0692672400 (S) (36 page)

“What are you thinking?”

“Maybe something that goes boom, for instance.”

“Hold that thought.” James crouched next to one of the shelves and rummaged through the ammo cans and boxes before straightening up with something in his hand. “This do?”

Keo took the M203, a grenade launcher that could be attached to the bottom of his carbine. “I need you to do something else for me…”

“You want a bazooka, too?”

“If you got it. If not, just tell Hart I need to speak to him.”

“What about?”

“Erin,” Keo said.

H
E SHOWERED
in one of the unused crew quarters and didn’t bother to look at himself in the fogged-up mirror when he walked past it. The long scar along his cheek tingled after the hot spray, but his nose and most of his face felt better even though he was pretty sure he looked like a big red mess of bruises.

At least you’re still alive, pal. That means you can still pop Mercer. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to do that with the M203 from a distance.

Lucky
, he thought, and couldn’t help but smile to himself. After all he had been through, just thinking that he might
get lucky was almost worth a long laugh.

He had black clothes laid out on the small bed, with the rifle he’d taken from the armory leaning against the wall nearby. Keo hadn’t loaded up on weapons because more guns and ammo weren’t going to help him get on Black Tide any easier. Once he accessed the island, he could always acquire more firepower if he needed it.

He had put on the black cargo pants and was pulling on a T-shirt when someone knocked on his door.

“Yeah?” he called.

“It’s me,” a voice said.

“Give me a minute.”

“I’ll wait outside.”

Keo grabbed the gun belt and slipped it on, then picked up the Sig Sauer P250 from the chair nearby and holstered it. He shoved his feet into fresh new socks and boots and left the rifle behind.

At the door, he looked out at James, waiting outside. “Hart’s ready for you,” the younger man said.

“What about Erin?”

“She’s waiting, too.”

Keo nodded and closed the door behind him, then followed James for the second time through the oil rig’s long hallways.

“You think she’ll do it?” James asked.

“I won’t know until I ask,” Keo said. “How well do you know her?”

“There were a lot of people on Black Tide, and we never really crossed paths because of our jobs. Also, she’s higher up than me.”

“I thought you guys don’t use ranks.”

“You don’t need ranks to know who’s out of your league. The people Mercer trusts the most he puts in positions of leadership.”

“Like Riley?”

“I guess even Mercer makes mistakes.”

I’m counting on that.

They entered into the stairwell and made their way up, footsteps
clanging
against the metal steps.

“You’re really going to do it, huh?” James asked. “Kill Mercer.”

“That’s the plan.”

“It won’t be easy.”

“Nothing ever is.”

James pushed through another metal door and led Keo out of the stairwell and into another brightly lit hallway.

“It’s going to be tough,” James said. “Getting on Black Tide is one thing, but getting to Mercer… That’s not going to be easy.”

“That seems to be the going consensus.”

“When I told Faith about what you were planning, she wanted to know if you were crazy.”

“What did you tell her?”

“That I wasn’t sure.”

Keo grinned.

As they walked some more, he could sense the kid was holding something back, so he said, “What is it?”

James hesitated, but finally said, “Truth is, I don’t know whether to wish you good luck or not. I mean, what we’re doing here, we’re betraying Mercer’s trust, I know, throwing everything he did for us right back in his face, but still…”

“He saved your life,” Keo said.

“Yeah, he did. Faith’s, too. Everyone’s. If it weren’t for him in the early days, we wouldn’t be here. We owe him everything. In a lot of ways, he’s a good man. Maybe even a great man.”

“Those pregnant civilians he’s murdering out there would disagree with you.”

“I know, I know. Believe me, I know. We all know, that’s why we’re here.” The young man shook his head. “Having said all that, I still don’t know whether to wish you good luck or not. Sorry.”

“Don’t sweat it, kid.”

“I’m twenty-three,” James said.

“Good for you,” Keo said.

“
I
SHOULD HAVE LET
Troy kill you,” Erin said.

Keo smiled at her. “You said that already.”

“It bears repeating.”

“Why don’t you say it one more time so we can put it to bed?”

“I should have let Troy kill you.”

“Happy?”

“No.”

“It’ll have to do.” Keo looked over at Hart, standing on the other side of the open door. “Can we have some alone time?”

“You sure?” the older man asked. He looked exhausted, and sweat matted his hair to his forehead.

“I’m sure,” Keo nodded.

Hart glanced at Erin, sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. Her hands were zip tied at the wrists, but her legs were free. She ignored Hart and concentrated on Keo, and he saw the curiosity in her eyes. She didn’t know what was happening, but she wasn’t afraid, either.

“James will be outside,” Hart said before closing the door behind Keo.

Keo leaned against the wall next to the door and didn’t say anything. Erin watched him back intently, maybe trying to read his face for clues.

Finally, he said, “They told me you and Riley were part of Mercer’s original Four Horsemen.”

“They said that, huh?”

“You and Riley and some guys named Benford and Rhett. At the beginning, they said, there were just the four of you, and you built this army and helped Mercer collect everything he would need to launch this war of his.”

“People here talk too much.”

“James, the kid standing guard outside, said Mercer’s plans didn’t feel real until the day the teams started leaving the island. Then he couldn’t ignore it anymore. The people in the towns, the pregnant women…”

Erin kept quiet.

“Riley told Hart he considered trying to convince Rhett, but he didn’t because he couldn’t be one-hundred percent sure.”

“Apparently, Riley’s one-hundred percent sure isn’t so sure after all,” Erin said.

“You heard about the shooting, huh?”

“Like I said, the people on this rig talk too much.”

“But Riley was pretty sure he could convince you, but before he got the chance, you had already left for Texas.”

“Is that what he said?”

“That’s what he told Hart. Was he right?”

“Riley hasn’t been right about a lot of things.”

“I don’t think he was entirely wrong.”

“No?”

“You know why I think that?”

“Do share.”

“Because you didn’t let Troy kill me,” Keo said. “I think you’re done with it.”

“With what?”

“Everything happening in Texas right now. You saw what’s happening out there up close, and you’re done with it. Men, women, and children being slaughtered just so Mercer could send a message to the collaborators. Maybe, once upon a time, you thought you could do it, go along with his plan. After all, he saved your life. Saved all of your lives, or so everyone keeps telling me. But when you saw the bodies, smelled the charred flesh… The battlefield is never the same in person. It changes you.”

She didn’t say anything for the longest time, and Keo didn’t push her. He watched her instead, observing the way her shoulders tightened, the way she sat straighter as he talked, and could almost time to the exact second when her eyes drifted; he knew she was reliving what she had seen out there. Keo could always tell when the man next to him had lost his nerve; it usually happened long after the bullets stopped flying and they were beyond the battlefield.

He saw the doubt in Erin’s eyes now. It was clear as day. Maybe it had always been there, but it had never clicked for him because he didn’t know to look for it.

Better late than never.

“It’s done,” she said, meeting his eyes again—except this time the hardness was gone. “I was a part of it. Maybe not the ones dropping the bombs or commanding the tanks, but I did my part. I can’t take any of it back. I can’t make it unhappen.”

“What did you do, exactly?”

“I was in charge of Support in one of the FOBs. After we abandoned it, I moved over to coordinating the kill teams outside of Lochlyn.”

“You were heading back to Black Tide Island even before I showed up.”

“The first phase of the operation is ending. By tomorrow morning there’ll be a lot more people moving through here on their way back to The Ranch.”

“You told Hart this?”

“I don’t have to. He already knows.” Then she narrowed her eyes at him. “So what am I doing here, Keo? What’s your
deal?”

“My deal is that I’m going to Black Tide Island to kill Mercer.”

“Oh, is that all?” She half-rolled her eyes at him and sat back in the chair. “Hell, if that’s all you wanted, you should have just let me take you to him.”

“That was the plan. I had nothing to do with what happened on the
Ocean Star
this afternoon.”

“No? You knew that woman in the brig…”

“That had nothing to do with this afternoon. I didn’t know she was going to be here. I would have been happy with letting you take me to Mercer. It would have saved me a lot of trouble.”

She seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding. “I believe you.”

“You should. It’s the truth.”

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t instantly believe everything that comes out of your mouth.”

“That’s understandable. But now that I have the upper hand, we can both agree I don’t have any reasons to lie to you.”

“Don’t you?”

“No.”

“Then what do you want from me? All of this”—she looked around the room—“even Hart’s little interrogation, was clearly designed for you and I to have this conversation. You took me out of the brig on purpose so the others wouldn’t hear. So what do you want from me, Keo? I’m tired, it’s been a long day, so please get to the fucking point already.”

He smiled and nodded. “I want you to finish what you started: Take me to Black Tide Island.”

“You don’t need me for that. Hart could tell you where it is.”

“I’ve been told that getting there is the easy part. I might even be able to land in one piece by myself. But all of this would go so much easier—increase my chances of success—if I had someone to help me with the locals. Basically, a guide that everyone knows and respects. One of Mercer’s trusted lieutenants, say. You know someone like that?”

She smirked. “I guess you’re not as dumb as you look.”

“I keep telling people that.” Then, “Are you in?”

“You want me to help you kill Mercer. Is that the ‘in’ you’re talking about?”

“That’s exactly it.”

“Why?”

“Because he needs killing.”

“No, not that. Why would
I
help you?”

“Because you want to stop what’s happening out there and what will keep happening if he keeps his war going. More towns filled with more people whose only crime is that they can’t fight like us. And because you know that Mercer’s phase two is going to be much, much worse.” He paused to let his words sink in before continuing. “Tell me, Erin, how much sleep have you gotten since all of this started?”

She didn’t answer him, but she didn’t have to. He’d had no trouble seeing the bags under her eyes when he first met her, and now, with the bright ceiling lights in the room, they were even more noticeable. If she had gotten more than a few hours sleep a day all this week, he would be very surprised.

“Enough to get by,” she said.

“Bullshit.”

“You don’t know anything about me, Keo.”

“I know what people have told me about you, and I know that keeping me alive after Lochlyn was a stupid decision, but you reasoned your way into it because you didn’t want more blood on your hands. I told a shitty lie and you went along with it, not because you believed me, but because you just didn’t want one more death on your ledger.”

“Fuck you,” she said.

“Maybe later,” Keo said. “Right now, you need to take me to Black Tide and get me on that island in one piece so I can do what you and Riley should have done but were too much of fucking cowards to do.”

She clenched her teeth and stared defiantly back at him. If her hands weren’t bound and she had a gun, he wasn’t sure if he would still be alive right now.

“This is your chance to fix your mistake,” he continued. “You won’t be able to bring back all the lives that’ve already been lost, but you can prevent new ones from being snuffed out. Get me on Black Tide Island, and I’ll do the rest.”

Slowly, very slowly, her jaw relaxed, as did the rest of her body. “Can you do it?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation.

“It won’t be easy.”

“So everyone keeps telling me.”

“And what happens if you succeed? You think it’ll stop all of this?”

“Yes,” he answered, again without hesitation. “From everything I’ve heard about the man, he’s almost single-handedly driving this by the force of his personality. Without him, it would grind to a halt—at least temporarily. But that might be enough time for people like Riley, like James and Hart, to finally feel safe enough to speak up. As long as Mercer’s running the show, they’ll never speak up. It’s too dangerous, and it’s not just their necks on the line. Everyone has friends and loved ones to think about.”

Shit, you almost convinced yourself that time, pal!

Keo didn’t know if he actually believed what he had just told Erin, but he wasn’t going to voice that doubt, and he was hoping it didn’t show on his face.

“He has loyalists,” Erin said. “They’ll keep fighting even after he’s gone.”

“Commanders don’t keep a war going, Erin. Foot soldiers do. Civilians like the ones on the
Ocean Star
do. Without them, the machine can’t keep going.”

Keo picked up another chair from a corner and walked over, then sat down in front of her. Only a few feet separated them, and he caught her eyes sneaking over to his holstered sidearm as he took out a knife and sliced the zip ties from her hands. When he put the knife away and looked up, her eyes had returned to his face while she rubbed her wrists.