Breaking Point (Article 5 #2)(26)

“Pick this one up in the Square?” he asked, and grimaced as the moisture that had gathered on top of the car doused his shoulder. He jutted a dimpled chin toward Sarah.

I swallowed, but my heart had lodged in my throat and would not go down. The Sisters were one thing; a secondary threat at best. They couldn’t harm us themselves. But soldiers were an entirely different matter. I raised a hand to shelter my face from the rain, praying they would not recognize us.

“Sisters found her at the soup kitchen,” said Sean in a voice loud enough to cut through the hail. “The tower still down?”

The soldier raised the small black radio and made a show of pressing a button on the side with his thumb. “Complete silence. Unbelievable timing, isn’t it?”

Chase subtly repositioned himself between me and the car, blocking my view.

Every sane thought in my head told me to bolt, to grab him and run, just like we’d done time and time again, but I couldn’t. The soldiers didn’t recognize me, at least so far. Taking off now would be fatal, not just for us, but for Sean and Cara, too. We had no choice but to play this out.

“Why are you bringing in the whore?” the soldier pressed. “She the sniper?” His partner laughed.

Sean floundered. I glanced to Cara, who was flexing her hands against the sides of her skirt. Obviously she wanted to say something but couldn’t. A real Sister wouldn’t undermine a soldier’s authority.

“Says she might have a lead,” said Chase. He, too, guarded his eyes from the rain with his hand.

“We’ve got to get her back to base,” said Sean. “Command’s going to want to hear this.”

The driver said nothing for several long seconds.

“We’d give you a ride, but someone needs to watch the gate,” he finally answered.

“We’re fine,” said Sean. “Our car’s just around the corner.”

We were just about to pass when he called out to Sean one final time.

“Watch your back,” he said, rolling up the window as he spoke. “One of those maggots in the Square reported he saw a uniform on the roof after the sniper attacked in the Square. Thinks it was FBR.”

A spy within the MM. I almost liked the idea until I realized that every resistance fighter in a blue uniform was now in double the danger.

“Really,” Sean said flatly.

Without another word we passed and made our way to the sidewalk, keeping a brisk pace for five blocks until it was clear the streets were empty. Then we ran for five more. At the sound of a siren somewhere nearby, we took refuge beneath the awning of an old abandoned clothing shop. Sean kicked the boarded-up door, but it didn’t budge. Chase called him back, and with one hard kick he split the wood just above the handle. On the second try the door swung inward, and we all piled through.





CHAPTER


6





WE held still in the dark, barely breathing. When the siren faded into the distance, we relaxed a little, enough to catch our breath. Sarah was whimpering, and jerked her bound hands away from Sean’s grasp. He looked to me to smooth things over.

“No one here’s going to hurt you,” I said. She kept her hands over her distended belly like a shield and continued to cry, anxious gaze traveling from one of us to the next. Cara sighed dramatically; something about this girl obviously rubbed her the wrong way. I remembered that the soldier had called Sarah a whore without a second glance and wondered if she was really a prostitute.

“It’s okay,” I soothed. “We made it.” But though my voice was calm, my blood was buzzing like I’d just been struck by lightning. Over her shoulder, I caught Chase’s gaze just before he slammed the weather outside; in his eyes simmered a mixture of astonishment and unease, the wordless language we’d both learned to rely upon.

“We made it,” I said again. But we were far from safe.

A knock came at the door, and Chase peeked through the crack, one hand on the gun hanging from his belt. My breath caught as he stepped aside to let a shorter man in a cap and ragged clothing in.

“Did you think they got you?” Riggins smirked at me, wringing out his hat. The water streamed from the ends of his shirtsleeves. A tense breath squeezed from my throat.

“I saw you across the street,” said Sean. I wasn’t so sure that was true, but didn’t say anything. I certainly hadn’t remembered Riggins was on our tail. It wouldn’t have made me feel safer, given our history.

“I knew the shooter was still here,” Riggins said.

“Oh yeah, how’s that?” Cara asked.

He placed his first finger in the center of his forehead. “Call it my sixth sense.” He turned to me when Cara rolled her eyes. “For a greenhorn, you’re not easy to follow. Kept Jennings in my sight the whole time, but I blinked and you were gone.” It was a reprimand, but I didn’t care.

“They got separated,” Cara interjected.

Riggins’s brows quirked. “Right before the sniper hit. That’s unfortunate.”

“What’s your problem?” I was so tired of his accusations.

“Not the time,” called Sean.

“Two minutes,” said Chase firmly. “Then we’re out.” He disappeared in the shadows to search the back.