So, she followed his orders and made her way back to where they’d crawled under the fence earlier, hating the heavy feeling in her guts the entire way.
Once through the fence, she lay on her stomach and looked back down the gentle rise.
A CSS ship landed, around six more soldiers disembarking a moment later. Apprehension tensed every muscle in her body, leaving her aching all over. She hummed with tension over the need to help Cam. If he got caught, she’d never forgive herself. And she wouldn’t leave this godforsaken planet until she got him out of wherever he ended up.
But, she had to trust Cam knew what he was doing and would evade the CSS to make his way back to the farmhouse.
The walk back on her own seemed to take longer, and she started wondering if she’d gotten turned around in the darkness and gone the wrong way. When the hulking shape of the barn came into view, she was more than a little relieved.
She found Neve sitting up under the kitchen table, wide-awake, when she came through the back door. Her eyes were wide, and she was clutching both the bedroll blankets around her, the flashlight Cam had given her—though it was still switched off—and the raggedy cat. Quite a handful for her little fingers.
“Where’s Cam?” she asked.
“We had to do separate jobs, but he’s going to be back any minute now.” She forced an extra element of cheer and reassurance into her words, even though she didn’t know for sure.
“Jobs?” Neve repeated, leaving her cursing. Who would ever have guessed talking to a kid would be like walking in a minefield? She never would have thought Neve would focus on that word alone.
“I meant like, checking. We just went for a walk to see if anyone else was around.” There. That was a kind of easy lie.
“Why? Are you hiding from someone?” This asked in a stage whisper as though “someone” would be close enough to overhear them.
And she’d still managed to put herself in a verbal bind.
“Well, no. But not everyone is as nice as Cam and I are. We just want to make sure there aren’t any bad people around.”
“Like the soldiers who took all our stuff. They were bad.” Neve was back to looking haunted. She should have been too young to have such bleak life experience.
Bren went over and sat down next to the table. “You don’t have to worry. Cam will be back any minute. So, how about you lie back down and try to get some sleep?”
Neve nodded, scooting herself down, then curling on her side to face the door. “Will you wake me when he gets back?”
“Sure. I can do that.”
The little girl closed her eyes, breathing evening out and seeming to fall asleep in about five seconds flat. The poor kid. She probably hadn’t gotten a single good night’s sleep in all the months she’d been alone.
She sighed. The thought of what might become of Neve made her feel a helpless kind of guilt and frustration, so she pulled her datapad out of her pocket and cast a glance toward the back door, hoping Cam would slip in any minute now.
On the datapad, she brought up the information she’d downloaded from the crashed jet and sorted through the navigation files, looking for the time stamp of when Shen had ejected. Once she had that information, she could map the jet’s trajectory, then plot a likely landing site.
Keeping busy was good, because then she didn’t notice the hours slipping by. Didn’t become increasingly worried about Cam. Didn’t start thinking that maybe he wasn’t coming back, and what the heck her next move would be.
Yeah. She wasn’t even fooling herself anymore. She was totally doing all those things, which was only making her task take twice as long. However, when she saw the first faint gray light of dawn lighting the sky, she gave up on the datapad altogether, unable to shove down her apprehension anymore.
“Where are you, McAllister?” she muttered.
She’d give him until after dawn.
And then she would go after him.
Chapter Twelve
Cam knew writing off the CS soldiers as all being poorly trained farm boys who wanted to fight in this war about as much as they wanted a lobotomy wouldn’t be smart. Never underestimate the enemy.
One of the bastards was very definitely well trained and knew what he was doing.
Cam had lost the other half dozen or so soldiers hours ago. He’d led them a mile from the crash site and then given them the slip.
He’d been ready to start backtracking to the farmhouse, when he’d realized there was still one insistent bastard following him. At first, he’d assumed the guy had gotten lucky and put extra effort into making sure the CS soldier lost him.
But it didn’t do any good. No matter what he tried, the guy stayed on his tail. The night was wearing on, and Bren would start to wonder what had happened to him. He needed to get back before she got it into her head to come looking for him. Though he trusted she would have headed back to the farmhouse to wait with Neve like they’d planned, there would come a point when she’d have to decide what to do—go on without him or come find him.
He hoped she was smart enough to take Neve and head to the next village to meet up with Seb and the rest of the team.
Except he got the feeling Bren wouldn’t take the easy option. She’d come for him, and as much as he could respect that, it would also annoy the hell out of him, because it wasn’t smart.
Dawn was only two hours away, and he’d crossed so much territory, it’d take about that long to get back to the farmhouse, and that was if he kept up a fast and hard pace.
Somehow, he figured dawn would be Bren’s deadline. If he hadn’t returned by then, she’d make her move, so he had to make sure he was back. Besides, they had Neve to consider. What would happen to the little girl if the both of them got captured or killed?
So, he needed to do something about his shadow. He hadn’t wanted to engage any of the enemy, but time was critical. He had to lure the guy into an ambush.
Diverting into where the trees thinned out toward the field of a nearby farm, he searched for cover, at last coming across a half hollowed out stump with some kind of frondy plant growing over it.
Scrunching down into it, he forced his puffing breath to steady, listening over the sound of his heart hammering from moving so fast for so long to hear the other soldier coming. The guy was like a damned ghost, no sound echoing through the trees to give him a clear indication of how far out the CS soldier was, or how quick he was coming up.
In fact, the other soldier had passed his position by the time Cam got a good line on him. No matter, it’d make it easier for him to sneak up on the guy.
Quietly emerging from his hiding place, he turned the tables, tracking the shadow through the slices of moonlight and pools of darkness. The soldier stopped, clearly realizing he’d lost his quarry.
As he started to turn back, Cam launched at him.
He bodychecked the soldier, sending them both crashing to the ground. His advantage didn’t last for long. Turned out, the guy matched him in size and strength. Still, he got up to his knees, aiming a punch downward and hoping to put the soldier lights out before this turned into a full-fledged fight.
The guy deflected, leaving him cursing. The soldier jabbed him in the sternum, forcing the air out of his lungs. Though he was gasping, he blocked the second blow and returned one of his own. But the whole lack-of-air thing had him distracted, and he put himself off-balance.
He got slammed in the mouth and then bucked clean off. When he hit the ground, he landed awkwardly on his shoulder, sending a lance of pain slicing through his chest. But it jolted his lungs back into action and let him suck in a long breath.
The CS soldier scrambled to pin him, but Cam brought a knee up, keeping them apart and then using his leg to shove him back. The nanosecond reprieve was enough to get upright on his knees. The guy came at him again, and he put all of his power behind swinging a single punch.
He landed it on the soldier’s temple, and the guy went down like a stone. Probably unconsc
ious before he hit the dirt.
Cam dropped forward on all fours, but then had to pull his left arm back into his body as pain radiated through his shoulder. Breath sawed in and out of his lungs, while his heart raced from the adrenaline overload.
His lip was split inside, and he spat out the blood, the taste making his stomach clench.
He was almost 100 percent sure the CS soldier had been on his own, but just in case he’d regularly relayed his position back to his people, he couldn’t linger. Besides, he was on the clock to get back to the farmhouse before dawn.
Dragging himself up, he clenched his jaw on a groan. He might have trained regularly and was prepared for hand-to-hand combat, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed it. And definitely didn’t mean he liked the aftereffects of a dirty fight.
He took a second to get his bearings and then set off through the forest at a punishing pace.
The sun was just peeking above the horizon as he reached the crash site. Twice as many CS soldiers had arrived. Some looked like they were organizing search parties, while a few others were examining the wreckage. Had they worked out someone had been tampering with it? Not that it really made a difference whether they realized Bren had accessed the black box. They were already in hot water as it was.
When he got to the farmhouse, they’d have to quickly get their stuff together and hotfoot it out of the place. He just hoped some enterprising soldier hadn’t already thought to search the nearby premises. Of course if they had, Bren would have found a way to avoid them.
The barn came into sight, and he slowed his pace. As he made the yard, the back door opened and Bren slipped out, looking like she was on a mission. No doubt planning to look for him.
She pulled to a stop as she spotted him vaulting the fence, a very obvious flash of relief crossing her features.
“Cam!” She hurried to cross the few meters separating them, and he kept coming to meet her halfway.
Though he hadn’t planned anything other than telling her they had to get their crap together and haul ass, when he got within touching distance, he grabbed her up, pulling her closer until she was against his chest and their arms were around each other.
The sudden, intense embrace took him by surprise, but not so much as the relief that he’d gotten here in time to stop her from going after him. His body ached from the short dirty fight and the hard miles he’d put under his boots, but the feel of her against him swept through him like a cooling breeze on a blazing hot day.
“Thank God.” Her words came out on a hard exhale, and he felt the warmth of her breath at his collarbone where she’d tucked her chin. Sensation rippled over his skin, then burrowed deep inside him, leaving him wanting to do much more than simply hold her. Another time and place…
“Sorry. I had trouble losing one of the CS soldiers.” He turned his face into her hair, inhaling the subtle, sweet scent of her curls. He reached up, trailing his fingers over a few curls that had escaped to sit against the back of her neck. Exactly like he’d been wanting to. Exactly the way he’d been forcing himself not to imagine. Reality was so damned better.
“I was worried about you. I thought—” Her words cut off, but her arms tightened around him, and she pressed herself closer, taking in an uneven breath.
“I know. I would have come back sooner if I could have.”
They didn’t have time for this, but he couldn’t bring himself to let her go.
Dangerous missions created bonds between people. Emotions got cloudy when working in close quarters with someone. But he didn’t think that was the only thing at play here. Maybe their emotions were heightened, but it was the type of feelings he’d started having that told him something was out of the ordinary.
No matter how good it felt, no matter that it was making him forget his sore shoulder and stinging lip, he had to let her go and get them moving.
With more trouble than he’d thought possible, he pulled back to look down at her. The sun had risen, and early morning light kissed her cheeks. Even though there were dark smudges under her eyes, she still looked gorgeous, leaving his chest hurting for a completely different reason.
Her gaze skimmed his face but snagged on his mouth. She gently touched his lower lip. “What happened?”
“That one CS soldier I couldn’t shake? I had to take care of him a different way.”
Her features drew down into a frown. “Are you okay?”
“I’m definitely better than he is right now.” He added a reassuring smile, even though it made the inside of his mouth start hurting again. “Where’s Neve?”
“Inside, still sleeping.”
“The CSS brought in more reinforcements to the crash site. They might know someone checked out the wreckage. We need to get going.”
She shifted out of his arms, seeming to gather herself, once more becoming Lieutenant Brenner, the CAFF. For a second, it’d just been her, Theresa, he’d been holding in his arms. And he’d liked it way more than he had any right to.
Inside, they started shoving away the few things they’d taken out of their packs. Neve awoke, probably because they weren’t being quiet.
When she sat up and saw him, the smile that spread across her face was honest to God like a rainbow appearing after a storm. She scrambled out of the bedroll and flew across the kitchen to throw herself into his arms.
He caught her with a slight omph, wincing at the ache in his shoulder.
“You’re back!” She was practically vibrating with happiness.
“Of course. I told you I would be.”
He glanced over her head to Bren. He was probably imagining it, but he could have sworn he’d seen a sheen in her eyes before she’d blinked and gone back to packing.
After another hug, he set the little girl back from him.
“Neve, I know that you’ve been waiting for your mommy to come back, but Bren and I really think it would be best if you came with us. We’re going to the next village.”
“Then you can find my mommy for me!” she exclaimed, still clutching the ragged once-pink cat in her little arms.
He worked to keep his expression neutral, not wanting to give anything away or give her false hope. “We can find out what happened to your mom, yes. So you’ll come with us?”
“Can I bring Winky?” She held up the toy.
Hell, this kid was breaking his heart every other second.
“Of course you can bring Winky.” He smoothed a hand over her tangled hair. “Now, Bren and I have to finish packing. We’re in a bit of a hurry.”
She nodded seriously and then took herself over to stand by the door, waiting patiently and staying out of their way.
He grabbed in a quick breath and went to help Bren with the last few items, before they both shrugged into their packs.
When they were ready, he beckoned Neve over and held out the protein bar he’d kept aside to give her for breakfast. She beamed as she took it, then skipped ahead of them, out the front door of the house like she didn’t have a care in the world.
“I can’t believe how resilient she is,” Bren said in a low voice as they followed her out into the early morning sunshine of the front yard.
“She had to be. It was the only way to survive.”
They walked the long farm drive, while Neve nipped back and forth, climbing fences, picking flowers, and pointing out some rabbit-like game creatures that were native to the planet. When they reached the road, she dropped back to walk between Bren and him, taking a hand each. Lucky him, he got the hand that was also clutching Winky, so the stuffed animal’s paw was clamped between her much-smaller palm and his. She swung the toy back and forth as they walked, telling him a story about when she and Winky had cake for dinner.
With adults around, this was probably the first time in months Neve had been able to let her guard down and simply be a kid.
Though the mission and duty had to come first—it always came first—he was going to make Neve a priority, make sure she never had to worry again. H
e had no idea how he was going to achieve that. But he would find a solution. No way in hell was he going to let the little girl down.
Chapter Thirteen
When deciding to take Neve with them, Bren was pretty sure neither she nor Cam had any clue how that was going to affect their timeline.
Neve had been great, barely complained—though she suspected it was the thought of seeing her mother again that kept the little girl moving. However, they had taken extra breaks, and the pace was a lot slower.
After lunch, Cam offered to give Neve a ride on his shoulders. She excitedly agreed, so Cam boosted her up, leaving her squealing and laughing. As soon as they set off again, he picked up the pace, moving them faster than they had all day.
Around midafternoon, a patrol of CS soldiers appeared at the far end of the road. No, not a patrol, an entire contingent. Easily fifty or more.
They slowed almost to a stop.
“What are we going to do?” She tried to keep her voice casual so as not to alarm Neve. The kid had nearly fallen asleep on Cam’s shoulders, but roused.
“They might not have seen us. We could hide. But if they have seen us, disappearing will raise their suspicions,” Cam replied, expression creased, clearly thinking strategy. “I think we should play it out.”
“How?”
He glanced up, kind of on an awkward angle. Neve had slipped down a little and was clinging to his neck.
“Neve, when we walk past those soldiers up there, if they ask, I want you to pretend we’re your parents, okay? Can you do that, remember to call us Mommy and Daddy?”
“Because if I don’t, they’ll take me away?” she asked in a small, frightened voice.
Cam reached up and managed to pull her around in his arms, even though she was clinging to him like a leech. He held her at his chest, her legs locked onto his hip.
“Hey, you don’t worry about that, okay? We’re not going to let them take you away, even if they work out we’re not your parents. They probably won’t ask. I just wanted to tell you in case.”
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