Royal (Terk’s Guardians #9)

Chapter 7

J anna stared out around her, trying to orient herself. The guys had stolen another car thankfully, so they were no longer on foot. They had reached some unknown town of indeterminate size. She stared at her hands, wondering at the foolishness that had kept her and Royal apart when it wasn’t needed. Royal was right. She’d been the one so adamant about no strings attached, no relationships. She was testing to see whether it was even worth trying for a relationship or whether it would destroy her inside and out, depending on the person involved. She should have trusted that Royal wasn’t that kind of person, but she hadn’t, and she’d let him get away.

Even though she’d tried, she’d only made half-assed efforts to contact him. As she sat here thinking about it, she realized she could have done a lot more, but she hadn’t because it was easier not to. Now she considered all the time that they’d wasted, and all the pain she’d been through alone, feeling angry, upset, and yet…

Her train of thought was tossed around as the car picked up speed and suddenly took a sharp corner up ahead. She was tossed to the side, just as rapid gunfire shattered the back windshield all around her. They continued to drive forward, the guys screaming at her from the front seat, telling her to stay down. She wanted to tell them she wasn’t an idiot after all, but it was foolish to do anything but curl up in a tight ball and hope that the shooting would stop, and fast.

Why would someone even be after them? Then again, maybe it wasn’t about the op at all. Maybe it was just that they were riding in a stolen car. She stayed down and out of sight, as the vehicle kept driving faster and faster, taking corners so quickly she was afraid the vehicle would flip. She heard Calum calling back to her, telling her to hold on.

She did as she was told, as they went around another sharp corner. She swore to God two of the tires lifted off the roadway, her heart beating out of her chest. Thankfully the car landed on all four tires again and kept on going. She had never experienced anything like this, and the last thing she wanted was to be involved in some race that would end up getting them killed. Still, she had been the one to insist that she must come along with these guys, so she could hardly be complaining about that now.

After a series of hard turns, they hit some rough terrain. She couldn’t look out, but she figured they were crossing a field or something. She noted that very soon they would probably make a run for it on foot. Unfortunately she was not ready to do that, after their earlier trek into the forest. She closed her eyes and reached out mentally, seeking more info on their current situation. As soon as she did, she connected to a whole bunch of other vehicles up ahead.

She leaned forward and cried out, “More vehicles are up ahead that we can grab, if we can safely stop and get out of this one.”

Almost immediately they made another series of turns, and the vehicle came to a hard stop. Doors were thrown open, and, before she knew it, she was being dragged out.

“Where?” Rick asked.

She pointed to the left, and he took off running, leaving her with Calum.

“You okay?” Calum asked, looking at her worriedly.

“I’m fine,” she murmured breathlessly, as she tried to keep up with Calum. Rick was about to head the wrong way, so she called out, “Take a left.”

He immediately veered left.

When she smiled, Calum eyed her curiously. “Your reaction’s a little off. I wasn’t expecting to see you smiling right now.”

She nodded. “The circumstances suck, but the fact Rick followed my instructions instead of scowling and asking for confirmation first is almost comical.”

Calum smiled. “And as long as it all works, he will likely continue to do so. The minute that something doesn’t go the way you want it to go, then believe me that Rick will question everything again.”

“Right. Of course, the information is only as good as long as the information is good.”

He smiled. “We don’t have any choice about that either. Just think about it.”

“No, I won’t,” she said, with a wave of her hand. “Vehicles are there, and he can take one. I just don’t know what else could be there.”

“Meaning?”

“I just see machinery, lots of metal, and that can be both good and bad.”

“It could be a junkyard, and maybe they aren’t even drivable,” he noted, frowning at her.

“Or it could be a dealer or somebody hoarding, or maybe they’re a collector. I don’t know.”

They heard a vehicle start up, just as they entered a huge Quonset-looking building. As a vehicle raced toward them, they stopped. Confirming Rick was the driver, she quickly got into the back seat again. He didn’t even need to bark at her. Rick didn’t say a word, but, as he headed out, she told him, “Turn right.”

He turned right, and they disappeared into whatever traffic was around them.

She asked, “Did you guys even get a chance to see who was shooting at us?”

“It was a military jeep,” Rick shared, “and we must avoid every one of those that we can.”

“Except that’s also what Royal is driving,” she replied. “That’s how they got out of a roadblock. They took a military rig, and that’s what they’ve kept to since.”

“That’s a pretty smart move. If you can reach out and find one of those for us,” Rick suggested, “I would be happy to make that switch myself.”

“I’ll let you know,” she muttered. She closed her eyes and settled back. The energy of war machines was very different than that of, say, a cruiser that would only be taken out on a Sunday drive, never to be touched by rain, never touched by wind blowing hard against the paint job. So she had to pick and choose between the energies.

After about twenty minutes of steady driving, she leaned forward and said, “A military rig is up ahead. It’s empty, but I don’t know why. I don’t even know if it drives. I’m just telling you.”

“Good enough,” Rick noted. He slowed as they approached, and instead of him hopping out, Calum did, then walked around the military rig, checked it out, hopped inside, and turned it on.

She smiled. “You guys are pretty good at hot-wiring those things, aren’t you?”

“It’s pretty easy to do, which works out nicely for us,” Rick noted, “so yeah.”

They made the switch into the military rig, and they took off again, this time with Calum driving. Rick looked back at her. “Anything else to add?”

“No, not right now.” She shrugged. “All I can tell you is that Royal and Bruce are coming toward us, and we’re heading toward them. So, at some point in time, we can’t miss them.”

“Can you judge how long it will be or how far away they are?” Rick asked.

She frowned and closed her eyes, shifting her head, trying to check internally for the length of that cord between them. “Maybe thirty minutes or so?”

Rick nodded. “In that case, connect with them soon, so that either they pull off on the side of the road, and we come upon them—or vice versa. Somehow we have to figure out how to recognize who each other are.”

“Right,” she agreed. “Drive on now, because otherwise we’ll have company very soon.”

With that, Calum picked up the speed and raced off into the night.

*

Royal drove steadily, surprised at the level of awareness he was still managing, even though he was exhausted. It was almost as if he had passed exhaustion into some zone of hyper-productivity. Maybe that didn’t make any sense or wasn’t even possible, but it was the best he could do to explain it.

He kept driving, wondering how far away everybody was and how they were supposed to find each other, when suddenly a voice slammed into his brain and yelled, Stop!

He hit the brakes hard, almost throwing Bruce against the dash. Royal swept out his arm, stopping Bruce, then swore. Royal eased forward again slowly, parking on the side of the road. He looked around, not sure who had spoken to him, but hoping it was the good guys. At this point, he was almost dulled to anything else. When another vehicle approached from the front, he stiffened and picked up the weapon, knowing that trusting anybody right now had the ability to take him and Bruce both out within the next few seconds, and Royal had made it easy for them.

He slipped out of the vehicle, closed the door, and stepped behind it, his gun at the ready. The other vehicle pulled up, facing him on the same side of the road and shut off their engine. Now in the silence, Royal waited as the two vehicles faced each other, then suddenly the back door opened up, and a woman raced forward.

She called out, “Royal, put down the gun. It’s me.”

He stared, slowly walking forward, placing the weapon on the hood of the vehicle. As she flew toward him, he opened his arms, and she threw herself into them. He was slammed hard against the vehicle and groaned at the impact.

She tried to withdraw, but he held her close and whispered, “That’s okay. It’s,… it’s just so damn good to see you.” His arms clenched tightly around her, and he held her as if he would never let her go. He realized that she was hanging on just as tightly.

She then backed up to clasp both sides of his face with her hands. “My God, Royal, I thought we would never find you.”

He dropped his forehead to rest on hers and whispered, “I didn’t even know anybody was looking for me.”

She smiled, tears in her eyes, as she nodded. “Yeah, I was looking, and I have been for a while. But we’ve got you now.”

Then Royal noted the two men coming toward them. Their energy was strong; Royal could tell just from the way they walked. They were both fit, healthy, and a hell of a lot stronger than Royal currently was, and yet he sensed no threat from them. Still, he pulled her up to his side defensively.

She chuckled. “They’re with me, remember?”

He nodded slowly. “I remember, but it hasn’t exactly been an easy trip so far.” At that, one of the men stepped forward, and Royal could see him better.

“I’m Calum,” he greeted Royal. “And that’s Rick. Janna’s led us on quite the dance to get to you.”

“Who are you?” Royal asked. “And why would she even call you?”

“We work with Terk,” Calum explained, as if expecting that name to mean something.

And it did. Yet Royal didn’t understand why it related to these people. “How did she get you guys to come out here and find me? How did you even know?”

“According to her, you’ve been calling for her, and she hasn’t been able to get you out of her mind, so she reached out to Terk. About that same time, the CIA called Terk, willing to hire us to get you back. We’d already agreed to do the job for Janna, so it’s basically a two for one.”

“Right.” Royal frowned. “The government.”

Such a wealth of disbelief filled his tone that Calum smiled. “I hear you, and that’s part of our problem too. We don’t really like working with our government—especially the CIA, after what they did to us—but they do pay well. So, it covered the cost of getting you guys out of here, even though Janna was willing to pay for it.’

Royal turned and looked at her in surprise.

She shrugged. “Hey, I’m not kidding. All I heard was you calling for me. And no matter how much I would like to continue this discussion, we need to get moving.”

“I can’t leave my friend behind.”

“We weren’t planning on it.”

Calum looked at their vehicle and asked, “How much gas do you have?”

Royal shrugged. “Enough, depending on how far we’re going.”

“We need the most gas that we can get. So I’ll siphon our gas and put it into your vehicle, since yours is bigger,” he explained. “So let Bruce just sleep.”

While Royal watched the other men take care of everything, Royal remembered being as strong, healthy, and vibrant as they were. It just… seemed so long ago. He looked down at her, still in disbelief. “I can’t believe that just because you thought I was calling you,… you came after me.” His voice was choked with emotion and wonder.

“It’s been a pretty tough few years,” she muttered. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“Yeah, you’re not kidding. How about changing that no relationship rule while we’re at it?”

She looked up at him and smiled. “Yeah, I pretty much regretted that soon after you left.”

“Ya think?” he quipped, shaking his head. “God, when I count up how much time we wasted.”

“And yet you may not want anything to do with me, when you,… when you hear the truth,” she shared. “I don’t know that I deserve anything more either,” she muttered.

Just then the men called out, “Let’s go,” and Royal realized their conversation was done. He got into the vehicle, now in the back seat with Bruce and Janna, while the two other men were in the front seat, taking over the driving. Royal collapsed against the seat, hating to feel relieved, yet pretty-damn hard not to be.

He looked down as she wrapped her hands around his and just held them close. He shook his head, still not believing it, when a sound came from the other side of him. He looked over to Bruce. “Hey, Bruce, wake up,” he muttered.

His friend opened his eyes and stared at him. “Oh shit, did they get us? Are we captives again?”

“No, we’re safe,” Royal replied. “We hooked up with the rescue group. So, in theory, we’re better off than we were.”

“In theory?” Bruce tried hard to process that, but he was struggling.

Immediately Janna turned to Bruce, “It’s okay, Bruce. Go back to sleep. Hopefully, by the next time you wake up, we’ll be out of this country and in much better shape.”

“Hopefully,” he noted. “I don’t have a whole lot of hope for much anymore. I’m just too tired of all this.”

“Sleep,” she whispered and gently ran her hand over his, patting it gently. “Just get some rest.”

He closed his eyes and dropped off again.

She looked over at Royal, concern on her face.

“I know,” Royal said. “Bruce should have been dead a dozen times over. I’m not sure how either of us keep surviving.”

“The will to live is pretty impressive,” she murmured. “Plus, you guys have been getting some additional help.” She eyed him, curious to see if he understood.

“I know we have been,” Royal stated. “I don’t really understand what we did to deserve it, but I’m grateful.”

“I’m not sure deserving it has anything to do with this,” Janna pointed out. “Nobody should go through what you and Bruce have experienced.”

Royal chuckled. “And yet, just because we’re free, it doesn’t stop the governments, both American and Russian, from doing it to other people.”

“I know,” she whispered. “That’s something I struggle with too. I can’t go out after everybody. This rescue op has pretty well wiped me out, physically and emotionally and energetically. I’m afraid I’ve not been very helpful to these guys.”

“You shouldn’t have to be,” Royal declared. “Terk’s team should be very well trained for a mission like this.”

“That we are,” Calum agreed, turning to look at him from the front seat. “But we also have special tactics that we utilize in these cases, and she’s been very helpful along that line, especially in tracking you down.”

“I’m grateful for the help,” Royal said, “and, yeah, if the government’s willing to pay, charge them to the hilt because it’s their fault I’m in this scenario to begin with.”

Calum asked, “So, what were you thinking when you accepted that assignment? You knew it wouldn’t necessarily end well, and you knew you weren’t likely to be getting any help at the end of the day.”

“I knew it was a risk. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the mission was completed, and we left everything on good terms. I’d been debriefed and was ready to leave. Then the next thing I knew, I was a prisoner and being tortured. At that first prison, the guards were looking for information on all kinds of shit that I couldn’t possibly have any connection to,” he explained.

“I think it was just a fishing expedition or the standard questions they asked everybody in prison.… Maybe I was there and conveniently American, so they were using me to apply pressure on our government, just to get a few of their own released in exchange for me. Then it all went downhill from there. I was eventually moved to another prison, where they never asked us anything. They just worked their psyops on us, telling us weekly that we would be executed next week . I never saw a hint of daylight after that for months. That’s got to be one of the worst things, at least for me anyway. I really missed it and even now can’t quite get enough of it.”

Janna sighed. “Daylight is essential for the soul, and that would also explain some of how you regressed physically,” she noted, looking up at him. “We will definitely get lots of sun, daylight, and vitamin D into you pretty soon.”

“I was beginning to really doubt that we would make it. Our execution date kept getting pushed back, so we never really knew what to expect, and so many times I didn’t believe we would survive until then. We were slated for execution again next week, though for the longest time we didn’t believe them. We’ve been slated for that time and time again, and we just figured it was another threat and kept hoping that the US government would work to free us. But then we heard them talking among themselves that our executions were scheduled for Wednesday of next week and that keeping Bruce alive was a waste, since he would just die soon anyway.”

She nodded. “Terk heard that date as well and thought it must have been serious enough that it got the CIA to take action to fund a rescue attempt. And here you are. You and Bruce are safe now.”

“No, we’re not,” he argued, looking over at her with a knowing smile. “Not until we’re out of the reach of the Russians. Not until Bruce and I are not quite so depleted and worn down that we can’t take care of ourselves. That’s likely to take several months.”

“And that’s okay,” she replied. “You can have months to recuperate, so no rush now.”

Frowning, he pulled something shiny out of her hair. “Glass?” he asked, with a raised eyebrow.

She winced. “Yeah, we’ve been shot at a couple times.”

He nodded. “Right, so we’re hardly out of danger yet, are we?”

“Maybe not, but we should be soon,” she stated. “The best thing for you right now would be to get some sleep. Why don’t you take a break and rest while you can?”

He looked at her, then at the men, and realized for the first time that he could let his guard down a bit. He could relax, just as long as he trusted the people he was with.

She smiled and squeezed his hand. “You can trust them, Royal. They came here to get you, after all.” When he hesitated, she shook her head. “We don’t know what’s coming, so, just as they’re forever telling me, we need to be prepared, and that means getting as much rest as we can, whenever we can.”

He smiled and shook his head. “Whoever would have thought that military wisdom would be coming out of your mouth.”

“That’s because we didn’t really know each other,” she said.

“No, but I wanted to,” he murmured.

“Yeah, and there were times that I really missed you too,” she admitted. “As I’ve already mentioned, we have a lot to talk about.”

“And some of it I don’t really understand,” he shared.

“I know, but this isn’t the time or the place.”

He looked at her steadily for a moment and then nodded and closed his eyes. Letting his head fall back against the seat, he quickly drifted off to sleep.