Reckoning

by Leigh, Jo

  It was better this way. She might have missed out on some of the good stuff, but she’d never go through Tam’s version of hell.

  She went to the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. As she sipped, she figured she’d better check her medical kit again. Tam might wake up mellow, but Harper doubted it.

  She took her cup and sat down on the floor, her black bag in front of her. Just then the bedroom door flew open, but it wasn’t Tam. It was Nate, and from the look on his face, something bad had gone down. Real bad.

  He walked past her, past everyone, to the door, and then he was gone.

  She looked at Christie, who seemed damned scared. Vince stood up, but he didn’t make a move until Kate pulled him back down to the couch.

  Harper got out another vial of sedative and filled a new needle. She hoped her supply lasted through the night. She turned to Christie. “Go in with her. See what you can do. I’ll be back.”

  She went outside, but she didn’t have to go far to find Nate. He was in the parking lot, standing very still. She closed the door quietly and waited.

  The explosion came quickly. He kicked the tire of Vince’s truck, banged his fist on the window. It clearly wasn’t enough. He kicked the door, said a few choice curses so loudly it scared her and then he reached behind his back and drew his weapon.

  “Nate! Stop!”

  He turned, but he had enough sense not to point the gun at her. “Go back inside, Harper.”

  “Not a chance.”

  “I’m warning you—”

  “What? You’re going to shoot me? Shoot up the motel?”

  He stared at her for a long minute, the single street lamp painting him in shadow. “I can’t do this.”

  She took a measured step toward him. “Can’t do what?”

  “I can’t save everyone.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  His face broke, but only for a moment. He got himself together again as she moved closer. “I can’t save her.”

  The words had been spoken softly, but they hit harder than his shout. “It’s not your fault, Nate.”

  “You think that’s a comfort?”

  “No. I’m a doctor, remember? I’ve had a lot of time to wish I could save the world. We can only do our best.”

  “My best is bullshit. She won’t even look at me. I should have let her call her parents.”

  “You think it would be better if she led Omicron here? Remember, they’re the bad guys, Nate. Leland Ingram. Senator Raines.” She was right in front of him now, and she wished he’d put the damn gun away. “The only thing that’s kept us alive is that we’ve stuck together. We all need you, Nate, not just Tam. We need her, too. And Seth, and Boone, and all the others. Hell, we even need me. So get this out of your system. Go beat up the truck again. Howl at the moon. But then you have to come back, you hear me?”

  It hurt to look at him, his pain was so raw. She’d had no idea it was so serious between the two of them. That would have been great news if Tam’s parents hadn’t been targeted. God, the choice he’d had to make. Give the woman he loved the chance to speak to her dying parents, or complete the mission. It must have killed him to stop her from taking the phone number.

  “I don’t know what to do,” he said.

  That had to have been a painful admission. Nate Pratchett was a leader. To show weakness was worse even than death.

  “The best thing you can do for Tam is to finish this. We have to expose them. We have to win.”

  He looked away, bringing his face into the light. She watched as he made his decision. His jaw muscle flexed, his lips pressed together. He got back his mojo right there in front of her.

  She didn’t know how it would end with him and Tam, but the only chance they all had was to fight. When the dust settled, they’d find out who they were apart and together. Before she’d fallen for Seth, she’d have given them one chance in a million. Now? She wanted them to win, too.

  * * * * * *

  There were more guards on patrol at the plant than usual. Seth wondered if they were getting ready to ship out the armaments. It wouldn’t surprise him. The chamber had been ninety percent full.

  He looked to his right, at Boone and Cade as they crawled under the fence at the eastern perimeter. Once through, they’d have seven minutes to make it to the rear of the processing plant. They’d split up then and go quadrant by quadrant, mapping the exterior, paying special attention to any points of egress or entrance.

  They also needed to see inside one particular window. From the inside of the chamber, they’d sighted a sterile room that was fully self-contained. Inside were the computers and the operators who ran the chamber. None of the personnel had worn chem suits, which told them a lot about the structure of the room itself.

  It was also clear that there was a separate entrance. One personnel could access from the outside.

  Their aim tonight would be to find a way to get in that room.

  He crawled forward, using his claw to propel him in ways his other hand couldn’t. He’d learned how to do almost everything he needed to with the claw. It was still a pain, but at least he wasn’t helpless.

  Once he reached the inside of the fence, he turned back to make sure there were no signs of a cut in the wire. They’d rigged it so that the electrical feed that monitored the fence for breaches had been traversed, so no alarms would give them away.

  He hit the dirt with only seconds to spare as a jeep with two MPs rolled by about a hundred feet from where he hid.

  He knew Boone and Cade were doing likewise, checking their watches carefully to know when to hide and when to work.

  Even though they’d done this time and again, there was no getting used to it. No way to relax, not for a moment.

  It was time. He rose, adjusted his infrared glasses and started toward the plant.

  * * * * * *

  Tam drifted in and out of consciousness. She imagined the worst for her parents and when that became unbearable she took refuge in her anger.

  Nate had promised to keep her safe. He’d promised to take her out of this nightmare. The bastard had given her hope.

  Her naiveté had cost her everything. Her reputation, her safety, her future. What did she have to look forward to? Even if they did get out of this, no one would hire her. She’d helped Omicron develop the gas. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t known what her part in the process had been for. That only made things worse. And no one would care that she’d come up with the antidote.

  By the time this thing was over—if she wasn’t dead—every scientist and research facility in the world would know of her duplicity.

  Ignoring Christie, who’d taken Nate’s place in the chair by the wall, she turned over, wanting nothing more than to sleep. If she could just still her thoughts, her exhaustion would take over. Maybe it would be better to just ask Harper for another shot.

  So, she wasn’t finished typing in all her notes. She didn’t care.

  The image of her mother came to her, only she was covered in bandages, connected to tubes and monitors. It was so vivid, she couldn’t stop the low moan that wanted to be a scream.

  A second later, Christie was by her side, and she touched Tam’s arm, but she didn’t jerk away. She had no energy at all, not even enough to chase Nate’s sister out of the room.

  “Tam, let me get you something to drink. Your throat must be parched.”

  It was. Every part of her felt parched, as if she’d been baking in the desert. She closed her eyes.

  Sometime later, she woke to a fuzzy darkness. Disoriented, she reached over to see if Nate was with her, but his side was empty. She wondered what time it was, and if she could shower before he came home. Then she remembered.

  Her parents were still in the hospital or worse. Nate was not a superhero. She was still alone. Pain shot through her body as she brought her knees up toward her chin.

  “There’s water next to you.”

  Her eyes opened at the sound of Nate�
�s voice. Christie had been here. Tam had told Nate to go to hell and stay there. Or had she dreamed all that?

  With a shaky hand, she reached for the plastic glass and rose to her elbow to drink. The cool water felt amazingly good. She didn’t even care that she spilled.

  When she had enough, she put the glass back. She had to go to the bathroom, a Herculean task. But she sat up, put her legs on the floor. Rested a minute, then stood.

  She fully expected Nate to come to her rescue, and she planned to tell him once again where he could go, but he didn’t make a move. When she passed him, he didn’t even look at her. He just sat very still on a chair that was too small.

  When she closed the bathroom door, she rested her forehead on the wood. It was too much. All of it.

  * * * * * *

  It was after 6:00 a.m. and Christie was going to lose it if Boone didn’t get home soon. They’d never been this late. The knots in her stomach told her something had gone wrong.

  She went into the kitchen to make another pot of coffee. Between her, Harper, Kate, Vince and Nate, they’d finished off so many pots they’d have to buy more when the store opened. She felt queasy from all the caffeine, but that wasn’t enough to stop her from having another cup.

  Harper had switched to tea a few hours ago, but she was just as anxious. It was their men out there. If something had gone wrong, how would they know?

  The guys wouldn’t come home, yes, but would that mean they were dead? Captured? In prison?

  Christie’s hand shook as she counted out the spoons. She spilled water all over the counter, but screw it, she didn’t care.

  All she could think of was Boone. He’d saved her. Before he’d come into her life, she’d known nothing about Omicron and believed that her brother was dead. Then the stalker had taken over her life. It was Boone who’d come to the rescue. He’d trapped the stalker, and that’s when she’d found out what a long reach Omicron had. They had been behind the stalking. They’d taken her job, her home, all her money. It was the worst thing she’d ever experienced. If it hadn’t been for Boone…

  He’d been kind and strong and she loved him with all her heart. Only the discovery that Nate was alive had been as sweet.

  Kate joined her in the kitchen. “Give them time,” she said. “They had so much to do.”

  Christie smiled, but she knew if it had been Vince out there, Kate wouldn’t be so calm. She turned back to watch the coffee brew, hugging her middle as if it would help. Nothing would help but the truck pulling into the parking lot. She had to see him, to know that he was alive and not hurt. They’d gone too far for it to fall apart now. They’d fought impossible odds, and still they were all here.

  She’d never hated anything the way she hated Omicron. They should all burn in hell, every last one of—

  “The truck.”

  It was Harper. She’d already opened the front door and was standing outside. Christie ran to join her, and so did Kate, Vince and Nate.

  The truck stopped and there was Boone. He wasn’t bloody, he had all his limbs. But he looked like hell. Seth got out of the passenger side. If anything, he looked worse than Boone.

  Her eyes went to the back of the truck, waiting to see if Cade had been hurt. But Cade wasn’t there.

  Chapter 11

  Nate felt as though he’d been gut shot. Cade had been taken, either by Omicron’s men or a bullet. Either way, he wasn’t coming back.

  It was getting too light outside for them to stand here in the parking lot, so he ushered them inside.

  He headed straight to the bedroom to check on Tam. She was on her side, curled up, and if he hadn’t known her so well, he’d have thought she was sleeping.

  He couldn’t deal with her right now. It killed him to see her like this, but his friend was gone and there were things that had to be done.

  He left the door open, hoping Tam would hear the conversation. He wasn’t sure what he wanted from her, except to let him in.

  Seth and Boone were on the couch. Kate and Vince had taken the far corner, Harper and Christie sat on the floor, touching the guys. They were all in the debrief position and it was up to him to ask the questions.

  “What happened?”

  Seth and Boone looked at each other, then quickly away. They’d left a man behind, and that was not okay for two soldiers like them.

  “He’s dead,” Boone said. He opened his mouth again, but he couldn’t seem to speak.

  It was Seth who looked at Nate now. “We were on our way out. Something caught his uniform, and when the guards came by, they spotted him. He started yelling so we could get away.”

  “We tried to get back to him but the guards were right there. They called in reinforcements and they weren’t backing down. There was no way we were going to get him out of there,” Boone said.

  “And we had to get back with the intel.” Seth’s head dropped and his shoulders shook. Nate wanted to cry, too. He’d really liked the guy. They’d had some good times overseas, and while Cade hadn’t been much for the bars, he enjoyed hearing the men’s stories.

  “When they pulled him out from under the fence, he put up a struggle, but it was just to get more men around him.”

  Nate could see how hard Boone was holding onto Christie’s hand. To her credit, she didn’t even wince.

  “The grenade did maximum damage, both in personnel and obfuscation.”

  “What?” Kate asked. “What does that mean?”

  Nate turned. “It means that Cade blew himself up, along with those men around him. He left minimal evidence, so they would find it difficult to identify him.”

  “He blew himself—” She turned away, and Vince pulled her into his arms.

  “It’s what he had to do,” Nate said, hoping like hell his voice wouldn’t give him away. “Boone or Seth would have done the same. The objective is to keep our presence here a secret.”

  “You would have done that?” Christie asked, looking up at Boone. “Without even telling me that was the plan?”

  Boone looked guilty, but he nodded. “I didn’t want you to worry any more than you had to. I’m sorry, but it’s the risk we take.”

  Tears ran down her cheeks, but she didn’t argue with him. Harper had wrapped her arm around Seth’s leg, and his hand was on her shoulder.

  “What now?” Vince asked quietly.

  “We assume Omicron’s been alerted to our presence. Pack everything, even the trash. We leave here at nightfall.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “There’s an abandoned apartment building about twenty miles north of here. We’ll stay there. Vince, you need to get all the cash from the bank. Kate, get with Eli, tell him we’re a go the day after tomorrow. Remember, nothing gets left behind.”

  “I haven’t finished.”

  The voice startled him, and Nate turned to the bedroom door. Tam was leaning on the wall looking pale and shaky. “You haven’t finished what?” he asked, and even he noticed the change in his own demeanor. From a commander to a concerned lover in a heartbeat.

  “I haven’t finished my assignment. The notes aren’t ready.”

  “I’ll pack your gear,” he said, wanting more than anything on earth to take her away from all this. To keep her safe. But he couldn’t make anyone safe. Soldiers, civilians, women, kids. All he could do was fight.

  “I’ll get started,” she said, heading toward the door. She had to pass him closely, there was no other choice. But she didn’t look at him, and he didn’t try to touch her.

  “Did he have family?” Kate asked.

  Nate’s gaze had followed Tam, and the question stopped her with her hand on the knob.

  “Cade’s parents live in Idaho. He has an older brother and a younger sister, and he left behind his college sweetheart. Her name is Ellen.”

  “They were engaged,” Tam said. “He wrote to her, every night, even though he couldn’t mail the letters.” She went outside. Nate watched until the door closed behind her.

 
* * * * * *

  She felt heartsick. Tam felt so weary she could barely walk to her room. She’d liked Cade. He’d been quiet and sweet, and damn it, she’d had a strong suspicion he’d had a little crush on her since the day they’d met, despite his love for Ellen. It was easy to see he’d been raised by an old-fashioned family.

  They were right around the same age, but he couldn’t help calling her ma’am. Or maybe that had been the soldier in him. She’d never know.

  She made it inside her room and her gaze went straight to the bed. The sheets and pillows were still messed up from when she’d had sex with Nate. The realization that she’d been in bed with him while her parents’ house had exploded around them had come to her earlier, and now she could add Cade’s death to the picture.

  God, she couldn’t think about that if she expected to get anything done. She went to the computer, turned it on and then grabbed her notebook from under the table.

  Her life might have fallen apart, but she still had a life and she owed it to Cade to get busy. Tam couldn’t imagine the strength it had taken to pull that pin on the grenade. It was unimaginable, and yet as she’d listened to Boone and Seth relate how he had died, the truth of her situation hit her.

  Her parents were injured because of the evil men behind Omicron. Men who thought innocent lives were as disposable as garbage. Men whose self-righteousness made them a threat to anyone in their way. Seth’s hand. Cade’s life. Her parents. They were nothing to those men. They’d wiped out whole villages. What was one soldier? Or a couple mourning what they assumed was the death of their daughter?

  She didn’t know what the body count was but if she had anything to do with it, it wouldn’t get any higher.

  She double-clicked on the program she needed to finish her work. There was a lot more to do, and no matter what, she would get it done right.

  Ten minutes after she began typing, Nate walked in. He didn’t speak to her, but she could feel his presence as he took out his duffel bag and began to pack.