I’d led squads with less firepower.
‘Something smells delicious,’ Sarah said, shucking her bag. ‘What’s for dinner?’
‘Moose tenderloin,’ he replied. ‘Buddy of mine shot one early in the season, wound up giving me quite a bit of meat. After you called last night I got some out of the freezer. Been marinating it all day.’ He went to the refrigerator and handed us each a beer.
‘You shouldn’t have gone to the trouble for us,’ she said.
‘Company gives me an excuse to cook a roast. No point in doing that for one.’
‘Sean’s quite the cook,’ she said. ‘You guys can swap recipes.’
‘You still useless in the kitchen?’ he asked with a smile.
‘I’m fabulous in the kitchen,’ she said.
I covered my reaction to this shocking falsehood with a sip of beer.
‘Still can’t cook,’ she added.
Bob’s massive hand thumped on my back as I choked and coughed on my beer.
‘Thanks,’ I gasped.
‘You OK, Sweetie?’ asked Sarah, all innocence.
‘I think I’ll live,’ I said, trying to ignore the new pain in my ribs.
‘Never a dull moment with this one,’ Bob told me.
We ate a leisurely dinner, accompanied by several beers, followed by coffee and finally the ceremonial opening of the bottle. After a drink, Sarah stood and excused herself.
‘I want to dig around some more on that disk. You boys get to know each other.’
‘I should try to call some people back home,’ I said. ‘Make sure these guys aren’t leaning on my partners.’
‘It’s late,’ said Sarah. ‘Why don’t you just call your voice mail?’
I looked blankly at her.
She sighed. ‘You have no idea how to call your voice mail, do you? After I get my laptop out, I’ll set it up so we can download your messages, see if anybody called.’
‘You’re too good to me.’
‘I am,’ she said. ‘Remember that.’
As she walked out of the kitchen, Bob turned to me. ‘She’s quite a woman.’
‘She is.’
‘She really cares about you. I can see it. Known her a long time.’
I waited.
‘You want to take that seriously.’
‘I take it very seriously,’ I replied.
‘I’ll spare you the speech. She’s a big girl; she can make her own decisions. Just be careful.’
‘I will.’
‘So,’ he refilled our glasses, ‘where’d you serve?’
‘I did a stint in the Marine Reserves,’ I began.
‘No,’ he interrupted. ‘The truth. You may have been a jarhead. Might even have stayed on in the weekend warriors for a while, training the newbies how not to get ambushed in Iraq and Afghanistan. But you’ve done some real fighting. And some black stuff. Let’s not lie to one another.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘I saw the way your eyes moved when you walked in. You checked the approaches to the house; looked for cover, concealment, areas that are blind spots from the windows. You thought about which way would be the quietest to stalk the place. You gave the gun case a long look. I bet you could name every piece in it. Probably know that the SKS wasn’t bought Stateside.’
‘Fair enough,’ I said. I wracked my brains for a story that would fit what he thought he knew and make him believe I’d served the government sometime since the Korean War.
Soldiers hadn’t changed much, but equipment and lingo had. A missed detail would stick out to a guy like Bob.
‘Did a hitch in the Seventh Marines. Got transferred to Force Recon. Went a lot of places. I was a decent shot, decent with languages, good with the locals and a ghost in the boonies.’ I shrugged. ‘I may have been temporarily assigned to a few government agencies.’
He nodded. ‘Now, this trouble you’re in,’ he said, ‘does it have anything to do with what you were doing for the government?’
‘You could say that.’
‘So, tell me about it. The broad strokes, no names, no places.’
I thought for a while. I could give him bare bones, let him understand the basic idea. He was offering us a place to hide, maybe he could help.
I was used to keeping secrets, hiding myself behind the things I didn’t say. What I wasn’t used to was the new secrets, the stuff about myself I’d hardly had time to assimilate. I decided to try it out on Bob.
‘I refused to follow what was basically an unlawful order. An immoral order. They wanted me to help torture a prisoner. We were in an unconventional situation. We unconventionally resolved our differences with a little bit of violence. The higher-ups stepped in, I quietly went away and things got smoothed over. Now somebody wants to resume our disagreement.’
He nodded. ‘I know the drill. I started out in 3ID. With Sarah’s dad. He did his four and got out. I went to Ranger School, got into Special Forces.’
He paused, looking out the window over the frozen lake.
‘Too much of what we were training for had too much scary potential for domestic spying, way I see it. That’s why I moved out here, away from the watchful eyes. Off the grid.’
‘You think somebody’s keeping tabs?’
‘I don’t give ’em much reason, but I don’t trust ‘em. I’ve seen the evil that a government can do.’
I remained silent. Tried to keep my expression neutral.
‘You look like you’re not convinced,’ he said. ‘Didn’t figure you for a guy who bought the bullshit about freedom and security. Figured you’d seen what makes a government scary.’
I’d hit a nerve by not agreeing. Probably a mistake, but too late to back off.
‘Did you ever serve in Africa?’ I asked.
He shook his head. ‘Asia. Some time in the Middle East. What’s special about Africa?’
‘Let’s just say I’ve seen what makes a lack of government so scary.’
I’d seen it in lots of places that weren’t Africa, but in Uncle Bob’s lifetime, most of those had been relatively well ordered. It didn’t really make a difference. When the system breaks down, and there’re no roads and no clean water and not enough peace to allow the construction of sewers or hospitals, or enough troops to keep order—well, you really don’t care if it’s Hutus or Vikings or Visigoths burning your hut and violating your women.
He grunted. Took another sip of whisky. ‘I still don’t trust them. Don’t trust anyone who wants that much power.’
‘There’s plenty of happy middle ground between a horde of rebel child soldiers with AKs and machetes invading the village, and jackbooted secret police hauling off the undesirables. Ambitious men will always seek power, and when they get it, they’ll seek more.’ I shrugged. ‘At least here, you can vote the sons of bitches out.’
He gave me a long look. It belatedly occurred to me that it was the kind of look he kept for men who enjoyed his hospitality, ate his food, sought sanctuary at his home, boned the daughter of his army buddy and then pointed out the holes in his deeply held worldview. It was also the kind of look that highlighted just how remote this house was, and how big he was.
That was a lot to get into a look.
After a long moment, the ice broke up and he gave a sour grin. ‘You might have a point. Mostly I think you only think that way because you’re still young and idealistic, but maybe you have a point. Maybe we’re so used to being safe from the Mongol Hordes that we forget.’
I smiled, partly out of the novelty of being called young and idealistic, and partly because we weren’t going to have a knock-down drag-out over the pros and cons of civilization.
He nodded. Finished his drink.
‘Well, you’re both welcome to stay here while you figure out what you want to do. If I think of anything, I’ll let you know. It’s about time I turned in. You two can take the guest room at the top of the stairs. If I’m not here when you get up, make yourselves at home. There’s food in the fri
dge, Sarah says you know your way around a stove. Just so you know, there’s a Browning 9mm in the drawer of the bedside table up in your room. Just in case trouble follows you.’
He heaved himself out of his chair and headed off to the ground floor bedroom. I looked at the narrow staircase, thought about my ankle and poured another drink before making the trek. At least there was a beautiful woman at the other end.
Chapter 25
I WOKE THE NEXT MORNING feeling merely awful, which was a step in the right direction. I dragged myself out of bed and shuffled slowly toward the kitchen. Through the window I noticed that Bob’s truck was gone.
As I passed the living room, I saw Sarah sitting at the computer, chin cupped in her left hand, one leg tucked under her, the other curled beneath the seat, her foot hooked behind the back leg of the chair.
I smiled as I admired the curve of her body, from the attractively disheveled blonde curls, down her neck and back, over her hip and down her leg. It was a pose that Rubens would have spent hours on, and Degas would have suggested with a single brushstroke.
‘So, who’s Monique?’ she asked in a flat, expressionless tone, not turning toward me.
My pleasant reverie shattered as alarm bells clanged behind my eyes. Survival instincts, honed by years of experience, called for a quick escape.
‘My partner on the ambulance,’ I replied, keeping my voice light and carefree. ‘Why? Is something wrong?’
‘I wouldn’t know. Why don’t you listen to the voice mail I downloaded and tell me.’
That sounded bad. I limped over to the machine and she clicked the mouse.
‘Hi Sean, It’s Monique.’
Crap. I’d never really paid enough attention to her voice, but now that I did, I realized she sounded like she should be charging me by the minute.
‘I just wanted to make sure you’re OK. You took off so suddenly the other night. Call me when you can. Hope everything’s alright. Hugs.’
Thanks, Nique, I thought.
‘She sounds pretty,’ Sarah commented. ‘Is she pretty?’
I knew there was no right answer. I gave the rightest one I could think of, with the added bonus that it was the truth. ‘Not as pretty as you.’
She tossed her head and her eyes flashed dangerously. ‘Dammit, Sean!’ she said, throwing her hands up in frustration. ‘How the hell am I supposed to know what to think? I like you. I really like you. You’re funny and thoughtful and I’m ragingly attracted to you, but the surprises are coming a little too thick.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I said sincerely. ‘I’m not trying to deceive you. I really like you. The last thing I want to do is screw this up.’
‘I really want to believe that,’ she shook her head. ‘I do. It’s just that I think to myself, finally, after all the jerks, all the posers, all the guys who just get theirs then roll over and fall asleep, I finally meet a guy who’s actually read books. Who can have an intelligent conversation, and cook and make me laugh and make love to me so my legs don’t stop shaking for two days, and I’m walking on air. Then I find out the great guy I’m so excited about is a fugitive with magical powers who’s being chased by knife-wielding, teleporting drug dealers, and spends twenty four hours a week in a truck with a girl with a phone sex voice and a stripper name... so, yeah, I’m a little fucking upset.’
She paused for a moment, breathing heavily. ‘Why did you have to run off so suddenly on Monique the other night?’ she asked with a trace of venom.
‘That was the night I invited you to go for drinks with some of the gang from work. I wanted to show you off. I took off early after we found out that a girl from admitting at the hospital got beat up. I realized that she had given me the info on Doors. The fact that you were digging for info for me on line made me worry that you might be in danger. I ran out suddenly and never explained leaving because I was so horrified at the thought of someone hurting you.’
She stood silent for a few heartbeats, then sniffed. ‘Oh, shit.’ Her lip began to tremble. ‘I’m sorry.’ Her body started to shake with sobs. ‘I didn’t know.’
I limped over to her, put my arms around her shaking shoulders and pulled her close.
‘It’s alright,’ I said softly. ‘It’s all my fault. I had no idea how bad this would get.’
She shuddered with sobs for a while, muttering, ‘It’s just too much. I’m sorry, but it’s too much.’
My own eyes welled with tears. I just held her and rocked her while my heart sank at the thought of losing her. The cynical part of my brain tried to make the point that this is what came of honesty, but that was only half of it. She had gotten beaten up before I’d opened up. ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you from the start. I’m sorry you were ever in danger. You mean the world to me, and I will move mountains to keep you safe and stay by you.’
‘You mean that?’ she asked at length, when she had cried it out.
‘I do. I just want to be with you and keep you safe.’
‘And you’re not sleeping with any tramps from the ambulance?’
‘Not a one. Nique is my partner, and a good friend. We depend on one another, and we’re close, but I promise you, there is absolutely nothing sexual. And there never was.’
‘You really want to be here with a boring old professor and not run off with the French paramedic with the bimbo voice?’
‘You’re hardly boring, my sweet. If I’d met more professors like you, I’d have stuck around and earned a few degrees. All I want is to hold you and cook for you and make you laugh and all the rest.’
‘You’re not forgetting the part about making my legs shake, right?’ she mumbled into my shoulder.
‘I’m not forgetting that part.’
‘Because that’s a very important part.’
‘It’s one of my favorites,’ I assured her.
‘So you want to spend your life with me?’ She pulled her head back to look up at me.
‘I do.’
‘Your freakish, unnatural, immortal life?’ She smiled. It was a small smile, but just then it was like the sun breaking through the clouds.
‘Every bit of it. I just want to not grow old with you.’
‘I’m gonna hold you to that,’ she warned.
‘So long as you hold me to this,’ I replied, giving her a squeeze.
‘Oh, double entendres,’ she said. ‘Be still my heart.’
She kissed me then, lightly at first, then with an increasing intensity, a passion with an underlying desperation. She clearly didn’t want to let go, and in view of her earlier concerns, she probably needed reassurance that she turned me on.
There are times, I reflected, when you need to man up and prove a point, injured or not.
I returned her kiss, running my good hand through her hair, and wrapped my other arm around her waist, squeezing her with my forearm and stroking the small of her back with just my fingertips. Fortunately, I still had the brace on my wrist.
I maintained the embrace as I steered her toward the bedroom, which allowed me to lean on her a bit to spare my ankle, and to pass off my wincing and gasps of pain as animal passion.
Only slightly distracted by my injuries, I did my best to reassure her that she held the prized position of object of my lust. That was one thing I didn’t have to fake, at least.
Afterwards, I held her close for a long time, and not just for her. With the warmth of her soft curves tight against me, I could forget the pain, the gnawing fear, the bafflement of not knowing my next move. I was, if only for a moment, happy and safe and... home.
Chapter 26
SARAH FELL ASLEEP PRETTY QUICKLY, but the throbbing in my wrist and the cramping of my ribs with every breath, as well as the racing of my thoughts, kept me awake. I eventually gave up, slid out from the covers and made my way to the living room.
I lurched to the liquor cabinet, poured a stiff measure and sat for a while, trying to figure my current situation.
Fuck, I summed up. That seemed to do it.
I was outnumbered, outgunned, out-resourced in every meaningful way. Doors and his minions knew more about me than I did, and if they had done a lousy job of tracking me down so far, their luck had to change sooner or later. Even if they didn’t know exactly which door to kick in to find me right at the moment, they knew enough about my job and my contacts that it was only a matter of time.
Hell, after my little visit, they might just start kicking in any door with the vaguest connection to me and work from there.
I was hiding out with a broken wrist, a sprained ankle, and no plan at all. They had an organization of heavily armed, if unimaginative, thugs, at least some of whom could walk through walls.
I had friends who were all I could hope for on an ambulance call, and a beautiful blonde who had, admittedly, helped me plan a moderately successful burglary. But they were hardly a team of killers, and just knowing me put them in danger. Doors and his thugs were willing to hurt people to find me. It was only a matter of time before they got around to my partners.
Maybe the best thing for everyone would be if I disappeared.
No. Doors and his men would still go after Sarah and Nique and Pete and all the rest, even if I didn’t tell anything he could use. They were his best leads, and they’d suffer.
Shit, shit, shit.
Fighting was unrealistic, running was no good and I doubted I could talk my way out of this one. I felt paralyzed.
For one brief, frightening moment, I very uncharacteristically considered walking into Doors’ office and going out in a blaze of glory, like a short-handed Butch and Sundance, just to spare my friends. I hope that was just the drink talking.
I heard Sarah walking around the bedroom. I decided if she needed me badly enough, she’d find me.
She did. She came up behind me and put her arms around my neck. ‘Thinking?’
‘Making an effort,’ I replied. ‘I’ve gotten as close as “drinking”, which at least rhymes.’
Out of Nowhere (The Immortal Vagabond Healer Book 1) Page 18