Finish the Course (The Barnes Family Book 1) (5 page)

“No,” the colonel stepped into the room, “you’re putting them back on the table and coming with me.”

Slater shifted all the luggage to his left side, “I’m afraid I can’t do that, sir.”

The colonel came a little closer, ready to give the captain a piece of his mind. That was all Slater needed. He ducked around the older man so his back was to the door.

“I’m sorry for what I’m about to do, sir. I mean no disrespect.”

The colonel did not have time to register Slater’s words before the sound of Velcro announced the removal of the colonel’s rank and name from that man’s chest.

“Captain,” the colonel barked, “this will mean a court martial.”

Slater winced, but he knew there was no other option.

He pulled his pistol, “I’m going to need your sidearm too, sir.”

If looks could kill. . .

After receiving the weapon, Slater opened the door, faced it, and, with a powerful kick, removed the handle.

Before the colonel could make another move, Slater slammed the door behind himself and  hurried down the hall.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed the number Captain Barnes had inputted for him while they were in the air.

“Where have you been?” her voice sounded hollow.

“Just wrapping things up,” he traded his own name and rank for the Colonel’s. “Where are you?”

“Same place. Stretching our legs.”

Slater picked up his pace, “No wonder you sound so distant.”

She snorted, “I had a boyfriend who said the same thing.”

“Funny,” he intoned. “I’m not sure where the latrine is in that building.”

“I’ll come out and find you in the atrium.”

“No!” he shifted the bags so they were more evenly distributed, “I’ll find you.”

Slater stopped suddenly and swung around, accidentally knocking a young private to the ground with one of his bags.

“Sorry, sir,” the kid acted as if it was his own fault rather than Slater’s.

Slater picked up the private’s patrol hat and handed it back to him, “Carry on, private.”

He put the phone back to his mouth, “See if you can clear the women’s room before I get there.”

“Did I just hear something tearing?”

Slater kept walking, “It was Velcro.”

“Such as the Velcro from a uniform?”

He saw the building ahead, “It came off a private.”

“I’m becoming more and more apprehensive about this as we speak,” Barnes sounded like she was laughing.

“Is there more than one’s women’s latrine in the building?”

“No clue, but there’s a state flag just outside this one.”

“Great,” he closed his phone and entered the building. He returned the salute of several superior ranking officers before making his way to the women’s latrine. Glancing around himself to ensure nobody was watching, he ducked into the restroom.

“How nice of you to join us, Captain,” Hanbali was leaning against the wall, but still standing. Barnes had crouched down against the same wall, barely glancing up, “Now what?”

“Now,” he set down the women’s bags and rolled his shoulders to stretch them, “we get out of here.”

“How?” she stood up and looked at him, eyes widening, “and how are you suddenly a colonel?”

He grimaced, “The less you know. . .”

She hefted her bag to her shoulder, “Understood.”

Hanbali lifted her substantially smaller bag, “You may not want to know, but I do.”

Slater ignored that comment, “We’re going to meander out of here like nothing is out of the ordinary. Then we are going to go requisition a vehicle,” he glanced out the door, “and leave the base.”

“And by requisition,” Barnes walked slightly behind him, speaking only slightly softer than conversationally, “you mean steal.”

He led the way across the atrium, keeping Hanbali between himself and Barnes.

“They may have it back when we are finished with it,” he marched with purpose toward the nearest exit.

“See that transport bus?” Slater indicated it with a nod of his head.

“It’d be hard to miss,” Barnes was right behind him.

“Get in, and get down.”

Barnes pushed Hanbali ahead of herself. Slater followed them on and closed the door.

“I don’t suppose they left the keys in the ignition?” Barnes spoke from her place on the floor.

Slater reached under the dash, “Not a problem,” the engine started.

              “How are we going to get past the guardhouse? Before you got to us, they announced over the loudspeaker they were looking for an Army captain who was possibly impersonating Colonel Jenkins.”

              “I know. I heard. Give me your jacket.”

              She sat up enough to remove it.

              “Put mine on,” he threw it back. “Take off the name tag. I’ve got a new one in the right outside pocket.”

              She worked quickly, amazed that he could drive while struggling into her jacket.

              “That is not going to fit you,” she commented.

              “They won’t be looking that closely, but I need to be Air Force right now.”

              “Who’s ‘Donway?’” she replaced the name badge.

              “Some poor private who is going to get yelled at for losing the name from his patrol cap.”

              He pointed to his bag, “Put on a pair of my pants.”

              “I thought you said they weren’t going to be looking that closely.”

              “At me,” he corrected. “You’re getting out.”

              “Great,” she rummaged through his bag.

              “They’re looking for a man, not a man and a woman. They’re looking for an Army captain or colonel, not an Air Force captain.”

              “I’m going to look like an Army colonel,” she reminded him.

              “Nobody is going to believe you’re a man, Barnes – not for one second.”

              She pulled his pants over her own, “I’m going to look like I’ve been playing dress-up with my dad’s clothes again.”

              Slater smiled, “Be ready to get out and yell at the sergeant up here.”

He pulled to a stop by the guard.

              “What’s the problem, Sergeant?” he looked down at the man with the gun.

              “We are looking for a man who beat up an MP and stole a colonel’s badge, sir.”

              “Why are we stopped?” Barnes barked from behind Slater.

              Slater began to explain, but she stomped to the door which Slater quickly opened for her.

              “Sergeant,” she approached him quickly, “do you know who I am?”

              He glanced down, “You’re Colonel Donway, ma’am.”

              She curled her lip, “I do not have time for this. Are you looking for me?”

              “No, ma’am.”

“How do you know?” she leaned in further.

“You aren’t a man.”

She narrowed her eyes, “That’s an excellent observation, soldier.”

The sergeant tightened his lips.

“Open the gate, Sergeant.”

She spun on her heel and climbed onto the bus.

She watched the gate open as she dropped into her seat.

Slater pulled away from the post, “Good job, Barnes.”

She laughed, “Thanks, but I’m losing my pants – or, your pants, rather.”

“Are you pretty familiar with this area, Barnes?”

“Sure,” she was pulling his pants off and putting them back in his bag, “my dad was stationed here a while.”

“But not you?”

“I was too, but I wasn’t out on the town as much when I was in the service as I was when I was a teenager.”

“Wild child, huh?”

Hanbali spoke up, “Are we moving on to the contingency plan?”

Barnes and Slater glanced at each other.

She blinked at them, “Surely there is a contingency plan.”

Slater blew out hard, “There is, but chances are, if the first plan was leaked, so was the contingency.”

Hanbali climbed into her seat, “Why not just go to the head of this base and ask for help?”

Barnes opened her phone, “We don’t know who to trust, and we were specifically told not to speak to anyone.”

Hanbali leaned forward, “Why are you more concerned about following that order than the one about the contingency plan?”

Slater cleared his throat, “I’d like to stay alive.”

Barnes agreed with a nod.

“Is there anything in Temple Hills?” he tried to get his arms out of Barnes’s jacket while driving with his knee.

Barnes stood up next to him and pulled hard on the end of one sleeve in assistance, “There used to be an ice cream place in the mall, and I think there’s a car rental place.”

“Are you suggesting we rent a vehicle?” he laughed at the idea as he managed to slip out of the too-small garment.

“We can’t stay in this thing,” Hanbali pointed out the obvious, “It won’t take them long to figure out that you stole this from the base.”

Barnes concurred, “I’m surprised they haven’t already.”

“Which way to the mall?”

“Why not the car rental?” Hanbali asked.

“In the first place, they’d track my card and we’d be sunk. In the second, it would take too long.”

“So you’re going to steal a civilian car,” Barnes was clearly unhappy about the idea. “What if you get a single mother’s car, and she gets fired for being late to work?”

“Or, a man who had one last chance to tell his girl he loved her, but she was leaving on a plane?” Hanbali got into the act.

Slater laughed, “Are you two serious?”

But Barnes wasn’t done, “Maybe a lady goes into labor and they come out to their car, and it’s gone.”

“Fine,” he couldn’t figure out why they didn’t understand this was a matter of national security. “Which way to the rental place?”

“Exit on 414 south.”

He did so.

“How far is it to Langley?” Hanbali seemed to be flagging.

Barnes looked over at her, “About twenty miles.”

“If you go straight there,” Slater reminded them.

The women both groaned internally.

Slater pulled the bus into the rental lot, “Hanbali, go try to reserve a car for next week. Don’t use your real name, have trouble speaking English, and then promise to come back with your husband tomorrow.”

She frowned, “And then what?”

“Then come back to the transport, and we’ll leave.”

“In the transport?”

“Go,” he spat.

Barnes helped him carry their luggage from the vehicle.

“You know,” she walked behind him, “it isn’t nice to steal from businesses either.”

“Very true,” he glanced to the back of the rental shop and looked at a car there. He crossed to it and pulled a knife from his pocket.

“What are you doing?”

“They’ll be looking for rental plates – not the employee’s,” he handed her the screws.

She sighed, “Which car are we taking?”

He pointed behind himself, “The Explorer.”

“It looks like it’s seen better days.”

“Which is why it is on the back side of the lot and not visible from the store window,” he walked to the tail end and replaced the plate.

Barnes wondered at how fast the man’s mind and hands worked.

“Get in,” he jimmied the lock with ease, reached down and popped the hood. Barnes threw the luggage in as Slater started the car from under the hood. He climbed into the driver’s seat and closed the door.

“It sounds good anyway,” she commented as she settled herself in the backseat.

“It’s only until our next stop.”

Barnes lay her head back on the seat, “I suppose I can stand the smell until then.”

He caught her eye in the rear view mirror, “I could take off my boots to cover the smell.”

She laughed, “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass.”

Slater glanced at Hanbali as she walked in front of the vehicle and climbed in, “How did it go?”

She huffed, “I don’t think he suspects me of being a thief, but he said some very rude things to me.”

Slater pulled onto St. Barnabus and headed south.

“I suppose you know you’re going the wrong way,” Barnes shoved the bags a little further from her hip to get more comfortable.

“I know.”

“And you know how to get there?”

“No,” he admitted, “and I shut off my phone, so I can’t even Google it.

Hanbali turned in her seat to better see him, “Why?”

“I don’t want to be tracked.”

Barnes looked down at her phone, “Can I use mine? They don’t know we’re together.”