Freedom Does Matter (Mercenaries Book 2) (49 page)

“Elena…” Ian had gone before she’d done more than think of the name, as soon as her eyes had opened with intelligence behind them. She held on tight, sure Kevin would tell her when he didn’t need her help. She watched him use a fist to enforce his command.

A scuff nearby brought her head around; Elena and Ian had returned. Elena had a bandanna wrapped around the middle of her left thigh; Beckie could see blood stains working their way out from beneath it. Pretty sure she knew the answer, she asked anyway, “You okay?”

“Okay? Yes. Fine? No. Bullet went through the meaty part missing the bone and big blood vessels.” She patted her hip. “It’ll be fine, though I want some antiseptic pretty soon.”

“Okay, then.” Beckie turned to Kevin. “Okay if I let go?”

He nodded and Beckie let go and quickly rolled clear in case Billy had a kick or two left. Elena flipped three tie-wrap restraints to her. “Get ‘em tight,” the woman said.

Kevin held Billy’s hands against his chest; the Reverend kept hollering about letting him go, his knee, his congregation.

Kevin looked down in disgust. “Yeah, your congregation will probably stand right behind you as you send a couple thousand people to a horrific death. Long as they’re Arabs and Jews and not White ‘Mericans!”

Billy kept bleating as Beckie stared at Kevin. Finally, they did a little dance so she could slip one of the ties beneath Billy’s wrists. When Beckie’s turn came, Billy’s whining turned to his God, and how his Lord would restore his freedom.

“Freedom?” Beckie shouted as she pulled the tie-wrap tight, binding his wrists. “Freedom! The only freedom you think of is your own.” A second tie fastened the reverend’s wrists to his belt. “The freedom to order others to give up theirs!” She almost spat in the man’s face; instead she glanced over at Ian, squatting a few feet away. Her glance became a look and then a stare; finally she laughed at the image he projected: great humor with what annoyed her beyond belief.

Looking back at the man she knelt beside, her revulsion rose once more. “You,” she said. She slammed her fist down in the muddy ground, brushing his dirty hair as she buried her knuckles. “I can’t kill you. That’s not in the contract. But…” She looked up at Elena.

The woman gave her an oblique glance and handed her a dispenser pen. “One and a quarter for compliance. We need him to walk.”

Beckie nodded and jammed it against the man’s neck before he could react. “There.” She tossed the pen back to Elena.

She stood and walked into Ian’s embrace. “Are you all right? Your head? I worried when you rolled off him.” Ian touched his helmet with a smile as he nodded. “I am so tired of organized religions. All of them.” She gazed into his face, feeling the smile form on hers. “Let’s get married at Stonehenge, Ian. By a Druid priestess.”

Epilogue

Their next stop had been London, to deliver Billy to Scotland Yard for questioning. The British police took their attention for several days as they pieced Billy’s story together; wedding arrangements were set aside for the nonce. Noorah’s sheikh, Abdul-Bari Sedki, had been identified as one of the men who had died in the warehouse; the only other name the police shared was that of the man still in a coma: Bakr al-Aziz. After the brief satisfaction she felt learning of Sedki’s demise, she turned to her absence from school and made her excuses long distance.

With Saturday free, Beckie asked Ian to drive out to Stonehenge, where she reminded him they were in the exact place to fulfill her dream marriage. With a warm smile, he convinced her that neither set of parents nor their friends would approve. “I agree, Rebecca. It is approximately equidistant from Minnesota and Durban, but nonetheless—”

“Yeah, but how do we choose one over the other?” While the temperature was almost fifteen degrees warmer than her first visit, she hugged herself close. “It’s like, I want to do what I want to do, but that includes… well, I don’t want to upset—”

“Fear not, dear Rebecca. I would have continued to say that no matter what we choose, your parents and mine will find a way to celebrate with us. They would no more force their will on us than you would on Noorah or Amy Rose.” He laughed quietly. “I predict the choice of a Druid priestess will occasion more comment than the location.”

“From you?”

“Not from me, Rebecca. Love. Not from me.”

Their kiss was interrupted after a few moments by snickers from a group of touring schoolchildren. Beckie gave them a wave and a smile which quickly became a smirk.

“Okay, we’d better be off. Dinner? How about that place you took us next to Covent Garden?”

On Tuesday following Labor Day, Patrice picked them up in Nassau for the hour and a half flight to the Nest. As Beckie snuggled against Ian in one of the Gulfstream’s comfy seats, she thought about Noorah and Tahirah, and then Haleef. Were they doing the right thing? She worried the idea for several minutes as the plane passed puffy white clouds to the south.

Suddenly, she sat up and rubbed Ian’s cheek. He returned a quizzical look. “I just realized what you said at Stonehenge. Thanks.”

Ian smiled. He took her about the waist.

She snuggled again then tipped her head to look up at him. She grinned. “It’s not easy, you know. Knowing that you want what’s best for them… and them not seeing it!”

“Indeed.” The warmth in his voice caressed her, made her quiver.

The crowd wasn’t as large as they had feared, but a gaggle of friends were standing by the hangar when Patrice dropped the stairway. Neither of them could differentiate the greetings; even though they responded, the crowd followed their lead to Ian’s— No! to
our
home.

Trillian’s appearance caused several people to recoil, but the cat rubbed against Beckie’s ankles and then Ian’s before disappearing in the direction of the beach. Boynton looked askance at them, but then regained his poise and ushered everyone in. In less time than Beckie had to think about it, he had trays of beverages and fresh snacks, leading the guests to the lanai by placing the refreshments there.

“Dinner later?” Beckie heard him whisper to Ian after most were settled, and Ian nodded. “For two?” This time, Beckie nodded with vigor, which drew chuckles and chortles from the two men. She tried to cool her flushed cheeks.

Boynton disappeared into the house and Ian took Beckie’s hand. They approached Deborah Willan, standing by the railing with Sarah and David.

“Beckie!” Beckie hadn’t expected quite so boisterous a greeting from the woman. “Finally, the return of the prodigal, although you’re not as repentant… Never mind, Bible training. Thank you so much for making this possible for Alisha.”

“How is she?” Beckie asked, embarrassed that she hadn’t thought of Alisha since the scene in Billy’s office.

“The procedure went fine,” Deborah said. “She’s in very good spirits. Her brother finally got over here, so that’s why she’s not here. They are—”

“Rebonding,” Sarah said over her mother. “Mom and Dave loved the beach, and I got to hold Alisha’s hand a lot. Doctor Ardan is so nice.”

“You bring excellent news,” Ian said. “Thank you.”

“And you must be—”

“Ian! Mr. Jamse!” Sarah shouted. “Amy said you looked just like…” The girl stopped short, hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry.”

“No need, Sarah,” Beckie said as she let go Ian’s hand and took the girl in a hug. “If you didn’t holler it, I would have.” She relaxed her hold on Sarah without releasing her. “She’s right. This is my love, Ian Jamse, whose hospitality you have already enjoyed.” She released Sarah and embraced Ian. “Of course, you’re all invited to the wedding,” she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. Under the resulting hubbub, she continued, “Once we decide where to have it.”

“The church will always be available,” Deborah said.

Ian turned in her direction, slipping a hand inside his jacket. “Thank you. I appreciate your offer. It brings me to a less happy topic. While the case against your father is more circumstantial than the Crown Prosecutors would like, they are sanguine about the results of his eventual trial.” Three sets of big eyes stared back at him. Beckie slipped her arm around Sarah’s waist; Deborah had already done so with David. “Please do not ask any of us for details. The Official Secrets Act has been invoked in full force in his case. In any event, most are unappetizing even if that were not the case.

“However, he wrote this letter and asked that I deliver it to you. Of course, the authorities examined it. Even so, I believe the first page is the more public of the two.” He handed the woman a thin business size envelope. “If you’d like…” Boynton appeared beside her and ushered her into the house.

“I’m sure she will share it with you later,” Beckie said to both Sarah and David. “If she accepts, it will be the talk of the town when you get home.”

“Oh,” Sarah said. A tear showed on her eyelash. “He’s not going to come back, is he?”

David took her arm as Beckie said, “Not soon, at least.”

Sarah turned and gave David a little squeeze, then looked back at Beckie. Her face relaxed slightly as she said, “He’s asked Mom to take the church, hasn’t he?” She glanced over at David again; he had a surprised look before he nodded. “Maybe she can bring some reality to the preaching.”

“You didn’t hear anything from me,” Beckie said with a grin she hoped would signal the accuracy of the guess. She pulled them both into a hug. “C’mon, let’s get some of those cookies before Noorah and Haleef finish them off.”

She walked the kids toward the table of treats; toward the door, Millie approached Ian.

Beckie chose the champagne Boynton had placed in an ice bucket; the second sip was as refreshing as the first. She stepped aside to be alone in the crowd for a second; she raised her glass to Shalin, hugging Kevin. Before she could move in their direction, Ian stepped into her path. Millie was beside him, an uncharacteristic look of fear and dismay on her face.

Beckie’s heart jumped to her mouth. “Elena? Is she—”

“Ms Rios is fine. It is—”

“Amy! Amy’s disappeared!”

End of

Freedom Does Matter

Beckie and Ian Return in

Connections

Read an excerpt from

Connections
here
.

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Connections
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Appendices

Glossary

UNLESS NOTED, THESE ARE ARABIC words