Free The Sins of Lincoln by Alyssa Nightly

slowed until Will caught up to her. Her rucksack and rifle were heavy, yet she made no complaint; her muscles would now keep up with their new demands.
    “Will? Can I ask you a question?”
    “Anything, little lady.” His South Texas drawl was cute, and he reminded her of her own father.
    “Tell me about Brock.”
    “He’s a scoundrel and a liar and a no-good and can’t be trusted,” Will joked. “What about him?”
    “Well, it’s probably no secret to you that I like him.”
    “Now why would I know that? Maybe it’s that every time I look at you, you’re staring at him?” The two laughed.
    “No, seriously, Will. I just, I can’t seem to get inside his head. It’s like I can tell he wants to tell me something but he stops. Every time, he stops.”
    Will stopped walking. “Alright. I wouldn’t normally tell anyone these things. But, there’s a reason Brock won’t get too personal with you. He’s got a wall built around himself. I don’t know much about this emotional shit, but he’s walled himself off. And I know why.”
    “Why? Did something happen?”
    Will gazed off into the redness of the darkening sky. “Did something happen. Yeah. Yeah, something happened. It’s a strange thing though. It wasn’t until you were in the picture that it all seemed to surface again. It was about ten years ago. He and I were still CIA then. We’d been assigned to do a job in North Korea. It was ugly. I don’t want to get into the details of it. Anyway, we worked with one other person at that time. The three of us were a team. Her name was Lori, and she was our communications officer, which just means she did all the technical stuff, hacking, secure communications with Langley and such. Well, it didn’t take long and Lori and Brock had fallen for each other.” Will laughed. “It was kind of sickening, to tell you the truth.”
    “Oh, you don’t mean that.”
    “No, I don’t mean that. They were inseparable. But man, we had to keep it a secret. Operatives getting emotionally involved with one another is a big no-no. Anyway, he was in love with her. And when I say ‘in love,’ I mean it.”
    “What happened?”
    “He and I were coming back from a surveillance mission, you know, doing some recon on a target we were to take out. Apparently the North Koreans got wind of our little operation. They found out about Brock, but not me or Lori.” He looked down at his boots and shifted some dirt from one side of the trail to the other. “They sent someone, they sent one of their own operatives to kill him. But, they ran into Lori instead. By the time we got back, it was too late. The thing was, they didn’t just kill her, they did things to her, bad things.” He stared into Mav’s eyes. “Things you’ve been through yourself.”
    Mav covered her mouth with her hand.
    Will continued. “Brock was broken up about it. He was a broken man. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
    “Is that why he went berserk when those bikers were attacking me?”
    “Damn straight it was.”
    “That look in his eyes. I can barely remember it, but there was this look in his eyes when he was tearing them apart. I can’t describe it.”
    “His eyes looked dead, didn’t they?” said Will. “It’s called the thousand-yard-stare, a time when you kind of loose contact with the rest of us, and go into your own world. At any rate, when he saw you being attacked, he saw Lori. That’s why he acts they way he does around you. When he sees you, he sees her. When he trains you, he’s training her. He’s always blamed himself for Lori’s death. He’s always blamed himself for not being there to save her, and it’s killing him inside.”
    “What do I do?”
    “I’m headed back down the mountain tonight; going into town to check on those Lincoln Killer assholes. Got to keep tabs on them so we know where we stand. When I’m gone, he needs to know who you are. Maybe then he’ll get it into his thick head.”
    As darkness was