by Angela White
“Eight bulls-eyes!”
The crowd was boisterous in their approval, and as Kenn stepped back, he smiled coolly at Doug. “I get the title and the girl.”
Doug was still laughing as he took his place.
As Kenn moved to Angela’s place along the fence, he gave Neil a nod, but they exchanged nothing else, and she understood they weren’t friends.
Following unspoken orders, and eager to observe, the trooper stayed close.
When Kenn immediately frowned at him, Angela caught her Marine’s eye. “What title?”
“Best gun in camp.”
“Who has it now?”
Kenn’s grin was cocky. “You’re looking at him. Doug gets a chance to take it back tomorrow.”
Angela was instantly flooded with bitterness. She had been fighting for her life, struggling just to get here, and he’d been in all this safety, shooting for meaningless titles.
Doug’s shots rang out, and he watched the new woman openly. She looked upset, and he frowned, recalling more of the rumors. Anger looking for a target, his mind zeroed in on the Wolfman. That wound had to be from her new man. Kenn wouldn’t break Adrian’s rules that way.
“Eight bulls-eyes! Tie!”
The crowd quieted as Adrian stepped forward, and Kenn turned to her. “He tell you how things work here?”
Angela didn’t look away from the blond man who was now lining himself up with the targets. “Enough.”
Her tone was full of warning, and Kenn nodded. His bluff had been called. Adrian was an ardent supporter of women’s rights, and he let out a sigh, hoping she would still keep her mouth shut. “Want a better view?”
Angela nodded, but before he could help her, she swung her body up and over, the movements almost an exact copy of Adrian’s.
Kenn scowled, knowing Neil had seen and understood that she didn’t want him to touch her.
She did stay close as they turned to watch the shooting, and Neil sensed she did it only to soothe Kenn’s ego, not because she wanted to.
Unlike the rest of his men, Adrian didn’t hold and aim but left his weapon in the holster, long fingers dangling alertly above, and he pulled in a graceful blur. The 9 mm thundered, the bullets slamming into the targets in rapid succession.
“Eight Bulls-eyes!”
The crowd’s enthusiasm was catching, and Angela let herself be carried away. When Kenn stepped forward, she wished him luck, and he smiled at her, the first friendly look they had exchanged.
“He doesn’t need anymore!” Doug protested, and they all laughed as the targets were moved back. The tension was instantly gone in that moment, and though it was only a brief second in time, Adrian recognized it.
Kenn pulled the trigger, gently, again and again. When he stopped, his eyes were glazed with victory.
“Eight bulls-eyes!”
The crowd went wild, and Angela was glad she was now on this side of the fence as they pushed and shoved closer. The mob loved this. Brady could easily match anything she’d seen so far. Would that help him here?
Doug limped up, not joking anymore, and wiped an arm across his sweaty forehead before raising his gun. Bullets flew, and the immediate slump of his shoulders said he knew it wasn’t good enough.
“Seven hits. Four bulls-eyes!”
The camp cheered, many chanting Kenn’s name, and Doug shook his hand just like the last time, though now he didn’t feel so bad. Kenn was better with a gun, that’s all. There was no changing that. “You’re gonna win.”
Kenn watched, seeing too many of the guards’ eyes on Angela’s long, dark curls blowing in the cooling wind. “True that.”
Angela winced, slapped with flashes of their past from that hauntingly familiar expression, and again, Adrian and Neil weren’t the only ones who noticed it. People in this camp especially, but survivors period, were much more alert now. They had learned a harsh lesson.
There was silence as Adrian stepped up, shooting straight from the hip. The noise was deafening as the call came.
“Eight bulls-eyes!”
Their worries gone for a small instant, the camp roared their approval, and Angela was sure most of them didn’t really care who won. It was this shot-for-shot, competition that mattered.
The targets were moved back, Adrian going first, and Kenn returned to Angela’s side, grinning at her in the rare, playful way that had never failed to get her to smile back or roll her eyes at his antics. He added an eye-cross, suddenly wanting to hear her laugh. When she did, men turned, drawn, and his scowl came back.
Adrian saw the spark between them and felt obliged to at least try to help his right hand, thinking it would be so much easier if those two just stayed together. Would a win here help the Marine? Kenn’s happiness mattered too and his loyalty had been steadfast… Adrian didn’t think it would be enough to sway anything. She knew what she wanted, and it wasn’t Marine number one. Still…
Adrian drew suddenly and began firing. When he stopped, he met Kenn's eye over the crowd.
“Seven bulls-eyes!”
There were cheers and groans, and Adrian shrugged, “Can’t be perfect all the time.”
Kenn moved in, taking his place. “Just practice anyway.” He blew out a breath and began firing.
“Eight bulls-eyes!”
Kenn’s eyes had locked on Angela’s. “Boo-yah, Baby!”
“Nice shooting.” Adrian was shaking his hand, pulling his attention away.
Angela trembled as nightmares rushed over her. Kenny was always inventive when he won something he really wanted.
She turned to Neil, who pretended he hadn’t been watching her as the crowd began to breakup. “I’m sharing a tent with Charlie?”
The trooper gave her a confused look. “We assumed you’d be sharing one with Kenn.”
Fire flashed in her eyes. “Assumed because he said so?”
Neil nodded, feeling like he’d done something wrong. When Angela looked at Kenn, their eyes locking over the men congratulating him, the trooper read the message clearly.
“I’m almost in charge. Do what I say or you’ll be sorry!”
Angela turned back to the frowning guard at her side. “Will you take me to Brady? The man with the wolf?”
5
Neil’s lips were tight as they climbed the fence. He didn’t offer her a hand over as he might have with the other women here because he could sense her reluctance to touch or be touched. His time in Adrian’s army had made him, all of them, more sensitive. His scowl grew. Except for Kenn.
Angela stayed at his side, able to feel his disapproval, and she moved a bit closer, just enough for him to catch a faint whiff of sweet vanilla. “He has my medical bag.”
Neil continued, feeling no better. He had respect for Kenn, even though he couldn’t say he liked the arrogant son of a bitch, and he wasn’t afraid of him, but he was scared of destroying all Adrian had going, of losing his second chance, his place. Walking mostly alone now, Neil hoped no one would stress to Kenn that he’d escorted his wife to another man’s tent.
Angela picked up the thought, was unable to stay quiet this time. “We’re not married.”
She said it firmly, but he only shrugged, not realizing he hadn’t spoken aloud. “That doesn’t matter. Common Law counts.”
“We weren’t that either.”
“That’s the way it seems.”
“Why? Because he says so? They don’t even know me.”
Neil shook his head. “We listen and watch. Kenn introduced you as his Angela, and you began talking to Adrian with no denial. Kyle even called you his wife, and you just laughed with the rest of us. It’s how we judge ‘lady or tramp’ here.”
“It’s not like that, and I’m already getting tired of saying it!” she insisted, keeping her voice low. “I haven’t even been here a full day yet. They know nothing.”
The trooper headed them for the QZ. “But what Kenn says and his respectability give it credit. If Adrian hadn’t taken you under his win
g today, you might be seen as a mother trying to get to her son by cheating on her husband.”
She was angry, he could see it in the depths of her stormy blue eyes, but more than that, he could feel it coming off of her in waves. Neil smiled sympathetically, thinking she was easily the prettiest woman here. He couldn’t wait to see her in real sunlight, and happy, rather then the darkness and fear she was trapped in now. He thought Adrian would handle it faster with this one than with the other women who’d joined.
“Sorry, but I never sugarcoat the truth to people I like. Things are different now. You got a chance to show that you can be one of us and you did well, but your Wolfman… It could get ugly for him if people think Kenn’s just been reunited with his wife, and she’s got another man hanging around. Be careful.”
Angela sighed in frustration, clearly not understanding the rules yet.
Neil was stopped from any further explanations by the tent flap opening.
The wolf padded out, golden eyes on the trooper and he crossed under the tape with no signs it existed to him. Angela wasn’t sure that was the case, but she would never tell on Dog.
Followed by his master, Angela dropped to one knee to greet the animal, lingering when she knew she shouldn’t. After a minute of tense silence, she stood up and took the black bag Marc had brought out, being careful not to touch him or make eye contact.
“Thanks.”
“Sure.”
There was another awkward silence, and Angela tried hard to sound normal, aware of eyes on them in the dim light of the fires. “Guess you’ll be out in the morning?”
Marc nodded, silently asking what was wrong, but she didn’t respond. “Yeah.”
He wanted to say something, needed to comfort her, but knew he shouldn’t, not with the guard standing alertly behind her, and he clamped his lips shut. Just be cool.
“I’ll see ya, Brady.” Angela said sadly, feeling like this was goodbye for some reason she refused to identify.
The wave of desperation had Marc opening his mouth without knowing what might come out, unable to ignore her need twice. “I’ll wait until you decide, Angie, and I’ll accept it. If I can’t, I’ll go.”
Neil watched her freeze in mid-step and then actually stop herself from responding…from begging him not to leave?
Angela forced herself to move, too aware of Neil’s sharp eyes missing nothing. He and Adrian were right. She would have to be very careful.
Following Adrian’s pattern from the contest, Neil walked a little behind and a bit to her right as she headed for her son’s tent, thinking hard about what he had just seen and felt between them. The pull was strong, undeniable, and it had taken less than a minute to recognize. Did Kenn love her that way?
Like his boss, Neil thought women should be happy, treated well. Everyone was wondering about the angry wound on her mouth, especially since the couple had gone all day without speaking to each other even though they’d been apart since before the War. Had Kenn really hit her?
These things bothered the trooper, and he wanted to ask, but knew he would get no answers from her. He would have a hard time believing anything she might say, anyway. It would force him to do something, and since a mere ‘sit down’ wouldn’t be enough, he kept quiet, needing proof.
Neil admitted to himself then that he was attracted to her, might even want her, and made himself think of the look in the Wolfman’s eyes when he’d blurted he would wait for her. Complete devotion. That was what a woman like Angela needed, and he envied the man just a little. Brady... Neil frowned thoughtfully. Maybe he could get some honest answers from him.
6
Twenty minutes later, Neil was tapping on the tent flap and had to wait for the wolf to move from the doorway before he could step inside, immediately noticing the odor of gun oil. Soft, sad music came from a radio near a threadbare, camouflage sleeping bag, and the broad-shouldered man in the middle of it looked up from a stack of notebooks with a genuine grin.
“Thank God! Company!”
Neil nodded casually, thinking his first impression still held, even when the man was relaxed. It was ‘old west cowboy’ crossed with ‘modern day soldier’ and Marc wore it comfortably. The long black coat and faded hat were draped neatly over the chair that Adrian had them put in each tent, and everything was folded or stacked neatly at the end of his bed. His rack, Neil corrected himself, seeing the beautiful guns were off, but within finger’s reach. The new guy was more of a Marine at a moment of ease than Kenn had been when he’d first joined.
“I was here before it was a rule, but everyone says being in the Zone sucks.”
Marc waved a hand at the mostly empty tent. “Have a seat.”
Handing over one of the two bottles he’d talked the cook out of, Neil sat. He crossed his legs to the left of the wolf now watching him with mistrustful, golden eyes from the shadowy corner.
“So what can I do for you?”
Neil looked him in the puffy, purple eye, “I’ve got some free time and thought I’d come see the man who has Kenn so upset that he didn’t miss a single shot, even though it was only practice. The real contest isn’t til tomorrow.”
Marc’s eyes grew cold, and he sat the beer down unopened. “You saw me earlier.”
The cop leaned closer, thinking the discolored jaw and scabbing knuckles added to Marc’s image. Was the man the hard-ass he appeared to be?
“I’ve had time to think.”
“She only came to me to get her bag. She hates to be without it,” Marc explained, knowing it was more. Something had upset her, and he had been unable to help.
“Bullshit. She was fine until Kenn looked at her after he won. Then she got scared, looked like she’d seen a ghost, and asked to be brought to you. The bag was just the excuse most convenient to her.”
Marc didn’t answer, lit a Winston with a frown. So Kenn was already working her new nerves. Lovely.
“What’s going on between you two?” Neil demanded.
Marc’s eyes warned him to back off. “Nothing. Don’t ruin her chances here over a look and a reaction you probably imagined. You don’t know them, not really. And Kenn certainly isn’t the saint you people seem to think he is.”
Clearly, he’d spoken to people despite being in quarantine. Neil watched the angry man blow out a big lungful of smoke.
“Did he give her that split lip?”
“Ask her,” Marc answered quickly, not looking up.
Neil shook his head, frowning. “She won’t talk to me yet. Right now, I’m on his side as far as she’s concerned.”
Marc was glad to hear genuine distaste in the guard’s tone. “It’s her business. If she wanted it known, she’d tell you herself.”
“Why are you protecting him? If he put hands on her, Adrian will punish him. He’ll lose his place.”
Marc blew out a frustrated sigh, waving a hand, “So I’ve heard, and like I’ve told the others, it would only make things harder for her. She hasn’t made up her mind about what she wants, and I won’t force her.”
Neil took a moment to think it over, respecting him, and glad for Adrian that these two didn’t seem to be eager to cause trouble. In the silence, he gave the orderly tent another look, searching for clues. Gear stowed, boots at attention, even his sleeping bag was perfectly neat. Marc was a lifer, unlike Kenn, who never talked about his old world, something people here did a lot. Brady seemed open, honest, in love with a woman he knew he couldn’t have, and the trooper felt a connection to him beyond his own dislike for Lance Corporal Kenn Harrison.
“He really hit her?” the guard asked in a whisper, almost unable to believe it. If not for her lip and the fear in her eyes, he wouldn’t have.
“She didn’t fall down or run into anything, no matter what she says later,” Marc muttered.
Neil was instantly full of disappointment for Adrian’s dreams. Deep down though, he could see the abusive nature the Marine had seemed to have under control. It came through in the flashes of arroga
nce and possessiveness that were almost jealousy when it came to their blond leader.
Noises came to them suddenly, both males turning alertly. When the muffled sounds cleared into laughter and excited but not panicked voices, the cop relaxed.
Marc’s heart was thumping. She was out there alone.
“Will you keep an eye on her? Show her how things work?” he asked suddenly, heeding to the instincts telling him that Neil was one of the good guys.
“I already have been, she just doesn’t know it. She’s important to Adrian somehow.” Neil now had a much better idea of what that was.
Marc nodded, thinking that would have to be enough. He was an outsider and wouldn’t be able to get close to her again for a while.
“You’ll try to keep your distance?” the trooper asked, proving his thoughts.
Marc’s face betrayed nothing. “Yes, even if she chooses him. I won’t stand in the way of what she wants.”
Neil carefully got up and held out a hand that Marc was glad to shake. The last three people he had talked to hadn’t cared at all about the truth.
“I’m Todd O’Neil. You’ll be busy for a bit I imagine, but I might be able to pass an occasional hello. You’ll have a lot to prove if you hope for a chance here with her.”
Marc grinned, heart relieved that at least one person was offering friendship rather than cleverly worded threats. “Marc Brady. You say there’s a contest tomorrow?”
“You’ll be out in time to see it.” Neil raised a brow. “You any good?”
Marc shrugged, running a throbbing hand over his aching, swollen jaw. “I usually hit what I’m aiming at.”
Neil grinned, thinking he would likely take the man under his wing the way Adrian had done with Angela, only more aggressively. His grin widened. Doug flirting with Angie hadn’t rattled Kenn, but Marc joining them, surprising him, might…especially if the man was good. For some reason, Neil liked the idea of him and Angie, and it was wrong of Kenn to keep them apart if they loved each other.
“Appearances mean a lot here. You’ll never be accepted if you chase her.”