Chapter 3
THREE
His ringing phone woke Eric from the light sleep he’d allowed himself to fall into. He snapped on the industrial-style lamp next to the drop-down bunk bolted into the concrete wall and squinted at the call display in the sudden brightness.
It was Lyle, his second-in-command. They both used specially encrypted phones that were changed every other day, to limit the chance of detection.
“Yeah,” he answered, scrubbing a hand over his thinning hair. It was long. Too long. He needed to trim it soon, as well as shave.
The connection was muddled, something they were well used to by now, but Eric understood Lyle’s words perfectly. “I just got off a call with the guy in Colorado. He’s in.”
A slow smile curved Eric’s mouth. He’d been trying to recruit the man for months now, another step in his efforts to build his network around the country.
Right now his powerbase was Montana and it spilled over slightly into Wyoming and Idaho too, but that was all about to change soon. “Excellent. That’s good news.”
“I didn’t want to wait until morning to tell you.”
“Understood. What about tomorrow’s training exercise?”
“We’ve reconnoitered the campsite and it’s still clear of any eyes and ears. Exercise is a go for oh-three-hundred. That gives us plenty of time to clear out before sunrise.”
Good. “You’ve got the suppressors and night optic devices?”
“Picked them up this morning from the manufacturer.”
One of their members was a skilled gunsmith. A handy thing to have, because trying to buy that many suppressors would have raised too many red flags and brought heat Eric couldn’t afford. “How many members are attending the training?” More of an evaluation, really.
Their membership had doubled in the last four months, and was now in the low hundreds. With the volatile political climate being the way it was, Eric expected that to keep growing at an exponential rate.
Every single member had to be carefully screened first, of course, before being admitted into the organization.
For security reasons, no one but Lyle and a handful of others had ever seen him.
Eric preferred to work behind the scenes, recruiting and organizing.
Only when the time was right would he reveal himself to his followers, who knew him merely as The Captain.
“Around forty or so for this exercise. We didn’t invite the entire Montana membership, to keep the numbers down in case anyone sees or hears anything.”
“That’s fine. Make sure you sanitize the area after, the way we planned.” Standard operating procedure for his organization, to limit the amount of evidence left behind after a live-fire training exercise. Right now they had to be even more careful, so certain other measures were called for.
“Of course. Darryl said he delivered another shipment of supplies to you this afternoon?”
“He did. We’re set for another six months here, maybe longer if we ration it more carefully.” Eric glanced around the room he slept in.
Utilitarian. Cold. Devoid of any pictures or memorabilia that would give anyone a clue to his life or background.
Only his weapons, ammo, and stockpiles of supplies were down here.
If any Feds got suspicious, started sniffing around and actually found this place, he wanted them to think he was just some crazy prepper, obsessed with readying for the end of the world or whatever.
He wasn’t crazy. But he was prepared for the end of the world, in a sense.
The end of the U.S. government was coming, sooner than anyone imagined.
It would unleash a firestorm of chaos and anarchy, and he would be ready.
When the flames of destruction finally died out, he’d be ready to take his place in the new, less corrupt and more just order that would rise from the ashes.
The American people were tired of the broken system they were trapped in. Eric’s mission was to help liberate them all.
“I want an in-person report about the exercise once you’re done,” he told Lyle.
“I need to know who’s ready.” The first planned attack was only weeks away, and he wasn’t moving the timeline back again.
He’d take the best members, carefully screen and vet them, and choose a handful from their ranks to carry out the coming operation.
“You got it, boss. See you in a few hours.”
Eric ended the call and turned off the lamp before lying back down on his bunk. For more than three years he’d lived here pretty much alone, totally off the grid except for encrypted phone calls and when occasional travel was necessary to get where he needed to be.
He never used the same fake ID twice, and always took a bodyguard with him when he left the safety of his headquarters. Couldn’t be too careful these days, not when the government was looking for him.
It might be pitch dark in here but he didn’t need to see to navigate around as he slid off the bunk and made his way to his bank of computers.
He knew every inch of this place by heart.
All the nooks and crannies, the location of each weapon or food stockpile, every last secret the place had to offer. Just in case.
Sacrifice was a necessary part of the path he’d embarked upon. His entire life was underground now, until he made his triumphant return to the surface when the right moment came.
And that moment was closer now than ever.
––––––––
“Seriously, you don’t have to come down if you don’t want to. I know you’re still exhausted.”
Ryan looked up at his wife, surprised.
Candace shot him a sardonic look, hot as ever as she came out of the bathroom with her golden hair pinned up, wearing a black strapless cocktail dress and a pair of red high heels that gave him plenty of ideas about how they should spend the rest of the evening together—alone, with the ends of those sexy heels digging into his naked back.
“And let’s be honest, we all know how much you dread being in the same room as my grandma anyway,” she added.
Ruby was terrifying. “What? I get a kick out of her.”
“Sure you do.”
Okay, something was definitely up. They’d been apart for months, with only a few weeks together after his previous deployment. He’d assumed she’d want to spend every moment they could together, but she’d just told him he didn’t have to come to dinner. What was up with that?
“Something wrong?”
“No.” She turned toward the mirror over the vanity to put on lipstick. The tension in her shoulders, combined with the way she avoided eye contact with him, were dead giveaways.
Something was bothering her. He tried to think of what she might be mad at him about, but came up blank, other than one particular phone conversation a few weeks back. He was over it. She tended to hold onto things longer than him though. “What is it?”
“Nothing.”
Uh oh. Red flag. Nothing was a guarantee that it was something, and something she saw as major. “Just tell me.”
She sighed and set the lipstick down on the counter. “We’ll talk about it later, after dinner.”
Oh, awesome. He barely refrained from muttering it under his breath. That remote tone, and those hated words meant whatever she had to say wasn’t going to be pleasant.
He repressed a sigh. A moment ago he’d been looking forward to hot, kinky sex the minute they got back to the room, while she wore nothing but those high heels and a sensual smile. Now he was bracing for a fight instead, and that sucked.
Rather than push her and risk making things worse, he let it go for the moment, but this turn of events was a total letdown after all he’d done to get to her.
“Fine.” He couldn’t keep the annoyance out of his tone.
He hated it when she held onto stuff, had been looking forward to spending this week with her, which was why he’d pulled every damn string he could to get here early.
The homecoming had gotten off to such a promising start, too.
After him surprising her last night, she’d woken him up this morning with her mouth in the best way possible, and he’d practically been in a coma ever since.
He’d slept the entire day away, until she’d woken him a half hour ago.
Not for more sex, unfortunately, but to slap his bare ass, shove a granola bar and a banana at him, and order him into the shower because they had to meet everyone for dinner.
“You sure you still want to come?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” While it was true that he would give his right nut for another orgasm, another few hours’ sleep, and the chance to avoid the crazy blue-haired woman who’d slapped his face off during their first introduction a little over a year and a half ago, he had limited time here with his wife.
He wasn’t going to waste any of it, whether she was annoyed at him about something or not.
“And just so you know, the old bird’s kinda growing on me.” Ruby had been shockingly well behaved during their wedding, so now that he’d made an “honest woman” out of Candace—Ruby’s words—he figured she wouldn’t try to hit him or anything tonight.
“Sure she is,” Candace said dryly as they stepped out into the carpeted hallway outside their suite.
Okay, change of subject. “What did you do all day, anyway?” He reached for her hand, wanting to put things back on an even footing between them again.
He’d thought it was strange that she’d left the room and let him sleep all day. Usually when they managed to be together she was as eager as him to spend every moment with each other. It bugged him that it turned out she’d been trying to avoid him and whatever confrontation was brewing.
“Hung out with Maya and Erin mostly. Sat around the pool and talked, had lunch. I came up to check on you after, but you were still asleep and I didn’t wake you up because I could tell you needed the rest.”
Her tone and expression weren’t annoyed, but she definitely had something on her mind. Had to be that phone call a couple weeks back. They’d bickered over something stupid, he couldn’t even remember what now, and she’d been kind of cool with him afterward.