“Good thinking,” Kelly said. She brushed her braided hair over her shoulder and smiled warmly at him. Colton still hadn’t told his wife about Martha, or the violence on the road, but he wasn’t going to spoil the mood now by scaring her.
“I’m hungry,” Risa chirped.
“Okay, okay,” Colton said. “Let’s go grab some plates. Tonight, you can eat all you want.”
Risa skipped ahead to join a growing crowd. Kelly hurried after her, but Colton took his time, enjoying the smiles and listening to the friendly conversations. For a moment, it almost seemed like a normal night in Estes Park—until he saw Detective Lindsey Plymouth, dressed in uniform, jogging over to him.
“Chief, we just got a report of a break-in at the coffee shop on MacGregor Avenue,” she said. “I’ve also got some more bad news.”
Colton wanted to sigh, but instead he jerked his chin for Lindsey to follow him away from the crowd. Neither of them spoke as they moved through the locals. He tried to hurry past the picnic table where Mayor Gail Andrews and Tom Feagen, the town administrator, were sitting, but they spotted him.
“Hey, Chief,” Gail called. “Can I have a word?”
Jim Meyers, the owner of the Stanley Hotel, sat down at the table and nodded at Colton, but Tom merely shoved a spoon of beans in his mouth and looked back down at his food.
“How’s the Stanley?” Colton asked.
Jim shrugged a shoulder. “Could be worse.”
Gail tapped a finger on the table. “Colton, do you have a few minutes?”
“I’ll be right back, Mayor.”
Colton didn’t wait for the inevitable protest. He put his hand on Lindsey’s shoulder and guided her away from the table. This time they didn’t stop for anyone until they got to the street. Looking back over the celebration, Colton had a feeling the chance to enjoy a barbecue with his family had just slipped away.
“I always thought I was lucky working up here. I was insulated from politics,” he said.
Lindsey raised her eyebrows. “Insulated from most everything else, too,” she said.
“I did get a little bored, but at least we had peace and quiet,” Colton admitted. He shoved his hands in his pocket and said, “Spill the bad news.”
Lindsey didn’t hesitate. “Officer Matthew is checking out the report of the break-in on MacGregor, but this is the third one today, Chief. We’ve been seeing vandalism across town. So far it’s been limited to a few broken windows and spray paint, but I’m worried it will get worse.”
Colton shook his head. “We don’t have enough officers, damn it.”
“I know, which is why I thought I’d make a suggestion...”
Lindsey looked over Colton’s shoulder at the citizens gathered in the park. He turned to see what she was checking out. Then he realized what she was thinking.
“No,” he said.
“But Chief, there are thousands of people in town who don’t have a damn thing to do but wait for help to come. And think about all those tourists stranded here.”
“I’m having them all vetted. If we find any police officers, then I’ll gladly deputize them if they want to join our department.”
Lindsey flicked her nose with a thumb like a rapper about to bust a rhyme. Colton really hated it when she did that.
“Just say it,” he said.
“You’ve got to start trusting people, Chief. I know you have issues with Don, but that’s exactly why we need more help. I about got killed today, and things aren’t getting any better out there.”
Damn it, she was right. Jake was gone, Raven might not make it back from the rescue mission, and Don was about as trustworthy as a snake.
“I know a few former soldiers that could help us keep things under control…for a small price,” Lindsey said cautiously.
“A mercenary force,” Colton muttered. He shook his head warily. “If this is going to happen, then I want you in charge. Not Don. Okay?”
Lindsey smiled. “I got your back, sir. Don’t you worry.”
She jogged back to the station, and Colton returned to the barbecue. He spotted Kelly and Risa eating at a table with several of their neighbors. His mouth watered when he passed a platter of chicken wings. Before he could start loading up a plate, Mayor Andrews called out for him again.
Colton let out a short sigh to prepare for what would likely be worse than a grilling in front of a congressional committee. Every face looked up from their meals with the same skeptical gaze.
Gail set her fork down neatly on her plate. “I heard you gave a large amount of our gear and the Jeep to Sam Spears and Major Sardetti.”
“Yes, I did, Mayor. It’s Raven’s Jeep.”
“No, it was his,” Tom cut in. “Just like this food used to belong to the stores in town. Things changed when those bombs dropped. If we’re going to survive the winter, we need our resources, Marcus.”
“Chief,” Colton corrected. “And if we’re going to survive the winter, you need to get off your ass and start doing something other than complaining and eating free chicken wings. Raven and Nathan helped me kill Brown Feather and Turtle, and now they’re off trying to find the lost son of the Secretary of Defense. What do you plan on doing?”
Tom wiped barbeque sauce off his lips with a napkin and stuttered, “I—that’s hardly—”
“Listen, Chief,” Gail said mildly. “I think Tom’s point is that we need to be careful with valuable resources. For example, the woman you brought into town today.” The mayor looked at those around her and then back at Colton. “I was told she was nearly dead.”
“But she pulled through,” Colton said. He didn’t know where Gail was getting her information, but he was starting to lose his patience.
“But what will it cost to keep her alive?” she asked.
“Ma’am, if you think I’m going to let innocent people die, then we need to have a very serious talk. I’m all about securing our town and having a vetting process on who we let in, but part of my job is protecting those who can’t protect themselves.”
Gail rubbed her forehead. “We can’t save everyone, Chief.”
“It’s us or them,” Tom said gravely.
Colton mastered his temper with difficulty. “Martha was shot, Mayor. That’s different. Did you just expect me to let her die on the road? What if that was your mother, or sister, or daughter?”
“But she isn’t from Estes Park,” Tom argued.
“I’m making the best choices I can in a bad situation,” Colton said, trying to sound reasonable. “It’s my job to make those calls.”
Gail looked at him over her green-rimmed glasses. “Your own officers are questioning your orders.”
Several other families enjoying their meals turned to listen to the conversation. Colton clenched his fist. Now he knew where she was getting her info. Don was worse than a snake; he was a weasel.
“Ma’am—” Colton began to say.
“Do you really think Raven and Major Sardetti are coming back?” Gail interrupted. “Raven is hardly reliable. How many times has he been in and out of jail?”
“Excuse me?” snapped a voice that Colton knew all too well. He turned to see Sandra Spears standing nearby with Allie by her side.
“What did you say about my brother?” Sandra said.
Gail looked Sandra square in the eyes. “I’m only expressing an opinion held by many of my constituents.”
“My brother is coming back, and I worked all afternoon to make sure Martha does make it. Turns out she’s a doctor, someone this town really needs, and Colton saved her life. You should be thanking him,” Sandra said.
Gail smiled warmly. “I’m grateful to hear she might pull through, Nurse Spears, but we need to figure out—”
“Hey!” Tom shouted, cutting her off. He stood and pointed as Creek darted away from the table with a barbequed rib in his mouth.
“That stupid dog took my food,” Tom said.
Sandra let out an impressive
whistle. Creek trotted over, his prize still clutched in his jaws. She pointed at the ground. The dog reluctantly dropped the bone and sat on his hind legs.
“You’re wrong about Raven, Mayor. He and Major Sardetti will both return. With that Jeep,” Colton said confidently. “Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s been a long day and I’m going to have dinner with my family.”
Gail nodded curtly. “Good night. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Colton didn’t return the formality. He strode away with his hands in his pockets and his head down. He didn’t want to talk to anyone else but Kelly and Risa.
“Wait up, Chief,” Sandra called after him. “Do you mind if we join you for supper? I just got off a fourteen-hour shift, and they told us to come down here to get some food.”
Colton didn’t have the heart to tell her no. He smiled and gestured at the table where Kelly and Risa were already seated.
“How’s Martha doing?” Colton asked.
“She’s a tough lady, but she wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you,” Sandra said. “You did a good thing, performing CPR. Did you get checked out for radiation exposure afterward?”
“I’m fine,” Colton said. “Don’t tell my wife about that, by the way.”
They reached the table and Colton made the introductions.
Kelly stood and wiped her lips with a napkin, then held out a hand. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you and your brother.”
Sandra scowled. “I get that a lot.”
“No, mostly good stuff,” Kelly said. She hid her lie with a smile.
“Sweetie, you remember Allie, right?” Colton said.
Risa nodded and offered Allie some of her potato chips. Creek looked like he wanted to take her up on the offer, but Allie pushed her face against Sandra’s side. He didn’t remember Sandra’s daughter being so shy, but she’d been through a lot recently.
“Please, have a seat,” Kelly said.
“We’re going to grab some food first,” Sandra said. “You stay, Creek.”
The dog sat next to Colton, looking up with dark, pleading eyes.
“Let me guess, you’re starving to death,” Colton said with a grin.
“I made you dinner,” Risa said proudly.
A hearty meal of chicken wings, mashed potatoes, and beans was lumped on a plastic plate in front of him, but Colton was no longer hungry. Tomorrow would mark the sixth day since the attack. Things weren’t getting better, and help might never come. Gail still seemed to think she was in charge of a quaint little tourist town in the mountains, but the truth was that Estes Park was in the middle of a warzone. People like Don, Gail, and Tom would never see the situation as Colton did: with a soldier’s eyes.
His gaze swept across the park, taking in both familiar faces and strangers who’d been stranded in town. How many of them understood what was really going on? And how would they react when they realized things were never going to go back to the way they were?
Colton grabbed the plate and set it down in front of Creek. At least one of them was going home with a full stomach tonight.
A twelve-foot bank of grass bordered the circular island about the size of two football fields. The walls protected Charlize from the wind, and it also blocked the view from any tourists who might pass this way on a boat.
The island was too perfect to be natural. It was manmade.
She stood at the edge of the boat ramp, the only spot where she could actually see the ocean. Chief Fernandez and his Navy SEALs were climbing back into the boat that had dropped her and Albert off. He threw up a stiff salute and said, “Good luck, Secretary Montgomery.”
“Stay safe, Chief,” she replied.
She watched the boat zip over the waves toward the mainland. They were going back out there, but this time they weren’t being inserted under the cover of darkness in some foreign country. Their duty was to hold security on an American highway used for decades by tourists traveling to Cocoa Beach, the Kennedy Space Center, and Disney World.
One of the Marines nearby called out to her over the whistle of the wind. He guided them across the island toward a blocky concrete structure. It towered over a group of soldiers. In the middle of the group stood a man in a blue uniform with a chest full of medals. He stepped out to meet them and offered his hand to Charlize.
“Welcome, Madame Secretary,” he said. “It’s good to see you again. As you may remember, I’m General Justin Thor. Please follow me inside.”
His voice was rough, and his face was even rougher, with one brown eye recognizably larger than the other. The pain was making it difficult to think, but she only vaguely remembered this man. Her eyes flitted to his three-star rank, but nothing rang a bell. Usually she had a good memory, but the meds and constant anxiety had jumbled her mind. Charlize thought she might have met General Thor at a budget hearing on special projects, but before she could recall anything else, the screech of the blast doors derailed her train of thought.
“Thank you, General,” she said, shaking his hand.
“This way,” Thor said, gesturing for her to proceed into the hallway beyond the blast doors. Banks of lights guided them toward elevator doors at the end of the short passage.
“I certainly hope this facility was better designed than the PEOC,” Albert said.
Thor looked over his shoulder and smiled. “It’s the safest place in the world, in my opinion. I’m a bit biased, though, because I helped oversee the construction. You’ll see why I’m so confident shortly.”
Charlize was too tired and in too much pain to care much about the engineering that went into this place. She stepped into the elevator and rested her back against the wall. The bandages on her burned hand felt tight, pain pulsating down her forearm. She needed to have them changed soon.
The elevator chirped and began to descend. Beads of sweat dripped down her forehead. She used the sleeve of her sweatshirt to dab away the sweat, and with it the residue of the burn gel. The one painkiller she’d taken today had worn off completely. Her nerves prickled, and her breathing had become shallower.
“Are you feeling okay, ma’am?” Albert asked.
Charlize tried to arrange her face into an expressionless mask. “I’m fine.” The truth was that she felt like she might start screaming if she had to be stuck in this tiny metal box a moment longer. She’d never been claustrophobic, but being trapped in the nightmarish remains of the destroyed bunker beneath the White House had apparently done more than just physical damage.
“We have a very good medical facility here, Madame Secretary,” Thor said. “I’ve already spoken with our doctors, and they are prepared to continue your treatment.”
“I want to get to the command room first. I assume President Diego is already there.”
Thor offered a brusque nod. “He asked me to escort you to Command personally.”
The elevator jolted slightly when they reached the bottom and the doors whisked open, revealing another hallway and a second pair of doors ahead. Two rigid Marines holding M4 carbines stood guard.
They both snapped to attention as she approached. The one on the right moved aside to allow Thor access to the control panel. This time the doors opened to reveal a short metal platform leading to even more doors. The seams of those doors parted, and Charlize saw what looked like a fancy subway car. A dozen white leather seats furnished the windowless space.
“What’s this?” she asked, hesitating on the threshold. She wiped more sweat from her forehead.
“Our ride to Constellation.”
“I thought this was Constellation,” Albert said.
“Not yet,” Thor said. “We’re still two miles away. This train will take us underneath the ocean floor to the main facility.”
Charlize followed him across the platform into the train car. She took a seat next to Albert, wincing at the pain that raced up her back. The panel of lights above flashed green after the door sealed behind them. She immediately felt as though the air was being sucked
from the small, enclosed space. General Thor sat across from them and clasped his hands together, fiddling with a gold Air Force ring.
A soft vibration reverberated through the train. There was a jolt as they separated from the docking station, and then a series of smooth clicks. The train quickly picked up speed, and all sense of motion vanished.
Charlize took in short breaths, trying to manage the growing pain and anxiety. She was going to have to take another pill if she wanted to function today. There was no way around it now. She blinked several times and eyed the Marine sitting to Thor’s right, who was cupping an earpiece. The younger man leaned over and said something to the general.
Thor looked up at Charlize and proudly announced, “Constellation is officially now the home of U.S. Northern Command and our recovery efforts. President Diego just gave the order.”
Charlize sank into her seat. The news meant she was going to be here for a while.
“Do you have a family?” she asked him.
Thor lifted a brow. “Pardon me?”
“Do you have a wife and kids?” she asked. There was a reason for her question. She wanted to know right away if he was going to help her get Ty back.
“No, Madame Secretary. Live free and die free. That’s the way I’ve lived my life.”
Charlize couldn’t help but nod. “Easier to focus on a war when you don’t have to worry about kids. I get that.”
“Indeed, ma’am.”
He looked at his watch. “We should be under the ocean now and will reach Constellation in about ten minutes.”
Charlize closed her eyes for several moments. When she opened them again, her vision blurred and her stomach churned.
“Ma’am, I think we should go straight to the medical facility,” Albert said quietly.
“No,” she said, stiffening in the leather seat. “Take me to the command center first.”
He hesitated this time. “You said if I ever needed to talk to you, I could speak freely.”
She glanced over and met his sad eyes.
Trackers 2: The Hunted (A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Thriller) Page 13