Free LoveBetrayed by Samantha Kane

He couldn’t
stop wondering what Randal wanted with Harry. He had a feeling something was
wrong. He should find Simon. Simon had a preternatural sense about things like
that. He’d know if they ought to strap themselves down for imminent disaster.
    “A lieutenant.” Tarrant sounded very pleased with himself.
    “What lieutenant?” Daniel asked, his patience wearing thin.
    “Just a lieutenant. His name is Maron. I’ve been meeting
quite a few of them.”
    Daniel stared first at Maron and then at Tarrant in dawning
horror. “You just picked one randomly? As if he was a debutant at a ball?”
    Tarrant scoffed. “Of course not. I’ve simply been…mingling.
Isn’t that what it’s called? I’ve been meeting people.” He tipped his head to
the side as he observed the camp. “It’s been a shock to the system, I must tell
you.”
    Daniel grinned at the understatement.
    “The truth, is, Steinberg, they’re just like us. They have
no bloody clue what’s going on, and they’re desperate to make a connection with
another human being. And it’s left me wondering if I’m the one they ought to be
connecting with. I mean, we both know I’m half shy of full sanity at this
point.”
    This was the longest speech Daniel had ever heard from
Tarrant and so he felt his response needed to be the right one. “Sometimes we
can’t control the connection,” he said slowly, thinking about him and Harry.
Had it really been only a little less than two months since that first fateful
night in the woods? It seemed a lifetime ago. “Whatever draws us to someone…”
he paused, not sure how to phrase it. “It simply is,” he said lamely, feeling
as if he’d failed this taciturn, broken man beside him who was reaching out so
awkwardly for help. He tried again. “We don’t always know what’s best for us,
or for someone else. What we think will be the ruin of us may be our
salvation.”
    “Is that how you feel about Ashbury? As if he’s your
salvation?” Tarrant sounded tired and disappointed. “I don’t want to be saved,
Steinberg. I just want to forget.”
    You make me forget. James’ words from the other day
rang in his head. Is that all they required now? If someone made you forget
what you’d done, what you’d seen…is that all they needed? Wanted? What had
become of them here?
    “The forgetting,” he whispered. “Yes, that’s part of it.”
    “James has called me off.” Tarrant still wasn’t looking at
Daniel. “He said the lieutenant is not to be bothered. Very stern about it,
actually. Not sure what’s going on in his head. That makes me nervous.”
    “Don’t be,” Daniel said, glad they’d changed the subject. “I
talked with James. All is well.” His instincts said that was a lie.
    “He’ll be a while.” Daniel gave Tarrant a confused look.
“Ashbury,” he explained. “They march tomorrow for Almeida.”
    Daniel had trouble breathing for a moment. “Almeida?”
    “Yes, Almeida,” Tarrant said, with an amused slant to his
mouth. “You know, the last stronghold held by the French in Portugal? We blew
up the castle last year when we supposedly took the city? And yet,
incomprehensively, we are even now besieging it again.” He shrugged. “You knew
the French were on the move to relieve Almeida. This shouldn’t come as a
shock.”
    “No, it’s not a shock.” Daniel had managed to get his
reaction under control. “I just wasn’t informed.”
    “Yes, well, I really came in search of you, although it’s
true Randal was looking for Ashbury. James wants to see you. We go into French
territory tonight. His lordship requires reconnaissance. We are to make a stand
at Fuentes de Oñoro, I believe, on the banks of the Dos Casas.”
    “That little village on the hill?” Daniel asked, surprised.
“It certainly isn’t the most defensible position.”
    “Perhaps not, but the French must pass through to reach
Almeida. We shall see that they do not. Although, quite frankly, I don’t give