Veil of Destruction (Kessler Effect Book 3) by Vannetta Chapman

Author:Vannetta Chapman [Chapman, Vannetta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-24T16:00:00+00:00

Keme folded it once, then again. “Give that to my son, please. Then bring him and his family back here at one a.m.”

Joshua took the note, but he didn’t immediately put it in his pocket. When he looked up, his gaze was sharp, clear. So, the old-man demeanor had been a mask he wore, perhaps a way to stay safe.

“If I do this for you, I want something in return.”

Akule again began pawing through the contents of her backpack. “We have cigarettes, tobacco, a little food...”

Joshua held up his hand to stop her. “I want to go with you.”

They looked at one another in surprise.

Dylan finally spoke up. “That’s a bad idea, Joshua.”

Keme thought that perhaps Dylan was still seeing the old man that they’d been watching for over an hour. But that man had gone, evaporated into the air like a figment of their imagination. Someone different stood before them now.

“There are no guarantees if you go with us,” Dylan was saying. “We’ll be walking for a good bit of the trip. It’s not going to be easy.”

“I’ll deliver your note. But only if I can go with you.”

Keme caved quickly.

If the old guy wanted out, that was his business. Who were they to tell him where he could or couldn’t go?

“All right,” Keme said. “But we won’t be responsible for you. We’re here to rescue my son and his family. That’s our priority. We know someone who can probably help you. We’re returning there first. Once we’re at her camp, our obligation to you is fulfilled.”

“Deal.”

Joshua climbed back through the fence with the agility of a much younger man.

“Real Benjamin Button, that one.” Dylan reached for his water bottle and took a long drink.

Akule’s voice was full of amusement, though her eyes were still on Joshua’s retreating form. “You watched Benjamin Button?”

“Hello? Senior English.”

“That’s right. We had to read it, watch the Brad Pitt version, and then write a paper.”

“Pure torture writing that paper, but the story kinda stays with you. Old guy. Gets younger and younger until. . . whatever happened to him?”

“He becomes a kid again, while the woman he loved. . .”

“Kate Blanchett.”

“She becomes an old woman. It wasn’t a story with a happy ending.” Akule shot a glance at Dylan. “But I know what you mean. Joshua seemed almost spry when he returned to camp.”

“Yeah.” Keme nodded toward a cove of trees where they could rest and remain well hidden. “You two get some rest. I’ll take the first shift.”

Because he couldn’t possibly sleep.

It wasn’t only that they’d had a solid seven hours of rest in the bunkhouse. He was still exhausted. He honestly thought when he made it back home, back to Alpine, he’d be able to sleep for a week straight. But not now. Not while his son and daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were on the other side of that fence.

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