by Angela White
“Won’t that cause problems for you?”
Neil shrugged, thinking the new woman needed to gain a little weight. Hilda would help with that once he mentioned it. “Maybe with Kenn, but it will tell the camp that you have support in the chain-of-command. As long as Adrian doesn’t overrule it, you’ll get a little more respect.”
Marc met Neil's eye at the confirmation of his earlier suspicions. His new friend had a high place. “It’s a blow to your authority here, right, if he says to move it?”
The trooper nodded and then smiled confidently, “But he won’t. Let’s get your new home up.”
As they carried things from both Blazers, his and Angie’s personal stuff all mixed up, Marc wondered what Kenn had thought about the nearly identical vehicles, but knew coincidence wasn’t it. He counted it as a double hit, personally, picking an identical replacement. It was fate that a second match to hers had been there at all. He and Angie had always been alike, and all those years apart had faded for him the minute his lips had touched hers.
A half-hour later they were done, and Marc was glad the men’s area had stayed mostly empty, because the looks from the guards covering the inside of the camp were anything but accepting. The people moving by were also frowning, whispering as they stared in disapproval. He hoped Neil didn't get into trouble with them, too.
Marc glanced at his watch, and Neil caught the movement. “You won’t be late.”
Marc kept his tone light. “He must find you really handy to have around.”
Neil got them moving again. “That’s the idea.”
“And where do I fit? What do you get for helping me settle in?”
Neil’s face was open, serious. “Exactly what I have now - Adrian’s respect. He asked me a long time ago to watch out for people like him. I might have overlooked you if not for Kenn's behavior and her fear. Not many people here can compete with all he does for Adrian, can’t rattle his cage much. If Kenn considers you a serious rival, and clearly he does, then you must be one of them.”
6
Marc was waiting alone outside Adrian’s tent a little before 11 a.m., able to smell himself and hating it, but he had to give them credit. They had dealt him a tough couple of hours of work with the heaviest boxes, the weakest bags, the crates with the cracked, sharp corners and leaking cans of gas. But what exactly could he say if he had any intentions of complaining? Which he didn’t. They had all worked hard and looked like it when they were done. The only difference was that he would smell himself for a while, since his boots got most of the pungent fuel.
“Penny for one of those thoughts?”
Marc turned just in time to see the light breeze flirting with the high hemline of a red dress and remained silent, willing himself to feel something, anything, for the sexy redhead. He’d noticed her around, the bright clothing an instant lure that he was sure was intentional.
“Like what ya see?” she drawled invitingly, smiling, and Marc nodded. Nothing. Damn it! “You’re very pleasing to look at.”
Tonya’s smile faltered at the disappointed tone. “Only ta look at?”
Marc nodded again without hesitation. He trusted his first impressions. “Beauty is only skin deep comes to mind. I wonder why?”
Not expecting that response, Tonya wrinkled her nose as the heavy smell of fuel came to her on the stiff breeze.
“Because it’s never been truer than with Tonya.”
They both turned to see Adrian duck into his tent, leaving the redhead to wonder how much he’d heard.
“She’s trouble. Untrustworthy…the bottom rung of camp life,” Adrian called loudly, her sputtered protests music to his ears. “Come on in, Marc. The whore will keep.”
Tonya stomped away furiously, muttering, and the father watched, shaking his head.
“You probably shouldn’t turn your back on her,” Marc said, stepping into complete organization and the light smell of smoking. I could fit in here, he thought as he sat down in the chair the blond motioned to.
The table between them was covered with small, perfectly aligned stacks of paperwork, and he watched Adrian remove a little brown box from the long footlocker by his perfectly made-up sleeping cot.
“Good instincts. Tonya is just as dangerous as the slavers, maybe more so. When they attack, I’ll have a small chance of seeing it come. She’ll try hard to blindside me.”
Marc grinned uneasily, thinking she was the only one he’d met so far who wasn’t totally happy with Adrian’s leadership.
“What’s her problem?” he asked, watching Adrian roll a thick, neat joint from the pale green buds in the box.
“Power. She wants it and can’t find a better way to get it than by spreading her legs.”
Marc met his eye, thinking the mirrors sewn into the tops of the canvas walls were a very clever way to light the tent. “So neither you nor Kenn are interested, and she’s pissed?”
It was a very observant question, and Adrian shrugged, automatically listening for and hearing the calm, reassuring footsteps of guards walking their posts outside. “I can’t speak for Kenn, but me, no.”
He grinned, lowered his voice as he began the bonding process that had never failed. “At least not anymore.”
Marc laughed, understanding the boss man had been there and hadn’t been impressed.
Adrian lit the joint, inhaling deeply as he met Marc’s eye, got things started. “Before we talk about anything else, I have a single question and a lie will get you an invitation to leave. Are you sleeping with Kenn’s wife?”
Marc’s eyes went cold and the Marine inside sat up, began storing information. “She’s not his wife and no, not that it’s any of your business. She’s not like that.”
“Don’t tell me it’s only friendship.”
“I won’t.
“Sex, then. You want to be sleeping with her.”
Marc snorted at the obvious remark. “You’ve seen her. What man wouldn’t? She’s beautiful, inside and out.”
Adrian nodded, alert eyes missing nothing. “It’s worse than sex. It’s love.”
Marc said nothing, and Adrian leaned closer, passing the joint. “So you brought her here, and you’ll stay to be close even though you’ve already begun to realize you may never have anything more.”
“I’m not the only one with good instincts,” Marc muttered, looking away. “I got her here, and when it gets too bad, I’ll go.”
“Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out.”
Marc inhaled, passed. “It’s the only thing left to me now that she has her man back.”
Adrian considered, thinking he would probably end up liking the Wolfman despite the unwelcome tension that had come with him. He was obviously miserable, and Angie was right. Brady would need to be kept as busy as possible if he were going to be able to settle in. They definitely needed him, even if he did have an ache for another Marine’s woman.
“Backing off is the right choice. They were together for a long time before the War,” Adrian said, taking the smoldering weed back as the tent flap rustled in the wind.
“And if I told you I knew her before he did? That I grew up with her? Would that help me here at all?”
Adrian sighed, frowning, “If people knew. Childhood sweethearts?”
Marc’s eyes were bitter. “Something like that. I was the first hands under her shirt, the first blow job she ever gave. I taught her to use a hammer, to swing on a tire, to smile. The first love letter she ever wrote was to me, and I still have it. It almost killed us both when we were... split up.”
The two men finished the joint in silence as Adrian put the unspoken pieces together. He had thought Kenn had the clear claim on her, but Marc had been her first love, and when War came, Brady had found her, protected her… while Kenn hadn’t gone back at all. He now knew how the boy fit in, too. What a mess.
“Kenn know any of that?”
“No. She doesn’t think he could handle it and I agree.”
“I don’t.”<
br />
“You don’t really know him.”
Adrian’s gaze was hard and it was one the note-taking male inside wanted to answer. “Let me tell you what this camp knows. She’s his. He’s been telling us that all along and we’ve had no reason to doubt him. And she was on her way to him when he found her.”
“If she was coming to him, then why is she avoiding being alone with him? She spent the night in Charlie’s tent. She came for her son and was hoping to find people she could build a life with.”
Adrian knew it. He knew Angela longed for a place that would accept her for what she was - special. But he also needed more of the past, more of the truth, and he said nothing, waiting to see if Brady would reveal it to get his point across.
“She spent a lot of years unhappy. She deserves the chance to start over if she wants, the chance to be loved and protected. None of those are things your heavy-handed pet can give her.”
Adrian’s face turned to stone at the words, and Marc blew out an angry breath, ran a hand over his head. “I apologize. No matter what it looks like, I shouldn’t have said that, but you don’t know how special she is.”
“Yes, I do, and she’ll help as much as either of the men who want her.”
Marc was shaking his head, voice flat. “Not by Kenn’s rules. She can’t go back to being under his thumb. I won’t allow it.”
Adrian didn't doubt the man would do something drastic if it was called for. “The females have all the power here. She can do what she wants if she can settle in and be accepted.”
“With Kenn.”
Adrian lit a smoke, shrugging. “The camp would be calmed faster, but I mean it when I say the women’s choices are what matters. We need them happy and spreading around all the good things that come with them.”
Marc almost believed him, thought if not for Kenn having such a high place, he would probably be sold, too. The things he'd stored suggested the blond was obsessive, territorial, and maybe even dangerous, but he was also clearly one of the good guys.
“You’ll look out for her?” Marc asked suddenly.
Adrian nodded, almost wishing he were getting her with the responsibility. “Yes, as will others.”
Brady was still unsure what kind of place they had found, but he was willing to give them the chance that most of the camp was already denying him.
“So what’s the plan?” Adrian asked, handing him a soda from the cooler at his feet.
Marc shrugged, opening it. “Nothing. It’s her choice.”
“And if she chooses him?”
Marc’s eyes were full of pain he didn’t bother to hide. “Try to make a life here, I guess. For a while.”
“So you can stay close to her?”
Marc repeated himself. “For a while. It’ll be hard to leave either of them.”
“My next question is all about you. What does Sergeant Marcus Brady need to be content?”
Marc didn’t meet his eyes. “Beyond getting her here, I hadn’t thought much about it, wouldn’t let myself.”
“It’s here, Marine. The life you want is in this camp, but you’ll have to work for it.”
Marc’s eyes had narrowed. “You have no idea what I want.”
Adrian’s look knew. “Don’t I?”
“You may think so, but you’d be wrong. I’m a loner. I don’t fit.”
“That won’t get you what you want. Neil told you about FND work?”
Marc sighed, slightly annoyed and yet impressed with the ambush. The blond definitely knew how to get what he wanted.
“Being a loner won’t get you anything here, but if you have something to prove, I’m offering you my support.”
“Why?”
The tone demanded honesty and Adrian gave it willingly. “Because she doesn't want him, she wants you, and that tells me you’re one of us, even if you don’t know it.”
Marc liked the words, but only shrugged. “You talk sweet and make a lot of promises, don’t you?”
Adrian nodded, grinning, but his look was serious. “Yes, and I deliver. Ask any of these people. All you have to do is what you’ve already started. Be patient, pay attention, and react to each situation as it deserves.” He met Marc’s eyes. “And be useful to me, of course.”
Marc returned the gaze. That, he'd expected. “I can do that.”
“Good. FND work is the hardest, and most respected way to earn a place here.”
“I don’t understand all of it yet, but after this morning, I’m pretty sure I owe Neil at least a case of beer.”
Adrian crushed out his smoke, head buzzing pleasantly. “Neil is a good guy with a cement place here. You couldn’t have a better reference.”
Marc knew. “Except yours.”
Adrian leaned down to pick up a manila envelope from his open footlocker. “And you’ll have that when you need it, but I have to ask that you stay away from her until she makes that choice. I have great and shitty work for you, though a lot of it will be behind-the-scenes things that you won’t get much credit for.”
Marc grinned, the decision an easy one. There had to be something to take the place of his time with Angie. “You mean like being a Marine. Shut up when someone asks a question they shouldn’t have and fight until you win or die. Been doing it for a long time. See no reason why that should change here.”
Adrian was pleased. “Good. We’ll start with the FND work.”
Marc took the twin of Kenn’s notebook when it was held out to him, seeing the word, Eagle, in glossy print on the front. Kenn would be pissed about this too. “Let me guess. You need someone to shovel dog shit?”
The observant leader snorted. “Close enough. I need a complete inventory and organization system for the supply trucks, and maybe an alarm of some kind.”
“How many trucks and do I only count supplies?”
“Just those rigs for now. I’ll also need to know what’s being used, a sign-out system or something. Until its ready, Kenn, the cook, and the doctor will give you their lists.”
“Kenn?”
Adrian watched him closely, met his eyes. “He's above you in rank, but on some things you’ll report directly to me. This is one of them.”
“Sounds like fun,” Marc said, not looking forward to all those awkward moments.
Adrian shrugged ruefully. “Highly unlikely.”
“Start in the morning?”
“Yes, the earlier the better. Now, the no-credit work. I need a lethal defensive plan.”
Marc heard the tone. “You're worried about being attacked.”
“Yes. We have food, water, fuel, and women. Someone will eventually try to take them, and I intend to be ready… but I don’t want a battle plan to start or escalate a war.”
Images were stirring in Marc’s tactical mind. “You want a plan to end one.”
Adrian’s eyes were cold when he nodded, and Marc knew he was thinking of someone specifically. Did this camp have enemies? Was that why there were undercover guards lurking in the shadows?
“I want to lay back and catch them off guard, then kill as many as I can.”
Ah, the Slavers. The blond has big ambitions, Marc thought. “Give me a few days.”
“My eyes only.”
“Not even Kenn’s?”
“No, but he did give me the idea to talk to you about it. Said you were good at shit like this.”
“We worked well together, but we were never friends.”
Adrian gave him a look. “It's too bad you both want the same woman. You guys probably would have been great here together.”
Marc blew out a breath, standing up. “It’s more like ironic. Can’t wait to see how Fate screws with us next.”
Adrian held out a hand that Marc didn't hesitate to shake. “Be careful what you wish for, Sergeant.”
“You know it.”
Chapter Forty Four
1
Marc wasn’t surprised to find Neil waiting for him as he stepped from Adrian's orderly tent. He gave the state trooper
a grin. “So, what’s next? Roof jumping? A visit to the Lion's Den?”
Neil chuckled. “Come on. We have time for one more stop before we get a shower and lunch.”
Marc grinned again, shaking his head as they passed small clusters of people headed for the Mess, none of them friendly. “You must really enjoy your days off,” he joked.
The trooper met his eyes. “This is it for the week. I just can’t sit on my ass when there’s so much to be done.”
“Point taken. So what’s next?”
Neil leered, “My tent for a beer and a joint.”
Marc laughed, relieved. Finally, something he could look forward to. “Deal. You lead, I’ll follow.”
Neil gave him an odd, searching look, and then turned away. “Probably will be the other way around before long. Come on. Let’s get stoned.”
When Neil and Marc stepped into the short Mess line a while later, they were cleaned up, a little high and talking comfortably, both ignoring the openly cold and curious stares as they got to know each other.
The wind had died, removing the chill, and Neil watched the Wolfman take a look around (escape routes?) and then run a subtle sweep of the forty or so people talking quietly while having lunch. Looking for Angie or his son, the trooper had no doubt.
They took their trays quickly and when the cop led them past Adrian’s crowded center table, Marc was aware that the number of people frowning had just doubled. “You usually sit with Adrian?”
Neil nodded as they sat down side-by-side, backs to the truck’s wall. “First time I haven’t since the day he changed my life.”
The cop squirted gobs of ketchup onto his fries and Marc frowned. “Changed your life?”
Neil was aware of how many hostile glares he was getting from Kenn, but also from the camp and the Eagles. “The day he invited me in, asked for the help I’d been waiting all my life to give. For you, that’s today. You just don’t realize it yet.”
Marc nodded like he understood, and he almost did. Adrian had hand-picked these men, given them authority and respect. That kind of bond ran deep.