Discoveries (Mercenaries Book 5) Read online

  It was five minutes, but he didn’t seem bothered. Beckie had chosen the two piece, and Amy wore shorts that Beckie couldn’t tell from the pantsu that the girl frequently affected. Over them, she had a crop top that just covered her breasts. Just. In the room, Beckie’d teased her: “Lots of bare skin there, girl! I can see you’re going to make sure Dylan can see what he wants… No! What you want!”

  “Not only see,” Amy’d riposted with a snicker. “You can let him look, too, but…”

  “Probably not, since you don’t need to strip…”

  Dylan just slipped his arm around Amy’s bare waist and followed Beckie out to the beach. She didn’t have to watch; she could hear their murmurs and the shuff of their feet in the sand. Well, I did ask them; no reason to get upset ’cause my guy’s captured somewhere.

  They’d passed the Cottage and the deVeel’s home, and turned back rather than cross the north-facing beach and the dock. As she reached the section behind her home, Beckie stopped, looked around and dropped to sit a few feet above the high-water mark. She patted the sand next to her.

  Amy joined her, and Dylan seated himself beside Amy.

  “So, am I that hard to figure out?”

  Dylan moved to be able to see her. “Sometimes you are. But from what I can tell, not this time.”

  Amy lay back to allow Dylan to speak across her, which worked until Dylan glanced down at the bare breasts, exposed when her top pulled up.

  Beckie laughed at his expression. “We can move to where the light is better… or you can use the braille method.”

  Amy caught his hand. “Only to keep from offending you, boss,” she said with a laugh. Dylan snorted and Amy continued, “He behaved himself when Lisa⁠—”

  “We weren’t going to talk about that,” Dylan said. His voice sounded miffed, but with only starlight, Beckie couldn’t see his expression well enough to judge.

  “This is Beckie, for God’s sake. She can know everything⁠—”

  “Maybe not everything,” Beckie hurried to say.

  Amy giggled. “Okay, maybe not everything. But this… Lisa was trying to get a… an unbiased, I guess, opinion about her scar. You know, from a guy who wasn’t just interested in ogling her boobs⁠—”

  “Though they were nice to see…” Dylan offered.

  “But… Yeah, they were. But of course,” she turned to Beckie, “we’ve seen them before. She wanted… Okay, she wanted a guy’s opinion, honest and not driven by wanting to get into her pants or… you know.” Maybe she’s blushing; I am! “Anyway, she asked me if Dylan could… you know, look at her scar. After we talked, I agreed, and⁠—”

  “I told her to watch out if Amy ever throws me out. Seriously⁠—”

  “Yeah,” Amy said. “His first words earned him a bare-breasted hug. ‘What scar?’ I guess that was all she needed him to say. She put her shirt back on⁠—”

  “If I’d known, I might have waited⁠—”

  Amy’s mock attack, accompanied by her laugh, ended whatever Dylan wanted to finish his sentence with. Beckie laughed with them.

  When they’d recovered themselves, Amy said, “I agree with him. You’re not hard to figure out. But we’ve got a lot of time in with you, and Lisa has less. Cori has none. I can see that she’s confused, and kinda why.”

  Now Beckie fell back to look up into the stars. It isn’t this hard, is it? “Really? I think it’s pretty simple. I want her to understand what people give to her… what she’ll probably give back to them, as time goes on.”

  “And you don’t think she does?”

  “From what I can tell she hasn’t given it a thought. Part of that is because of the camouflage, the protective coloration she’s developed, not wanting to get hit the next time around, and part of it is plain fear, but the part I want her to get past is being unconscious about it… not thinking about her friends that way.”

  She twisted to look up at Amy. “Right now she’s on the run from a warrant in San Diego. That means that Lisa and you, and me and probably Jean-Luc, could be hauled in for aiding and abetting. While she may not know this for a fact, she certainly has enough data to admit the possibility. She’s not dumb, not by a long shot. But she’s maybe spent too many years keeping her head down, staying out of the way, to have the experience to apply all that intelligence.” She dropped her head back and pulled her ponytail around to play with.

  “You don’t think we’re really at risk? I talked to her; I think you’re right, she’s just clueless.”

  “Clueless can get you dead quick as anything,” Dylan said.

  “Absolutely⁠—”

  “But you can’t blame her for not having that knowledge any more than you can blame the girl who gets raped!” Amy threw herself back again. “You both know that!”

  “Right,” Beckie echoed Dylan’s agreement. “But we can’t spoon feed her, either. Some of these things need experience to learn, not just examples. Unfortunately.” She reached sideways and hit Amy’s bare belly. “Which doesn’t apply to your example.”

  “I know. It was just the first one came to mind.”

  Dylan leaned over Amy, his face perilously close to her again bare chest. “At the risk of being… I don’t know, something… She might just need some socialization. You know, dealing with real people in an environment that’s neither all the time threatening, if I understood Lisa’s descriptions about what Cori’s lived with, and at the same time, not completely structured, like school. Or at least, like school can be.”

  Beckie smiled, though the dark meant neither of them could see it. “Go ahead and kiss her. A reward for giving us a kick in… well, even if it’s not exactly the right direction, it’s a good direction. Thanks.” She rose. “You guys can stay here as long as you want. Time for me to check on Ralf. Amy, don’t say anything to Lisa or Cori. I want her to come see me on her own.”

  The next morning, Sunday, Beckie had her coffee with Boynton and Willie; they were seated around the table on the lanai. A pop-up rain shower had blown through but the clouds were still dark and foreboding. I hope it’s not a harbinger like it was last Thanksgiving.

  “Maurice, can you find a laptop, please? I’d like to check that web site again.” She’d already acquainted them with her experience Friday night in San Diego.

  Boynton sat before placing the computer in front of her. She raised the lid and found the window already open. “I was seeking knowledge,” Boynton said.

  “And?”

  “None, I am sorry to say.”

  She giggled, then focused on the screen. “Well…” She shoved the computer around to face Willie. “… I don’t see anything like an instruction here. So, what were those guys doing? Or did someone get their wires crossed?”

  “Yeah. Boynton and I were talking about that already. I mean, it’s not that hard to video them with a TV or radio broadcast in the background, or a newspaper or… You get what I mean. So…”

  “So either they can’t… If they’re…” She choked on the word. “… dead.” She sipped her coffee to let the word sink in. “Alternatively⁠—Since we’d all be really happy with an alternative⁠—alternatively, their plans may not be going as bad as they thought in March… But that doesn’t square with my little meeting in Coronado.”

  Willie twisted in his chair to face her. “Or they aren’t as well organized as we thought. Something’s gone wrong and they haven’t figured out how to recover.” He paused. “Not that that invalidates any of your suggestions.”

  “Damn!” She pulled her hair over her shoulder and began to weave it into a braid. “So?”

  “I think we do nothing, just as we have been doing. Either that or act on our hope that they are alive… but with no other information⁠—”

  “No, I still don’t want to try that.” She flipped her loose braid behind her. “But I will call Moriko and try to move my checkup a little earlier.”

  “When is it now?”

  “Tuesday, the nineteenth. How’s everything
else we’re watching out for?”

  They spent the next hour reviewing the current status reports. Nothing jumped out at any of them. The rest of the day was filled with nothing beyond taking care of Ralf and catching up on her exercises.

  Monday morning, she and Shalin called Ralf’s doctor, Doctor Roberta Lara-Valdez, and were glad to hear nothing that would affect the plans already underway. Beckie was able to reschedule her doctor’s appointment for Thursday the fourteenth. Lisa caught up with her on her way to grab Else to determine if they’d missed anything that might account for the lack of updates on the web site. “How are you free this morning?” Beckie wondered aloud as they went together seeking Else.

  “Amy and Dylan had a meeting with Mrs. Go this morning, so she told me we’d meet at lunch. I thought you might be more fun, since Cori’s still pouting.”

  “Hmm.” Pouting? Wonder why? Nope, don’t need to go there. When she’s ready, she’s ready. “Well, sure. Come along. If… No, It’ll be fine. Come on.”

  Else got a really big grin when Beckie introduced Lisa. “Oh my yes, I’ve heard of you,” the woman said with a smile right out of Alice in Wonderland. “And now is perfect, before I get involved with Rebecca. Bill is going to show our new guy, Eduard Wilmsted, some of the personal electronics we use. Phones, trackers, stuff like that. Lisa, you’ll need that, too, so unless we want her for our meeting?”

  “No, not a bit. Send her off with Bill and Wilmsted.” She turned to Lisa. “Okay?”

  “Fine. Sounds… interesting.” She pulled her own phone out and looked. “Can I bring Cori, too, to help keep her occupied? It doesn’t sound like anything really sensitive or dangerous, either one.”

  “Okay with me if Bill and Else don’t mind.”

  Else used her phone to set up the training in a half hour, enough time for Bill’s students to congregate. Lisa hurried out the door to find Cori.

  Cori reached for her phone, lying on the bedside table. Damn. Nine-fifteen. I’ve been lying here since, like, six. Maybe I oughta get out of bed and get moving. How about some answers, first.

  She pulled the cross on Jose’s necklace out of her shirt and dangled it over her eyes. With a muttered curse on Jose and his line, she dropped it, sat up and swept her hair back over her ears. Okay, I used a minute, there. Now, do I chance pitching it? Jose’s not gonna be able to follow me here, for sure. But he could still spread lies about Lisa… I can’t let that happen; she’s really happy here, like I’ve never seen her before! I’m not gonna screw this up for her!

  He can mess me up, too, I guess, but only if I go back. Am I going to do that? She thought for a minute about Mom defending her husband instead of me. He’s never really done anything to me, but I can’t figure why Mom wants to be with him. Can I stay here, I wonder… Well, I’m okay with not going back, I guess. I’m gonna leave for school in September, anyway.

  She unclasped the necklace and bounced the cross in her palm. What the hell does this do, anyway? The result was the same as every other time she’d asked the question of herself: no clue.

  She heaved a sigh and put the necklace back on, slipping the cross under her shirt. Not gonna mess Lisa up.

  Now, Ms Jamse and her getting pissed at me. She didn’t like it very much when she thought I wasn’t honest with her. So, while I might not like that, that’s fair. And I guess she said she wants me to think about someone ’sides me. I’m pretty sure that’s what that meant. Is that fair?

  Maybe, but not really. I mean, Lisa and Amy were both pretty insistent about getting out of there. And Lisa going in to find my passport… They wouldn’t have taken no for an ans⁠—”

  She jerked her head around at the rap on the door. “Yeah, come in.”

  Lisa’s head poked through the half-opening. “Okay, get your lazy butt outta there…” She glanced back at the hallway. “You do have something on, right?” When Cori shoved the sheet down to expose her mid-thigh length shirt, Lisa grinned and gestured, out and get dressed. She popped back out the door.

  Cori needed five minutes to wash her face and pull on shorts and a tee shirt. She found Lisa in the kitchen, nibbling on a roll. “Good. I found these foam cups, if you want a coffee or tea?”

  “Got a diet? Maybe Coke? And another one of those rolls? I’ll be fine. Why?”

  “Headed down to Port Cay, where the airstrip is. Bill, who’s… I don’t know, he’ll introduce himself, I guess. He’s gonna teach me and a guy named Eduard about personal electronics, Ms Meyer said.”

  “Personal electronics?”

  “The stuff I’ll be carrying along, when I’m working. Phones, trackers and all that, Ms Meyer said. I thought you might be interested, rather than lie in your bed and dream about… What were you dreaming about, anyway?”

  “How the white of the ceiling contrasted with the deep blue of the trim and the bed clothes.”

  “Never you mind, in other words,” Lisa riposted with a grin.

  “Never you mind. Wasn’t you, this time!” She bit into the pastry and grabbed a can of soda from the fridge. “I’m ready.”

  Two hours later, she allowed Lisa to pilot the skiff back toward Nord. She would lie on the beach while Lisa and Amy did whatever Amy had planned for the afternoon.

  “What did you think,” Lisa asked.

  “Interesting. Maybe I could do something like that, too. Or⁠—”

  “Or maybe you should keep headed toward school, like you’ve been planning for, what, like, twelve years?”

  “Yeah, there’s that.” Cori sat up a little and focused on her friend… my best friend, ever. “But, you’re going to school, right?” Lisa agreed. “So…” She dipped her hand in the warm water, watched the little wake it left. “Wha’d you think of Herr Wilmsted?”

  “Cute. Younger than I thought.”

  “He is, isn’t he?” Cori smiled deeply. “Really cute with that dark blond crew cut.”

  Lisa gaped at her. “Be careful, girl.”

  She shoved her friend’s shoulder, making the boat rock more than the waves. After a wide-eyed look, she said, “Don’t worry about me, girl. I’m fine.”

  “Okay,” Lisa said, one eyebrow raised about as far as it would go. “What happened when I went to the ladies room?”

  “He asked me if I wanted to have lunch one day. Nothing big.” Cori shook her head when Lisa allowed the boat to run into the shore. “Well, you coulda let me off at the dock. See you for dinner. Have fun.” She walked up the beach toward the houses.

  As the door closed behind Lisa, Beckie threw herself into Else’s guest chair. “Thanks. I hope it helps those two. But to our meeting. Remember my trip to Coronado? The guys in the van with their warning?” Else nodded. “I guess the question really is, why did those guys brace me in front of all those soccer kids to say, ‘Why haven’t you done your part and responded’? When I never got their message! What am I missing?”

  “I can’t tell you anything about that. And I’m not sure my guesses would be any better than yours… or even that they’d be different!”

  “Different would be great; the only reason I can think of is that they’re lying.”

  “About what?”

  “Most likely, about Ian and Kevin being alive.”

  “Hmm. Yes. Amy and I worked over that video pretty well; we found no way to time stamp it.”

  Beckie stood and stretched. The motion brought a twinge to her arm, where Shakti and Millie had put her smashed bone back together… Millie… She’d put Ian’s head back together, too. She took a deep breath. Might not come to anything, but… “Did Millie ever see the video?”

  Else shook her head. “Not from me. Amy might have… Millie being her mother, but… well, a phone call will answer it. Why?”

  “I don’t know. But maybe… She knows them as well as anyone, I think.”

  “Better than most, I’d say. Good idea.” Else picked up her phone and dialed. While she waited, she said, “And I can’t imagine it’ll do any harm. Hi, Millie. Can y
ou come over to the office for a few minutes? Beckie and I would like you to watch something… Thanks, we’ll be waiting.” She replaced the phone. “Five minutes. Anything specific you’re thinking of?”

  “Maybe… How detailed a picture can we get?”

  Else went into a discussion of high definition and ultra-high definition and other things that Beckie allowed since Millie hadn’t arrived. At the end of it, Else took her to Shen’s conference room, where a huge monitor had been hung behind the presentation white board. “My God! That thing’s taller than I am! When did Shen put it in?”

  She laughed. “I suppose it is. Almost ten feet, diagonal measure. It went in a couple years ago; I guess you had no need to use it… until now.”

  “Yeah. My movies… Anyway…” She stood in the doorway watching for the doctor.

  Millie appeared in another minute; Beckie flagged her.

  “I’m sure you remember the video I got showing Ian and Kevin alive.” Millie nodded, but her cocked brows and wrinkled forehead gave her curiosity away. “I’d like you to look at it… We can’t figure out how long ago it was made.” Beckie dropped into a chair and slammed her hand on the table. “Fuck! What we can’t tell is whether they’re alive now! I know, I know,” she said as Millie began what was likely to be a reasonable protest. “I know you can’t tell us that. What I hope you can tell us is about how long ago it was made.”

  “Oh,” the doctor said. “You’re thinking the more recent it is, the better the chances?” Beckie nodded, though she knew the motion was forlorn. “Well… Before I see it, do we have anything to go on?”

  Beckie sat up, alert again. “Like wh⁠— Wait! They both died in September. I didn’t see Kevin⁠—I don’t think any of us did⁠—but Ian… Ian’d been shot in his right arm and shoulder. I didn’t pay much attention, but it seemed too small a wound for a .45 or even a .38. Maybe a 7.62 or 5.56 NATO round? Those are smaller, so…

  “He’d also scraped his face, mainly the side of his nose. Like he’d hit a tree trunk, falling, or…” The image she’d suppressed for months lit up like it was on the gigantic screen. “… or a fucking boot heel! Someone kicked him!”