Caged Eagles (24 page)

“I'm damn proud and you are a fool.”

“Oh really?” Donovan slid the pocket radio into his pocket and came closer.

“You never understood Americans.” Blaine said this louder and Trevor looked past Donovan to see why. Forrest was behind them, slowly coming up to Donovan. He held a taser in his hand.

“Oh I didn't, did I? I think they are awfully like sheep. They huddle together scared, victimized, and crying for help.”

“No, they are more like wolves in sheep's disguise. You are an idiot, Gomez, because this country will blame you, not me.”

“They have no proof. I will frame it on you, even to your followers.”

“The people of this country will rise and destroy you and your kind like the black plague.” Blaine stood up, stuck his chest out, and proudly said, “We are worried, paranoid, complaining wimps but when pushed to our limits we stand united, arm in arm, becoming fiercely loyal, strong, and as free as an eagle.”

A shot rang out in the air. Trevor fell to the ground and looked over to see Blaine lying next to him. He didn't have time to think what to do next because Forrest had attacked Donovan. It didn't take him long to overpower the traitor and handcuff him. They both ran to the wounded man's side.

“Tell … tell Laney I love her. Tell Laney to … to continue, become free like I am now.” He went limp and suddenly the rain stopped.

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_•
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He looked down at the metal urn containing his friend. He had to say something, he couldn't stand there like an idiot. What should he say about a man like Blaine Martin?

“It doesn't seem real that he's in this small ….” He stopped talking and pointed at the container of ashes. “I don't think any of us thought….” Again he stopped, eyes still on the remains. Blaine's last moments flashed through his mind again. He had been so hopeful to his last breath. Trevor remembered the time when he met Blaine. He now understood his friend, and he felt a shiver of bizarre impossibility. Did destiny and fate really exist? Trevor had never given either much thought. He was one to believe things happened through cause and effect. Had Blaine somehow known he would never see the end of his war? Why had he counted on Trevor? Was it just through instinct or did he somehow know more? Trevor didn't—he was once erratic and irresponsible. He looked up at the people in front of him and his eyes fell on Sarah. She smiled affectionately to reassure him that his silence was okay. Sarah was the first person to ever enter his life to make him care. Sarah was the reason for this war, and those like her. They deserved better, they deserved the best, and they deserved freedom from restrictions and rules.

“I could stand up here and say that Blaine changed each of us, which he did, and that he was a wonderful man, but each of us already knows that. I want you to know I was there when he died. Your brother was damn proud, Laney Martin.” The woman muffled her cries in a handkerchief and buried her face in Forrest's shoulder. Trevor continued. “He died for a cause he was passionate about. He was betrayed by one of our friends. That is something we can't forget and shouldn't.”

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“How are we going to do this? The government has the military out fighting, but we are losing the battle.” Forrest said. Cesar Romero, a small man of five-six, lit a cigarette, coughed, and pointed at Forrest to acknowledge he agreed. His dark eyes blinked against the smoke.

“The Eastern regiment is stronger. They were obviously planning this for quite some time.”

“I hate to save the deadbeats and failures in this country.” Caden picked dirt from under his fingernails. The two men had become confidants to Trevor, Laney, and Forrest. Caden Volkov had changed his surname at twenty-five to reflect the heritage he strongly believed in. He was a tall, six-foot-five blond with dimples that would make any girl swoon. His fire-blue eyes, though, reflected the Russian meaning of his name, “wolf,” and so did his rebellious personality.

“But since I'm part of this nation I'm not planning on dying.”

“We have a couple of things going for us.” Trevor pushed papers out of the way to show the list of supporters. “We have manpower all over this country, and that could work to our advantage when dealing with the enemy.”

After Blaine's death, Forrest had reported that Blaine had indeed been trying to start a rebellion, but it was in no way connected to Donovan, the bombings, or the invasion. Donovan had fought him, but had too much going against him for anyone to believe it. Laney was upset with Forrest for incriminating Blaine and potentially getting them all into trouble, but she realized it was truly the only way to get the government off their backs so they could do what they needed to do. It was the only way to save their country.

“The second thing we have going for us is our organization. The six of us will each be in charge of our own tasks and assembly of people. Forrest, we need you in the government, feeding us important information. I want you to watch others who have white-collar jobs and here is a list of them. Cesar, I'm sure you know your job. You were friends with Donovan. I'm going to need you at the end of my plan, if I get that far.”

“Yep! I'll be there.” Romero tapped the ashes of his cigarette into an ashtray.

“Laney,” Trevor twisted in his chair to look her in the eyes, “You know what Blaine wanted better than any of us. Those plans have changed a bit; so I want you as the center pole we all revolve around. You will keep the complete list of everyone, plus I want you in charge of contact here at HQ. If something happens to me, I want you to be in charge. “Sarah,” Trevor moved to his right side and placed a hand on her leg. “I want you to help her do this.”

“Okay,” they both replied.

“Caden, you and I will go with Cesar. We are going to become best buddies with the foreigners.”

“Are you nuts, Trevor?” Laney hollered. By the look on her face Trevor wondered if she was about to strike him.

“No, I'm not. The government can't get spies in as easily as we can. No one knows what they are planning to do next. We are the perfect group to blow them out of the water. They will see us as friends because we're a league of rebels against our own country. I'm not insulting Blaine in any way by doing this. We will get them, Laney.” He put his hand on her shoulder.

She looked him in the eye, then stood up and said, “Then let's get this plan rollin'.”

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Sarah crawled up on the bed into the fetal position. Trevor pulled her to him and they rested in each other's arms. The rest of the basement had grown silent. The peace and quiet was welcoming. Trevor leaned forward and kissed her neck. Sarah sighed, rolled over, and buried herself in his chest.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

“It's all happened so fast. I did find out my parents are alright.”

“That's good.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “I know you were worried.”

“I know I need to stay with Laney but …” she left her words unfinished. Trevor pulled her tighter to his body.

“I'll miss you too.”

She sat up on her elbow and ran her index finger down his jaw. “What if you don't come back?”

“Don't think about that.” He pulled her forward and kissed her.

“I can't help it. What will I do?”

“Keep helping Laney.”

“I mean, when it's all over.”

“We'll start a new life, the one we always wanted.”

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Cesar and Trevor both walked up to the counter at the same time. Cesar gestured for Trevor to go first. He paid for his ham sandwich and orange juice, then stepped to the side to allow Cesar to pay for his cigarettes.

“Pack of smokes, the green carton.” He pointed to the shelf behind the clerk.

“That will be fourteen seventy-five.”

“What? They were nine dollars and fifty cents two weeks ago.”

“Guess it's like stamps used to be in the old days.” Caden patted him on the shoulder. “Going to spike those worthless pieces of rolled-up paper until you can't afford to write to momma anymore.”

“Dude, that makes no sense,” Cesar told Caden before he turned back to the clerk.

Trevor replied, “Made sense to me, paper, roll of stamps–I got it.” Caden gave him a thumbs up. In the meantime Cesar started to argue.

“I'll pay you five dollars.”

“No sir, that would be stealing.” The poor pimple-faced clerk grew red from embarrassment.

“Times are changing, and I'll pay you five dollars. It didn't cost but probably fifty cents to make this cigarette, at the most.” Cesar took one out of the packet and lit it.

“Sir, it's illegal to smoke in here, and you are causing a public disruption, and threatening to steal. I will have to call the authorities if you persist in the matter.” The small kid felt like he had won. Cesar just glared at him, shocked and irritated at the words the kid had just said.

“Sir?” the boy tried to gain Cesar's attention.

“I don't think he likes fourteen seventy-five jammed up his butt while you threaten to have him arrested, kid.” Trevor said. Caden let out a thunderous laugh and walked out. Cesar blew smoke into the air and walked out behind him, leaving a twenty-dollar bill on the counter. Trevor followed. He was sure the clerk would call the cops. Trevor slid into the driver's seat and punched on the gas. The E.V. roared and sped toward the on-ramps to the Interstate.

“I hate small towns.” Cesar said from the back seat. “Get us
out
of
here
, Wells.”

“Nice job, Romero. We are only halfway to our destination and you almost get us thrown in jail. Laney is going to kill you.”

“Think what you want, Volkov, you crazy Russian.” Cesar blew smoke out the window and relaxed against the back seat to enjoy his cigarette. “Why does the government find that they have to stop me from killing myself? If I want to slowly do it by filling my lungs full of toxic smoke then that's my damn business. What if I wanted to jump off a building? Are the pinheads going to be there to hold my hand, talk me down, while they get a big trampoline positioned at the bottom?

Caden replied, “I won't let them. I'll make sure the springs in the trampoline are wired to break when you hit it.”

“Thanks, Volkov, I knew you were a true friend.”

Trevor laughed. Cesar and Caden were definitely growing on him. Cesar flicked the butt of the cigarette out the window after licking his fingers and smashing the end. They drove on for a couple more miles until they heard the sirens. Trevor looked into the rear-view mirror to see the lights ordering him to pull over. He did, much to Cesar's dismay. The officer walked up.

“License and registration,” she told Trevor. He turned to get the correct paperwork as Cesar frantically lit another cigarette in the back seat. Trevor knew this situation was not going anywhere good.

“I received a call that you were causing a public disruption a few miles back, threatening to steal and,” she bent her head to see Cesar, “smoking in public places.”

“What did we steal?” Cesar blew smoke out the window and smiled.

“Sir, I will have to ask you to step out of the car. You two stay inside.” Cesar had no intention of moving, but Caden did.

“Excuse me, officer; we only teased the kid about stealing the pack, but we didn't. I think we can sort this whole matter out.”

“Oh no,” Trevor had thought he was bad, but the other two were a couple of smoking, drinking baboons.

“Do you?” She was skeptical. Caden flashed her his best smile.

“Yes, officer.”

“Could you both please step out of the car?” She lowered her chin and spoke into the little black box on her chest, ordering her partner to come help. She was a beautiful brunette, which only reminded Trevor of Sarah. A pang of regret and longing ran the length of his body. The first officer told her partner the situation. Trevor put his hands on the hood and stood patiently.

“Officer Gill.” Caden opened his mouth again.

“Yes.” She began to feel down his side and legs.

“You know I noticed you aren't wearing a ring.”

“Are you honestly hitting on me while I search you for stolen items?”

“No, I'm not a sicko.”

She snickered.

“But I am telling the truth when I say we didn't steal anything. My friends paid for what they bought. I'm also not lying when I say we are just trying to get across the country or when I say you are very pretty, especially in that official police uniform. Blue
is
my favorite color.”

“You say one more comment and I will arrest you for sexual harassment.”

“Yes, madam.” He winked at Trevor. “May I get in the car, officer?”

“No.” She turned to her friend. “I found nothing,” she said.

“Me either.”

“Okay, you can all be on your way.” Caden didn't get in the car.

“I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings, you're just very attractive, and what has this country come to when a man can't tell a woman she's attractive?”

She blushed.

“Is it okay that I say that?”

“Yes, it is, sir. You don't need to be disgusting about it, and that is what gets you men into trouble.”

“Well officer, if you'd let me ….”

Trevor cut Caden off while the officers taser was still in her holster. “Thank you, do we have a ticket or can we be on our way?”

“You can go, don't forget seat belts.” She eyed Cesar when she said this.

“Maybe we'll be able to meet under better circumstances.” Caden called after her but she continued to walk to her car. He got back inside and Trevor pulled off.

“I can't believe those lines worked on her?” Trevor said. Caden craned his neck to see in the rearview mirror.

“I like a woman in uniform and strong upper hand.”

Cesar leaned forward. “Oh, Caden can call them uglier than mud as long as he smiles and runs his hand through that wavy blond hair.”

“No, it's about what works. All the old lines do. You can't overuse them, but throw them in every so often and the women still swoon over them. You just have to crack through the exterior first.”

Trevor laughed and listened to the two men pick on each other. In the meantime he kept driving toward the darkening east as the sun set behind them in the west.