The Last Bastion of the Living (The Last Bastion #1)(19)

Rubbing her back lightly, Dwayne said, “At least she knows you were thinking of her before deployment.”

“True. I almost didn’t call her. I thought about just sending her a message. But she would have killed me for that.” Maria ran her hands over her hair and turned her gaze toward him. “Did you get your errand taken care of?”

“Yes, I did,” Dwayne answered, smiling slightly. He pulled a small black box out of his pocket. “I’m not going to lie. I don’t like the idea of not having any communication with you while you’re out there. I hate that they’re disabling that aspect of your wristlet.”

Sighing, Maria nodded. “I don’t like it either. It’s going to be the hardest part of the mission.”

“Well, I went to see someone that gave me a solution.” Dwayne held out the box. “It’s for your wristlet. I am leaving this up to you, though. All you have to do is connect it to this device and it will download a program that will create a back door for us to communicate through.”

Maria took the small box, flipped it open, and stared down at the small device. “If I got caught...”

“Exactly. That’s why I said it’s your choice. I’ll download the same program, of course.”

“We’ll be jail breaking our wristlets,” Maria said in a solemn voice.

“Which is against the law,” Dwayne added, his keen blue eyes gazing into her dark ones.

Maria ran her finger lightly over the slim silver stick thoughtfully. Running her hand over her wristlet, she activated the screen and slowly tapped in her passcode. She could feel Dwayne watching her, waiting. Pulling the device out of the box, she tilted her head to gaze at the man she loved.

“I’m willing to risk it if you are,” she finally said.

The corner of Dwayne’s mouth quirked upward as he nodded. “I’m absolutely ready to risk it.”

It took only a few minutes to install the program and Maria was relieved when it disappeared into the depths of the wristlet’s operating system. Together, they experimented with pulling up the hidden program and giving it a test run. They were both pleased when there were no problems.

“She’s the best,” Dwayne decided with a grin.

“And how do you know this hacker?” Maria wondered.

Grinning, Dwayne destroyed the device, grinding it under his boot. “I’ve been around a long time. You meet people along the way and find out their special talents.”

“She’s one of us?” Maria said.

“Maybe. Does it matter?”

“No, no.” Maria smiled as she ran her fingers over the slim wristlet. “Whoever she is she just made this job not seem quite so bad.”

“The new house on the lake wasn’t enough to make it bearable?”

With a shrug of her shoulders, Maria lay back on the bed. “It was enough to keep me motivated, but this actually makes me happy.”

Dwayne settled down beside her, his arms around her waist and his face tucked into the crook of her neck. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you.” Maria noted the time and her stomach coiled with nerves. Rolling over onto her side, she rested her palm gently against Dwayne’s cheek. “I have to go in two hours and the hardest part of all of this is leaving you.”

Dwayne stroked her hair as he kissed her lips softly. “Two hours, huh? Let’s make it count.”

Laughing, Maria dismissed her fears, her doubts, and her heartbreak as she lost herself in making love to the only man she had ever loved.





Chapter 5


The painful scene before him reminded Dwayne of the night he had packed his bags and walked out of his old home. It held a finality that bothered him.

Maria slowly moved through her flat, checking each cabinet, the closet, under the bed, every location she might have left one of her small possessions. The tension that had settled between her eyebrows had her forehead knotted. Clad in her charcoal-colored dress uniform, her hair braided down her back, she looked lovely, yet stern.

Standing near the door, Dwayne waited for her to finish her last round through the flat. It was spotless, sterile, and empty. It made him ache to see it so barren.

For the last year, this place had been his safe haven from a bitter, soon to be ex-wife, surly teenage twins, an angry adult daughter, the pressures of his career, and the unyielding stress of knowing the Inferi Scourge were just outside the wall. Now it was over and he couldn’t help but feel afraid when he watched Maria heave her bags over her shoulder.

Her strength of will always amazed him. All too vividly he remembered her rousing him after the grenade had exploded and hurtled them both through the air. He couldn’t even see or hear at first. Blood had filled his eyes and he had been deafened by the explosion. Though badly wounded and bleeding profusely, she had kept firing at the Scourge streaming toward them. Unable to get to his feet, his mind numbed and his body yet to feel the full brunt of his wounds, he had been dependent on her to rescue them. He would never forget her expression when she had seen the tiltrotor swoop down to airlift them. She had been unbelievably beautiful in her joy. He was fairly certain that was the moment he fell in love with her.

Now watching her stand in silence as she regarded her flat for one last time, he grappled with the fear that he would never see her again once she walked out the door.