Page 30 of Max
Yes, he would be doing the chores while Falyn recovered, and he didn’t mind. She was so worth it.
Chapter Eighteen
Colton was frustrated that he couldn’t find any leads on what happened to Tessa. He wondered whether the Enclave cyborgs had picked her up in their sweeps of the ruins before demolition.
He couldn’t go ask them after he tried to kill Stalker back in L.A. But maybe Driscoll’s ganger plant inside their base could check for him. Colton had dozens of pictures stored in his internal CPU. He even had that last exchange with her telling him she still loved him and wanted him to come home. He played it nearly every single day, sometimes more than once.
He just couldn’t give up until he knew for certain that she was dead. And Colton wouldn’t let himself believe that without indisputable proof. That’s why he was on his way to see Driscoll. He didn’t have Lander’s contact info, so he wanted Driscoll to make contact with him.
Driscoll operated from the single building on the block untouched in the bombings save for a few broken windows. One of those broken windows allowed him to eavesdrop as he approached.
“Thanks, Lander. We’ll be ready for them. I got the coordinates for the female’s homestead. Call me immediately when they leave the base, and I will send a team after her. Once we have her, he won’t interfere.”
“Then what?”
“I will send her with Gergis, and he will never see her again. Then he will be useless to the Enclave. He will regret trying to take what’s ours.”
Colton had no love for the manufactured cyborgs, but he had no love for Driscoll either. Taking Max’s female didn’t sit well with him at all. He may have gone rogue, but he still planned to fulfill his mission.
He would just do it his way.
Max held Falyn one last time before he left for the mission. Despite a slow and thorough lovemaking session before breakfast and again after shooting practice, he still wanted her again. She held him tightly, pressing her cheek into the hollow of his shoulder.
“Don’t worry, sweetling. I won’t be away one moment longer than I need to. And remember to keep that ion rifle in easy reach whenever you are outside or anywhere.”
“I will,” she murmured and looked up at him. “I’m okay. I lived here alone for quite a while before you came. I can certainly manage for a few hours or even days. But I will miss you.” She said the last with a smile.
Max smiled back at her and then kissed her parted lips. Falyn suspected he’d intended a light kiss before he headed out, but it took a lot longer and ended with them both aroused.
“We’ll continue this when you get back,” Falyn assured him. “I love you. Stay safe.”
“I love you, too. Com me if you have any problems.” Max let her go and turned resolutely, heading out the door without looking back.
Falyn waited until she heard the sky cycle take off before she gathered up the ion rifle and headed out to the barn to milk the goats. She was glad to have enough chores to last the whole day. It would make the time go faster until Max returned.
Max’s assault teams were ready to go when he arrived at the base. They had found the barracks where the gangers were holding the abductees. The building was located a klick from the heart of the chief overlord’s territory.
The cyborgs brought four large hovercrafts to evacuate the abductees to the base before they went after the gangers. By the number of gangers firing on them as they approached the target, Max knew they expected them.
That could only mean they had an overlord spy among the rescues from the ruins. Likely one of the gangers who “surrendered” for a chance at a better life.
It didn’t matter. Despite rumors of Mesaarkan tech, these enforcers had only conventional projectile weapons with a few blasters. None of that would faze fully armored cyborgs with ion rifles and military blasters. Max’s teams could have easily killed the gangers in a short time, but the Enclave wanted them taken alive for re-education.
They managed to capture about seventy percent of them and bound their hands and feet with zip ties while they were still unconscious. A few protectors stood guard by the prisoners, and others secured the perimeter around the barracks.
Max planned to go to the first barracks with Rexas to assess the abductees when his com beeped. He receded his armor to take it from an inside pocket. Expecting it to be Falyn, he was surprised to see Colton Price on his screen.
“Price, what the fuck do you want?”
“That’s Agent Price to you, Ranger. You’ll want to hear what I have to tell you.” He paused for effect.
“I am in the middle of a mission and don’t have time to chat.”
“Driscoll sent a team to capture your mate. He figures he can hold you off until the slave ship comes for the captives. Then he will put her on the ship with the rest of them.”
“And why should I believe you?”
“Look, Steele, I may have gone a little rogue on this assignment, but we’re still on the same side. Man, they took my wife; I don’t want that to happen to anyone else.”
