Road To Babylon | Book 10 | 100 Deep

by Sisavath, Sam

  Keo exchanged a look with Claire. Steven, too, squatting behind her. But mostly with Claire. She didn’t say anything, and neither did the teenager. But by the way she was gripping the FAL, Claire was ready for a fight.

  “You still don’t remember me, do you?” Mr. Mysterious said through the radio. “I was hoping that swan dive off the balcony would have brought back some memories.”

  Keo finally lifted the radio to his lips and pressed the transmit lever. “Give me a hint.”

  “There you are,” Mr. Mysterious said. “I knew you’d answer.”

  “You sure know me pretty well, pal. Maybe we should get together and have a proper reunion.”

  “Nope. You’d probably just shoot me.”

  “I considered it.”

  “But you won’t?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  Mr. Mysterious laughed through the radio. He hadn’t had to press the transmit lever when he did that, but he’d wanted Keo to hear it. To prove to Keo that he wasn’t afraid.

  “Same Keo,” the man said.

  “Wish I could say the same,” Keo said. “But since you won’t tell me who you are, I guess I’ll just have to live with not knowing.”

  “You really don’t remember my voice?”

  “Afraid not.”

  “I would have thought hearing it through the radio would jog your memory. It was the first time we met, after all. Well, communicated, I guess would be the proper description.”

  Keo exchanged another look with Claire. She was, once again, thinking the same thing he was: Who the hell is this guy?

  But like the last few times, Keo didn’t know. The voice didn’t sound familiar. But then, he’d spoken to hundreds, maybe thousands, of people over the radio, and voices that were transmitted through the airwaves didn’t always sound the same as in real life. Of course, there were voices he would recognize anywhere or through whatever means, like Lara, Danny, Gaby.

  But this wasn’t Lara, Danny, or Gaby.

  So who was this guy?

  Keo pressed the transmit lever. “I’ve had conversations with too many people over the radio. I can’t remember them all.”

  “I bet you have, a man with your past,” Mr. Mysterious said.

  “So tell me who you are.”

  “Nope. I’m going to make you think about it.”

  “I’d rather not. Thinking hurts the brain.”

  Mr. Mysterious laughed. Again, it was for Keo’s benefit, because the man hadn’t had to press the transmit lever on his radio when he did it.

  “See you around, Keo,” the man said. “Or should I say, I’ll see you in Arrowhead. That’s where you’re going, right?”

  Keo didn’t answer.

  “Of course it is,” Mr. Mysterious said. “Rest assured, you won’t have to worry about me stopping you.”

  “Gee, thanks, I totally believe you.”

  “I’ll see you around, Keo.”

  “You should hope not.”

  “Let me guess: Because if we do, you’ll kill me?”

  “You should be so lucky.”

  Mr. Mysterious laughed again. “I’ll see you around, Keo.”

  Then the radio went silent.

  Keo glanced around the woods just in case Mr. Mysterious had lied—he was a bad guy, after all, and bad guys were filthy liars—and was sending troops after them.

  But there was nothing and no one out there except the animals and leaves bristling against a breezy wind.

  Keo stood up, and so did Claire and Steven.

  “Who the hell is this guy?” Claire asked.

  “I don’t know,” Keo said.

  “He keeps saying you know him.”

  “Yeah, I heard what he said.”

  “But…?”

  “But I don’t.” Keo looked past her at Steven. “Do you recognize the voice?”

  Steven didn’t even think about it. “No.”

  “Think about it first before answering.”

  “I don’t have to. I’ve been trying to recognize it while you were talking to him.” He shook his head. “I’ve never heard it before.”

  “Dammit,” Keo said. Then, “Come on. We have a long walk to Arrowhead.”

  He turned and continued on, with Claire and Steven to his right.

  “Maybe we should go somewhere else,” Claire said.

  “Why?” Keo said.

  “He already knows where we’re going.”

  “He also says he won’t stop us.”

  “And you believe him?”

  “No.”

  “So…”

  Keo shook his head. “There’s nowhere else to go. Arrowhead is the best option right now.”

  He could tell that Claire didn’t completely buy his reasoning, but she didn’t say her doubts out loud.

  Instead, she said, “I remember the last time you took me for a swim.”

  “Excuse me?” Keo said.

  “The last time you took me for a swim.”

  “Basic?”

  “No. Fenton. Remember?”

  Keo grinned. “Oh. Yeah.”

  “I thought I was going to drown then, too.”

  “I seem to remember telling you afterward that you need more swimming lessons.”

  “I got them.”

  “Sure didn’t look like it back there.”

  “Yeah, well, I never learned how to swim down a wild-ass current without swallowing a few gallons of water—” Claire didn’t finish her sentence because Keo had stopped suddenly and glanced back into the woods. “What is it? You heard something?”

  “No,” Keo said quietly.

  “So why’d you stop?”

  “Fenton.”

  “What about it?”

  “Mr. Mysterious.”

  “Who?”

  “The guy on the radio.”

  “What about him?”

  “I remember his voice now.”

  Claire’s eyes widened. “Who is he?”

  “Buck,” Keo said.

  “What?”

  “It’s Buck. That was Buck.”

  Claire stared at him as if she couldn’t find the words. If Steven recognized the name, he didn’t say anything. The teenager stood silently behind Claire, maybe trying to figure out what he was doing in the woods with them.

  Keo unclipped his radio and pressed the transmit lever. “Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.”

  Both Claire and Steven gave him a confused look, but Keo ignored them and waited for a response.

  He didn’t get it.

  At least, not right away.

  It took exactly sixteen seconds.

  The radio squawked, and the familiar voice laughed through the speaker. “It took you long enough. I was starting to think I didn’t make much of an impression on you.”

  Keo said into the radio, “Buck.”

  “That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

  “You’re alive.”

  “Unless you’re talking to a ghost.”

  “That’s good,” Keo said.

  “Why’s that?” Buck asked.

  “Because it means I can finally kill you myself,” Keo said.

  Before Buck could respond, Keo turned the frequency button away and clipped the radio back to his hip.

  “Are you sure?” Claire was asking him.

  Keo nodded grimly.

  “Fuck,” she said.

  “Yeah,” he said, before turning to resume their trek. “Come on. We have a long walk ahead of us.”

  Claire and Steven followed.

  “What if he attacks?” Claire asked.

  “He won’t,” Keo said.

  “Because he said he wouldn’t?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what if he lied?”

  “He didn’t.”

  “But what if he did?”

  Keo tightened his grip around the MP5SD, an image of Gaby’s face flashing across his mind’s eye.

  “Then I’ll kill him,” Keo said. “But fir
st, I’ll make him wish he’d never survived Darby Bay.”