Free Vengeance (Twenty-Five Percent Book 3) by Nerys Wheatley Page A

returned to Sarcester while Micah followed on his bike.
    He had to admit, it was a lot of fun once he’d got the hang of it. He was disappointed when he found the way blocked only twice by cars he could legitimately drive over.
    A crowd came out to greet them when they reached home. Or more accurately, they came out to greet the Challenger Two. Penny let out an uncharacteristic squeal and scrambled over the barrier of cars to reach it. As they unloaded the teenager and baby cargo, she climbed up onto the hull and ran her hands lovingly over the metal surface.
    “I want to marry it and have its babies,” she declared, closing her eyes as she lay down and hugged the main gun.
    Scott stared down at her from the barrier. “I feel like I’ve been replaced.”
    “Apparently, size really does matter,” Micah said with a smirk.
    Janie appeared beside Scott on the barrier. “It’s gorgeous.”
    She jumped down to join Penny on the tank. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds and then giggled like a couple of schoolgirls.
    “I think I preferred it when they hated each other,” Micah said quietly. “Watching them bond is terrifying.”
    They got the kids inside the barrier where Leon promised them they would try to find their families. Alex reluctantly handed baby Leia back to Kim. He’d become attached to feeling the warm little body against his chest, even if she did now very seriously need a nappy change.
    “Thank you for bringing us home,” Kim said, settling the tiny girl in her arms like she’d been doing it her entire life.
    Alex had to force a smile over a sudden wave of emotion. “You’re going to be okay. Both of you.”
    She nodded and Patrice led her away to find some nappies and baby formula. Emma and Katie waved to Alex and Micah as they trotted after their mother. They were much more interested in the new baby.
    “We have to stop Boot,” Alex said to Micah as they watched them go. “We can’t let him get anywhere near here.”

6
     
     
     
     
    They returned to the site of the pile-up to pick up Alex’s bike then made their way along the river to the next bridge ten miles away, the shortest route across the river now the main bridge carrying the A14 had a gaping hole halfway across its mile long span.
    They were planning to meet up with Lieutenant Tracey Dent and the small unit of soldiers who’d been tracking Boot since he left the Omnav headquarters south of Sheffield and flew to Cambridge. But first they had a stop to make.
    The area north of the river was sparsely populated and it was relatively simple to find the house they were looking for. A path wound its way between still flowering rose bushes to a red door in a chocolate box perfect cottage. Alex knocked and waited, slightly nervous there wouldn’t be an answer. He was relieved when he heard footsteps inside and the door opened.
    Jean gasped when she saw Alex and Micah standing at her door, then she grinned and gave them each a hug.
    “Come in, come in,” she said, waving them inside.
    “Um, are you sick?” Micah said, indicating the silk dressing gown she was wearing in the middle of the day.
    She looked down at herself and smiled. “Oh no, I’m...”
    “Babe? Is everything all right? Who was at the door?”
    Alex looked up at a man descending the narrow stairs. A man disturbingly naked from the waist up. Halfway down, he saw them and frowned.
    Alex lowered his gaze to Jean, raising an eyebrow.
    A not entirely innocent smile curled her lips. “Alex, Micah, you remember Everett?”
    “You’re not putting those bikes on my boat again.” Everett Johnson, the man who had threatened to harpoon Alex and Micah the first time they met him, glared at them as he reached the foot of the stairs.
    Alex darted his eyes around the hallway, searching for anything to focus on other than the fifty-something year old man’s bare chest. It was adorned with a tattoo of an anchor looped around one nipple, the highlight of which was a