“I have to find her,” Logan muttered as he tried to push himself off the couch Riley had just led him to.
Riley placed his hand firmly Logan’s shoulder, preventing him from rising. “You can’t help her like this. You’re going to have to rest.”
“I can’t. I have to leave. I can’t let them arrest me until I’ve found her and brought her home safely.”
Riley shook his head. “Logan, if MAC wanted you arrested, MPs would have been the ones carrying you out of the test lab. You would have woken up in a prison with one hell of a headache. There’s no paperwork, or trial. It’s just MAC. Whatever you did, it must have been in the Corps’ best interests, because those are the only crimes MAC overlooks.”
“That’s impossible,” Logan said.
“Well, I saw your evaluation score. It wasn’t as high as your previous scores, but it’s still in the top tenth percentile,” Riley assured him. “And better than I’ve ever managed to score.”
Just then, a wailing noise emanated from the second bedroom. Riley excused himself and returned a moment later with a dark-haired baby girl. “This is Elizabeth Alisha Riley,” he announced as he sat down on the couch beside Logan.
Logan reached out and presented his finger to her hand. She grabbed it, squeezed tightly, and laughed as if she’d caught him.
“She’s beautiful,” Logan said, mesmerized by the tiny creature. In all his life, he’d never actually been in contact with a baby.
“Anna’s taking credit for the beauty part. But Lizzie has an iron grip—do you feel it?” When Logan nodded he did, Riley beamed with pride. “She gets that from her dad.”
Noticing Logan’s fascination with the baby, Riley placed her in his arms while he went to prepare a bottle.
Lizzie remained fascinated with Logan’s hands. She kept grabbing his forefinger in her iron grip and pulling it into her mouth to gnaw on.
“Skip the milk, Riley,” Logan warned. “She’s ready for steak.”
“Don’t let Anna hear you say that. She’s planning to raise the baby as a vegetarian,” Riley replied, and returned to the room to find Anna standing in the doorway, staring at her child in Logan’s arms.
“Now there’s a sight I never thought I’d see,” Anna admitted, and walked over to Logan. “Unless you washed those hands, they don’t belong in my daughter’s mouth,” she scolded as she lifted Lizzie into her arms.
The child’s face puckered into the pre-crying stage. Anna grabbed the bottle from Riley and popped it into her daughter’s mouth.
“Drink this, sweetie. It lacks the character of Logan’s finger, but it’s got to taste better.” She leaned down to kiss Logan hello, but pulled back. “You smell like vomit,” she complained, and glared at Riley. “Tell me you didn’t hand our child over to someone sick with the flu?”
“Calm down. Logan’s not sick. He just had a bad reaction to the psych test.”
Anna walked around the room so Lizzie could check out her surroundings as she drank her bottle. “Taking a psych test—you up for another promotion, Logan?”
“Logan retired,” Riley said.
Anna turned in surprise and looked first at her husband and then at Logan. “When did that happen?”
“I turned over my command three days ago. I arrived yesterday, found out about Alisha this morning, and immediately came in for the test,” Logan explained.
Anna looked confused and stared at her husband. “What’s wrong with Alisha?”
“Anna, you said you didn’t want me to tell you anything about work. You said while you’re on sabbatical, I couldn’t mention a damn thing,” Riley reminded her.
“What’s happened to Alisha?” she demanded.
“She’s pregnant,” Riley said.
“Damn!” Anna exclaimed happily, and looked at Lizzie. “You hear that, sweetie? You’re gonna have a playmate!” Then she looked up, confused. “I thought MAC only approved children to married couples.” Then she laughed and punched Logan in the shoulder. “You dog! You got it right the first time, didn’t you? It was the night of her captain’s exam, when we sent the wine back, wasn’t it?” she insisted.
“Yes.” Logan knew the happy, congratulatory Anna was going to become Godzilla the moment she understood the facts.
“Damn it, Riley! I didn’t tell you to put me in a black box. This wasn’t work-related! This is wonderful news concerning our friends. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” she scolded him.
“He probably wanted to prevent you from coming to the East Coast and shooting me,” Logan suggested, knowing he might as well confess the truth himself.
“Why don’t I take Lizzie?” Riley suggested, grabbing the child and escaping into the nursery.
Anna watched her husband leave, then turned back to Logan. She was no longer smiling. “I can tell I’m not going to like this story. Don’t even tell me you’ve let frou-frou Jack Sparkes steal Alisha away from you.”
Logan didn’t waste time trying to defend his actions, because there was no defense. He just stated the facts before Anna and steeled his aching head for the storm of the century.
Her reaction was surprisingly mild. She sat on the couch and rubbed her temples. “It was probably a good thing I didn’t know about this. I really would have come to the East Coast and killed you. Logan, what the hell is wrong with you? You will never find another person who loves you half as much as she did. And you were perfect for each other. She would have livened you up, and you would have calmed her down. Damn it, Logan! Are you really that married to the Corps, or do you just like creating misery?”
“I can’t defend my decisions, so I won’t try. I was wrong and stupid. I drove the only good thing in my life away. And as far as my letting Jack steal her, I didn’t just let him. I drove her into his arms. Daniel says when she gets out of this mess, she’s going to marry, Jack.”
“If you let that happen, I will never forgive you,” Anna warned.
“I don’t plan to let it happen. I’ll do everything in my power to convince her to forgive and marry me. But I have to face the fact that no matter what I do, she may refuse. I’ve hurt her and let her down so many times that the only thing she should feel for me is hate—pure, unadulterated hate.”
“I’d hate you,” Anna agreed. “But Alisha’s a lot softer and more forgiving than me. She may not accept your offer, but my guess is she’ll love you until the day she dies.” Anna pushed herself up. “You aren’t staying for dinner are you?”
“No,” Logan assured her.
“Good, because five more minutes in your company and I’ll wring your neck.” She sighed in misery as she headed for the nursery. At the last moment, she turned and faced him. “Find her and bring her home, Logan. Even if she tells you to go to hell, you owe her that much.” She then disappeared into the nursery and closed the door. A few minutes later, Riley came out.
“Anna says you don’t want to stay for dinner. I’m going to have you driven back to Broadtown. You’re in no state to fly.”
Logan stood up to leave. He was going to argue he could fly, but the act of standing convinced him he was wrong. “How long will I feel this way?” He could hardly go searching for Alisha if he couldn’t even stand up.
“Not sure. Never had anyone react this badly before. Maybe a week.”
“I don’t have a week,” he snapped. “Riley, if the Corps had her stashed somewhere, you’d tell me, right?”
“Logan, we didn’t stash her. She ran away because Powell didn’t believe her claim about a virgin birth. He ordered Sandy to abort the child and put in a BCD. We don’t even know how she managed to escape the fort. There were guards on the door and her room was monitored twenty-four hours a day. You know how tight security is at the fort right now. Her catcher’s still there. No other catchers are missing. Jack had removed her flight suit. There’s no way she could have escaped, but she’s gone.”
“What about on foot?”
“Land security is even tighter. Nothing get
s in or out of the fort without authorization. MAC’s reviewed all the security footage—it found nothing.”
“So she’s outside. We don’t know how, but she’s outside,” Logan said, then stopped. Somewhere in that litany of why Alisha could not have escaped but had, Jack’s name had come up. “Jack took the psych test, right?” Logan asked.
Riley nodded.
“Before or after she disappeared?” If it was before, Jack could have helped her to escape and MAC wouldn’t know it. Logan knew under these circumstances Jack wouldn’t think twice about risking his career to help Alisha.
“I know what you’re thinking, but it was after she escaped. If Jack had known anything, MAC would have brought it to my attention. MAC is very protective of Alisha.”
“But it can’t protect her if she’s outside the Corps,” Logan noted.
“Legally, it can. A SkyRyder is no longer answerable to local regulations and customs, even when off duty. Remember the regs Alisha didn’t like? MAC had them all repealed several months ago. It’s a good thing, too. Brown’s lawyers had those regs ready to fire. They claimed jurisdiction since she was pregnant with an illegal when she left fort grounds to visit her grandfather, thus breaking local laws.
“They’ve since come back with several other attacks. They tried to claim precedent due to the criminal act occurring before she became a SkyRyder, claiming she was impregnated when a street girl, but MAC countered with proof she was a virgin when she joined. They’ve made over fifteen attempts to search various Corps properties. Almost every site selected performs top-secret work for the Corps. You can’t tell me that’s a coincidence. Someone is trying to use Alisha’s disappearance to pry open the Corps and see what we’ve got. MAC has stopped every one of the challenges in the courts by proving it invalidated the regs before the deadline.”
Riley gripped his shoulder. “Logan, if Alisha hadn’t uncovered the problems in those regs, the Corps would be at war with our own government now. Instead, MAC has been able to deftly keep us safe, utilizing our legal system. When you think of all she’s done, you have to believe she can keep herself safe until the child is born.”
Logan clung to that thought all the way back to his dark, utilities-free house. He stared at it for a moment, then looked at Daniel’s house, remembering the warm welcome he’d received on the night of the Broadtown battle. There would be no warm welcome now, but he still needed to let Daniel know the results of the test.
Ignoring the police, who were slow in getting out of their car, he walked to the door and rang the bell. Daniel opened the door and let him in. After he’d scanned him with the wand, Daniel pointed to a chair. “Sit down before you fall down.”
Logan took his advice, collapsing into the chair. “MAC now has irrefutable proof that Alisha’s child is a virgin birth. It’s been submitted to the local authorities, but they aren’t backing off their search for her. Until we can bring her safely into Corps custody, she remains in danger, which means I must find her. I’ve been assured this house is bug-proofed. Daniel, if you know anything that will help me…” Logan pleaded.
“I don’t. However, I do know what a man who has stretched himself too thin looks like. They tried delivering your clothes today. Since you weren’t around, I signed for them. They’re in Alisha’s room. If you want to shower and change into clean clothes, I’ll fix you some food. It looks like you lost whatever you last ate.”
Logan nodded gratefully and went to take a shower. He sat on Daniel’s shower stool, certain his legs wouldn’t hold him. He kept reminding himself not to use all of Daniel’s water. Water rationing was just one of the many things he would have to adjust to as a retired SkyRyder. After he’d dried off, he wrapped a towel around his waist and entered Alisha’s room.
“Just give me one more chance,” he pleaded with God as he sat down on the bed and pulled her pillow to his face. He could smell her scent, and his heart tightened in pain.
Chapter 30
Logan searched for Alisha for three weeks, and he was still no closer than when he started. He attempted to call Jack, but Jack reciprocated his own past behavior by refusing to answer his calls or emails.
Logan questioned Daily as she packed to return to the East Coast. He promised her things had changed, but she just shrugged him off.
“Save your breath for the press Corps,” she muttered.
“Daily, things have improved,” he reassured her.
“For the guys, maybe, but not for the girls. We still have to service one strong fellow or the whole damn Corps.”
“I believe I put a stop to that.”
“You stopped the violent stuff, and that’s good. But the harassment still continues. It’s just subtler.” She walked over to Logan and ran her hand over his crotch. “How would you like it if someone did that to you every few minutes, if walking through the cafeteria was the equivalent of being groped by a thousand-armed octopus?”
Logan grabbed her hands to stop her from touching him.
“What would you do if that wasn’t enough? While you’re holding my hands away from you, others fill their place? ‘All in play, don’t get your tethers in a tangle,’” she chided. “You didn’t stop the groping. That goes on here as well.”
“Have you reported it?”
“No. I kicked some motherfucker’s teeth in. Which is the real reason I’m being sent back to the East Coast.”
“Well, you might try reporting it if it happens over there. Jack will put a stop to it if he knows about it.”
“Yeah, Alisha and I would chant ‘men suck’, but she’d always throw in the caveat ‘except Gramps and Jack.’ I’ll give him a chance before I kick the next set of teeth in.”
“Have you spoken with Alisha recently?”
“She disappeared into thin air,” Daily replied. “Without her flight suit.”
“You mean without her catcher?”
“No, I was talking about the flight suit. But the catcher remaining behind is pretty amazing as well.”
“I don’t understand—what’s so amazing about her disappearing without a flight suit?”
He finally learned about the suits Alisha had tried to tell him about in the last email she’d ever sent him—suits that could turn invisible. Logan couldn’t accept what Daily was describing until she stopped a female Ryder who entered the quarters and asked her to demonstrate her suit. The girl tapped her wrist and, except for her head and hands, she disappeared.
How the hell had such a critical item not been shared with the East Coast? He went in search of Powell for answers.
General Powell left him cooling his heels for four hours before inviting him in. Powell was clearly not pleased to see him. “If you’ve got anything of value to say, then do so and get out. If not, then just get out. I don’t have time for hypocrites and liars.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you had suits that turn invisible?”
“Do you know what would happen if those suits fell into enemy hands? Your side was leaking like a sieve. I would rather have shot the inventor of the damn suits than send one of them to the East Coast.”
“Everybody keeps telling me Alisha just disappeared. Hasn’t it occurred to anyone she donned a flight suit and walked out?”
“Of course it occurred to us. We aren’t just blocks of clay baking in the sun out here. Jack removed Alisha’s suit. I can personally attest to it. I was there when he took it.”
Jack…if he was trying to help Alisha escape, why would he take her suit?
“May I see the video?”
“No you may not! You have no authorization except my forbearance to even set foot in this fort. You are a retired general, if you must be reminded!” Powell bellowed.
“I’m sure you’ve been informed my psych test proved Alisha’s child will be a virgin birth. She’ll be safe if we can just get her back into Corps custody. That’s all I’m trying to do,” Logan said.
“No personal interest involved, Logan?” the general sneered.
> “There’s a very big personal interest. I love her, and if I can get her to forgive me for all my blundering mistakes, I’m going to marry her.”
“It would have been better for everyone had you done so in the beginning,” the general grumbled.
“I know that now, but I let my duty to the Corps blind me.”
Powell glared at him. “At least you didn’t blame it on me. Jack did. He said I’m the one who prevented you from admitting you loved her. He said a lot of things before he left, and not a one of them pleasant. Don’t be surprised if you get equally abused when you find Alisha,” he warned, and punched up the security system and located the file.
Logan watched as Jack entered the bathroom and asked Alisha a question. After a long pause, she answered, and then Jack left, closing the door behind him.
“As you can see, she was clearly in the shower at that time. Yet, I can forward this for another eight hours, and the door never reopens. She just disappeared out of the bathroom and we can’t figure out how.”
“You did an inventory check of catchers; did you do the same for suits?”
“Since the suits are retained by each soldier, we can’t do an inventory count. However, no suit has been reported missing, and by now we would have discovered a missing suit. You can’t very well go on flights without it.”
Not unless you’re a general who’s recently moved to the East Coast—then your suit could go missing forever, Logan realized. “Thank you for showing me the tape. I’m just curious. Were these suits developed by our R&D branch?”
“No. One of Alisha’s friends had developed the fabric and intended to sell it to the wealthy so they could change colors every five seconds. As always, Alisha saw a more lethal purpose for the material. She provided us with a demonstration in which she flew wearing a suit, virtually disappearing. You could see the catcher, but without a person beneath it, it just looked like a cloud. As she came down, she released her harness and totally disappeared except for the occasional glitter of a slat. When she landed, we lost her completely. Colonel Dryer was declaring the whole thing a hoax when she came up behind him and jammed her rifle in his ribs.”
Scavenger Vanishes (The SkyRyders Book 3) Page 16