He made a note of how to get to it again and actually cut a narrow path to it. He spent the next hour or so positioning piles of dead logs beside the new trail and pulling back curtains of vines and tying them back just enough that a well-placed machete blow would send them cascading down into the path.
Well satisfied with his work, he headed back toward the house and spent the remainder of the night roaming around the edge of the grounds.
The next day was tense. Tanaka’s people called first thing in the morning. They were on the island and finalizing their security before coming to get Poppy.
Gunner and Chas spent the morning playing with her, and every minute was a dagger to his heart. Chas didn’t look like he was holding up any better.
Lunchtime came and went without a call from Tanaka, and then suppertime came and went.
“What do you suppose the hang-up is?” Chas asked nobody in particular as darkness fell outside.
“They must’ve spotted some of the Oshiro gang,” Drago guessed. “They’re probably doing exactly what we did—setting up a trap and luring the bastards in.”
“Let’s just hope they get them all,” Gunner said fervently. “I’d hate to end up in another firefight.” He glanced sidelong at Chas for any reaction to that remark, but Chas’s jaw was tight as he stared out one of the big window walls.
“Well, it’s about time to start night patrol,” Spencer said. “You guys get some rest, eh?”
Drago headed upstairs to grab a nap, and Gunner stood reluctantly to follow. He hated to leave Poppy when he had so little time left with her.
“Rest,” Chas said softly. “You need your strength to kill whoever wanders onto the property.”
“Snark is beneath you,” Gunner replied evenly.
Chas looked up sharply. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just hate all of this.”
“Me too.”
Their gazes met for a moment of shared understanding. They were both hurting bad over having to give up Poppy.
Gunner dozed upstairs for a few hours but grew restless at around midnight and couldn’t get back to sleep. He got up, geared up, and eased the door to Poppy and Chas’s bedroom open to look in on them. They were both sleeping peacefully.
Then he backed out and quietly headed downstairs. Spencer and Drago were both outside, probably doing their shift change now. He poked his throat mike to murmur, “I’m awake and in the kitchen grabbing a snack. Nobody shoot me, eh?”
“Can’t sleep?” Spencer asked, obviously on the move. Heading for the house, no doubt.
“Nah. Gut’s jumpy.”
“Mine too,” Drago reported.
“Mine three,” Spencer added dryly. “Stay sharp, Dray.”
“Always am.”
Gunner listened idly to their banter as Drago headed out and Spencer headed in. While he was making himself a sandwich, he made one for Spencer too. When his friend came in the back door, Gunner handed him a plate.
“Nice hide you built, Gun,” Spencer commented, taking a bite of the ham sandwich.
“Here’s hoping we don’t need it—”
“Problem,” Drago muttered in both of their ears. “I’ve got movement on the south ridge.”
“Stay here,” Spencer ordered tersely. His plate rattled to the counter and he was out the door without another word. “Head count?” Gunner heard Spencer ask.
“Six. Maybe a few more.”
Aww, fuck. Not good.
“Get Chas and Poppy up. Be ready to move out with them,” Spencer ordered.
“Wilco,” Gunner bit out, racing for the stairs.
He woke Chas first. “Get up. Get dressed. Grab a couple of blankets and the emergency bag for Poppy. I’ll get her. If you still have that headset I gave you, put it on. Meet me downstairs in one minute.”
Chas’s eyes were huge with fear in the dark, but he nodded and rolled out of bed, fumbling into shoes as Gunner leaned over the crib and scooped up Poppy, blankets and all.
“Get her pacifier and some bottles,” Gunner ordered over his shoulder. “We may have to keep her quiet.”
He moved swiftly downstairs, trying not to jostle the toddler and wake her up any more than she already was. She was mostly asleep now, and he needed to keep her that way. He turned off the kitchen lights and the single lamp burning in the living room, plunging the house into darkness.
Chas came downstairs, breathing hard. “Now what?”
“Get the bottles and join me in the living room.”
Chas joined him in a minute and sank down on the sofa beside him and Poppy. “What now?” he breathed.
“Now we wait for instructions. Spencer and Drago are checking out the movement Dray saw on the south ridge.”
“How long will it take?”
“Not long,” he replied grimly.
“Do we know which part of the Oshiro gang is here?” Chas asked.
“Does it matter?” he countered.
They sat in the dark, listening to the night sounds while Gunner reviewed the route to the fallback position.
And then the thing he feared happened. The animals outside started to go silent. Not good. Not good at all. Spencer and Drago knew how to move quietly enough not to disturb the night creatures. But incoming hostiles? Probably not so much.
Gunner stood up, moved over to the living room doors, and pushed one of the big glass sliders open. The quiet was even more noticeable now. “Get ready to move out. Fast. We’ll run full-out across the lawn. Do your best to keep up with me.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Insects have gone silent. There are definitely people moving around out there.”
“If we’re going to have to run, do you want me to rig up a sling for you to carry Poppy on your back?”
“You know how to do that?” Gunner asked in surprise.
“Of course. My kids’ moms do it all the time with their babies.” Gunner watched in surprise as Chas pulled out the carrying sling he sometimes let Poppy sleep in on his lap. They slipped her into that, and Gunner threw the cloth strap over his shoulder and across his chest. Then Chas folded one of the blankets like a bandana and crossed it the other direction diagonally across Gunner’s back and under Poppy, making a second envelope. Chas moved in front of him and tied the ends securely across his chest.
Gunner shifted around a few times, bouncing on his toes.
“Feel secure?” Chas asked.
“Yeah. That’s good. Thanks.” He stared down at Chas, who stared back up at him. It was all there between them. The friendship, the love, the happy ever after they couldn’t have.
“Are we going to be okay?” Chas asked, low.
“I’ll die defending the two of you, whether you like it or not,” he answered grimly.
Chas opened his mouth to say something, but Spencer’s voice cut across whatever he’d been about to say: “Run.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
CHAS CONSIDERED himself to be in damned good shape, but he’d never run so hard in his life. Gunner bolted out the door, took the lanai steps three at a time, and was off across the lawn like a high-speed train. Chas sprinted after him, watching the baby bag bounce against his back, his lungs gulping in great gasps of air, his thigh muscles burning like fire.