Renegade: The Alliance Chronicles, Book Six

Chapter 15

Mark

"You're the only one who's ever accepted me for who I am. No wonder I love you."

—from "It Happens: When Friendship Turns to Love," by Dr. E. Rich

I snap awake. My eyes dart around the dim room. I take a minute to focus, and then I see a tiny figure crouched beside me.

It's the little boy, Eugenio. His mom must have cleaned him up and dressed him in cut-off jeans and a striped sleeveless T-shirt. A curious smile spreads across his chapped lips.

"Bom Dia," he proclaims.

I've never had an aptitude for languages, but I know that dia must mean day, and he's wishing me good morning. "Bom Dia," I reply.

"Você está com fome?" Eugenio holds out a bowl of something resembling oatmeal.

I'm not a fan of hot cereal, but food is food when you're hungry. At least it's not an MRE, a meal ready to eat. I take it from him. "Thank you."

He continues to smile as he runs out of the room, the pitter-patter of his bare feet echoing down the hall. I notice Kapernecki is gone.

"The word is Abrigado," Liam says across from me. He has his own bowl.

"I'll use it next time," I tell him and begin shoveling the hot cereal mixed with cashews and small round purple berries. They taste like very rich blackberries with a chocolate aftertaste. Much better than the garbage we got in Riza.

Fletch rolls over, and his eyes flutter open. "Martinez, can we shower before heading out?"

Liam points to the hall where we came in. "Go to your left. Try not to use up the hot water. It's a precious commodity around here."

"Got it. We'll have a quick meeting after we've all cleaned up and eaten." Fletch nudges Niang with his foot as he walks by.

§

An hour later, everyone is clean and fed. We sit around the living space and start making plans. During the middle of the meeting, Kapernecki enters the room and plops down beside me.

Fletch clears his throat. "I got a message from Winters. The Americans never made their checkpoint in Porto Velho. Martinez, you know the landscape. Any ideas?"

All eyes turn to Liam. "There are nearly four hundred kilometers between here and the meeting spot. Plenty of small towns and open land."

His nonchalance bugs the hell out of me. Liam's entire demeanor changed when Kapernecki came in from the porch.

"Fletch, do we have any intel on the last sighting on the group?" I ask.

"Nothing that makes sense," he says.

My fists clench. "Martinez, you mentioned Henrique Oliveira. Where can we find him?"

Liam hunches his shoulders and doesn't speak.

Apparently, I'm not the only one fed up with his behavior. Fletch bolts to his feet, crosses the room in two steps and lifts Liam by his collar. Slamming him into the wall, he leans in close and says, "That's where I've seen your fucking face. This is goddamned Eduardo Silva's son. What the hell are you doing here?"

Liam's cold eyes, like pale rocks, look past the man pinning him in place and land on me. A vein twitches at his temple. Through bared teeth, he shouts, "I volunteered to help you. No one was supposed to know I'm Silva's son."

Fletch pushes away from Liam. "Think we just found our bargaining chip."

The team leader removes his phone from a pocket and scrolls through it.

Liam takes the opportunity and storms down the hall. I follow him into a tiny room.

As soon as the door closes, he whirls around. "Couldn't keep your fucking mouth shut? Do you know what will happen to me if my father learns I'm here?"

"I didn't know it was a secret."

He ignores me and smacks his fist against a dresser. "Now, I have to get Catia and Eugenio out of here. Thanks to you, they're not safe."

"I'm sorry. What more do you want me to say? You should have told me—"

"I goddamned did," he shouts. "I told you they were hiding out. I told you my father was in a territorial war. Did you not hear anything I said?"

I rack my memory, trying to recall exactly what he said last night. He told me about Catia and how she witnessed a murder. He said nothing about a war.

"If you get your head out of your ass for a minute and thought about someone besides yourself..." His words trail off.

I've been accused of a lot of shit in my life, but selfish has never been one of them. My skin tightens. All I want to do is get the fuck out of that room. I turn, yank the door open, and collide into Fletch.

"What the fuck?" He takes a step back and then says, "Hey, I've got word from..." The sentence dies on the tip of Fletch's tongue as his gaze goes from me to Liam. "What's going on here?"

"We have to get Catia and the boy to safety before we use our so-called bargaining chip." I push past Fletch and walk down the hall.

Kapernecki blocks my path. "What happened?"

"I shot off my fucking mouth," I say and keep walking.

Down the dank smelling stairs, and into the early morning heat, surrounding me like a damned furnace. I don't stop moving until I'm in the middle of the dusty street. Pedestrians, bikes, and raggedy-ass vehicles dodge the crazy American. I pull at my collar and squint at the sun beating down.

"Carter, talk to me," Kapernecki says from behind me.

Not bothering to face her, I ask, "Why do you bother with me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm no good. People get hurt around me." I feel her hand on my back. "Stop it, Kapernecki."

"Shhh. It's an insignificant gesture. I can suffer through it," she says with concern in her voice. "This is about Martinez, right?"

"Yeah. I didn't know he was hiding out as well. He's been protecting that woman and her child. I've exposed them all."

"First things first. We don't talk about it here in the open. Streets have eyes and ears."

I turn toward her. "Second?"

"Stop beating yourself up. I've watched you for years. If I hadn't come down, you'd be on your way to a local watering hole. Getting drunk won't fix this. If anything, it'll only make it worse."

I hold my head back and exhale. "Then what do I do?"

"Man up. Go back upstairs, and we discuss this like adults. Fletch has a plan. We do whatever's necessary for Catia and her son."

"He's not gonna forgive me," I mumble.

"Who? Martinez?"

I nod.

"Probably not. If you mean anything to him, though, he'll find a way."

"If not?"

"You don't deserve him," she says with a smile on her face.

"Come here," I drawl and pull her close.

"Carter," she warns. "You know I'm not fond of this."

"Like you said, it's an insignificant gesture. You can suffer through it."

My lips brush hers. She doesn't fight it.