Casey swallowed a sigh. Did he really just pull his gun and press it to a very pregnant chick’s head? The fact that she was panting in fear and holding her belly tight—not to mention the cool metal in his hand—would indicate that yes, he did indeed hold her at gunpoint.
Sometimes he hated his job rounding up dodgers.
When he first enlisted—drafted—in the army, he had applied for the military special forces: Asset Recovery and Acquisition. It was a way for him to act on his resentment and to justify the required armed services. No ifs, ands, or buts. If men had to serve their country, then women should too.
Now he had some doubts.
Casey ran a hand through his short brown hair.
He could detach four men to march her back to St. Louis or he could house her—a week, maybe two, if she lasted that long—before he brought her back to St. Louis. Casey wasn’t sure she’d make it back to St. Louis before she delivered. She looked ready to pop.
And yet his base wasn’t prepared to handle a baby. Casey’s squad rarely retained pregnant women. Usually, the ones who ran didn’t have the first clue on hiding and were caught quickly. And the pregnant ones never left the security of the city. They made sure of it.
Conflicted, he gave her another once over. It was hard to tell by the cloud obscured moonlight, but she appeared older than the usual dodger he rounded up, and she looked more fit too. Keeping her close and under his watch seemed more prudent than sending her back to St. Louis with some of his men. She’d already tried to run once. How many more times would she try with his soldiers? Casey came to a decision. He would keep her close and watch her himself. And then, when the time came, he would personally escort her back to St. Louis.
Adding her to base would disrupt his careful routine, he revised the time needed to complete the team’s deployment circuits. She would need constant watch.
“Turn around slowly, and walk your ass back to the shelter.” He pushed at her temple, just a little, just hard enough to prove he meant business. “Move.”
She whimpered.
They slowly made their way back to the abandoned home. As they walked Casey kept the revolver trained on her back. She was practically hyperventilating by the time they reached the structure, and Casey worried that she’d be unable to make it to base tomorrow. It was only a half a day’s hike for him and his team, but would she be able to travel the rough terrain in her condition?
Well, they had to try.
Then again, maybe he should get her back to St. Louis immediately. He suppressed a snort of irritation.
Looking to the east, Casey estimated dawn about two hours away. There were still rolling clouds but most of the storms seem to have moved off, leaving a sticky oppressive heat behind. The high humidity already making his shirt stick to his back.
When they reached the army maintained decoy shelter, he stopped, momentarily perplexed when she turned to face him, her wide eyes focused on his hand holding the gun still pointed at her torso. Casey tensed. Did she expect to run with him standing inches from her?
But then she answered his unvoiced question a moment later when she shimmied backward onto the raised floor of the building. She turned and pulled her knees under her to regain her feet, and took an unsteady step forward before turning to eye him warily again.
Relieved, Casey told her, “Sleep. We leave at dawn.”
He watched her shoulders slump and her head bobbed in response. She turned and walked with slow careful steps back to her corner. Once there she struggled to sit on the floor again.
Casey grimaced. She looked uncomfortable.
He walked over to Javier and toed him in the foot with his boot. “Get up,” he said, quietly enough to not disturb Paul or Jaesen sleeping nearby.
Javier woke with a snort and rolled to his feet.
“Your turn for watch. I need to sleep. Wake me at first light, and for fuck sake watch her. She may try to run again.”
“So your trap worked?”
“A little too well,” he responded, and then made himself comfortable on the dirty floor and fell asleep quickly.
He woke to a tap to his boot and came to his feet. If he’d been woken any other way, he would have come up swinging. The sky was already light enough that objects in the world had definition. It was later than he’d requested, but not late enough to be an issue. Casey took the three steps to join Javier at the edge of the floor at the missing wall.
“You let me sleep too long,” he said, his tone low enough to not carry. A habit learned by too many years discussing plans while men slept at his feet or in tents nearby.
“I know,” Javier replied. “You looked like you needed it.”
Casey snorted. “Maybe.” He scanned the field from his perch. “We have to finish the circuit today and then get back to the site.” Won’t be fast dragging baggage.
“We bringing our new friend?”
“You know we have to. Did you have any trouble?” He asked, the twitch of his head indicating the young woman behind him. Casey could feel her eyes on his back, watching his every move. It made the hairs on his neck stand on end.
“No, Case,” Javier replied. “But she’s been shifting around so much back there I thought she was going make another run for it.”
Casey nodded. Time to help their new friend adjust to life under his wing. At least until he dropped her back on the city’s doorstep.
“Wake Paul and Jaesen. We’ll roll out in thirty.”
He turned and bent to grab two rations out of the bag at his feet, pushing the evader’s butchering knife out of the way as he did so. Last night Casey had been relieved to see the glint of the blade after a flash of lightning. He knew she planned to lash out at him even before she did. The blade was wicked sharp, and he’d wrapped it in a scrap of cloth just to keep it from slicing his pack open while they hiked.
He took a bite out of the pemmican cake in hand and advanced toward his new charge. She pressed her back further into the corner, and he could almost smell her fear. Casey stopped a few feet from her and crouched.
Ever-absent, God, she was filthy with dirt caked on her face. She had so much mud ground into the strands of her hair he wasn’t sure if it was blonde or just a light brown. Casey’s eyes traveled down her body quickly, reassessing her. His gaze lingering on her breasts and a full belly. She was muscular, even if she was on the thin side. Her abdomen disproportionately large compared to her arms and legs. Her brown eyes were wide, watching each bite he took. How long had she been on her own? She was not a new evader. She was a successful one.
“You hungry?” Of course, she was hungry, he could hear her stomach growling from where he crouched. Hunger was an excellent motivator for survival. He took a bite of his ration, and chewed it in front of her, before holding up the remainder in silent question. Her eyes tracked its movement.
“Here,” he said and held it out to her.
She declined.
They had several miles to hike and he needed her strong enough to do it. “Take it. Eat. If I have food and water, you’ll have food and water.”
He watched as she licked her lips. Her eyes were dark with fear and anger. No doubt both misguided emotions were directed at him. It wasn’t his fault she ran. She still wouldn’t take the dried meat.
“What is your name?”
Her gaze shifted to look behind him, and he surmised she looked out the missing wall, longing for escape. When her eyes met his again, he quirked an eyebrow. He waggled the ration in his fingers, encouraging her to take the food, and she licked her lips again.
“Please...” her voice not much louder than a whisper. “I need to use the bathroom. Will you let me and not shoot me? I promise not to run.”
He could have smacked himself. Of course, that is why Lincoln reported she was squirming. Casey stood and offered her his hand to help her up. She only eyed it warily and gained her feet without his assistance. “Yes,” he replied, but he would be watching.
She stepped past him, and he shoved the ration into his pocket. He nodded to Javiere—his next in command on this patrol—as they passed. “Wake the others,” he ordered in a low voice.
In the time it took for Casey to instruct Javier, his captured dodger had maneuvered her way off of the structure and started to walk toward some scrub bushes.
“Don’t go too far now,” he drawled and hopped off the ledge to follow after her.
Comments (0)
See all