by Angela White
Kyle stopped the thought, reddening, and Jennifer giggled.
There was an edge of flirting between them now and it was driving him crazy.
Jenifer didn’t want to ruin the good mood, but she had to let him know part of her role in Angela’s plan. He wouldn’t like it, but orders were orders.
Kyle sensed the calm had vanished and braced. “What is it?”
“I’m supposed to work with Conner. Alone.”
Kyle took that in as well as he could. “Does he scare you?”
“All guys do, a little, but I’m working through it. He’s just a boy.”
“So why bring it up?” he asked, thinking people were being thrown off teams for much less than what she’d told him.
“My orders said to tell you.”
Kyle didn’t like the sound of that. “Did she say why?”
“Yeah, she… uh…” Jennifer stared at the ground. “She said I may need help later and you’ll know where Conner is and be able to find me.”
Kyle realized several things at once. The first was that Jennifer wasn’t scared—she was excited. The second was that Angela knew all of them too well. Her ability to predict their future choices was frightening. The third was that Angela was providing him and Jennifer a way out.
“I don’t want it,” he growled suddenly, making her jump. “I don’t need a safety net.”
Jennifer waited for him to calm down before delivering the rest of her message.
“She also said that the baby deserves a chance to live free, even if it’s on the run. That’s why you’ll take the safety net she’s giving you. Exact words.”
Kyle’s anger and guilt fought a nasty battle but in the end, he chose to keep the information to himself. He loved Autumn and wanted her to be happy, but if it would allow Jennifer to live, he would do it and honor be dammed.
Jennifer caught that clearly and was relieved. Kyle knew he had to save the baby to have a future with her and that now made two determined adults to look after Autumn. The baby was all Jennifer cared about. She was preparing herself to be hurt if it was needed, or even die. As long as Autumn got to live, it was enough. And if by some miracle they survived, she was driving away from here, alone, and never looking back. She’d had enough of the ghosts, but didn’t think it would come to that. She’d had the dream too many times to ignore it. She was supposed to die in this war, and Safe Haven (Angela) would raise her daughter.
“The herds on the move,” Kyle commented, not smiling at his joke.
Glad for the distraction, Jennifer saw three of the pregnant women advancing toward the mess and scanned for the others. She spotted Cynthia and Kevin emerging from the training tent and then Marc and Angela coming from behind the supply trucks. Kenn and Tonya, appearing happy despite how hard Marc was working the Marine, fell in behind them as they came from the new doctor’s tent, where Tonya had gotten her checkup. It was as if a bell had been rung. Two minutes later, every mother-to-be was under the awning of the mess, cackling and picking through the food left over from breakfast.
Kyle wasn’t surprised when the cook and his two assistants rushed out with fresh bowls. Extra food was one of the first concessions that Marc had made to the basic camp rules. He wanted fat, healthy babies and that only happened from feeding the moms.
“It’s a bit creepy, though,” Kyle said.
“Agreed,” Jennifer laughed. “But it’s also sweet. It’s like the babies are…”
Jennifer clammed up, and Kyle protested, “Don’t do that, Jenny. I know we’re different, but don’t shut me out. It’ll put walls up that I can’t get behind.”
Jennifer briefly considered telling him that she didn’t want him behind some of her walls, but decided that wasn’t entirely true. She wanted to be able to be honest with him on everything; she didn’t want his bad reactions. She didn’t know how to handle most of them.
“It’s like the babies want a play date,” she said finally.
Kyle recognized the trust moment and was careful with his response. “That might raise some alarm in the sheep.”
“I don’t like it when you call them that!” Jenny snapped. “They’re our people.”
Surprised, Kyle grinned at her. “Caught the bug, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I love Safe Haven.”
Kyle gently put an arm around her for a soft hug. “So do I.”
Jennifer drew in a breath. “We’re taking the safety net, Reece.”
Kyle leaned down and placed a light kiss to her forehead. “Yes, ma’am.”
Secure in what she’d needed from him; Jennifer placed a returning kiss on his jaw as a reward for agreeing, for being patient.
Kyle froze, as he always did, and Jennifer lingered, resting her head against his.
Kyle felt peace and strength surround them, and gave up the act. He grinned like a fool. “You should ask for stuff more often, Jen.”
“Maybe I will,” she teased, liking the feel of his arm, his smell of his aftershave. “I miss the stubble a bit,” she confessed, red faced. “That first night, it made you seem…”
“Dangerous?” Kyle supplied.
“Yes, but more than that.” She hesitated, not sure how to explain.
Kyle lifted a brow in amusement. “Sexy?”
“Yes.”
Kyle felt his day was getting better and better, and didn’t push. “Nice. You looked like hell.”
Jennifer gasped and Kyle laughed aloud as she playfully slapped at him. This was all he’d ever wanted—someone to love who could at least care for him in return. He hadn’t planned to become obsessed with an abused teenager, but now that he had, Kyle wouldn’t trade it for anything. Before Jenny, he’d only been faking life.
Chapter Three
1
“Try to relax.”
Kenn’s words brought a snort from both females. They were behind the main camp, using the naturally rough landscape and dreary weather to simulate sniper conditions.
“Seriously,” Kenn reminded. “You know that’s key. You can’t pull the trigger when you’re tense. You’ll miss every single time.”
Crista took in her breath and released it slowly, seeing her shot before she took it.
“Now fire.”
Crista jerked the trigger and there was only a puff of dirt near the target.
“Next,” Kenn switched them, wondering how much skill Angela needed these two to have. Crista was good when she took her time and Samantha was good even when she was rushed, but neither was trained for doing this during combat.
Sam gently pulled the trigger, confident, and was pleased when her round smacked into the balloon and popped it. They were saving the more powerful shells for the battle, but hitting a target hundreds of feet away was a big rush for Samantha.
“Good. Next.”
Crista didn’t like being shown up and she hit the next two balloons without even trying.
Sam responded in kind by hitting her next target dead center and Kenn settled down a bit. This was the first time he had worked directly with the snipers on Angela’s team and he hadn’t been expecting much.
“Bump them to the next set,” Marc instructed, passing by on his way to help Charlie’s team with their practice. Marc had refused the teenager’s demand of Kenn as his running target, knowing their aim wouldn’t be as careful with someone they didn’t like.
“Now or later?” Kenn asked.
“May not be a later,” Marc muttered lowly. That old feeling of trouble was everywhere he went today.
“Tonight,” Angela stated, coming up to lean against his arm. “Something’s close.”
“Yeah,” Marc agreed, but didn’t ask what or send his demon searching to discover it. From here on, this was Angela’s show and he had to be careful not to interfere with it.
“I love you, Brady.”
Marc glanced down in surprise. Not at the words, but the tone. It held an endless well of sadness. “You okay, baby-cakes?”
Angela shook her head,
allowing him only a tiny glimpse into her true feelings that she could share. “I’m damned after this, Marc. We all are.”
Marc didn’t realize how much that would matter later and slid an arm around her hip. “It’s worth it, right?”
“Of course,” she responded, forcing cheer back into her words. There was a long time to go before the truth could be revealed to everyone. She needed to cowboy up.
“I have rounds,” she said absently and moved off toward the small row of tents where she had teams based for working on their runs.
Marc didn’t watch her, drawn into the session again as both women argued the distance for the next level was too far, that their coming targets would be closer.
“Does that matter?” Marc asked, noting Shawn trailing Angie as he’d been instructed to. “If you can hit it at three hundred yards, you can definitely hit it at one hundred, right?”
The females got his point and returned to their new challenge with determination.
“Aim small,” Kenn told them. “And account for the wind, the leaves, the spider web that might be blow across right as you’re firing.”
The males retreated a few feet and Samantha went first. Hard or not, she couldn’t wait to be doing this for real.
Marc didn’t stay for the next shots, but he was positive the females would hit what they aimed at. Kenn didn’t understand how intent these women would become once the actual moment arrived to fire on the enemy. Angela had chosen well.
2
Angela ducked into the tinkering tent, as Theo had dubbed it, and saw that their new partner had arrived.
“Candy.”
“Boss.”
Theo held up a sheet of paper from the messy stack on the table. “These okay for her?”
Angela read it, sensing a spark that she hadn’t seen before. That was good. “Yes. She can do all of that. Marc evaluated her yesterday.”
“Great,” Theo stated. “We’re all set then.”
“Can I keep this?” Angela asked, sure they had another copy. Everyone was using carbon paper these days to be sure not to miss a single line of details.
“Yep.” Theo glanced at Candy, who was sitting quietly, waiting to be told what to do. “Can I eval her? For my team?”
Candy didn’t have the training her other females did. She’d come late to the party, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t work for her and Angela shrugged. “If it makes you feel better. I think she’ll be fine with you.”
“No, I meant keeping her. We don’t have a female yet.”
Angela stared in surprise, along with Candy.
“What position?”
“Lackey to start,” Theo answered, passing another sheet. “Eventually she’ll help us place things we don’t want seen. She has design experience.”
The second page was observations on all the members of his team, plus Candy and a few others. “I am keeping this.”
Theo grinned. “I thought you might find some of that useful.”
“Why wasn’t this included on the personal sheets?” Angela asked curiously, seeing that Candy had designed her own websites for her business and had a degree in graphics. The next line was about Theo himself.
“And why didn’t you tell us you speak four languages and have a Minor in architecture?”
“Wasn’t on the questionnaire,” Theo responded. “I’ve been a tool engineer for a decade. Didn’t think the other mattered until recently.”
“I’ll let you know about the position. Handle her as you see fit until then.”
Angela tucked the papers into her pocket and ducked out of the canvas. After this was all over, she would revamp the Safe Haven personal information sheets. If Adrian had known Theo was so valuable, she was sure he would have given the engineer serious work long before the government had come. Engineering was a prize during the apocalypse, but add architecture with it and you had someone who could actually build the future.
Zack fell in with Angela as she came from the tinker tent and she let him stay as she slid into the next canvas where Seth and Doug were at a table with the same messy stack of papers that Theo had been surrounded by.
“Gentlemen,” Angela greeted them. “We all set here?”
“Almost,” Seth answered, scribbling. “We’ve got it packed up except for the padding. I don’t have it on my list.”
“You’ll see to that personally?” Angela wanted to know. That padding would save Safe Haven lives.
“Right this minute, if you like,” Seth joked lightly.
“Yes, that would be good,”
Seth frowned a bit at the tone, but rose and did as she wanted.
Angela waited until Seth was gone and then met Doug’s glare. The big man hadn’t been given an envelope and he was staring resentfully.
“It’s not because you’re sick,” she began. “You won’t accept that, I know, but time will prove it.”
Doug didn’t respond and she left the tent. In a few days, the big man would understand why she’d put him with the sheep. Until then, he would help with the thousand other chores she needed done. It was FND, for lying. Everyone now knew he had type II diabetes.
Angela knew where Seth would go first and she took herself there as well, aware of Zack still trailing her. Zack had opened his first order this morning and he had questions. His was one of the few envelopes that hadn’t been dated for Labor Day.
Angela spotted Seth lingering outside the kid’s training tent, hoping for a moment with her, even though Becky was busy working, and Angela took a paper from her notebook as she joined him.
Seth straightened defensively, but Angela only handed him the sheet, not even casting a disapproving glare. He understood why when he read it.
I want the sheep moved tonight. You’re overseeing it. Start right this minute.
Seth hadn’t been given an envelope either and this was the reason why, he realized.
Happy, Seth spun away from the training tent. He would see Becky in the morning, when he returned from escorting their people to the den. It was a job with too much honor and authority to allow anything to distract him and Seth was out of sight, then out of mind a few minutes later.
Angela was pleased. And sorry. More guilt settled onto her shoulders and she stood straighter, balancing it. She’d discovered why Adrian had stopped to do this so often. There was always a new layer of weight being added.
3
Inside the kid’s training tent, Marc wasn’t happy.
“What are you guys hiding from me?”
All four teens went still and silent, and Marc scowled. “She gave you all a job I won’t like and then told you to keep it secret.” Marc snorted. “Great.”
He took the chair in the center of the tent and brought up his protective bubble “Someone shoot me and do it now!”
The kids were shoulder-to-shoulder and all of them drew weapons and started pulling the trigger.
Marc waited until all of them were empty before lowering his shield, and bullets clattered to the floor at his feet.
“Jennifer, perfect. Conner and Charlie, not bad, but a bit low. Becky?”
The girl was staring at the gun in her hand.
‘Rebecca?”
Becky’s head snapped up and she shrugged. “Got lost for a minute. What?”
Marc pointed at the slug in the tent wall behind his head. “Is that ours?”
She nodded resignedly. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“I flinched at all the noise even though we have the plugs in our ears,” she answered, embarrassed.
“That makes you a front-line shooter,” Marc said, motioning for them to reload. “If you’re in front of your team, you won’t hit any of them with a stray round.”
Becky vowed to always do that. She didn’t want to hurt anyone except for the enemy.
Marc got into the target position again and gestured. “Put the blindfolds on and go one at a time. You’re following my sounds.”
Outside the tent, Ange
la sent the witch in to be sure no one was wounded. The teenagers weren’t like her girls, who were making fewer mistakes now that they had a couple months of training under their belts. It would take time for these kids to show the same progress. In the meantime, Marc would pass on those important little details that might save their lives in the end when things went crazy.
The kids knew what was coming. With their gifts, she wouldn’t have been able to keep their roles from them and she’d told them shortly after they’d chosen Charlie for their team leader. Despite their youth and inexperience, all four of these teenagers were going to play vital roles in her plan and she would try to live with what came from it.
Angela went to the final canvas in the widely spaced row and tapped on the flap. The men inside were working on ‘under the table’ projects that had to be in place when the majority of the other envelopes were opened.
“Hey, boss,” Neil called without looking up from the temperamental explosives that he and Jeremy were packing for travel down the mountain. “Almost set. Last thee boxes here.”
Angela stayed near the flap, aware of Shawn right outside and ready to grab her and pull her to safety if something went wrong with those boxes.
Neil tucked the plastic under the edge of the white block and slid the package into the anti-static bag.
Jeremy took it from there and placed it in the thickly padded box. Neither man spoke.
Angela left the warm tent, not wanting them to be the least bit rushed, and felt Shawn’s relief.
She flashed him an annoyed glance.
Shawn shrugged, smiling wide enough to make his dimples show and Angela tossed up her hands in exasperation. Men!
Shawn chuckled and dropped back a bit as Jeremy and Neil came outside while their team loaded the boxes onto the truck that was also inside the wide tent. Angela hadn’t wanted anyone to see what they were working on back here and they’d done a great job of deflecting the curious, even Kevin, who had pretended he was searching for Cynthia.
“All go, boss,” Jeremy updated her. “On all of it.”
“All three locations are a go?” she queried, needing to know for sure that she was ready as she could be.