True Allegiance

That actually drew a laugh from her.

“What’s so funny?” asked the governor.

“You just don’t know Prescott. He hates Brett. He’s always hated Brett.”

“But that doesn’t matter, Ellen. Your husband’s a national hero. You go to New York, the story isn’t gonna be some dead Mexicans south of the border. It’s going to be the reunification of the soldier and his wife. Prescott won’t see it coming. He’ll want me to negotiate with him, and instead, I’ll be giving him the V-J Day nurse picture. Your husband’s still got his admirers.”

Ellen had to admit that the idea appealed to her. She hadn’t seen Brett in nearly a year now; she’d missed him awfully. Every time they flashed his face across the television, her chest ached from missing him so much.

“And what do I say to Prescott?” she said.

“You tell that son of a bitch that we’re not going to back down off the border, not for him or anybody. And if he asks you about McLawrence, you tell him that we’re investigating. Turn down any federal offers for help. We don’t need the feds down here mucking up our operation.”

“That won’t be easy. Cross-border murder falls under federal jurisdiction.”

“He’s busy. He won’t mind. And it’ll allow him to save face, to put me up for public scourging. I’ll be the bad guy southern hick who won’t let the sweet-faced Yankee down here to fix things. That’s what the media’s looking for anyway, right?” He sighed.

“And what’s your endgame?” she said.

“Endgame? Darlin’, this thing here’s been going on since the Alamo. There’s no endgame. Just a game that won’t end any way except us holding our ground or cutting and running. But don’t worry—you just play him for time. We’ll find our Private McLawrence. And we’ll string him up by the balls. You say that to the cameras. How soon can you be ready to fly?”

Her heart beat heavily in her chest. Brett, she thought. Brett.

“I can be ready tonight.”

Her phone rang as she sat in the National Guard terminal, waiting for her flight to gas up. It wasn’t a number she recognized. It came up as a 212 area code; this time, she figured, she’d best pick up to at least hear what the media had prepared. At worst, she could give a “no comment.”

But when she picked up, it was Brett.

“Honey, don’t come to New York.” He sounded winded, hoarse.

“Brett, what’s going on?”

“I can’t say for certain yet. Just don’t come to New York. Something bad is going down.”

“How do you know that?”

“No time to explain…”

The line went dead.

Soledad

Nashville, Tennessee

THEY CAMPED OUTSIDE THE CITY. No fires. No lights.

They’d separated after Detroit, split up to avoid being followed. They set the rendezvous for Nashville three days later. Soledad recommended that they wend their way through several states to throw any would-be trackers off the scent. She took Ezekiel west, then south. Aiden took Ricky east, then doubled back through Kentucky.

Nearly all the men made it. A few apparently decided they’d had enough after Detroit, after seeing their faces on television, labeled white supremacists. They took off for the hills; Soledad told them to ditch all their electronic gear, to make for the northern border if they could.

The ones who were left looked like they’d been through a war.

Eddie was the worst. Fatso, as they all called him, had taken a tire iron to the gut, then gotten stomped at the center of the crowd. He’d been in and out of consciousness ever since, his fever spiking radically. Just before hitting camp, Ezekiel told Soledad, he’d started twitching, then gone quiet.

When Aiden and Ricky drove in, Soledad motioned them over. They put down their kickstands, turned off the hogs. Aiden’s eyes were shining. Ricky still looked stunned. Aiden strode over to Soledad and picked her up in a bear hug. She waited until he put her down, then gestured at Fatso.

Aiden knelt down beside him. “Do we have anybody who knows anything about medicine?”

She shook her head. “We need to get him to a hospital.”

“It leaves too much of a trail.”

“We don’t, he’ll die.”

Aiden stood up. “Doesn’t look like he has much of a chance anyway.”

Soledad felt anger well up in her. “Aiden, we did this your way. And Fatso knew what he was in for, or at least he thought he did. But we’re not leaving anybody out here to die. Your friend here seems very nice and all, but it wasn’t part of the plan to trade Fatso—Eddie—for him.”

Aiden scratched his stubble. “He knew the stakes, didn’t he?”

“Nobody really knows the stakes until their number hits. Come on, Aiden, I need your help.”

Aiden made no move for his motorcycle.

Soledad stared at him, uncomprehending. After all this way, she thought, he’s still a soldier, and I’m still the amateur. Then she shuddered. No, she thought again. I’m the one who makes the call.

“Colonel.”

Ezekiel stepped forward.