“So what kind of life do you think is waiting for you here?” I asked. My tone was a little harsh. “I've just come back from a grave where some dick heads just drove their car into a hole in the ground.”
“Are they okay?” she asked.
“Not really, unless you think being crushed under concrete constitutes being 'okay'.”
“I'm sorry.”
“You don't have to be fucking sorry, Riley, I'm just telling you how it is. Being with me means finding shit like that. Running from dogs. Living off the land. Hunting escaped prisoners. Bringing lost kids home. Sometimes it means none of that. Sometimes it means sitting with a cup of tea by the fire with a book and not a lot else to do. Is that what you want? Really?”
She turned and looked right at me, fixing me with her beautiful eyes. That was it - from that moment on I was never letting her go. Not again. Ever.
“Yes, Miller. That's exactly what I want and I want it with you.”
Her hand moved across the table and met mine.
“At first I was so pissed off at you for thinking you could be some knight in shining armour,” she said. “It went against everything I believed. I didn't think I needed saving from anything, ever. Then I met you. I thought to myself 'hey, this guy is on my level' and for a while I was happy to walk with you. Then I fell. I couldn't move and I thought that was it, game over. You stood over me and I can still see you and right then I could have cried - I needed you to rescue me and I'd never needed that before. You patched me up, you took care of me and I realised it wasn't that bad after all. I kind of liked it. I could get used to it.”
“Try not to,” I laughed. “It's scary trying to keep you alive.” She grinned.
“Then, when I was better and the dogs attacked, you passed me the rifle. You knew I was the better shot and it didn't bother you. It was my thing and you took a step back without losing face. Then again, at the bunker, you let me come for you, to return the favour. We were a partnership.”
“That's how I’ve always understood us,” I said.
“Well I needed to see it. I thought I didn't need a partner. Now I know I do. When you drove off, I felt like half of me was driving off too. I couldn't bear it. I couldn't go back to the old me.”
“I've said before that I felt the same way. You saved me from being some old, lonely recluse. We worked well together and I could see our future. That's why it hurt when you left. You took some getting over.”
She frowned. “You're over me?”
“That's the stupid thing - the moment you stepped off that chopper I realised I wasn't. I love you now more than ever. You aren't leaving again - I just won't let you.”
“I don't intend to. Ever. It's you and me from now on - whatever that looks like. By the sounds of it we're going to have our work cut out for us. You've already been out in the field without me.”
“By the way our friends at the NSU are going we might be fairly busy by the beginning of the year,” I said, standing up. Riley drank the last of her coffee and threw her arms around my neck, pressing her body close to mine.
“Are you busy right now?” she whispered.
“I think I have some free time. Any plans?”
“I've got a few,” she said. Her lips pressed against mine, as familiar as they always were yet new as if we'd just met. “How many bedrooms does this place have?”
“A few.”
“Good. I'll let you know when we find one I like. We'll start with yours.”
“Then yours-” I said as her hands found the buckle of my pants.
“Then...”
The helicopter woke us a few hours later. We lay together in front of the library fire with only a sleeping bag to cover us and the heat from the hearth to stop us freezing to death. The chopper landed in its usual spot as I was finding my clothes around the house, rushing to put them on in case it was something more serious than another NSU visit.
The soldier met me at the back door. It was the same blonde lad from before. He wasn't cheery this time. In fact, he looked a little off colour and his uniform lacked the freshness I'd noticed the last time we'd met.
“Is everything okay?” I asked. “I was about to drive to your camp to fill you in on the three Americans.”
“It's nothing to do with that,” he said. “I'm sorry to have to deliver the bad news but I’ve been led to believe that Claudia Riley was dropped off here today?”
“That's correct,” I said. “Is there a problem?”
“I need to speak to her, if that would be convenient?”
Riley appeared at the door behind me. “Erik, how are you? Is everything all right?”
“I'm sorry, Claudia, but it's about your nephew. May I come inside?”
I made us a pot of coffee and we sat at the table while Erik explained just how it came to be that Alex had made it back to Russia.
“I thought he was supposed to be going to the States?” said Riley.
“We did as well. In fact, the plane he was supposed to be on agreed that he boarded as expected. Somehow he was able to get off the flight before take off and hitch a ride on a munitions truck heading back to Russia through France.”
“So you think he's trying to reach Saska?” I asked. Erik shook his head.
“No. It's much worse than that. We believe that Alex has...” He stopped and looked away from Riley.
“Erik, just spit it out,” she said.
“Alex has the data from the bunker on reproducing the virus. He was seen handing over data disks to someone we have reason to believe works in the same organisation as Corban once did. We had no other choice, Claudia. I'm sorry.”
“You mean...?”
“Yes. Our agents took action before the deal was concluded. Neither parties survived.”
“But it makes no sense?” she said. “Why would he betray us like that? After all we went through? Why?”
Erik held his hands up. “We do not know, Claudia. It's a mystery to us as well.” He stood up. “I should be going.” I rose as well, offering him my hand.
“It's okay, Erik. It isn't easy bringing news like that. Thank you for making the effort.”
He smiled and said goodbye but Riley remained where she was. I saw him back to the chopper and before he boarded, he passed me a folder.
“It's his personal items,” he said.
“Thanks.” I gave him my map with the details of the Americans on it. “That's where I found them,” I said.
“We'll send a team out to recover the bodies. I'll be in touch, Miller.”
I went back inside and saw that Riley hadn't moved. I placed the envelope between us and sat opposite her.
“Why, Miller? Why?” she said.
“I don't know,” I replied. “Maybe he was trying to get back at the General. I just don't know.”
“He could have killed millions with that information. Why didn't he just go back?”
I hugged her and together we moved into the library, sitting on the sofa while she cried it out. It felt like part of what we'd done together had been for nothing. Saving Alex had brought us together. Now we'd done that, it felt like a betrayal. Maybe I was just as hurt as she was.
15.
A week or so later the first recruits arrived - on foot of course. They were young, or at least it felt like they were compared to us, and they were stunned by the landscape, by the house and by former US Ranger Claudia Riley. That didn't last long.
Their days were filled with long marches, circuit training, navigation, rescue work, camping and bush craft plus a whole load of other things that between us, me and Riley seemed to thrive in teaching them. Dad would've been proud to see Riley expanding his life's work. I hope he'd have been proud of me too.
It was all possible because a young man had seen fit to take an orphaned boy under his wing so many years ago. It hadn't mattered to him that I wasn't his real son and there wasn't a moment in my memory where I didn't feel like I was. He'd done that for me and when someone does that f
or you, there's just no way you can repay it.
Maybe, looking at these kids, there is.
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