She regained herself and wiped her hand to smudge the tears across her face, “I don’t know. Part of me wishes I had just given up and let them kill me. The other part is happy to still be breathing and to be here,” her eyes probed his. Then, she added, “To be here with you.”
Cooper pulled back, “Don’t talk like that.”
Her anger met his, “You can’t deny what connects us, any more than I can!”
“What connects us is that you helped kill my wife,” Cooper yelled, grabbing her shoulders to tight that she grimaced.
Julianne jerked her shoulders to free herself and then slumped back into the seat, “You’re right. I did.” Her shoulders drooped and her eyes fell to the ground.
He tried to maintain his glare, but softened as long, awkward moments passed. Finally, he shook his head in frustration, “Look. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Her eyes met his once more, as he continued, “But, let me be clear. I don’t want to speak of anything ‘between us’. Do you hear me?” He demanded as he squeezed her shoulders and shook her body. Julianne heard, and Cooper resented, how his words were laden with the tones of desperation a man uses to convince himself of something he knows is not true.
“Yes, yes. I hear you!” Julianne shouted back at him. “Goddammit! Stop shaking me. It hurts!”
Jake arrived with a handful of rags and their first aid kit. Cooper softened his voice, “Let’s get you fixed up. I need to finish packing.”
The sky had clouded over as the day wore into late afternoon and a chill had returned to the air. Dranko’s Wagoneer was in the lead position, with Cooper’s well-worn pickup parked behind it. Absentmindedly, Cooper peeled a fleck of paint from its body, adding to the paint’s losing battle against age. Jake stood right next him, angry eyes fixated on Julianne who leaned up against the tailgate. Jake had voiced his displeasure at his father’s decision to allow Julianne to join. And, voiced loudly. Cooper didn’t fully understand his decision. With desperately conflicting emotions about her, his sense of obligation had tipped the balance.
Angela and Calvin returned from his home with their armloads of gear to be loaded. Their steps hiccupped when they spied the stranger, Julianne. Cooper saw Angela’s eyes flash in anger as she guessed who the mysterious woman was. They continued to the pickup and dumped their loads into the bed.
Calvin extended a warm smile, “And, whom do we have here?”
Angela crossed her arms, “I’m guessing, Julianne Wheeler, the right-hand woman to the man who started this whole mess?”
Calvin’s eyes flew wide open and his mouth dropped open as his smile disappeared.
Cooper straightened up, “Yes, the very one. “
“And, I doubt it matters, but I’m very sorry for what we did,” Julianne offered meekly.
“Sorry! You’re damn right you’re sorry! That’s real. What, are we supposed to do? Forgive you?” Angela shrieked.
Julianne met her gaze, “I don’t ask anything of you. I don’t even have that right. I’m just telling you that the words ‘sorry’ or ‘regret’ don’t nearly capture how I feel about what I have done. Most days, I just wish I was dead,” her voice cracked as she uttered the last words. The depth of her sorrow was such that Angela’s face shifted for a moment from rage to sympathy.
Angela turned to Cooper, “Please tell me you aren’t thinking of letting her come with us?”
“That’s right. I’m not thinking about it. I’ve already decided. She is coming along.”
Angela threw her arms down in disgust, “What? Are you serious? That doesn’t make any…”
Cooper cut her off, “Look, she was attacked this morning. Nearly killed. Leaving her here is a death sentence and…”
“And just what is so wrong with that?” Angela interrupted.
Cooper glared at her, “It’s wrong. I don’t want it on my head. Her being dead won’t bring anyone back.”
“You put a bullet in Mitchell’s head for what he did. Tell me how she’s any different?”
“She just is,” Cooper blurted.
“I see,” Angela said, her eyes burning cold.
“You ain’t saying the best reason to bring her along,” Lily Stott’s demure voice made them both turn in her direction in surprise.
“Yeah, what’s that?” Calvin asked.
“I fear we ain’t heard the last from the government types,” Lily said and then stopped, smiling wryly.
“And?” Angela asked impatiently.
“Ms. Wheeler might know some things we can use.”
“What if she doesn’t?” Angela demanded.
Lily’s smile grew to a shade just shy of sinister, “She’ll make a good bargaining chip.”
Julianne’s face flushed crimson, while everyone else raised their eyebrows in surprise. Jake burst out with a loud cackle. Cooper didn’t like what he heard in his laugh. “It sure is nice to be welcome,” Julianne mumbled as she scrambled to the pickup’s cab, got in, and slammed the door shut.
Angela stepped towards Cooper and jabbed her finger into his chest, “You’re a damn fool, Cooper Adams. She ain’t some stray dog. That woman killed your wife and millions more.” Before he could respond, she brushed past him and deposited herself in Dranko’s Jeep.
Dranko approached, carrying a rifle in each hand. Freddie was in stride behind him, also carrying two rifles. “I need to let you know that…” Cooper began.
Dranko waved him off, “Julianne Wheeler is coming along?”
“That’s right, how’d you guess?”
Dranko grinned, “Two things. Even just catching a glimpse of her, I recognized her. Beauty like she’s got is a rare thing. And, nothing else would get Angela storming around like that. That woman is the most unshakeable woman I’ve ever met.”
Cooper shook his head, “I can’t argue either point.”
“I guess I should tell you that you picked up a stray and so did I. Freddie wants to come with us, too.”
Cooper clapped Freddie on the shoulder, “Glad to have you! Thank you.”
Freddie shrugged, “No need to thank me. I know who’s held this place together. With you and Calvin going,” he paused. “Well, let’s just say I’ve always wanted to live in the booming metropolis of Estacada, Oregon!” The others laughed at Freddie’s deft sarcasm in calling Estacada a city of any size.
“We about ready to roll?” Dranko asked.
“Yeah, I’d say so,” Cooper answered.
Cooper saw Mark and Peter approach and nodded to them. “We wanted to say goodbye. Been on guard duty all afternoon,” Mark called to him. They both wore easy smiles and had their rifles slung across their shoulders.
Cooper grinned, “That’s real good of…”
His last words were drowned out by the sharp staccato of machinegun fire from the barricade to the north, the one Mark and Peter had just been relieved from. He watched their faces devolve into surprise, and then shock. Once again, the sound of HUMVEE revving motors was unmistakable.
Cooper began to lunge into a run toward the barricade when Dranko grabbed his belt to hold him back.
“Go! Cooper, go!” Peter yelled at him as he spun on his heels and unslung his rifle. Mark and Peter both ran back up the street from where they had just came.
Cooper and the others clambered into their vehicles. The motors roared to life as the sounds of gunfire escalated from behind them.
In his rearview mirror, Cooper caught a glimpse of a HUMVEE at the far end of the street, but it was growing rapidly in his mirror as it sped towards them. Dranko’s tires squealed as he raced to the intersection and jerked the Jeep to the left. Cooper revved his motor and followed.