Free Slow Burn (Book 5): Torrent by Bobby Adair Page B

up river, we cut the engine and drifted the silent miles back.
    When we arrived, the rain was turning from a drizzle to a thick fog. Murphy tossed a rope over to Dalhover, who caught it and hauled us alongside. With our bow tied off, our stern drifted around in the current and swung up beside the big tourist boat. I jumped onto the boat’s deck and tied it off.
    Nico slept.
    Murphy climbed onto the riverboat and into Mandi’s waiting arms.
    Steph and Dalhover were in front of me when I stood up after tying off the stern. Emotional and physical exhaustion were weighing on me and I let my guard down. For the moment, I was safe. I was home, at our new home, if all had gone well between Amy, Steph and the others. I found a smile for Steph and pointed to the crates of munitions on the pontoon boat’s deck. “We got a lot more than we planned.”
    Steph put a hand to her forehead, reminding me of my gash. “What happened?”
    My fingers came back with some blood on them. I guessed I looked terrible. “It’s not as bad as it looks. Maybe you can patch me up later.”
    Steph took her worried eyes off of my wound, pointed to Nico and tersely asked, “Who’s that?”
    Unprepared for anything but congratulations or possibly a hug, I was miffed. “ Nico. He’s the guy I told you about. The one I escaped from the chain gang with.”
    “What’s wrong with him?”
    “Worn out.” Was I being interrogated? “I don’t think he’s slept since the last time I saw him.”
    “You said you left him with an old man.”
    I looked at Dalhover, silently asking why Steph was in a bad mood. Dalhover conveyed nothing. What a surprise. “Mr. Mays. His name was Mr. Mays.”
    “Yes, where’s he?”
    “Dead.” Sure, I used the word “dead,” but I made it sound as much like “fuck you” as possible.
    Dalhover chose that moment to defuse the tension. “Can’t wait to hear how you guys got all of this.” He jumped down to the pontoon boat’s deck and started to examine the wooden boxes.
    “You can’t just bring in any stray you come across,” Steph said.
    “But…”
    “You know how Freitag worked out.”
    And that silenced me.
    I looked down into the pontoon boat as I thought about it. Sure, I’d let Freitag and her companions into Sarah Mansfield’s compound. But what else could I have done? I’d ruminated on that mess so many times, searching my memories for clues that could have showed me how badly it would all turn out. I’d told myself a thousand times that if I had been patient, Steph and the group would have come to the same decision. But I didn’t wait. I was so certain at the time that I was doing the right thing. I was decisive. And because of that decisiveness, I bore the responsibility.
    Life’s not fair.
    I don’t know if Steph saw my clenched jaw and my combative stance, or whether she just came to the end of her own anger. Whichever it was, her tone softened. “Zed, we need to talk about these kinds of things first. Okay?”
    One moment she was Captain Leonard and the next she was just redheaded Steph. She could switch modes faster than I could keep up. I glanced back at her to acknowledge she spoke. I wanted to turn away, to immaturely express my unhappiness with her hard words. But it was difficult. I was in the neighborhood of infatuation, at least when I wasn’t grating against her authority. I motioned toward Nico. “He’s an okay guy.”
    “I thought you said he was a coward.”
    “I probably said ‘pussy.’”
    Steph rolled her eyes. “Is he a liability for us? I don’t think you’re capable of seeing people in that way, Zed. I’ll bet you fed every stray cat in the neighborhood.”
    “I never had a pet.”
    Steph brushed past that. “Please, don’t take this the wrong way, but we need to be pragmatic, harsh if necessary, when we make these kinds of decisions. I know you won’t understand what I’m about to tell you, but we can’t risk our lives unnecessarily.”
    I smiled.