Rescuing Liberty: Perseverance Book 1 (28 page)

He was still on his knees when he smelled
gunpowder.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CONNOR SNIFFED THE air.
Definitely gunpowder.
He was no
longer alone. Knowing it would be the coward’s way out, he wished
the newcomer was an executioner, death coming to greet him at
last.

“
Then said He to Thomas,” whispered a
man with a Latino accent.

The familiar voice was only feet away.
Connor knew he had to be either crazy or dead. There was no way the
man he heard would sign up with the Progression.
Maybe he’s dead, like Jacob.
Connor’s
heart sunk at the thought.

“
Reach hither thy finger and behold My
hands,” the voice continued.

Connor held his breath, waiting for
more.

“
And reach hither thy hand and thrust
it into My side.”

He mentally tracked the speech patterns and
followed the scripture that had been quoted at him many times. His
friend had loved to spout those scriptures every time Connor told
him he didn’t believe in God.

“
And be not faithless, but
believing."

The scripture recanting was over. Outside
there were normal shouts of a camp, but inside the tent was deathly
silent. Connor opened his eyes, and looked up. The man standing
before him kissed the crucifix around his neck and muttered a
prayer of thanks. It was a habit Connor had seen him do a million
times, but this time it brought unadulterated joy to his heart.

“
Boom?” Connor’s voice cracked. “What
are you doing here?”

“
Me?” Boom looked around the tent.
“You asked for help, so I came to get you out. So this is all it
took to get the insufferable Connor Dunstan to ask for help?”
Boom’s eyes sparkled with mischief and his 5’6”, 180 lb weapon of a
body still looked like it could stop a Mac truck. His dark skin was
covered in a filmy layer of dirt and gun powder. The once
camouflage bandana on his head was blackened with grime and who
knows what else, making it difficult to distinguish it from his
short, dark hair.

“
You are a sight for sore eyes,”
Connor told his friend. He knew somewhere within his fatigues, Boom
was packing at least five guns, three knives, six grenades, and
enough ammo to take on Arnold in a
Terminator
movie. A seed of hope planted in
Connor’s soul, quickly taking root and blooming. If Boom was here,
others had to be too. The weapons specialists never traveled solo.
“If your God finally decided to get off His butt and send help, I
guess you were an okay choice.”

Boom’s shoulders shook with laughter. “It
looks like you ran into a bit of trouble, Conman.”

The old nickname fell around Connor’s
shoulders like a worn sweatshirt. Neither of them were as young and
daring as they used to be, but being around Boom was like Ben-Gay
for the soul.

“
What, this?” Connor stretched his
arms out, palms up; gesturing to the entire world that seemed to
want him dead. “I got this.”

Boom lowered his head. “Father
forgive
mi hermano,
he lies
like a lizard on a rock.” He crossed himself and offered Connor a
hand up, which Connor accepted.

Outside the tent, chaos erupted. Shouts of
alarm were sounded.

“
How many did you bring?” Connor
asked.

Boom shrugged. “Enough, but we need to go.
Now.”

“
I’m not alone,” Connor replied. “I
was with a woman and a little girl.”

“
Yes, we saw them. They’re being
retrieved.” Boom handed him a machine gun and two extra clips of
ammo.

“
Two clips?” Connor asked, pretending
to be offended. “That’s it? I know you have more ammo on
you.”

Boom shrugged, white teeth gleaming against
skin the color of coffee as he readied his own gun and motioned for
Connor to follow him. “Of course I do. If you can't make it go bang
it is just an expensive club.”

Connor chuckled and followed Boom. They
reached the tent flap as the first bomb went off. Shielding their
eyes from the flying shrapnel they stepped over the bodies of the
men who’d been left to guard Connor’s tent.

“
You always did create the best
distractions,” Connor said.

“
You haven’t seen anything yet,” Boom
replied. “While you’ve been getting fat and rich, I’ve been
perfecting my technique. Wait until you see the new Hail
Mary.”

Fires blazed from several tents, thickening
the air with smoke. Kids carried buckets of water from the stream,
and soldiers battled a small skirmish at the south end of the camp.
A grenade appeared in Boom’s hand. He pulled the pin and tossed it
into a nearby tent, signaling to his men that he was clear.

Just like old times.
Connor thought. He followed Boom north to the
fence
. Connor stood behind Boom and watched for
threats as the weapons specialist tugged on a precut section of the
fence. When the gap was big enough, they squeezed through and
started inching toward the trees. A shot was fired and both men
went prone, looking around for the shooter. Connor found him just
as Boom’s bullet hit the shooter in the left shoulder, spinning him
around before he went down. Connor’s ears rang and the smell of
burnt powder filled his nostrils.

Connor started to stand, but Boom grabbed
his ankle and pointed toward a patrol group headed straight for
them. He pulled the pin out of another grenade and lobbed it into
the group. Connor covered his head and waited for the ground to
stop shaking. When he looked up, most of the camp was aflame and
Boom’s backup team had headed for the woods, making their escape.
Boom tapped Connor, pointed at the trees and started crawling. Once
under the cover of the foliage, they both stood and ran until they
could no longer hear, see or smell the camp. Then they slowed their
pace to a fast walk.

“
Where are we meeting up with your
team?” Connor asked. He needed to see the girls and know they were
safe.

“
The cave,” Boom replied.

Trying to distract himself from the worry
churning his gut, Connor asked, “How did you know I was in
there?”

“
We got a tip about the camp a few
days ago from a farmer. I sent a team to check it out, but they
didn’t come back.” He ducked under a branch.

“
So you went to find your lost sheep,”
Connor finished.

Boom nodded.

“
Any luck?”

“
Not good,” Boom replied.

Connor frowned. He knew the weight of losing
men all too well. “How many?”

“
Six. Good men. Every one of them.”
Boom crossed himself again. “You had me worried, Conman. When I saw
you walking into that camp … of your own free will. I was …
concerned at your allegiance. But then they brought the unconscious
child and the redhead. she looked like she was about to start
spitting fire. I knew she had to be with you.”

“
One time,” Connor replied. “That was
one time, and how was I supposed to know she was the general’s
daughter?”

Boom smirked and stepped over foliage,
pushing away hanging tree limbs. “That was the only one I knew
about, but I’m sure there were others. Every time I saw you on TV
you had a different girl on your arm. It’s good to finally see you
in person again. It’s a shame it had to come to this.”

Guilt twisted Connor’s stomach. He knew he
should have returned calls and emails, but he had wanted to kill
the past and feared that any contact with Boom would keep it
alive.

“
Boom—” he started to apologize, but
realized he had no idea where to start. “I …”

Boom stopped and turned to face him, cutting
him off. “Conman, I doubted you. Forgive me?”

Connor had a million things to apologize for
and yet here was Boom, extending his hand, begging for his
forgiveness. No explanations or excuses were necessary. “There’s
nothing to forgive,” Connor replied.

Boom smiled. “
Mi hermano.
Always.”

The two paused for a sociably-acceptable two
second man-hug—no more, no less—and stepped back like it never
happened. And just like that, any transgressions between the two
had been forgiven. They started walking again.

“
You saw me go in?” Connor shook his
head. “I was in there for hours. Took you long enough to
act.”

Boom snickered. “It is good to see you,
too.” His voice turned somber. “So many dead. So many worse than
dead. My heart rejoices at the sight of someone I know I can
trust.”

“
What about the others?” Connor asked.
“You must have a pretty large company to stage a rescue like that.
Is the army is going after the Progression?” The familiar thirst
for action stirred Connor’s blood, flaring his desire to be at the
heart of tactical planning.

“
You’re asking me to disclose
classified information to a mere civilian?” Boom shook his head.
“You must be an imposter. The real Conman would know
better.”

Connor held up his hands. “Oh a minute ago I
was your brother, and now I’m ‘a mere civilian’? Where’s the
love?”

Boom walked for a few minutes before he
replied, “Waiting to see where you stand.”

“
Hmm?” Connor asked.

Boom cleared his throat. “Legend tells us of
a man who was once more-than-a-man.” He looked at Connor
sideways.

Connor rolled his eyes and settled in for
another of Boom’s wild stories. “Legend, huh?”

He nodded. “This more-than-a-man had the
potential to achieve any position in the United States Army that he
desired, but he chose to be a Commander in the Green Berets.”

“
Any position?”

“
Oh yes. He’d earned medals of merit,
commendation, service, honor, hearts, stars … there were so many
colors on the front of his uniform that leprechauns used to show up
looking for their pots of gold.”

Connor chuckled. “Perhaps instead of Boom,
we should call you Bard.”

Boom ignored the jibe and continued with his
story. “He chose to be a Commander, because he wanted to be on the
front lines with his men. He never expected any of them to do what
he, himself wouldn’t do. He was an honorable man.”

“
He sounds like an arrogant fool.”
Connor said, stepping around a large rock.

Again, Boom ignored him. “But one day he
discovered that his superpowers were nothing more than fable.
More-than-a-man turned out to be less-than-a-superhero. Crushed by
his self-discovered inadequacy he buried his humanity deep in the
earth’s core and became … undead.”

“
Undead?” Connor asked.

Boom nodded. “Oh, yes. Only the undead would
choose the path of an attorney.”

Connor’s eyebrows rose in question.

“
I’ve been inside a courtroom, Con. If
those people aren’t blood-suckers, I do not understand the meaning
of the word.”

“
Indeed,” Connor conceded with a
chuckle. “So, whatever happened to your friend?”

“
Ah-ah-ah.” Boom stopped walking and
shook his finger in the air. “It’s not what happened, it’s what
will happen. And that, I cannot tell you.”

“
So you made me listen to this bogus
story and you’re not even going to reveal the ending?”

“
Nope. You tell me. You made a promise
back there.” His eyes focused on Connor’s. “Go anywhere, be
anything, you said. Now will you continue to beat yourself up over
the past or will you man up and do the right thing?”

“
Man up?” Connor puffed out his chest.
“Are you calling me a coward?”

Boom chuckled. “You are a lot of things, but
never a coward.”

Connor’s chest deflated. “How can
I
man up
when I don’t even
know what’s expected of me? Okay fine, I made a promise. I intend
to keep it, but tell me, how do you follow a leader who doesn’t
give instructions?”

Boom shrugged. “Well, the Bible is a good
instruction manual. When I need additional direction I seek Him
through prayer.”

Connor tried not to smile. “Ten years. Ten
bloody years since I last saw you, and you’re still barking at me
to read the Bible and pray. Come on Boom, technology, evolution,
there has to be some sort of easy button or divine messaging system
by now. I’d even settle for one of those collars that electrocutes
me when I make the wrong decision.”

He laughed. “Yes that would definitely be
easier. But then it wouldn’t be free will. How would we learn if
not by our mistakes?”

By the time they arrived at the cave, the sun
was setting, cooling off the late June temperatures. Gnats and
mosquitoes invaded, annoying and attacking whatever flesh was
available. Connor brushed them away and admired the site. It was a
large, natural cave in the side of a hill, hidden by dense
evergreens and shrubbery. Boom’s team had created a single-riveted
timber barricade reinforced with earth at the mouth of the cave. It
was wide enough to shield about twenty soldiers, and the north and
south corners of the barricade each supported a mounted machine
gun, manned by two soldiers.

“
So few?” Connor asked.

“
Fort Lewis could only spare two
teams. I had to take the majority of the men with me. They should
be back soon.”

“
Two teams?” Connor scratched his
head. “Twenty-four men? Surely they could spare more?”