Poe

Chapter Twenty-Five

When Cooper went to check the drop box, Deuce stayed inside the old barn. Their prisoner was out cold, the pain pills from the medical kit working exactly as advertised. The plan was to keep him under until they executed the abort mission later that evening. Then they’d drop him somewhere he could find help, and get the hell out of Dodge.

Deuce was a little surprised that Cooper hadn’t simply put a bullet in the guy’s brain. He figured Stonewell was a take-no-prisoners type of outfit, and Cooper was Stonewell through and through.

Or was he?

Maybe Deuce had been wrong about the guy. Maybe behind that cool, hard-ass exterior he was more of a human being than he liked to let on. Deuce had known a lot of former soldiers like him and had discovered that, unlike Deuce himself, they felt uncomfortable showing they had a heart, as if this somehow might compromise their manhood.

He also knew there had once been something between Cooper and Alex, something more than shared combat experiences. And he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that.

Had they been lovers?

Not that it was any of Deuce’s business. But he cared about Alex, and didn’t want this renewed contact to lead to anything that might hurt her.

If that happened, he would have to hurt Cooper.

He was in the process of heating up some canned stew when Cooper returned carrying an envelope, the top ripped open.

“What time do we pick her up?” Deuce asked.

Grimacing, Cooper handed him the note.

Deuce pulled out the sheet of paper and unfolded it, immediately recognizing Alex’s handwriting:

NEGATIVE ON ABORT. CONTACTED AK THIS AFTERNOON. EXTRACT TOMORROW APPROX. 9PM. RENDEZVOUS ABANDONED BUILDING, WEST OF PRISON, OUTSIDE FENCE.

“Well, fuck me,” he said quietly.

He handed the note and envelope back to Cooper, thinking that he and Alex would need to have a little talk when all of this was over.

A talk about unnecessary risks.

“Looks like we’re still on,” Cooper said.

“That it does,” Deuce murmured. “That it does.”