THREE

 

 

Raid was in his office reading background information when Diego swung in. His lieutenant came striding over and sat down opposite him at the desk.

Raid closed the file and tossed it over to him. “In the mood for Supply and Capture duty?”

“Whatever you need, boss.” Diego cleared his throat. The sign of uncertainty made Raid’s eyes pop to the top of their sockets to search for clues as to why his lieutenant was edgy. “If I’m off base, someone will have to take care of the girl.”

“The girl,” he said and then recalled their conversation yesterday morning. “She isn’t under sedation?”

“Not yet,” Diego said. “She spent yesterday driving the guys nuts. I told her if she doesn’t check herself and eat something, she’ll move into the infirmary tomorrow.”

His chin lifted. “She isn’t eating?”

Diego showed both palms. “I know how you feel about anyone breaking the rules. But, she’s new around here.”

Narrowing his eyes, the heat of anger filled Raid’s belly, which had never worked out well for anyone. “New doesn’t get a pass. Since when do we give inmates choices?”

“She’s not a typical inmate,” Diego said.

Raid was aware that sometimes his mood made him unreasonable. But, Diego never questioned him, and had never gone to bat for anyone. On occasion, when he was in a particularly bad mood, Raid would give out harsh orders that he’d later consider could have been an overreaction, but he wouldn’t reveal doubt to anyone.

Even in spite of that, Diego never flinched, never once. He always did what he was told… he’d probably seen what happened to the men who didn’t follow orders too many times to risk his own neck for a cause.

“Because she’s got tits?” Raid asked.

“Because no one’s paying us to hold her. She hasn’t been vetted or approved or catalogued. To be honest, sir, none of us are sure what to do with her.”

So, there had been some chatter about this. Raid shouldn’t be surprised; women weren’t common around there. In fact, this one was unique. His men weren’t the only ones navigating uncharted waters.

Diego might be acting out of character, but his number two had been loyal to him all his life; Raid wasn’t about to dismiss his concerns out of hand. Given that he was the only man on the planet Raid might consider a friend, Diego had earned the right to be heard. But, that didn’t mean Raid would adopt a softer stance without cause.

“Options are limited,” Raid said, sitting upright and linking his fingers together. “If you pitch her into gen pop, there will be chaos. You could toss her in the yard and let the Zoo out, that’d take care of the problem. I wager she’d be dead within the hour.”

“We’ve wasted resources on patching her up.”

Raid narrowed one eye. “Is that an argument for or against feeding her to the animals?” But, he didn’t wait for an answer. “She’s a drain on resources. In solitary, we have to use men and power monitoring her and keeping her alive. If she wasn’t there, that whole section could be dormant. Same could be said of the infirmary. If she’s troublesome, it will be expensive to put her in a coma and feed her against her will. But, in that section, there’s also a chance inmates will see her. We don’t need whispers about a woman being on site.”

Women weren’t allowed near the compound for this very reason; they were disruptive and distracting.

“Letting her go isn’t an option,” Diego said.

Something they agreed on, but Raid didn’t have to say that yet. This was a good climate for a test. Did Diego really mean that or was he hinting that the woman should be freed?

“Are you sure? I’ve just authorized you to take a troop back to civilization for supply and capture. You could drop her somewhere. She was tranquillized when she was brought in, so she doesn’t know where we are.” Everyone who hadn’t taken the pledge was sedated for transport in or out. Rules like that one were sacred and the punishments for violating them were biblical. “She wouldn’t have any way to get back here, so she can’t lead others to us. Why can’t we just release her?”

Another throat clear and Diego shifted to the front of his seat. “She’s a reporter,” he murmured.

Caution, as opposed to alarm, prodded him. Raid knew a thing or two about being careful; having a nosey reporter on his land was akin to having a spy in his midst.

“No,” Raid said, maintaining his cool because he’d never reveal his inner self to his men, even Diego. “You mean she was a reporter. Nothing much to write about out here. No one who lives in our cells ever leaves. The only sentence here is life.”

“Then life she gets,” Diego said. “But, uh, given all you’ve said…”

“Yeah?”

“There are only two kinds of people here, inmates and employees,” Diego said. With a slow eye blink, Raid nodded once. “Maybe we could put her to use… that way keeping her wouldn’t be violating our code.”

Just having a woman present was a violation of the code. But, protecting the compound’s obscurity was primary in their mission. This place needed to be anonymous and he’d do everything in his power to make sure it stayed that way.

“You want me to employ her,” Raid said, knowing his closest colleague enough to understand what he was angling at. “What do we need a reporter for? I know the men joke that we’re our own country, but I don’t think we need our own newspaper.”

The optimism of Diego’s hope was concerning. Raid had never been one to expect the best. “If she’s a reporter, she’s good with words. Maybe she has a background, a specialty we can use. Hell, she knows her alphabet, let her file. Let her cook or clean, whatever keeps her out of the inmates’ way.”

There was a flaw in Diego’s plan. “And she can bunk in digs with the guys?”

His employees lived in one wing of the main compound. Most slept in communal barracks, but there were private rooms and luxury recreation spaces. Because they were surrounded by some of the most beautiful landscape in the world, if a trusted comrade wanted to be alone, they had options. Otherwise, they were stuck inside, so he made the internal environment as comfortable for his men as he could.

“We can give her a room or put her in an outbuilding. We could leave her in isolation… until you trust her. It’s not like we’re short of beds around here.”

That was a point he couldn’t argue against. Raid was careful about monitoring capacity. For over a minute, he looked at Diego. One thing Raid never got was uncomfortable. Other men might squirm in silences or become intimidated under another’s stare, but not him. It came from having always been in control. Control gave him confidence. That and the fact that he knew he was capable of anything, literally anything. Nothing scared him.

So, while he weighed the pros and cons of Diego’s suggestion, Raid said nothing. It could have been as many as three minutes before he spoke.

“A woman wouldn’t last long in our ranks,” he said. “The men would smell weakness.”

Diego almost snorted. “Not in this one,” he said. “She would’ve gone toe-to-toe with me if she hadn’t been outnumbered. I’m almost sure of it.” Interesting. “You should’ve seen it. She didn’t flinch. She looked right past me to weigh up her chances of rushing. No idea where she is, no clue what we might do to her, yet she sang and made noise all night long. She’s no wallflower.”

Damn it, he was intrigued. Raid expected any woman who spent a night under the compound roof would be a sniveling, whiny, weepy mess by the morning. Why was this one so confident?

“Okay,” he said. “If you think she’ll be useful, put her to work. But, she stays in isolation when she’s not under your supervision. She’s your project. Your responsibility.” Diego nodded once and took a step back but stopped when Raid lifted a hand of warning. “If she causes any trouble, any, we’re putting her in the ground.”

“Understood.”

“And no man is allowed to touch her.” Surprise moved Diego’s brow, almost making Raid smile. “I don’t give a fuck about her virtue. If she starts fucking the men, she’ll fuck with my ranks. I don’t need her pitting my men against each other. She fits in as one of the guys or she doesn’t fit in at all. And if she hasn’t taken the pledge inside three months—”

“We’re putting her in the ground,” Diego said. “Understood, boss.”