by Reed, N. C.
“Depends on which one it is,” Zach shrugged as he unloaded his sidearm and cleared it before he began checking it over for dirt or other issues. “Jody and Heath, and I guess Kurtis, now, are all snipers. Long distance riflemen. When they’re on the ground and part of a fireteam they’re referred to as Designated Marksmen, which almost means the same thing, but not. As a DM, they use a rifle more like ours and carry their long-range rifle in a padded bag to protect it. There are two more fellas on the place that can qualify as snipers as well, but they aren’t part of the teams and don’t stand a post except in an emergency.”
“Who are they?” Kim asked. “And why not?”
“Mister Meecham, who is a gunsmith, and Brick, or Byron House. He’s Xavier’s brother.”
“Oh,” Kim’s eyes got a little wider. “Why are their names different?”
“That’s a long story and ain’t really mine to tell,” Zach shook his head. “But Brick definitely knows his way around a rifle.”
“Thank you, Zachary,” Brick’s rumbling voice surprised them, causing Kim to literally shriek as she jumped to her feet. Zach just shook his head and he continued working on his handgun.
“Jesus Christ! You scared me half to death!” Kim bellowed.
“How’s it going, Brick?” Zach said, much more calmly.
“Things are well it would seem,” Brick replied before turning back to Kim.
“You should not take the Lord’s Name in vain, you know,” he smiled. “Especially not when we have so much to be thankful for.”
“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind, thanks,” Kim nodded, finally settling down a bit, though her heart was still hammering in her ears.
“Zachary, do you know if Jody is in the cupola?” Brick asked.
“I don’t think so,” Zach shook his head. “Last I heard, which was this morning, he’d gotten two days off in a row. Only person who might know where he is would be Jose, or maybe Clay, I guess. That’s a guess on my part, though. Something I can help you with?”
“No, and it was nothing important,” Brick made a small waving gesture. “We often discuss different rifles and their finer or weaker points. Tonight, however, I wanted to borrow a boresight that he has for large bore rifles. I will ask him for it another time. Good evening, Miss Powers.” He bowed ever so slightly at the neck before walking off toward the Sanders’ homes.
“There is no way a guy that large should be moving that quietly,” she grumbled, retaking her seat.
“You would not be the first one to say that,” Zach chuckled quietly. “Or even the second, for that matter.”
-
“It’s almost dark,” said Leanne Tillman. “Shouldn’t we be headed down?” Heath Kelly smiled at the impatience in her voice even as he scanned the area around them once again.
“You know full well that it’s another two hours and few minutes until sunset, which is typically when we close this tower down,” he told her. “I’ll be glad to stay here until the last minute of that time since it means that I have tonight, and all of tomorrow off watch.”
“I know, but I have to work tomorrow!” she protested. “And I made plans,” she added, refusing to look at him, lest he see her blush.
“Oh, you did, did you?” He lowered his binoculars and gave her his full attention. “And what would these plans of yours entail?”
“Just…stuff,” she tried to sound casual, and even shrugged a bit, but there was no hiding her eagerness to get to whatever it was she had planned.
“Stuff, huh?” he worked not to laugh at her behavior. “What kind of…stuff,” he put the same hesitation to the word that she had.
“Stop making fun of me!”
“I would never make fun of you,” he said seriously. “But you have to be able to laugh at yourself at least a little bit, now and then. And frankly, you are just so darn cute when you act like that, I can’t help but laugh a little. So, what are these plans? Am I included?”
“Of course, you are, idiot,” her face felt like it was on fire after being called cute. “But it’s a surprise. You’ll just have to wait,” she turned coy suddenly. Her surprise was a late-night picnic dinner in the hayloft of the main barn, which was still half empty. An idea she had gotten from Samantha Walters.
“Oh, a surprise,” Heath nodded. “Well, it’s only about two hours until then, so I guess I can wait that long. If only I had someone interesting that would wait with me,” he sighed dramatically.
“You are so stupid!” she laughed delightedly, her seconds old offense at being laughed at now forgotten.
-
“Looks like we aren’t the only ones who had this idea,” Kandi Ledford said quietly, nudging Shane Golden as they ambled toward the barn, basket in hand. Shane followed her nod to see Heath Kelly and Leanne Tillman, hand-in-hand, walking for that same barn.
“Well, I’d feel bad for getting in the way of young love,” Shane told her. She raised an eyebrow at that.
“Are you implying that I ain’t young anymore, Mister Golden?” she asked with her Texas drawl.
“Perish the thought, my lady love,” he replied at once, and she was glad that it was mostly dark enough to hide her blush. “But those two don’t get much time together. Heath is either in the tower or else she’s working somewhere. She works about fourteen hours a day, most days. How about if we go to the swimming hole instead?” he suggested. “We can put the blanket out and look at the stars. The moon should be about three-quarters tonight as well.”
“You’re just trying to get me to go skinny-dipping,” she scoffed.
“Is it working?” Shane asked eagerly, not actually having thought of that but seizing it now that she had mentioned it.
“You’ll just have to keep trying and see, won’t ya?”
-
“Good evening, Zachary. Miss Powers.”
“Dammit!” Kim Powers screeched yet again as she leaped to her feet, Xavier Adair’s voice coming out of the dark almost on top of her. “Are all of you this quiet!” she demanded.
“All of whom?” Xavier asked.
“First it was your brother, and now you, scaring me almost out of my skin!” the former cheerleader complained.
“Ah,” Xavier nodded in acknowledgment. “Yes, for a gorilla, Byron can be very stealthy. Does make one wonder sometimes how he does it.”
“You always call him gorilla?” Kim asked, once more settling down after being jolted.
“Oh, my dear Miss Powers,” Xavier’s tone was almost mocking. “I have called him much, much worse over the years. I see Zachary has not elucidated the particulars of our relationship to you, yes?”
“He hasn’t what?” Kim frowned.
“I haven’t told you anything about their relationship,” Zach clarified for her.
“Oh. No, he hasn’t,” she shook her head.
“Indeed?” Xavier cast a look at Zach.
“Not mine to tell,” was all Zach said as he finished reassembling his pistol, working the slide three times before loading it and returning it to the holster on his thigh.
“Perhaps another time, then, Miss Powers,” Xavier settled for saying, though pleased that Zach had not told her of his and Byron’s history. Xavier would not have been angry if he had, he was merely pleased that he had not.
“You two behave yourselves,” Xavier added as he headed off into the dark.
“Night, X,” Zach called to his mentor’s back.
“Why do you call him X?” Kim asked. “And why did Tandi call him Red?”
“X is what he normally goes by, of his own choice,” Zach shrugged. “Red is his callsign, but a lot the time people still just use X. He’ll answer to either.”
“He’s scary, a little,” she confided.
“I suppose so,” Zach shrugged. “Never thought about it.”
“How can you not think about it?” she almost demanded, so forcefully did she ask.
“Uh, by not thinking about it?” he replied as if it had been a trick questi
on.
“You don’t find him scary?” She cocked her head to the side as if examining him.
“Not especially,” he shook his head.
“I can’t imagine anyone not thinking he was frightening.” she admitted.
“Well, think of it this way,” he got to his feet, grabbing his gear off the table. “Whose side would you rather he be on?” Without waiting for a reply, he headed up the hill toward his new home.
“Where are you going?” she called, jumping up to follow him.
“Shift’s over,” he told her. “Evening Ty,” he said as Titus Terry appeared out of the dark.
“Jesus!” Kim Powers found herself screeching one more time as she all but ran into Titus. “All of you need a bell!”
“Sorry ‘bout that,” the teen told her. “My bad.”
“It was her, not you,” Zach chuckled. “It’s been quiet,” he started, then darted a glance at Kim. “It’s been uneventful,” he amended. “X is on the prowl for some reason, and Shane and Kandi are out toward the pool. I think Heath and Leanne were in the barn, earlier, but fairly sure they’re gone, now.”
“Heath was at the bunkhouse when I started down,” Titus confirmed. “Take it easy, man,” he fist-bumped his friend.
“Have a good evening, brother,” Zach nodded and resumed his trip up the hill.
“Have I bothered you tonight or something?” Kim asked, pulling aside of him as he walked.
“No. Why?” he looked at her.
“You just sounded like I had been too talkative tonight when you were talking to Terry.”
“That was just a joke after you yelled like that,” Zach chuckled. “No, it hasn’t bothered me.”
“So, if I did it again, sometime, that would be cool? Right?”
“Sure,” he shrugged. “No problem.”
“Good.”
CHAPTER NINE
Adcock kept his face carefully neutral as the body bag was brought in and placed on a waiting truck. He didn’t bother to open it, already aware of what, or who, was inside. It was the third soldier he had lost in two days in the effort to stop the violence against the people of Lewiston.
“Same as the others, I take it?” he asked Maxwell. The older man nodded grimly.
“Cut seven ways from Sunday, sir,” he replied softly. “Whoever did this was definitely sending a message.” He hesitated, and Adcock noted it.
“If you’ve got something else to add, Sergeant, now is definitely the time,” he motioned.
“Sir, with all due respect, the men and women we have with us are not geared for this,” Maxwell said. “They don’t have the training or experience for this kind of warfare, sir. We’re tankers. Artillerymen. Military Police. This is a job more in line with Ranger or SpecOps. Men who are used to creeping around in the brush. Our people sound like a herd of elephants coming through, sir. Then they hit heavy bush and brush, get separated, and we end up with this,” his motioned to the body bag.
Adcock considered all of that. It was apparent that when his people were in town, then whoever was doing this was continuing with business as usual. When his men went into the brush after them, however, then his own men became the targets. Maxwell was right, loathe as Adcock was to admit it. Their people just were not cut out for this kind of work. He could call the Major and request assistance, but that would make him look ineffective and might make the Major question his choice of Adcock to command this area. That, in turn, might lead to Flores taking command, which would ruin their relations with one of the better outfits in the region.
On the other hand, continuing to send his people into the bush doing work they weren’t trained for wasn’t working. It was in fact dangerous to his people in the extreme, as proven by the third body bag being brought to him in two days.
Damned if he did, or damned if he didn’t. He needed help, and he had a sneaking suspicion that he knew of at least one place where he could find it.
“Pull everyone in, Sergeant,” Adcock ordered, gathering his own gear. “Pull everyone in, assume defensive positions, and try to keep the center of town safe. I need to go and have a word with someone who might be able to assist us.”
“Roger that, sir.”
-
“Not a bad day so far, yeah?” Clay mused, sitting on his front porch. Lainie nodded happily as she sat next to him, enjoying the autumn air. These moments were rare for them and all but non-existent in the summer.
“It’s really not,” she smiled. “I’ve got all the windows open airing the house out. It will smell nice and fresh for the next few days, maybe.”
“Until the wind changes and we’re smelling good old down on the farm air,” he laughed.
“It doesn’t bother me,” she shrugged. “If anything, it reminds me how lucky we are.”
“Point,” he allowed. “Maybe later we can-,”
“Bossman this is Operations, come back.” Clay’s radio chirped just then.
“You know better by now than to make plans,” Lainie sighed, shaking her head as she raised up to allow Clay to reach his radio.
“Go for Bossman,” he replied. “Maybe it’s something simple,” he whispered to Lainie.
“Sure, it is,” she scoffed.
“Single Hummer incoming, east,” JJ said simply. “Possibly the Captain.”
“Roger that,” Clay frowned. “I’ll be down shortly.” He got to his feet.
“We weren’t supposed to see him until they were getting ready for winter garrison,” he told Lainie, gathering up his gear and rifle. “Something must be happening.”
“What a shock,” Lainie mock sighed. “Such a surprise.” Then she smiled to show him she didn’t mean it. “Don’t let him talk you into anything.”
“There’s nothing for him to talk us into,” Clay shrugged. “We’ve made our deal, and that’s as good as it gets.”
-
“-and now three of my own people,” Adcock finished explaining the situation in Lewiston. He looked rough. As if he hadn’t slept in three days or been near a razor. That was unusual for a man who generally tried to look squared away.
“Sounds like a lot more people than you first estimated,” Clay replied, keeping his voice non-committal. He did not like where this discussion was heading.
“I need help,” Adcock’s next three words confirmed Clay’s suspicions. “I’ve asked you, more than once, who you were. I’ve got my suspicions, of course, as I’m sure Maxwell and Gleason do, but you’ve never answered me. If you’re not special forces types, I’ll eat my bars. And right now, I need people like that. My men are getting killed trying to protect this town, and the town has lost twenty people that they can confirm, with more missing. Sergeant Maxwell noted that we aren’t trained for this kind of action. My men are tankers, mech infantry, artillery and military police, with a few logistics types thrown in for good measure. I honestly expected us to have this under control by now, not be burying three of my own people and four more civilians.”
Clay looked at Jose, who merely shrugged, meaning he neither opposed nor supported telling Adcock what he wanted to know.
“Captain, what was your posting back when things were normal?” Clay asked, leaning back in his chair.
“Intelligence,” Adcock replied at once. “I started out in infantry before moving to the MPs as an intelligence officer. I worked my way up from interrogating prisoners to collecting, reconciling and then postulating intelligence reports from various sources. If we had managed to get fully mobilized, that’s what I’d be doing right now,” he admitted.
“Are you familiar with an off-the-books operation known as the Counter Terror Group initiative?”
Adcock’s recognition was immediate as his face paled slightly.
“I’m just going to assume that is a yes,” Clay remarked dryly. “Ten of us were members of one such detachment. The rest were trained by us to the same standards we hold ourselves to. Other than Kurtis, who has his own unique brand of experience, even the teenagers i
n our outfit likely have more combat experience than most of your men, save for those like Maxwell and Gleason.”
“I knew it had to be something, but I was expecting it to be more Ranger or Special Forces Group related,” Adcock admitted. “Not….”
“Not something dirty?” Clay smiled, though it wasn’t a friendly sight. “It’s alright, Captain. You aren’t going to say anything others haven’t already said. We don’t wear berets of any color, just so you know. Nor do we claim to be the ‘best-of-the-best’ or anything else like that. We’re hunters, Captain. Or we were, anyway. We hunted. You would have never seen on the news where one of our detachments rescued high-profile hostages or saved hi-jacked airliners or any of that other sexy shit they make movies about. If we rescued anyone, they were likely poor villagers and victims of child trafficking that no one else in the world gave a damn about. So, while you are not completely wrong, you aren’t really correct, either. Sorry we couldn’t be what you were looking for.”
“Don’t misunderstand me,” Adcock held up a hand as Clay started to get to his feet. “I said I was in intel, remember? I’ve gotten information from teams like yours before. I just never expected to meet one in back-of-beyond Tennessee, that’s all. And hunters are exactly what I’m looking for, to be honest. This sounds like something that’s right down your alley.”
“Except that we’re no longer a functioning detachment, and we have no vested interest in what happens in Lewiston,” Clay replied evenly. “We’re just people taking care of our families, now.”
“What about when whoever is doing this gets done with Lewiston, Clay?” Adcock asked, though without challenge. “What will you do when they move your way? What then?”
“Then we’ll kill them, Captain,” Jose said quietly. “That’s what we do.”
“Then do it here,” Adcock urged. “Help me help this town and keep this threat away from your own door!”
“What are you getting out of this, Captain?” Clay asked, returning to his seat. “And what’s in it for us?”
“Other than the chance to help your fellow man to-,”