“She doesn’t seem much like the ‘staying put’ kind.” Boom chuckled, following Magee’s path. “Let’s go check on Osberg.”
Connor followed his friend to Osberg’s position, where two soldiers carefully lifted Osberg’s unconscious, but still breathing body out of his hole.
“Will he make it?” Boom asked Magee.
“Hard to tell, Captain. He’s lost a lot of blood,” Magee replied. “I’m taking him to his tent, and will do what I can.”
Boom nodded and looked over Osberg. “At least he got a tourniquet on himself. That’s something.”
“No, First Sergeant,” Jeff said, coming from behind Connor. “Liberty did that. I saw her slide into his position.”
“Hmm.” Boom looked thoughtful as he turned and asked Connor to debrief him on the operation. While Soldiers moved bodies and broke out shovels, Connor retold the story in full detail. Boom listened until the end, interrupting with questions as Connor spoke.
“Now, Noke.” Boom stared at the sky for a moment. “We need everyone who isn’t burying bodies to pull security.”
Connor watched a soldier drag a young Progression body toward the mass grave being dug. “It makes no sense that they would sacrifice all these lives. For what? What where they hoping to gain?”
“Exactly. We must keep all available men on security. They might be under some delusion that they weakened our forces enough to try again tonight.”
“I can go for Noke alone,” Connor said.
Boom stared at the sky for a moment before closing his eyes and crossing himself. He looked drained and more exhausted than any thirty-six year old should. “I’d rather not send you alone.”
Connor motioned to the lifeless bodies being dragged to their final resting places by the soldiers who’d ended their lives. “We took a pretty big chunk out of their forces here. The woods are probably at their safest right now, since those who escaped are most likely back at camp, licking their wounds.”
Boom’s hard stare told Connor he knew better. “That would make sense, yes, but as you said, nothing about this makes sense.”
Connor straightened. Moments stretched between them as he awaited the permission of his commanding officer.
Finally, Boom nodded.
Suddenly a small mop of dark hair flew through the air toward Connor. He opened his arms and Ashley slammed into his chest, causing him to stumble backwards. She clung to him and he wrapped his arms around her.
“We were so worried,” she said. “Thank God you’re safe! Libby made me stay in that hole, and I couldn’t see anything. There was shooting, and then it stopped, but she said I still couldn’t come out.”
Connor patted Ashley’s back and said, “I’m glad you stayed safe.” He pulled her away from him so he could get a good look at her. Then he stole a glance at Liberty, approaching behind Ashley.
“It appears that neither of us can follow directions,” Liberty said.
Boom ducked his head, probably to hide his smile. When he straightened, he wore a suspiciously neutral expression. “Libby, thank you for your assistance. That tourniquet gave Osberg a chance. He would most likely be dead now if you hadn’t been there to stop the bleeding.”
“That’s a bit melodramatic. I just stuck a cuff over his shoulder. Not a big deal.”
Boom stepped forward and clutched Liberty’s shoulders, forcing her focus on him. “Yes, it was. You helped both Osberg and Marr, and we all appreciate that. It’s a very big deal.”
She nodded, her cheeks reddening. “Anytime. Glad I got the chance to be useful.”
Boom turned back to Connor. “Go. Find Noke and hurry back. We have a lot to do here.”
“Go?” Ashley’s large, dark eyes stared up at Connor. “Where? You just got back. I don’t want you to leave. What if the bad guys come back again?”
He knelt in front of her and cupped her face in his hands. “One of our men is still out there. Now that I know you guys are safe, I have to go look for him. It’s my responsibility, sweetie. I’ll be back before the bad guys even limp back to their camp.”
Pulling her to him, he kissed her forehead and gave her shoulders a squeeze. Her skin felt soft and delicate under his wind-chapped lips, and he savored the way she didn’t pull away from him like she used to.
Liberty’s stare bore into the top of Connor’s head. He tried to shrug her off as he lowered Ashley to the ground. He leaned forward and brushed a kiss on Liberty’s cheek. “It’s nothing. Won’t take long at all.”
“Cool.” She smiled. “’Cause I’m coming with you.”
“No, you have to stay at the camp. They may need you here.” Connor looked to Boom for help, but his friend shrugged and turned away.
Thanks. Such a pal.
“Can I go too?” Ashley asked.
“Absolutely not.” Connor and Liberty said in unison.
Boom paused and turned back toward them. “Ashley, I could really use your help with something. I have a couple of kids to interview, and I’m hoping I won’t seem so scary with you by my side. Will you please help me out?”
Ashley wasn’t easily fooled. She sighed at Boom while eyeing Connor and Liberty. “Two hours. That’s all you get, then I come and find you.”
“Noted,” Liberty replied. “We’ll be back long before then. Won’t we, Connor?”
Connor doubted that Ashley would be able to slip past Boom, but he wouldn’t bet on it. So, he nodded. “We’ll take horses. As long as Libby can keep up, we’ll be back in no time.”
“Moi?” Liberty asked. “Please, old man. Bengay up, so we can roll.”
Connor shook his head. She sure knew how to make the four years between them seem like an eternity.
Boom chuckled. “Come along, Ash, before these two jump into warp speed.”
Ashley hesitated. “Are you sure I can’t come?”
“Positive,” Liberty replied.
Ashley’s shoulders slumped. “Fine. But two hours. I mean it.” She gave each of them a hug, and then allowed Boom to lead her toward the camp.
* * *
From the Army’s supply of horses, Connor selected an appaloosa stud—named Paint—for himself and a black mare for Noke. Connor saddled both horses, and then turned to help Liberty with the sorrel mare she’d selected, but she was already tacked up and mounted.
Surprised, Connor asked, “Would you like me to check the saddle for you?”
Liberty chuckled. “Thanks, but I think I can manage.”
Her tone held more than a little challenge in it. Connor chose to ignore it and mounted, knowing he’d prove his point when her saddle shifted and she ended up falling off.
Liberty led her horse over to stand beside Connor’s and lowered her voice. “Now that Ash is out of earshot, cut the crap and tell me what’s really going here. Is Noke alive?”
“I don’t know. We sent him back to tell Boom we were pursuing the spies into a building, but he never made it here.”
“I like Noke.” Liberty tangled her fingers in her horse’s mane, and then pulled them out to pat the horse on its neck. “What if they have him?”
He wanted to reassure her they’d find Noke, but he couldn’t. Instead of making promises he had no way of keeping, he tossed her the first aid kit she’d given him after the battle. She frowned, and then slid it over her shoulder. Connor tied the lead rope for Noke’s horse to his saddle horn and pushed Paint into a fast trot.
They rode in silence. Connor watched the trees while Liberty stared ahead like a zombie. He wondered if she was remembering her time at the Progression camp and imagining the truck driver suffering the same fate. Despite her dazed expression, she kept pace with Connor, moving with the horse instead of being jostled all over the place.
Connor’s curiosity finally got the best of him, and he asked, “Where did you learn to ride?”
“Back home. Almost everyone in town rides.”
Reining in Paint, Connor slowed to a walk. “I thought you grew up around Portland
?”
“No. What gave you that idea?”
“Probably the way you had your gun stuffed into your waistband when I first met you. Classic city-girl mistake.”
She rolled her eyes and tugged on the reins, bringing her horse to a walk beside Connor. Her cheeks flushed and her eyes brightened with excitement. Not only did she know how to ride, but she obviously enjoyed it that it had pulled her out of her dark thoughts. “Where I’m from, we use rifles. I’m not used to handguns.”
“Oh? Where is this mysterious place where people ride horses and shoot rifles?”
“I’m sure you’ve never heard of it. It’s a super small town in south-central Oregon. Very secluded. I’ve been gone for a while, though, and I haven’t been on a horse in ages.”
“So, was this a rodeo town? Like Pendleton?” Connor asked.
“Smaller and further south.”
He forced a country twang into his speech as he said, “Bet you was a purdy rodeo princess.”
Liberty snorted. “Hardly a princess. I did rodeo though. I barrel raced and pole raced, but I was a tomboy. I had no desire to get all dolled up and wave at the crowd. No thank you.”
A smile tugged at Connor’s lips. “I don’t believe you. You would have sold out for a crown. Any girl would.”
“And that, right there, is exactly why you’re single.”
Connor chuckled. “Yeah, that’s it. Couldn’t possibly be the fact that I’ve spent the past several months in hiding, trying to provide for myself and my daughter while the whole world went crazy.”
“Excuses, excuses.” Liberty waved him off with a hand. “What about before the insanity? Your face was always plastered over the the tabloid with your weekly squeeze, but did you have anything steady?”
The women in Connor’s life had been fun, sexy, and willing. Not exactly relationship material, but then again, neither was he. Since he knew Liberty wouldn’t want to hear those details, he shook his head.
“Nope. What about you?” he asked. “Was there a Mister Liberty in your life?”
She laughed. “Yeah, right.”
“Why not?”
“Probably because I wouldn’t accept that damn crown.”
Connor heard a twig snap in front of them. He held out a hand, silencing Liberty, and then jumped off his horse and aimed his gun into the bushes. Inching forward, he heard Liberty dismount behind him, and turned around to motion for her to stay back.
She shook her head and followed him.
Since he knew nothing shy of shooting her would change her stubborn mind, he ignored her and crept forward.
Someone whistled. It was a weak, breathy sound, but still a whistle that Connor recognized. He whistled an answer, and then Noke stumbled out of the brush. He looked like someone had drained the blood from his face and dumped it down his thigh. Connor looked closer and saw that the old trucker had used a bandana and a stick to fashion a rudimentary tourniquet around his thigh, just above what appeared to be a bullet wound.
As Connor took in the scene, Noke’s leg gave out. Connor lunged forward, catching the wounded man right before he hit the ground. Liberty appeared on the other side of Noke, her face drawn tight with worry.
“What happened?” Connor asked. He didn’t know how long the soldier had been leaking blood, but doubted Noke could make it the additional ten steps to the horses.
Liberty must have shared his doubts, because she left to bring Noke’s horse closer.
“Ran into a bunch of those kids. I took out a couple of them, but one got me in the leg,” Noke replied. “Luckily they were in a hurry. Didn’t even stop to make sure I was dead. They were heading for the camp.”
“They hit it too, but we held them off. Only one dead and a couple wounded.”
Noke let out a deep breath. “That’s a relief.”
Connor agreed.
Liberty angled the black mare to a stop with the left side of the horse directly in front of Noke. “Your carriage awaits, Sir,” she said with a bow.
Noke grimaced. “I hope she’s got a smooth ride in her.”
Connor hoped so as well. Judging by the way Noke sweated, Connor didn’t know how he could get the soldier mounted, much less keep him in the saddle. Noke leaned on Connor as the two of them stared at the stirrup.
“What can I do to help?” Liberty asked.
“I’m not sure. Noke, maybe if you put your weight on us and try to put your left foot in the stirrup we can… try to get you up and over?”
Connor glanced around the forest. They needed some sort of pulley system, but he didn’t think Noke had the time it would take him to build one.
Noke stiffened. “All right. Let’s get it done.”
Liberty slid next to Connor, and, as Noke shifted, Connor got under the weight of his body while Liberty held the wounded man steady. Noke leaned against them and jammed his foot into the stirrup. Beads of sweat formed around his hairline and the last drops of color drained from his face. Connor felt Noke’s muscles tense, and then they released completely. Two hundred pounds of dead weight crumpled on top of Connor and Liberty.
Connor shifted, shouldering the majority of Noke’s weight. “Grab his arms,” he told Liberty.
She released her hold on Noke’s shoulders and held his arms. “Okay, now what?”
“We’re going to lay him on the ground.”
With Liberty keeping Noke’s arms out of the way, Connor lowered the soldier to the ground and checked his pulse. It was slow, but steady.
“He’s alive, but we’ve got to get him to Magee if we want him to stay that way.”
Liberty nodded. “Tell me what to do.”
“Hand me the first aid kit and take the saddle off his horse.”
As Liberty removed Noke’s saddle, Connor checked the tourniquet Noke had put on himself. It held fast, so he didn’t mess with it. Instead, he cleaned and dressed the wound. When he and Liberty finished their individual tasks, they worked together to lift Noke and draped him over the horse’s back, leaving his arms and legs dangling over the sides.
“Will he stay like that?” Liberty asked.
“Hope so. Mount up.”
As Liberty climbed atop her mare, Connor grabbed Noke’s saddle and handed it to her to hold.
“We could leave it behind, but I’d rather not if you can ride with it,” he explained.
She accepted the saddle and positioned it in front of her. “I got this.”
He knew she had to be scared and worried, but she put up a brave front. He brushed her cheek with his hand. “I know. I’m going to lead Noke’s horse, and I need you to follow it and let me know if he starts to slip off the side.”
She nodded and Connor grabbed the black mare’s lead rope and went to mount Paint.
* * *
Regardless of how slowly the trio rode, the uneven ground jostled Noke, causing him to slide down one side or the other. Connor lost count of how many times he had to stop and readjust the soldier. As they trekked back to the camp, dusk melted into night. It swept in quickly and blanketed the forest in a thick and heavy darkness. Between the breaks in the trees Connor watched the moon in order to stay on course. By the time they finally reached the camp, the moon stood high in the sky, and Liberty looked exhausted.
Connor whistled the pass code as they rode into the camp. The bodies had all been cleared away, and most of the individual fighting positions were occupied. Blackened guns scanned the forest, and silence enveloped them like they’d been sucked into a sound vacuum.
“Wow,” Liberty whispered. “Are we under attack?”
“No. Just prepared. They know where we are now, so we’ll stay on high alert.” Feeling revitalized by the energy of the camp, Connor slid off Paint and handed the reins to an approaching private.
Magee appeared from the darkness, acting like a mother hen as he clucked over the shoddy tourniquet and checked Noke’s pulse.
“Well, he’s breathing, at least,” the medic declared.
Connor decided to accept that as a good sign. He helped the medic lower Noke from the mare, and two more soldiers appeared to carry the wounded man to his tent. Connor watched them walk away, wondering if he’d ever see Noke alive again.
Liberty rested a comforting hand on his arm. “He’ll be alright,” she whispered.
Connor didn’t know if she was trying to reassure herself or him.
“Yeah,” he replied and patted her hand. “I hope so.”
He tipped his head over until it rested on her shoulder. Considering that she stood quite a bit shorter than him, the position wasn’t at all comfortable, but he didn’t care. He grabbed her arm to steady himself.
“Thank you,” Connor said.
“For what?”
“For coming.”
Liberty chuckled. “You didn’t want me to come.”
“Sure I didn’t.”
He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds around them. An owl hooted in the distance, and somewhere closer, a critter skittered through the night. The faint rush of the river sounded like background music to the low hum of conversation coming from the main tent. Regardless of his lack of comfort, Connor could have stood like that forever. Liberty had other plans, though. All too soon she gently pushed his head up and pulled away.
“We should make sure Ashley didn’t run off to save us,” she said. “She’s probably worried.”
“She’s in the main tent, playing cards. I’ll bring her to your tent.”
“How could you possibly know that?” Liberty asked.
Connor shrugged. “I’m just good like that.”
She slugged him in the arm. It was half-hearted and he laughed it off, holding up his hands.
“Okay, okay. Magee told me.”
“I was standing right here. When did he tell you?” she asked.
“We speak in code.”
Liberty put her hands on her hips. “I got your code for you.”
He smiled. “That sounds promising.”
She rolled her eyes. “You are hopeless.” Then she turned and headed toward her tent.
Still smiling to himself, Connor drifted through the tents to find Boom and Ashley in the main tent, engaged in what appeared to be an intense card came against Braden and Kylee. Ashley sat facing the entrance and stopped in the middle of her argument with Braden when Connor walked in.
Liberty's Hope (Perseverance Book 2) Page 6