The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  “Yes.”

  “Done.”

  Kendle put a hand out to shake as Conner spun toward the stairs.

  “Grab him!” Yuri ordered.

  Foreign soldiers in red clothes sprang from shadowy tables that Kendle and Conner hadn’t noticed without using their descendant powers. The wood had been painted the same shade as the brick. It was perfect camouflage.

  The door clicked ahead of him, locking, and Conner stopped.

  Instead of the beating he’d expected, the sentries surrounded the boy and nudged him toward Yuri.

  “Interesting,” Kendle murmured, ignoring Conner’s mental threats to let his wrath loose on them all. “He won’t be harmed?”

  “No, no, no. Our slaves are the best in the state!”

  “He’ll be with the wretches we saw downstairs?” she questioned.

  Conner perked up, stomach calming. She wasn’t trading him.

  “Yes. Have him there by the time the market closes. I will have the best one ready for you.”

  Kendle was glad that Conner now seemed to understand what she was doing. He would be in with Rice’s family and be able to get to whatever item they had to retrieve. He was also next to the slaves, to their team, and he would be safe. The masters couldn’t kidnap him because he was already in their care.

  Yuri left them, troops returning to their cleverly hidden posts. Kendle went into the café before Conner could speak.

  The cook, a tall man with a long white apron, smiled at them in delight. “You look hungry. Can I feed you breakfast or lunch?”

  “Something beef and filling.” Kendle settled onto one of the rotating stools that had been welded to the floor.

  Conner took a place by the window to watch for problems. There wouldn’t be any from inside, since there were no other patrons.

  “Do you run tabs?” she asked as he took out a towel to wipe the dusty counter in front of her.

  “No credit!” the cook snapped, stopping. “Get out.”

  “I can help you make more sales every day,” Kendle stated, not moving. “I can also get rid of your competition downstairs.”

  The cook, a tired man from Florida who had been trapped here after the war, studied her for a long moment.

  When he had made his mental choice, he came from behind the counter to pull down the shade over the front window, signaling that he was on a break. “What do I have to do?”

  Kendle gestured toward the grill. “Food and care for the duration of my stay. By the time I leave, your business will have increased one hundred percent.”

  “Your collateral?” he demanded. “I heard you talking with Yuri. You can’t use the boy twice.”

  “Feed us now, as a sign of good faith,” Kendle bartered. “By the time you close tonight, the shop downstairs will be out of business and that will seal our deal.”

  “Who is your host?” the cook asked, wanting to agree. He barely managed enough customers each month to pay the rent for his business. Being out of the main flow of traffic downstairs hurt him.

  “Rice.”

  “Those are your guys downstairs,” the man guessed.

  “Yes.”

  The cook stood up and moved toward the grill.

  Kendle was glad the man pulled on gloves before preparing their food. She was even happier to discern that his small freezer was stocked and labeled with huge strips of tape that all said beef or chicken.

  “How do you plan to get your men if you can’t even afford a meal?” he asked politely, opening tubs and packages of seasonings.

  “I have no idea,” Kendle admitted honestly. For some reason, the cook seemed like a good person. “But I’ve covered your bill and others. I’m making progress.”

  The man nodded, slapping a pile of beef onto the grill that he mashed down flat and cut in half. “Somedays, that’s all life is.”

  Kendle swept the small café again, seeing he had tried to recreate the experience of an old soda shop. There were even signs advertising milkshakes that could be shared. It was cute, quaint. And very out of place. Kendle found it comforting, exactly like she thought the owner had intended when he’d decorated it.

  “I’m Curtis. Cutts to the masters.”

  “Widow Maker,” she chose, knowing the name would get back to Renda. “He’s my lapdog, Butch.”

  Conner and the cook both snickered.

  Kendle smiled her thanks for the drinks Curtis put on the counter, motioning Conner to join her.

  Following his training, Conner took his to a far end of the small counter so that he could still watch the door.

  “Were you traveling north or south when they got you?” Curtis asked casually, dropping generous seasonings and dehydrated onions onto both the grill and the meat.

  “South.”

  “Something there?” Curtis asked quietly. “Other than what we have here?”

  Kendle understood he was looking for hope, for a reason to run. “We were going to check it out. No one has heard from that area in a long time.”

  “You on a mission for a group?” he guessed.

  Kendle’s lips clamped shut, but Conner covered for her, saying, “We have a small camp up north. Getting too cold.”

  “I thought these latest rainstorms felt like snow might be backing them up.” The cook deposited plastic silverware and cheap paper napkins in front of them, then got plates from a shelf. “Your group good?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes.”

  Conner and Kendle answering simultaneously drew longing from the man. “Hang on to it for as long as you can. Never bring them through here.”

  “No, we won’t,” Kendle lied, contemplating how ugly it would get when Angela found out about this place. The market’s days were numbered.

  Kendle and Conner enjoyed the fresh bread and beef patties smothered in onions, but she didn’t linger, sure Rice was panicking at her absence. As they finished and stood, Kendle held her hand out to the cook. “Good food.”

  He beamed, shaking with her. “By close tonight?”

  “My word on it,” Kendle said as a clamor on the stairs announced the arrival of her host. “Tomorrow, I’ll start bringing in the customers. You keep the beef coming.”

  Curtis began to clean up their mess. “You get rid of that bitch downstairs and I’ll split the daily profits that you drive in.”

  “Deal.”

  Kendle shut the door after waving Conner out. She immediately came face-to-face with Rice.

  It was clear that they’d been fed, but he didn’t ask how she had paid. After being ignored and abandoned in the basement, it was clear that she would make her own choices.

  “Have you viewed everything up here?”

  Kendle nodded to Yuri as she went by the door that was red. It was his personal apartment. It looked as though it had once been three classrooms. “I’m going to the first floor. You can tag along if you like.”

  Pouting, Rice stayed by Conner and let Kendle explore the market at her leisure.

  Behind them, Bossy slipped into the café and took a seat on the stool that Kendle had occupied. “Hello, Cutts!”

  Curtis plastered his usual benign expression on as he turned from the grill. “She said her name is Widow Maker. The boy is Butch. They came from the north. Said they’re alone. Our deal is for new customers. She promised to increase my sales for a percentage of the profit. I agreed.”

  “You went for that without collateral?” Bossy inquired in surprise.

  Curtis glanced around at the empty stools and full freezer. “Better a bird in the bush than nothing in the hand.”

  Bossy wrote it down and left without replying.

  2

  “Something’s happening,” Tyler told them from his cot on the end. None of them had slept in the hours they’d been waiting. “It’s getting louder in the next room.”

  “Bossy’s getting twitchy,” Josh added. “Keeps checking his watch.”

  “Everyone clear?” Ben asked lowly. They’d gone o
ver it a couple of times, but he wanted to be positive.

  “We forgot something,” Scott stated suddenly, sitting up.

  The door opened.

  “What?” Tommy asked, going to him as Bossy moved their way.

  “The traitors.”

  Tommy realized Scott was right, but there wasn’t time to discuss it as Bossy and the other guards herded them to the exit with prods from their rifles.

  Tommy led them in, walking slowly to have time to adapt their plan based on where they were being taken. He saw the fencing and realized they were being transferred to a different cell. He spotted the long cart with those intimidating metal poles and handcuffs, and balked. “We’re not going in th–”

  Bossy slammed his C7 into Tommy’s knee, neatly catching him when he crumbled. He then swung the Eagle over one shoulder as if he weighed nothing. The Eagles closest tried to help, but the narrow fencing and the troops between them prevented anyone from getting through.

  Scott shoved against the Russian soldier, wishing he would swing, but the man stood pat with another sentry, absorbing the anger without reaction.

  Scott drew back to brawl, but Ben grabbed his arm. “We’re separated. Get us up there!”

  Seeing Ben had him under control, the Russian man moved to let the rest of the team through.

  Ben hurried up the three stairs and into the new cell, ignoring the guards and gawkers to help Tommy stand up while he was handcuffed. “I got ya, man.”

  Tommy tried to stop the ringing in his ears. “I tried not to hurt him.”

  Ben snickered nervously, being pushed over to the set of cuffs next to Tommy. Ben let himself be bound with a churning stomach. In their lessons, he hadn’t been able to get out of his. Whatever partner he’d been assigned had always helped him.

  “I’ve got ya, man,” Tommy groaned at him. He pulled on his cuffs and was eased a bit to discover they were attached to a chain that allowed him to step out of reach of the dozens of potential buyers surrounding the cell.

  Ben forced his heart rate down. They were Eagles. This wasn’t practice. It was time to do what they’d been trained for.

  Step one; observe, Ben reminded himself. Step two; compare and plan. Step three; execute.

  Hoping the team around him was doing the same thing, Ben studied everything he could see. The first observation was the worst. With all the security in sight, only a couple of exits in the gymnasium, and more than four dozen customers crowded around to glimpse the wares, they weren’t getting out of here just by fighting. Not even if they grabbed a gun or two. They would be mowed down by uniformed troops carrying everything from AKs to G3s.

  Scott was coming to the same conclusion as he examined the wall and found no windows, no weak points, and cameras that stopped and started in ways that suggested a human operator. They were live.

  “Two minutes!” Bossy shouted. “Two minutes until the viewing is over.”

  Guards on the outside of the cage began pulling ropes to bring down what appeared to be red velvet curtains.

  “You have got to be kidding me!” Josh complained. “It’s only been ten months. Where is your humanity?!”

  The sentry behind him, the Russian he had dubbed Demetri, kicked his left ankle hard enough to bring Josh to his knees.

  Josh stayed there while he recovered. “You’ll pay for that and for Tommy. Keep count.”

  The soldier leaned down to reply, “Put this on my tab.”

  Josh braced for another body hit just as his chin slammed into the bars.

  “That’s enough!” Renda shoved the sentry over to kneel by Josh. She grabbed his chin roughly to examine the damage.

  Josh tried to pull away, but she used both hands to hold him still. Her strength was surprising.

  “You have drawn blood,” Renda informed the guard. “What is rule three of your training?”

  “Never draw blood!” the Russian spat. “Use methods that don’t leave visible marks to control slaves.”

  “You are relieved of slave duty. Go to a broker for reassignment.”

  The man stormed from the cage, casting glares at Josh and Renda.

  Renda used her soft jacket sleeve to wipe the thin trickle of blood from Josh’s nose. She wasn’t gentle. “There. Good as new.” She helped him stand, ignoring the way he favored the leg that wasn’t throbbing.

  “Drop it,” Renda ordered, stepping from the cage. She locked it as the curtains slid into place.

  The Eagles immediately tried to use their hand code to communicate, but the clinking chains said it wasn’t wise. Tommy shut it down. “Whisper. Do the best you can. Tell me what you saw.”

  It was the Eagle way of comparing notes to come up with a complete picture of the situation.

  “I saw a long row of booths and tables. I could read two of them. One was a rental broker. The other was accounting,” Josh stated. “I had the floor view.”

  “All of them were like that,” Dexter confirmed. “I think they were taking yellow tickets from people in the lines. I didn’t see where they went when they finished.”

  “There were a couple of doors and no windows,” Ben shared. “Everyone around us is armed, even the buyers. They’re carrying heavy equipment.”

  “There’s a huge row of shelves on a wall by three big booths that have more security than we do,” Ryan said. “The shelves have all sorts of gear and crap. Too much to name. The booths have signs, but I couldn’t read any of them.”

  “Cameras in all corners.”

  “I think we’re in an old carnival cage. Might be on wheels. I couldn’t tell when we came in. They have lace or something draped over the bottom.”

  “These cuffs were welded. Might be a weak place if they did a shoddy job.”

  The team continued with their observational meeting, trying to ignore the cruel strangers outside the cage who were now vying for the chance to bid on them.

  “I’ll take two!”

  “I want one!”

  “Three, if the price is good!”

  “I want them all!” a familiar voice rang out above the din.

  The men in the cage stilled at the offer, straining to hear the response.

  “Take a form and fill in your bid,” Renda ordered. “Everyone gets a form. Fill them out and give them to me. If you need help, step over to the accounting table.”

  The team in the cage waited to hear that powerful pitch again, but there was only the excited chatter of patrons, gawkers and troops for a long minute.

  “Maybe it wasn’t her,” Tyler whispered.

  “Wait for it…” Tommy joked. The relief in his heart was overwhelming. He’d just been thinking that without descendant help, they might not get out of this one.

  “If I can’t examine the merchandise, I’m not bidding,” Kendle’s words echoed loudly, bringing all activity in the gym to a halt. “What are you hiding? Are they sick? Hurt?”

  “Let her in there,” a man’s hard, clipped timbre ordered. “Unless you are hiding something?”

  “There was an incident with one of the guards,” Renda confided grudgingly. “There was almost no blood and no mark at all.”

  “The rest of my team hasn’t been harmed?” Kendle clarified.

  From her pointed tone, Tommy assumed Kendle knew better.

  “Another male hit himself on the bars as he woke in the dark. The troops forgot to stay with them.”

  “So there was an entire group of slaves in an unlocked cell, without security?” that first man’s ruthless voice questioned.

  “Yes, but I’ve handled it,” Renda stated defensively. “The soldiers responsible have been removed from that duty and now owe all the masters a share of their fight winnings for the next month.”

  “That is satisfactory. Proceed with the examination.”

  “I’ve got it,” another man spoke up. The Russian accent was thick as he said, “I have rented her a cubby for the duration of her stay.”

  “What did she pay you with?” Renda demanded an
grily. “We took everything she had!”

  “You did not take her boy, who is more valuable than half a load of adults.”

  The team strained to hear more as they realized Kendle had bargained using Conner’s freedom.

  “What’s the catch?” Renda asked, sounding closer.

  “We have a wager,” Yuri informed Renda, grinning widely. “I will not tell you the terms until after it is settled.”

  Renda jerked the rope to pull up the curtain over the gate to the cage. “You have one minute.”

  Kendle stepped inside, wearing her guns and a smirk that the Eagles usually witnessed under someone’s blood. The team broke into laughs and relieved sighs, but didn’t speak.

  Kendle swept each of them, easily getting their judgments and fears without having to pry. Tommy’s mind was the most open and Kendle went to him.

  “You didn’t say they’d been beaten,” Kendle accused, pointing out the various bruises the man had. “That came from a gun butt or a kick. Maybe both.”

  Yuri motioned a sentry to write it down. “That lowers the price. Keep going.”

  Kendle sniffed deeply. “They’ve been sick. I can smell vomit. Over-drugging or illness?”

  Both Yuri and his personal guard turned to Renda in surprise, waiting for her answer.

  Renda scowled, reddening in anger. “Do not question how my slaves are handled!”

  “Malia never would have allowed this.” Yuri’s eyes misted under thick brows. “Your sister cared for the slaves. You care for the power. That is why she was loved and you are not.”

  Renda chuckled, surprising Kendle and the team.

  “But she did not return your sentiments, did she, my sad Yuri?” Renda moved away from the cage. “Pick out flaws if it pleases you. They belong to me and the other masters are not allowed to interfere. The prices will not change.”

  Yuri waited for Renda to be out of earshot before turning to Kendle. “Continue.”

  “That was enough.” Kendle gave each of her men a quick look of comfort before leaving the cage. “Don’t forget who you are.”

  The curtain fell a moment later, leaving the team in dim privacy.

  “Any idea what she has planned?” Ben asked quietly. He was hoping Tommy had picked something up from her mentally.