What the fuck! Manny squared his shoulders. “We need to let the driver know that the other trucks aren’t there.”
“You stupid, boy?” The man leapt from his seat and stuck his face in Manny’s.
He wasn’t a stupid boy.
Irina tugged on his shirt and pulled him backward. “It’s alright. We’re sitting.”
His knees hit the bench but he didn’t sit. It wasn’t right.
“Please, Manny.” Beth’s voice broke on his name. She tugged on his arm with both of hers.
Manny gave in to their pleas and dropped to the bench.
“Don’t give me any trouble, boy.” The man grinned. “And I won’t need to make an example of you.”
Clamping his jaw shut, Manny trapped the swear words in his head. The soldiers would make an example of the man once they caught up and he’d be there to rip that cross from the man’s neck.
“As you can see, there’s been a change of plans.” The man opened his shirt enough to show a knife inside. “You’re no longer under the soldier’s protection, but my little group’s. Cooperate and things won’t be so bad.” He nodded to Manny. “If you don’t, things will get quite unpleasant.”
Irina and Beth leaned against his arms. Their trembling woke something inside him. Anger faded. Stop. Observe. Think. Plan. He could do this. He would do this. And when opportunity arose, he would act.
Chapter Twenty-Four
A cold wind drove through Mavis’s fleece jacket, scouring the heat from her body. She wrapped her arms around her belly and hunched her shoulders. “Holy Mother of God! When did we reach the Arctic Circle?”
Her words hung on a cloud in the air.
Holding a tablet in her left hand, Lieutenant Sally Rogers threw open her arms and embraced the frigid wind. “I just love the cold, don’t you?”
Obviously the poor girl had suffered brain trauma. No sane person loved the cold. It was too damn cold. Mavis stomped her feet. Three seconds out in it and she was already losing feeling. Pain needled her nose and ears. “Let’s check the cafeteria. Lister and Sergeant-Major Dawson are probably eating.”
She placed the wooden stumps that had once been feet, one in front of the other. The wind snatched at her jacket and she tucked her bare hands under her armpits. Her teeth chattered and pushed into the gale.
Sally shook her head. Strands of brown hair escaped from the clip at the base of her neck. “I just came from there.”
“We’ll get a cup of coffee then and ask around.” Wrapping the mug with her hands and drinking the scalding brew would help her defrost from the inside out. “Some one will know where they’ve gone.”
A general couldn’t just disappear.
“Yes, Ma’am.” Red blossomed in the lieutenant’s cheeks and her eyes twinkled despite the bags of fatigue.
A Marine in an olive drab tee-shirt and brown and tan ACU pants pushed open the latrine door. It slammed against the blue port-o-john with the help of the wind. His gaze leapt wildly around the camp then landed on them. “Sally.” His step faltered when he spied Mavis and he drew up short. “Er, Ma’am.”
Jealousy flared deep inside before being snuffed out. Men were always warm, the lucky devils. She shifted to the side so his massive frame blocked the wind. “Have you seen General Lister or Sergeant-Major Dawson?”
“Yes, Ma’am. I just came from them.” His Adam’s apple bobbed in his thick neck. “They sent me to find the lieutenant.”
“Good.” Her nose twitched when it caught the aroma of fresh roast. Coffee first or the military? She scanned the camp. Soldiers ferried loaded stretchers out of the barracks. Hushed voices and soft snores swirled on the gusts. Dawn lightened the black clouds as the sun peeked over the mountains. She waited for the hair on her neck to stand up or her stomach to clench.
Neither happened.
Still, Trent Powers and his predators in training would no doubt have been plotting during the night. She must anticipate whatever he planned and begin her offensive. Besides, if he was still in camp, there still might be time to plan a little accident. Longing swept through her. Coffee would have to wait but not for long. She smiled at the Marine. After all, what good was power if you didn’t occasionally use it?
“I’ll take Lieutenant Rogers to the general, just give me their direction.”
The Marine’s ruddy complexion paled. His mouth opened and closed twice. “Ma’am?”
Interesting. Now both her hair and stomach reacted. What was going on? Had Trent already made a preemptive strike? No. If that were the case, the soldiers wouldn’t be on morgue duty but on the hunt. Then what? “Where can I find General Lister?”
Had they not awakened her because it was a minor problem. God knew, both David and Lister were protective of her. She was the woman with the plan.
The Marine blinked, wiping away the shock. “I—I can take you to him, Ma’am.”
Sally straightened. “We can find our way, Lance Corporal.”
Hmm. This was getting interesting. The men were protecting her. Her heart lurched. Damn! What if it was about Sunnie? She tromped down her rising panic. No, she’d just talked to her niece. Everything was fine. Then why was there a serpent writhing through her belly?
Because the general and David would lie about Sunnie to make sure Mavis did her part and saved everyone from the anthrax, from the meltdown, from anarchy.
Her fingers curled into fists under her arms. Right. Time to find out what they were hiding. “Please tell us where to find Lister and Dawson.”
The lance corporal clasped his hands behind his back and stared over Mavis’s shoulder.
“You can take that as an order.” There. That should absolve him of any guilt or retribution. Thanks to the Redaction and biological attack, she was the Commander-in-Chief of the US Military.
Some of the square left the Marine’s shoulders as he pointed to the southwest. “At the end of the camp, there’s a small brick building that the military had commandeered.”
Poor kid. That bit of information practically killed him to relay. God only knew what the divided loyalties were doing to David. She’d have to deal with it. Now. She inhaled through the pain. If she didn’t deal with the conflict, it would fester and destroy them. Better make her expectations clear now before she became too accustomed to having him around.
“Please grab us some breakfast MREs and coffee, then join us.” She wanted him tied up so they could arrive unannounced, but she wouldn’t allow him to be punished because of her actions.
“Yes, Ma’am.” With parade ground precision, he turned and marched to the canteen.
Mavis hooked her arm through Sally’s. Damn, but the lieutenant was warm. Must be the age. She certainly never remembered being this cold. Then again, most of her time had been spent in deserts. “Let’s go.”
“I don’t understand why the lance corporal acted the way he did.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She would do all the worrying. Somehow, she was at the heart of the matter and Sunnie influenced her orbit. Perhaps, she needed to set the record straight on another matter as well. Mavis hopped over the obstacle course of tent lines in the alley between the barracks. The canvas wobbled like dark green gelatin with each gust.
“You won’t report him for insubordination, will you, Ma’am?” Sally glanced back at the canteen as they turned the corner. “I’m sure he was only following orders.”
“I’m sure he was.” Which was why she wanted to reach the headquarters and maybe do a little eavesdropping. Having the Lance Corporal around would be like sneaking into an enemy camp with a herd of elephants. Sally’s stomping made her loyalties apparent as well.
The Marine Corps rarely bred any other kind.
A small building squatted in the distance. In the camp’s stadium lighting, she made out the blue and pink graffiti spray painted on its side. Metal screens secured the narrow windows. Broad-shouldered shadows glided across the dirt. Back and forth. Back and forth.