Free One Four All by Julia Rachel Barrett Page A

locked up here.
    Feet apart and combat ready, he swept his eyes over the entire roof. He stood on the highest section. Far below, he watched Wat stride across the green lawn toward the rear gate. His friend called out something to the guards, probably something bawdy, because Kepp could make out the sound of their answering laughter. Wat would keep them entertained, and they’d never think to look up.
    Kepp was about to open the burn set when he caught the tiniest flash of reflected sunlight a couple of floors below. Another guard, one of Speth’s companions, stepped into view, his hand resting on the butt of a pistol. He stood along a walkway two hundred yards to Kepp’s left, high up on the wall that faced the sea. Kepp was grateful the man had moved out of the shadows to check on Wat’s activities. Fortunately, he looked down, not up. Staying out of sight, Kepp hunkered down to watch, wondering what the man was doing up there. He saw him glance over his shoulder and back to Wat, then over his shoulder again. What the hell was the man looking at? There shouldn’t be anything behind him but waves breaking against the sea wall.
    Back bent, feet quiet, Kepp ran towards the door and around the far wall where he crouched low, keeping out of the guard’s field of view. Taking care not to set any roof tiles clattering, he crept over the lip of the wall and onto an overhang where he could look down on the sea.
    For a few moments, he saw nothing but waves crashing against the breakwater. He studied the channel and the far shore, a wild and uninhabited area of Zhinshu. Dangerous currents competed and clashed in the waters between Land’s End of Kuhbak and the maritime border of Zhinshu. Gulls circled high over the center of the blue channel. Kepp noticed a fishing boat moored about a quarter mile away. That made no sense. Any seagull worth his weight would be above the fishing boat, not over the center of the deep water channel. As he scanned the area, Kepp caught a hint of movement beneath him. He peered down over the edge. A shadow appeared on the narrow strip of beach between the two breakwaters. Kepp squinted against the morning sun, wondering if it was a trick of the light. No, the shadow was no illusion. A man stepped out from under the rocky cliff. Even from this height, Kepp recognized him. Speth .
    As Kepp watched, Speth waved a yellow flag to signal the fishing boat. A man shinnied down a ladder, untied a zodiac, shoved off, and headed their way. Kepp didn’t hear the hum of an engine. Must be an electric motor. He watched the solitary sailor maneuver the small, underpowered craft through the currents and thread the boat through the breakwater with caution, like he was threading the eye of a needle. When he reached the lip of the rock shelf, the man slipped out of the craft. He waded through the shallows. Speth joined him, and together they dragged the boat over the rocks, up the beach, and out of sight.
    Kepp rolled onto his back, a hand shading his eyes from the sun. So that’s how Regnan got her inside the keep. He brought her by boat. There must be a passageway below the compound . That zodiac can only mean one thing, Speth plans to sneak her back out the same way. Wonder if Regnan is on that fishing boat? Wouldn’t put it past the bastard.
    Kepp crawled back the way he’d come. He leaned against a small utility shed and switched on the burn set. For a few seconds, all he heard was static. When the electronic interference cleared, he pressed in the private code for his commanding officer.
    “Grange.”
    “Captain Kepp here, Commander.”
    “I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon, Captain. Is there a problem?”
    “A big problem, Commander. We need evacced today. How soon can you send a heli-jet?”
    “A heli-jet? Captain Kepp, you and your men are there for the duration. You’re assigned to Land’s End until the secretary returns.”
    “Commander Grange, we’re up to our ears in shit here, and I