, and LJ hauled her back into place, thinking she was still too light. “All right?”

“Yeah, my shoe flap caught a rock.”

That was one of the many things on their list, what they had gone to Baxter’s for yesterday, and Luke began steering them around the more obvious ruts and stones. Damn stupid townspeople!

Kendle could feel his sudden upset through the rigid lines of his body and guessed what had triggered it. “You know there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have gotten a pair anyway, right? Did you see that puke green tennis shoe? Who wears that?”