“Biological engineering,” Pilar said. “He was interested in it because of you.”
“Right.”
“Fuckin’ do-gooder,” Miguel commented. “I’d take the money and run.”
Loup smiled at him. “No, you wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, I might. Don’t overestimate me, kid. That hero effect of yours only goes so far.” He pushed his chair back from the table. “That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. I’m gonna take off tomorrow.”
“For where?”
He shrugged. “Thought I might go back to Vegas for a week or two. Take in a fight, do some gambling. Meet a hot babe who isn’t some jerk’s wife. After that, I don’t know. California, maybe. I just want a chance to see the world and do all the shit I left Outpost to do in the first place.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “I gotta find a way to score a driver’s license.”
“Vegas?” Her voice rose. “And you call me an idiot?”
“What, because of Mr. Big at the Hellfire Club?” Miguel waved a dismissive hand. “He’s not gonna bother with me. I’m a citizen now. I could file charges against him. Anyway, I’m not going anywhere near that place.”
Loup sighed. “If you’re wrong, we’re so not coming to rescue you this time.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Look…” He paused. “I’m not cut out to be a hero, Loup. I’ll feel better knowing you’re safe. And it’s good to know that the two of you can take care of yourselves. But you’ve got all kinds of big plans and dreams that don’t fit me. I’m not ready to go back to Outpost. I’m not the guy I was when I was there. I’m not sure exactly who I am these days. I need some time to figure it out, okay?”
“Okay. You’ll stay in touch?”
“Yes, you little freak!” Miguel tousled her hair. “Always.”
“Another touching moment,” Pilar observed.
“Oh, you hush.” He pointed a finger at her. “I just babysat your miserable, languishing ass for the past few months. And believe me, it was no picnic. Do you realize it’s impossible to get any action when you’re stuck with a teenage sexpot threatening to burst into tears at a moment’s notice?”
She smiled at him. “You were great. I’ll miss you.”
Miguel eyed her cleavage. “Yeah, me too.”
They agreed to meet for breakfast the following day to say their final goodbyes. Afterward in the hotel room, Pilar told Loup more about the possibility of a movie deal.
“Geordie says we’ll want to meet with the studio executives in person,” she explained. “That it’s not always about money. There’s the vision thing. Like, you want to go with someone who sees things the way you do and wants to tell the same story you do. After all, it’s your life.”
“Do we have to do it right away?”
She shook her head. “No. We can do whatever we want. You want to go home first?”
Loup wrapped her arms around her knees. “Yeah.”
“I could maybe arrange for media coverage,” Pilar speculated. “It’s a pretty good angle, the hometown hero returning. While you were in jail, there was a film crew that got permission to cover—”
“No media,” Loup interrupted her. “I don’t want a big scene. I just want to see everyone, you know?”
“Yeah, I do. Sorry, I kind of got used to thinking about how to do everything possible to keep your story out there while you were detained. No media.”
“Thanks. Pilar… there’s something I need to try to do before we leave here.”
“You want to talk to that Johnson guy.” She smiled at Loup’s surprised expression. “I figured you would.”
“You know me pretty well, huh?”
“Yep.” Pilar kissed her. “You think there’s a chance? After all, no one was allowed to see you.”
“Abernathy thinks so. Something to do with extraordinary circumstances, the image of the military, and the fact that I’ve already been inside the detention center… I dunno. He said he’d call within a day or two.”
“Okay. You want to meet with Geordie to talk about the movie deal?”
“Sure.” Loup nodded. “Guess we need to talk about our contract with Kate, too.”
“True,” Pilar agreed. “They’re being cool about it, but I know they’d love to have us tour with them in North America this fall.”
“It is kind of fun. And we owe them.”
“Oh, they came out of it okay, believe me.” Pilar’s Dataphone rang. “Hello?” She beamed. “Magnus, hi! Yeah, thank you. Oh, believe me, we’re delighted. Yeah, she’s right here.” She passed the phone to Loup.
“Hi, Magnus! Thanks, thanks so much.” She listened, smiling. “Yeah, we’ve got some things to take care of, but we’ll keep it in mind. Thanks, I appreciate it. Say hi to Sabine, will you?” She listened some more, eyes growing wide. “No kidding! Wow, well, congratulations. That’s wonderful. I’m sure we’d love to come. You don’t think Sabine’s head would explode?”
“No!” Pilar breathed. “They’re getting married?”
Loup nodded vigorously. “Okay, well, thanks again for everything. Take care.” She ended the call.
“Seriously?”
“Yep.” She grinned. “And Magnus wants to invite us to the wedding.”
“Ohmigod! Sabine will have a fit.”
Loup shook her head. “He said he thinks she’s come to bear a—a certain grudging respect and perhaps a soupçon of affection for us.”
“Soup’s on?” Pilar said, bemused. “What does that mean?”
“I think it’s French for ‘I no longer consider you a guttersnipe’ or something.” She flopped back on the bed. “God, this is all so bizarre! We went from being stuck in Outpost and having no futures at all to having all the possibilities in the world open to us.”
“You deserve it.” Pilar sat cross-legged, settling Loup’s head in her lap and stroking her hair.
“You too.” She gazed at the ceiling. “And so many people to thank, you know? Senator Ballantine and all of his people in their Reform Caucus, that Mr. Sandoval, Abernathy, Magnus and Sabine… Jesus, Clive and Addie!”
“Ms. Coxcombe.”
“Yeah.” Loup smiled. “You were right, those deportment and elocution lessons did come in handy. That’s why you were so good on the stand.”
“Mm-hmm.” Pilar kissed her forehead. “And then there’s Randall and the boys…”
“All the Kate fans…”
“All the soldiers…”
“Christophe,” Loup said wistfully. “Tía Marcela, and all my aunts and cousins.” She craned her head around. “Jesus, I should call them! Hey, Pilar? Do you still think you might like to live there? Huatulco, I mean.”
“In a cute little house near the ocean?” She kissed her again. “You bet, baby.”
“It wouldn’t be full time,” Loup mused. “Not for a while. But it would be nice to have someplace to call home. And as excited as I am about going back to Santa Olivia, I don’t think that’s gonna be it.”
“No.” Pilar’s hands went still.
“In a way, it always will be. I mean, that’s where we’re from, right? It’s a part of us; it’s who we are. But I don’t think it’s where we’re meant to stay.”
“I couldn’t live there.” Pilar shook her head. “Not in the shadow of that military base, remembering what they did to you.”
“Yeah, but they’re still our people there.”
Her hands resumed their idle stroking. “And some will stay and some will leave. Some might even want to come to Huatulco.”
Loup’s eyes brightened. “You think?”
“Maybe.” Pilar twined a length of Loup’s hair around her fingers. “Maybe we could get funding for a nice little church dedicated to Santa Olivia.”
“For Father Ramon?”
“Sure.” She smiled. “And Sister Martha, and Anna… I mean, I don’t know how all that works or if it’s even possible. And, um, there’s the fact that he doesn’t exactly believe in God
and was never actually ordained.”
“Or celibate.”
“That, too,” Pilar allowed. “But they’re awfully good people who worked harder than humanly possible to keep the world together when it fell apart. Who knows?” She shrugged. “I’m just thinking out loud.”
Loup smiled wryly. “They’ll never leave Outpost while there’s work to be done there.”
“So we help them do the work.” She leaned over to plant a lingering, upside-down kiss on Loup’s lips. “Right?”
“Right.”
FIFTY-ONE
Loup hugged Miguel fiercely. “Just try to stay out of trouble, will you?”
He huffed, the air leaving his lungs. “Jesus! Lighten up, freakshow!”
“Oh, for fucks sake! I’m serious.”
“Yeah, whatever.” He squeezed her briefly, then pushed her away. “Ecchevarria… take care of her, will you?”
Pilar nodded. “You bet I will.”
“That’s my girl.” Miguel kissed her cheek. “Hey, have you still got that sexy little Hellfire maid costume Loup wore for the big rescue mission?”
“Um… yeah. Why?”
He grinned. “No reason. I just like to think about it from time to time.”
They watched him saunter away, suitcase in hand. Pilar shook her head. “Miguel fucking Garza, huh?”
“Yep.”
“I get it, though. Now.” She glanced at Loup. “He was really good to me while you were gone. In that totally grouchy, pervy, big-brother way. Whenever I was really down, he’d find a way to bully me out of it.”
“That’s Mig.” Loup’s Dataphone rang. “Whoops! It’s Abernathy. I’ve got to take this.” She answered. “Hi, it’s Loup. What’s the news?” She listened. “That’s great. Sure, I can be ready by two. I’ll be waiting at the entrance.”
“They’re gonna let you see Johnson?” Pilar said when Loup ended the call.
“Yeah, this afternoon.”
She shivered. “I understand, baby, I do, but the idea of you going back to that place gives me the creeps.”
“It’ll be okay.” Loup hugged her. “I promise.”
“I believe you.” Pilar sighed. “I just don’t much feel like letting you out of my sight. But that’s okay, I’ll start working on our travel arrangements. Once this is over, we want to get to Santa Olivia as soon as possible, right?”
“Don’t you?”
“Yeah. But we can’t just go yet. We have to apply for a cordon visa.” She smiled ruefully. “They’re still monitoring access in the interest of national security. Senator Ballantine’s office thinks they can expedite the process for us.”
“Thanks, Pilar.”
“You bet, baby.”
Tom Abernathy pulled up at two o’clock sharp and drove Loup to the detention center. She pestered him for news about the GMO detainees.
“It’s good,” he assured her. “We’re in the process of working out the terms of the general amnesty I mentioned. As soon as that’s finalized, most of them will be released.”
“What about Johnson?”
He shook his head. “He’ll do time and so will his brother, even though he’s not a GMO. They’ve confessed to aiding in your escape. There’s no getting around it. But since you weren’t classified as an enemy combatant, I’m pretty sure I can swing a minimum sentence for them.”
“How long?”
“Two years.”
Loup was silent.
“It could be a lot worse.” Abernathy glanced at her. “And now that the Human Rights Amendment has been repealed, once this is sorted out, I ought to be able to get him transferred to a much better facility. No more solitary confinement and MREs. Gym and library privileges, rec time.” He smiled. “I hear there are a couple of facilities where you can get a good basketball game going. That would be something to see, hmm?”
She smiled reluctantly. “Yeah.”
Inside the detention center, she was issued a security pass. Abernathy escorted her to the familiar interview room. It felt strange to sit on the opposite side of the table. A few minutes later, a guard brought in John Johnson. He was clad in an orange jumpsuit, his hands manacled in front of him.
Loup rose. “Hi.”
“Loup Garron.” Johnson met her eyes and smiled. “Can I shake her hand?” he asked his guard.
The guard shrugged. “Go ahead.”
They shook awkwardly, the chain jingling between them.
“So.” He sat with a precise economy of movement. “You did it.”
“Not alone.”
“No,” he agreed. “Not alone.”
She pointed at the handcuffs. “I’m sorry about this.”
“Don’t be.” His green eyes were unblinking. “When I agreed to trade places with Ron, I knew what I was doing. When I stepped into that ring to face your brother, I knew the risks. I thought I could control the situation. I was wrong. Your brother was a good fighter—better than I expected.”
“Tommy spent his whole life training to be a good boxer.”
“I know,” Johnson acknowledged. “And I underestimated him badly. If he’d been a GMO, he’d have taken me out in the first round. As a result, I was careless. I hit him too hard.” He was silent a moment. “We talked about this before we fought, you and I. I know you understand that it was a terrible accident. I never meant for it to happen.”
“Yeah, I know,” Loup said softly. “I do.”
He shook his head. “And yet… I knew the risks.” He shifted his hands, the chain rattling. “Ron and I, we consider ourselves guilty of manslaughter. It doesn’t matter that the sentence we serve is for a different crime. The punishment fits.”
“You freed me,” Loup reminded him. “And Pilar.”
“Yeah.” John Johnson smiled crookedly. “I thought that might be enough to grant me absolution in my own heart. It wasn’t.”
She gestured at his manacles. “Will this?”
He considered it. “In sofar as anything can, I believe so. That’s why I asked you to tell the truth. And that’s why I’m asking you to let it go, Loup. You don’t bear any guilt in this matter. It was my choice.”
“Okay.” Loup cocked her head. “The affidavits… that started with the GMOs, didn’t it?”
Johnson grinned. “Yeah. Pretty good, huh?”
“Why now?”
He shrugged. “Why not sooner, you mean? It wouldn’t have been effective. And we had our own interests to look out for. Things had to reach a critical mass, a tipping point, before a majority of enlisted men grew brave enough to join us.” He pointed at her. “Which you provided.”
“Me?”
His laughter rumbled deep in his throat. It was a sound that made his guard reach reflexively for the butt of his gun, though it didn’t bother Loup in the slightest. “You gave us a good face to present to the world.” He flexed his hands in their steel cuffs. Corded muscle and sinew in his forearms bunched and shifted. “We look dangerous. You don’t.”
She smiled. “You know better, though.”
Johnson’s eyes gleamed. “At least I lasted eleven rounds. Maybe I’ll have a chance to train while I’m in the brig. We could have a rematch.”
Loup shook her head, not without regret. “If you’d trained half as hard as I had for that match, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have stood a chance. And I’m very sure that Pilar would lock me in a cellar before she’d let me try it again.”
“It would be fun, though.”
“Yeah.” She grinned. “It would.”
“So.” He cleared his throat. “Have I set your mind at ease? Can you walk out of here and enjoy your freedom without any hint of reservation? Because I’d like that. Trust me, the time will pass a lot quicker knowing it was all worthwhile.”
“I’ll try,” Loup said honestly. She laid her hands over his. “Thank you.”
John Johnson squeezed her hands. “You take care.”
It was the same thing he’d said before.
Her eyes burne
d. “You too.”
She was quiet and thoughtful as Abernathy escorted her to the car. He drove back toward the hotel, glancing at her periodically.
“How can you bear him so little resentment?” he asked at length.
“Huh?”
“For your brother’s death.”
Loup rested her head against the window of the car door. “You heard him. He feels awful about it. I could tell that from the beginning. How would resenting him help? It wouldn’t bring Tommy back.”
“It’s human, that’s all,” he said.
She gave him a look. “Yeah, well…”
“I know, I know!” Abernathy drove. “I wonder… being unable to fear, does it make it easier to forgive, do you suppose?”
“I don’t know.”
“I suspect we have a lot to learn about ourselves from your kind,” he mused. “The big differences, they’re not the obvious ones, are they?”
“I guess not.”
He gave her a fleeting smile. “You definitely make life more interesting.”
At the hotel, Pilar was waiting by the front entrance, worried and pale. Her face lit up when she saw the car pull into the entry. Loup felt her heart grow lighter at the sight of her.
“Hey, baby!” Pilar greeted her with a hug and an exuberant kiss. “Sorry, I got nervous waiting. Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, it is.” Loup turned. “You remember Tom Abernathy? You met him at the press conference.”
“Hi.” She gave him one of her dazzling smiles and shook his hand. “Thanks again so much for everything.”
“It was my pleasure.” He turned to Loup. “Loup? Now that everything’s finished, I don’t know when we’ll see each other again.”
She kissed his cheek. “You’re one of the good guys, Abernathy. Don’t ever think you aren’t.”
There was a shadow of sorrow in his smile. “Thanks.”
They watched him drive away.
“You didn’t tell me your lawyer was a one in a hundred,” Pilar commented.
“Looks that way, huh?”
“Definitely.” Pilar gave her another quick kiss. “So how do you feel about going home in two days?”
“Two days? Seriously?”
“Yep.”
Loup took a deep breath. “Good. Really good.”
[Santa Olivia 02] - Saints Astray Page 36