Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Can - By Kat Martin Page 0,84
Ben turned his binoculars, saw the boy’s head moving as he worked in the pit where he had been yesterday. Ben’s adrenaline spiked. He brought himself under control.
The pit was only twenty feet from the where the channel curved inland, wrapping around behind the camp. He signaled to Brodie. He’d let the guard make his next round, watch the activity for a while.
Then he’d slip into the water, see if he could get close enough to speak to his son, to get the boy to go with him. If not, he’d have to use the rag in his pocket and haul him out over his shoulder. It would make things a helluva lot harder.
He looked at the sun on the horizon. When he moved, so would Ty, positioning himself to provide cover for Ben’s return with the boy to the boat.
He watched the sun sink lower and both men settled in to wait.
* * *
“Mace says you’re finished for the day.” Aggie walked toward him, motioned for Sam to climb up out of the pit. “Says it ought to be deep enough by tomorrow morning.”
As Sam rested the shovel against the side of the hole and climbed, Pepper woke up from his nap in the shade, stretched and yawned, came to his feet and shook himself.
“You hear me? You just about got ’er done.”
Sam nodded. “That’s good.” One more day and he’d be finished. He wondered what crummy job Mace Bragg would have for him next. Or Troy or one of the others. Sam didn’t much like Pete Bragg, second-oldest, according to Aggie. He was always in a bad mood, always complaining. And there was a big-nosed guy from town named Zeke. He was a real butt hole. Always spouting verses from the Bible and talking about the world coming to an end.
Aggie settled a hand on his shoulder. Her skin was like leather, as rough as any of the men’s. His mom’s hands had been soft and smooth when she touched him, but he didn’t want to think about that.
“Come on. I’ll show you what I found this afternoon.”
He followed the older woman down the trail toward the water. He was so tired it was hard to lift his feet, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
She crouched at the edge of the swamp. “See this right here? Them’s turtle eggs. They’re real good eatin’.”
His stomach rolled. Turtle eggs didn’t sound much better than alligator stew.
“You want me to gather them up for you?” Aggie could have got the eggs herself, he knew. She could do just about anything. But she wanted to teach him stuff so he would fit in and the others would leave him alone.
“That’d be real nice.”
“I need a bucket or something.”
“Walk on back to the cabin and I’ll get you one. Then you can come down and pick ’em up. Just be careful to watch for gators. They love them eggs, too.”
Sam sighed as he followed Aggie back to the cabin. Turtle eggs and alligators. He wondered if his friends back home would believe him if he ever saw them again.
Sam didn’t think so.
* * *
His face mask and snorkel pushed up on his head, Ben sank down in the black, murky water just a few feet from the bank. He had seen the older woman walk up to the pit, heard her conversation with Sam, watched them walk to the bank just a few feet away from where he crouched in the water. Sam would be returning to collect the turtle eggs. This was the opportunity he’d been waiting for.
What he didn’t know was what Sam would do when Ben appeared out of nowhere covered in mud and weeds, looking like some sort of prehistoric monster.
The chloral hydrate was in a plastic bag in his pocket, a last resort he didn’t want to use. But a scream would bring the Patriot army running.
It might get all of them killed.
Standing next to a mossy tree, he used the SEAL technique of making himself invisible in the shadows as he waited for his son’s return. Sam meandered down the path, a bucket in his hand, the black Lab sniffing the path behind him. Ben sank into the water, his eyes just inches away from the turtle eggs. Sam knelt at the edge of the swamp and stared down at the eggs, trying to decide the best way to collect them.
“Don’t be afraid, Sam.” The boy’s head jerked up. “I’m here to help you. Don’t