Rescuing Liberty: Perseverance Book 1 (31 page)

Connor fell to his knees beside her, placing
a steadying hand on her shoulder. “Easy.” He wanted to scoop her in
his arms and rush her to be fitted for a helmet and full body
armor.

Liberty tensed at his touch. She turned
toward Connor and her eyes narrowed into hard slits. “You! You!”
She lunged at him, swinging. Then she winced and held her head.
“You lying, backstabbing, abandoning, tail-chasing, lousy excuse
for a human being!”

Jeff laughed. “At least there’s nothing
wrong with her memory.”

Connor glared at him.

“
Do you have any idea what you did to
Ashley?” Liberty continued. “Do you even care? Do you—” Liberty’s
eyes widened. “Wait, where
is
Ash?”

Ashley’s voice cracked when she answered,
“Right here.”

Liberty stopped in the middle of her rant to
embrace the girl. They held each other and cried. Then Liberty
pushed Ashley out to an arm’s length so she could check her over.
“You’re not hurt, are you?” she asked.

“
Me?” Ashley replied. “You’re the one
who’s been hurt.” Then she recapped what she remembered of their
experience, concluding with Liberty waking up.

“
Jeff brought me?” Liberty asked. She
craned her neck, until she found him standing behind her. “Thank
you,” she said with a smile.

He blushed, nodded, and stared at the
ground.

Connor once again wanted to hit Jeff. A hand
appeared on his shoulder and he turned to find Boom’s frowning
face.

“
I could use some help.” Boom gestured
toward the bodies.

Connor nodded and reluctantly followed the
commander. Boom wandered from corpse to corpse, muttering his
customary prayers over the deceased. He picked up a handful of dirt
and scattered it above the dead as Connor looked on. Lifeless faces
of Progression boys stared back at him; most too young to
shave.

“
Are they all this young?” he
asked.

“
Not all, but most,” Boom replied.
“The young are easier to inspire—easier to manipulate. That’s why
we shut down the Progression before. Why we voted against the MTCT
in the first place.” He shook his head and crossed himself. “Deadly
children.” Spreading more dust over their bodies he muttered the
final words. “Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust.”

The tangy scent of blood started to fade as
bodies cooled and the essence of life dissipated. Soon they’d be
stiff with rigor mortis, followed by a rapid decay. After a while,
nothing would be left of these children but bones. They’d never
play ball nor date girls. Their lives had been centered around
training, killing, and death. It was a sad, stark realization.
Connor stared down into the empty brown eyes of a slim, young boy
and felt despair. “There has to be a way to save them,” he
said.

“
Conman, they recruit, and they kill
whoever they can’t recruit.” He motioned to his gun. “This is the
only thing they understand.”

“
But maybe—” Connor’s mind raced,
suggesting, disqualifying, and dismissing ideas.

“
No.” Boom was suddenly in his
face.

Connor bristled at the challenge. “But
what about this
grace
you’re
always talking about? Are
children
not worthy of grace?”

The side of Boom’s mouth turned up
into a lopsided smile. “I mean no, you don’t get to talk
strategy,
civilian
.” He
practically spat the last word. “Unless, of course, you’re ready to
give up on this retirement nonsense?”

Connor studied the young bodies stiffening
at his feet. Soldiers came and pushed them into the trench that
served as a mass grave. Boom moved on to pray over the next
bunch.

“
To do what—kill children?” Connor
asked, walking behind his friend.

Boom sighed. “Those beyond our help must be
destroyed. They cannot be allowed to ravage this country. We must
uphold the laws. But those we can help, we will.” Boom stopped and
released more dust over bodies, muttering. Then he turned to
Connor.“You’re not the same man I once knew. You’ve changed.”

Connor chuckled. It seemed like such a
bizarre assessment. The whole world had fallen apart, yet Boom was
surprised to see that he had been altered by it?

“
And what of Liberty?” Boom asked.
“Who is she? Where did she come from? I never thought I’d see the
day a woman took down the great Conman. Bah. Legend
indeed!”

Without thinking, Connor’s eyes sought
Liberty. He watched as she ran her fingers through Ashley’s hair,
comforting the girl. Jeff stood entirely too close to them, like
some stoic royal guard, waiting to throw his life in front of a
bullet to protect them.

Boom chuckled. “There. I see the way you
look at her. Even now.”

Connor tried to look away, but he couldn’t.
He wanted to be beside her. “I don’t know what happened,” he
admitted with a shrug. “One minute Ashley hated me and I wanted to
strangle Liberty, then next thing I knew, they’re my entire world.
I was taking them to Canada.”

“
Why Canada?”

“
Liberty has a friend there, and was
hoping that things would be different north of the
border.”

Boom shook his head and chuckled. “You were
fleeing to Canada?”

Connor held up his hands in surrender.
“Guilty as charged, but could you make it sound a little less
cowardly?”

Boom laughed. Then he quieted when his eyes
landed on Jeff. “Who is he? I heard what you said to him.”

“
Jeff?” Connor’s eyes narrowed. “It
appears he’s the son of the Progression major whose camp you just
destroyed.”

Boom nodded. “That explains your hostility.
What’s he doing here?”

Sitting entirely too close
to Liberty,
Connor thought. Instead of voicing that
concern, he admitted that he didn’t know.

“
Your Liberty.” Boom nodded in her
direction. “Do not underestimate her role.” He watched as Liberty
and Jeff talked.

“
What role?” Connor watched as
Liberty’s smile infected the soldiers who kept creeping closer to
her. “She’s not military. This life isn’t for her,
Boom.”

Boom smiled. “Look at her. What do you
see?”

“
A woman?” Connor asked.

“
No,” Boom replied. “Look harder. She
is so much more than that.”

Connor looked around and noticed the way
that several soldiers leaned in to listen as Liberty spoke. Even
though the night was dark, something about her glowed. Everyone
around her seemed drawn to her. Connor had to contain himself from
going to her.

Boom chuckled. “Now you see it. Liberty has
been commissioned by a higher authority. If you truly love her,
tell her. She will need you in the days to come. Don’t let her walk
this road alone.”

Connor turned to ask Boom what he meant, but
his friend was walking away.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

ASHLEY, JEFF, AND I were sitting on
the ground talking when Connor approached with the man Ashley
pointed out as the leader of the camp.

“
Liberty,” the man said by way of
greeting. He extended his hand to me, and when I grasped it, he
hefted me to my feet. “My name is Commander Ortega, but my friends
call me Boom.” His dark eyes sparkled and small laugh lines had
been etched into the sides of his mouth. His touch was firm but
gentle, and he seemed authentic and kind. I liked him
instantly.

“
Thank you.” I brushed the dirt from
the seat of my pants and helped Ashley up. “My friends call me
Libby.”

When Boom smiled his whole face lit
up. “Connor has told me much about you.”

I narrowed my eyes at the referenced
slime-ball, and he raised his hands defensively.

Boom chuckled. “No, all good, I assure
you.”

My eyes returned to Boom’s smile. “I
hear you’re quite the orator, Boom.”

His smile shifted toward Ashley. “Have
you been telling tales on me, Ms. Ashley?”

She shook her head. “No, it was Jeff.
He heard you speaking before he rode into the camp.”

“
Oh?” Boom extended his hand to my
other companion. “And you—you must be Jeff.”

Jeff shook Boom’s hand. “Y-Yes,
Commander. Jeff Thompson.” He looked around nervously, as if
waiting for someone to pounce on him because of the
revelation.

“
Where do you stand, Thompson?” Boom
asked. “Do you intend to join us?”

“
What?” Jeff stared at Boom. “But my
father is—”

Boom shook his head. “The
son is not responsible for the actions of the father. I’m asking
who
you
will
become.”

Jeff’s forehead creased. “You would
let me join you?”

Boom took a step back. “You have
proven your courage, and we always have need of that. Walk with me
a moment. I believe we have much to discuss.”

Jeff glanced at me and I
smiled and squeezed his arm. “You
can
change
who
you are,” I said. “You just need
a little help sometimes.”

The next thing I knew, Jeff had his
arms wrapped around me in a loose hug, showing obvious
consideration for my poor ribs. “Thank you,” he whispered into my
ear. Then he released me and followed Boom.

Connor and Ashley shared a look and she
threw her arms up in the air.

“
I know, I know,” she said. Then she
hugged me. “You two need to talk. I want to go pet the horses,
anyway.” She jumped at Connor and he caught her midair and pulled
her into a hug, spinning around twice. Then he kissed the top of
her head and put her down. As she scampered to where the horses
were being stabled, he called after her to be careful.

I watched them, seeing a man and his
daughter for the first time. “You told her, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “We finally had that talk.”

“
I’m glad,” I wasn’t really, though.
Now they had this happy little family that I had no place in. I
wondered where Gina was, and why she wasn’t here sharing in their
moment. Connor had left us. He’d abandoned us and ran off with some
hoochie and had gotten off scot-free. Maybe Ashley had forgiven
him, but I couldn’t yet. “I hope it all works out for you
guys.”

I turned to leave but Connor grabbed
my arm. “We need to talk.”

“
No.” I frowned. “We really don’t.” My
heart hurt too much for words. Connor had led me on and I had been
foolish enough to buy every ounce of false affection he sold me.
Any ‘let’s be friends’ speech he was preparing to bless me with
would only make my misjudgment more painful.

“
Please?” Connor’s eyebrows
rose.

I pulled away from him and crossed my
arms. “We don’t have anything to talk about. I get it. I really do.
I knew who you were from the beginning and I was stupid to
…”

“
You don’t know me at all,” Connor
replied. “You think you have it all figured out, but you know
nothing. And now you won’t even let me set the record straight?
That’s pretty closed-minded and judgmental, don’t you
think?”

Sometimes I hated Connor. Especially
when he was right. “Fine. Talk,” I said.

“
Not here.” He grabbed my hand and led
me away from the camp, to the edge of the trees. The forest around
us had recovered from the battle. Crickets and frogs started
singing from the river and a pair of owls hooted as the moon
crested trees.

Connor stopped walking and turned
toward me.

I pulled my hand free from
his grasp and gently leaned against the trunk of a large evergreen,
trying to play off cool and standoffish, while my mind and body
were a bruised and battered mess. Connor’s beard had almost fully
filled in, giving him a ruggedly-handsome look that worked for him.
Too well, in fact. But I stared into his dark eyes and remembered
the way he had cast me aside for Gina.
Why
are the cute ones always weasels?

And Connor was definitely
cute. The firelight played on his features. Expression thoughtful
as his dark eyes watched me. It hurt so much to be this close to
him. My mind kept drifting back to the times he’d held and
comforted me.
To distract myself, I started
picking at the tree bark.
Lying,
manipulative, skirt-chasing jerk.
I felt my
resolve fortify around the thoughts.
Dang
you for making me believe … for making me even consider you. Never
again. I’m done. So done. Please just let me go away. I still have
Michelle and Canada.
The thought was
incredibly liberating, reminding me that I was free to come and go
as I pleased. I didn’t need Connor’s permission. I could
leave.

But what about
Ashley?
My heart sunk.

Connor continued to watch me. His top
lip was barely visible under the shadows of his mustache. As he
pursed his lips together, stupidity and desperation made me want to
kiss him again. The first kiss was a fond memory and I wondered if
the second would bind me or set me free.

“
I can almost see your thoughts,”
Connor said.

I startled and felt my cheeks heat at
that idea. After allowing myself to be thoroughly embarrassed for
an ample amount of time, I channeled the awkward tension between us
into anger.