The Oasis (13 page)

Chapter Ten

Lena could see them coming back across the road. The camaraderie was gone and Jasper’s face seemed more strained than when they had left. She wondered what had soured his mood so much but decided it wasn’t in their best interests to discuss it now.

The two men entered the kitchen in silence. Brett threw his bag on the floor and dropped rather loudly onto the couch. Jasper’s smile to her was reserved and she knew he was hiding something.

“We need to get on the road,” he said and cleared his throat. “Let’s eat and then we’ll get going.”

“Will you be joining us, Brett?” Lena noticed how quickly Jasper looked towards her. He stiffened as if she had struck him.

Brett’s smile seemed sinister and Lena hoped she was just imagining it.

“I’m going to get our stuff together,” Jasper said and bounded up the stairs.

“What’s eating him?” Brett asked, smiling as he looked over at Lena.

She watched as Jasper walked upstairs, wondering the same thing.

Brett took out his pistol and started cleaning it. Such an odd movement. Although Brett’s arrival was unexpected, Lena couldn’t imagine just leaving him. Brett, Jasper and Lena were only the beginning. She had hope that if communities like the free man’s could exist, then maybe a community of normal people could exist as well. Finding Brett had only encouraged her in thinking that there might be more normal people out there than she had initially thought. She hoped that Jasper could understand that.

Brett flashed that false-looking “everything is fine” smile at her again, making her just a little uncomfortable. She had this sinking feeling that there was more to him than she’d initially thought.

“I’m just going to…” she let her voice trail off as she turned to follow Jasper up the stairs. She wanted to know what was going on between them. She was sure that whatever was going on with them had to do with where they were headed. There were still so many unanswered questions. How did Jasper know the free man? And Brett? It seemed like an unlikely coincidence. What was in Coronado anyway? What was so important? What was he hiding?

* * * * *

Jasper was quickly packing his bag when she walked inside. Although she had seen him do it on many occasions, she wondered why he was doing it now if they weren't leaving for a while yet.

“What’s going on, Jasper? I need to know,” she whispered, clenching her hands together nervously. The questions that had been plaguing her were finally going to be addressed, but after having shared so much with him, connecting with him on so many levels, Lena wasn’t sure if she was ready for the answers. Would knowing who he was in the past change how she felt about him now? Why was getting to California so important? Sure, her farm wasn’t safe anymore, but there were lots of places to settle. Something was drawing Jasper to Coronado.

Meeting Brett had also changed things. Jasper’s attitude towards Brett had changed drastically in the span of an hour. Who was Brett? And why did Lena start to feel like their relationship was more sinister than she first thought…

Jasper set the bag down heavily on the bed and tenderly grasped her shoulders. Pulling her towards him, he embraced her, resting his head on top of hers. He sighed before he spoke.

“I want to tell you everything. I
need
to tell you everything.”

Why then did she suspect that he was again going to avoid her questions? She opened her mouth to ask, but he silenced her with a kiss.

He gently let his lips fall onto hers, caressing her body while he consumed her lips. His hands settled on her waist as his mouth moved from hers to her neck, trailing kisses along the way.

She sighed, but pressed her hands onto his chest, gently telling him how important this was.

He placed a final kiss over her chest before he spoke again, keeping his mouth close to her heart. “I met Brett a long time ago. He is also a SEAL, but was stationed in Virginia while I was in California.”

She gently caressed his shoulders but he didn’t continue.

“Why do I feel like there is a whole mess of information you aren’t telling me?”

He looked up at her and she saw the cautiousness in his eyes. “I suspect that he is now working with Eric Freeman.”

Before she could respond, there was a crash from below. It sounded like the front door—and it felt like a confirmation that Jasper’s suspicions were correct.

“We’ve got company,” he whispered and backed away from Lena, breaking their bond. Lena felt her body tremble.

Jasper quickly grabbed the bag off the bed. Lena knew that once again they were on the run. Although her stomach was still clenched tight and her heart still raced from their kiss, she knew that whatever they faced, at least they would be together.

She stood, feeling calm in spite of the unknown danger. There hadn’t been time to talk about how Jasper had changed her very being, but she knew that once they got on the road they would have time to talk. Mentally she checked off yet another conversation she wanted to have with him.

She watched as he grabbed the rifle off the floor and suddenly pulled her to him once again, his mouth covering hers in a passionate kiss. Reclaiming her, he crushed her to him as the kiss sent new spirals of ecstasy through her. When he pulled away he cocked his rifle and whispered, “Remember, you will always be mine.”

There was no time to act on it, but her cheeks flamed with new heat. She smiled at him, knowing that he had captured more than her heart. She was his in more than just the physical sense.

Then Jasper handed her a pistol and that moment of normalcy, the intimacy of standing in the same room where they had made love, dissipated. It was back to running, their lives on the line again.

She grabbed the pistol as Jasper took her other hand, and they looked into each other’s eyes one last time before he pulled open the door.

Fear knotted inside her when he didn’t go straight through the door. He aimed his pistol out the crack of the door and scanned the area quickly. Then he opened the door and pushed her behind him, letting her follow him through the darkened hallway. If it was one of the
others
then Brett would have fired immediately. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as icy fear twisted around her heart. Did Brett know the free man, as Jasper suspected? Had he found them?

Jasper rounded the corner slowly, looking through the scope of his rifle. She kept behind him and looked around, not really sure what she was looking for. She imagined that she must look ridiculous, her body pressed close against Jasper’s. However, she was not as skilled as he was with a weapon and so she was trying desperately to look intimidating. The man in front of her was holding a bigger gun and he knew how to use it. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Jasper knew what he was doing; she only hoped that she wouldn’t get in the way of him doing it.

They made their way slowly toward the stairs. Lena tried to step exactly where Jasper stepped, afraid the floor would creak. She frantically tried to remember if it had creaked the night before, and if so, where, but with all the turmoil running through her mind she could barely think enough to stay in step with Jasper.

He walked smooth as a cat along the hallway, keeping his movements fluid. He thought he knew what he would see down the stairs; he merely needed to confirm his speculations before he acted. Being a SEAL had taught him to plan ahead and to assess any situation with escape routes in mind at all times. He rounded the corner and peered down the staircase.

Pausing silently, Jasper saw Brett still on the couch cleaning his gun...and Eric pacing behind him. Immediately his mind began to anticipate their moves and evaluate their options.

Jasper raised his hand and motioned for Lena to back up quietly. He put a finger to his lips. He knew that she was already panicking and he did his best to guide her in the direction he needed her to go.

Lena was even less coordinated going backwards than she was going forwards. Jasper kept his gun pointed towards the stairs and Lena did her best to retreat back into the room they had come out of. She entered the room first, letting her legs flop as she sat on the bed.

“What’s going on?” she asked and flinched as Jasper shushed her quickly. He was around the room before she could absorb what was going on.

Jasper evaluated every aspect of the room and she couldn’t understand what he was doing when he started looking at the floorboards and the walls. Opening her mouth to repeat the question, she couldn’t get it out before he answered quietly. “Freeman is down there.”

Lena’s mouth dropped open. Memories of being in that dark chamber of his came crashing down on her as panic rioted within her. Bending down to her, Jasper grasped her shoulders. He waited there until she looked into his eyes. He didn’t need to say anything; she knew that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. She couldn’t afford to be distracted by her romantic notions. His eyes told her what she needed to know: he was doing everything in his power to get them out of there and if he needed to he would protect her with his own life. She would not go back to that nightmare.

He released her and went into the bathroom. She stood up quickly and paced the room. Lena had no idea what Jasper was thinking now and probably wouldn’t be able to come up with any useful contributions herself, but she needed to be doing something. A warning voice in the back of her mind told her not to let her thoughts dwell on her own insecurities. Jasper was a trained SEAL; he knew what he was doing. But there were two very dangerous men downstairs.

As she paced around the room, she reminded herself that she knew how to use a gun, albeit not that well, but they didn’t know that. As far as they knew she was a great shot and as good as Jasper, if not better.

She picked the pistol up off the bed where it had fallen. Examining it, she wondered how it had come to this. She used to be a student. The gun looked foreign in her hands and she could barely remember how she had even acquired it.

Jasper came out of the bathroom, breaking her concentration. He walked over to the door, locking it quietly. A tornado of emotion was brewing inside her body and she began shaking. She looked over at Jasper, whose calm exterior mirrored his inner workings. She knew Jasper was a calm person, but she had trouble understanding how at this moment he managed to stay as calm as he was. She could see that his mind was working and he was analyzing everything about the room. When she looked around all she could see was a room. Nothing about the place stood out to her, showed her that they would be able to make it out alive.

“What the hell is going on?” she asked again, since her initial question wasn’t answered. Now that Jasper had returned, she was sure that she would get some kind of information. She deserved that. If she was going to die then at least she could find out who was going to send her to her maker.

“Why is the free man here?” She sat heavily on the bed. Jasper didn’t acknowledge her and a warning voice whispered in her head. Something inside of her cautioned her not to ask the question that was on the tip of her tongue. “How do you know him?” She asked it anyway. Her voice rose as she spoke and she knew she was panicking.

He walked over to her and kneeled in front of her. Tears had begun to flow down her cheeks. He wiped them away and held her close. He didn’t know if this would be their last moment together or not. All he knew was that this woman had come to mean so much to him, in such a short time, and it killed him to not be able to tell her the truth right now. He had been hiding the truth for so long that he struggled with telling her. All he could think of was getting her out of there.

Screw the O.A.S.I.S. Jasper allowed his mind to dwell momentarily on saving her, on getting the hell out of that house and running away together. Away from the O.A.S.I.S., away from Eric and his army. A part of him knew what he needed to do. As long as Eric and Brett and others like them were alive they would never be safe. There would always be questions that were left unanswered.

“Jasper!” Lena’s shrill voice broke through his thoughts and he shushed her more aggressively than he wanted to. To lessen the sting, he kissed her forehead as he stood again and began thinking like a SEAL once more.

Lena noticed the change in him instantly and knew she was losing him. “No!” She pulled him back to her. She grabbed his hand and pressed her face to it. “Please,” she whispered. “I don’t want to die not knowing what I am dying for.”

He looked down at her, imagining how she felt. Her heart was open to him and he could see how strong she was. He saw her jaw clench as she held in a sob. He couldn’t imagine how scared she must be, after everything she had gone through. He was asking her to fight his war and she didn’t even know what they were fighting for, how important it was. He knew she deserved an answer.

“We need to get the fuck out of here, then I
promise
you I will explain everything.”

He leaned down and kissed her. He let his lips linger on hers longer than he had planned, but he loved how much she was like him. A strong-willed person who wouldn’t take no for an answer, even at gunpoint.

Setting the rifle down onto the bed, he stood up. Going over to the door, he re-checked the lock. He knew that Brett and Eric were very cautious in their actions, otherwise they would have come up right away and not hesitated to kill them. Their waiting tactic wouldn’t work on Jasper, of course, but he could see Lena becoming more fearful as the seconds ticked by.

He kneeled down between her legs. If he was going to tell her the truth, he would rather she be prepared for the worst. She was not going to be killed without trying to defend herself first. He pulled the gun up and showed her the sight on the top. “Aim through here,” he whispered. “And stay calm. You’ll have a better shot.”

She nodded, understanding what he was telling her. The truth was going to get her killed, but it didn’t matter. She needed to know.

Jasper grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the bathroom. Suddenly, they heard the men downstairs.

“Don’t get any funny ideas, Anderson,” Eric yelled from below. He fired a shot up through the ceiling and Lena screamed, dropping to the floor and covering her head as the bullets tore through the floorboards. Everything ran through her mind at once, and she admitted to herself that she had no idea how they were going to get out of this.

Jasper seemed unfazed by the shots through the floor. He knew Eric was toying with them. Lena was a wild card to them and certainly someone they would enjoy playing with. They knew that she could be a hindrance keeping Jasper from a smooth escape.

What they didn’t know was that Jasper wasn’t going to let that happen. He was taking Lena with him if he had to drag her.

“We’ve got the place surrounded!” Eric shouted again.

Jasper doubted that.

He walked slowly to the window, knowing that just below him two men with guns stood waiting for him to do just that. He pressed his back against the side of the window, edged open the window shades and looked out at the street below. There were a few men under the window and more by the front door. All the men surrounding the house seemed to be
others
. Jasper was awestruck by how well Eric had maintained control over them. He must have reached their minds somehow, but Jasper could not think how. Behind the
others,
an apparently normal man stood in the shadows with a gun in his hands. Jasper quickly closed the shades when he saw the gun pointed directly at the window he was looking through.

He dropped to the ground as the SEAL outside opened fire.

“Fuck!” Jasper cursed over the firing. He was glad that Lena was still low to the ground. He quickly crawled over to her and covered her until the firing stopped, using his body to protect her. He knew the moment to act was now.

As the silence crept up around them, he strained to hear Eric and Brett laughing downstairs again. This game of cat and mouse had to end. Jasper took a deep breath and grabbed Lena, pulling her across the room as silently as he could. She held on to him, trying to follow his steps, matching them with her own. He raised his hand to his lips, shushing her. Even in that anxious moment she couldn’t help but let her eyes linger over his mouth, but nodded to show she understood.