Free Dark Coup by David C. Waldron Page A

three minutes.”  Kyle said.  “It’s amazing how nobody pays you any attention when you stand there looking like a guard.”
    “Man, that is so wrong on so many levels,” Eric said.
    “And I wish I had never heard the first word.”  Kyle said.
    “Two days,” Eric said after it was obvious that Kyle was done.
    “I can work with that,” Kyle said, “and in the meantime we need to work on your rig.”
    “How so,” Eric asked.
    “That old Alice frame you scrounged up is for the birds,” Kyle said.  “Sure they hold a ton-and-a-half, but if you drop the frame wrong and bust a rivet, it’s all over.  Before things went south, I found a modification called a ‘Hellcat’…”

Chapter Eight
    “Got a minute,” Joel asked Eric when he saw him in camp a couple of days later.
    “Sure,” Eric said.  “What’s up?”
    “Actually,” Joel said, “that’s my line.”
    Eric made a confused face and Joel shook his head.  “Walk with me,” Joel said, and then turned away from the more populated portion of the camp they were in without checking that Eric was following him.  After a few steps Eric caught up.
    “What’s going on Eric?” Joel asked.
    “Meaning,” Eric asked cautiously.
    Joel didn’t even sigh.  He’d been playing a similar game with his two teenage kids for a number of years, so he just laid out the evidence.  “You have been in mourning, understandably, since Karen passed away,” Joel said.  “Now, literally out of nowhere, you are engaged in daily life again.  You’re talking to people, not as though nothing happened, but you appear to have either skipped four or five stages of grief and gone straight to acceptance, or you went through them at a record-setting pace.”
    Joel turned to Eric.  “Or, you’ve found something else to occupy your time and energy, at least for the short term.  What is it,” Joel asked.  “Not which is it, because I know which one it is.  What is it, and how is Kyle involved?”
    Eric didn’t respond right away because he didn’t know what to say.  He couldn’t just tell Joel they were leaving; it wasn’t entirely up to him.  Just then, Eric’s radio came to life.
    “Eric,” Kyle’s voice came through loud and clear and Eric closed his eyes.  “I need to talk to you.”
    Eric grabbed his radio and responded.  “Actually, why don’t you meet me…?”
    …
    “So, I see he found you, too,” Kyle said when he saw Joel was with Eric outside of the entrance to the parking lot.
    Joel folded his arms and looked from Eric to Kyle and back.  “What is going on with you two?”
    Eric glanced at Kyle, who nodded slightly, and then took a small breath.  “I’m leaving,” Eric said.  “And Kyle’s coming with me.”
    Whatever Joel was expecting, this hadn’t been it, and his mouth dropped open until it closed with an audible click.  It was obvious he was taking a moment to think his words over before speaking. Eric started to say something, but Joel cut him off with a curt head shake.  “I don’t want to know.  Plausible deniability,” he said.  “I’ve been married long enough to know that what I don’t know can’t kill me.  Hurt me yes, kill me, no.”
    Joel took a deep breath and looked at both of them again.  “Where to,” he asked, “when?”
    “We’re not entirely sure, but,” Eric paused at Joel’s raised eyebrows.  “I need to go, Kyle does too.  We’re leaving tonight.”
    “Tonight,” Joel yelled, then looked around to see if anyone had noticed his micro-outburst.  “Why so…never mind.  I said I didn’t want to know.  Are you sure you’re ready?”
    “No,” Kyle snorted, “but we’re as ready as we’re ever going to be.”
    “Probably about right,” Eric said.
    Joel’s mind was racing; trying to process what he felt would be the impact of losing both Eric and Kyle.  Wondering if there was anything he could do or say to keep them from leaving, or if there was anything that he