Thank god he’s not an asshole all the time.
Chapter Five
November 3rd, Kali Enyo perused the world news on her tablet as she sat in the Atlanta coffee shop and sipped her morning coffee. Excitement and hope were beginning to run high all over the globe as it looked like scientists in Atlanta were closer than ever to a possible Kite vaccine. Online news stories were starting to reflect this attitude.
She hoped they were right.
Kali Enyo also looked for any new information regarding a man. A very distinctive man.
A man she planned to kill.
The woman formerly known as Mary Silo had been married to him. Technically was still married to him, even though she considered their separation an unofficial divorce.
After nearly forty years, she was sick of the sadistic, narcissistic monster, and even more sick over what he’d been planning to do before she escaped and basically shut him down due to the police watching him.
He’d been planning on installing a barely legal teenaged girl as a “wife” in each of the church’s strongholds he’d constructed. And he’d been building up a sperm bank to fertilize willing volunteers with his seed, all in the name of trying to rebuild the country in his image.
No way in hell she’d let that happen.
Ax, her hacker friend, sent her an instant message.
You around?
He was the man who ran the blog putting out the video evidence she’d stolen from Hannibal’s computer, videos he’d taken over the years of him brutalizing her in bed. Hannibal and his weasel of a helper, Jerald Arbeid, had claimed the videos were just sex tapes between a loving couple, but that the audio portion was doctored.
She responded. Enjoying my coffee.
Ax had opened up to her over the past several weeks. He was now, if he was to be believed, embedded with the Drunk Monkeys, a military special ops unit dedicated to saving the world from Kite.
It was a happy coincidence that ruining her husband’s plans had also become a hobby of theirs, since some of his plans had included trying to spread the Kite virus in the country.
Ax’s parents had died in a mysterious hit-and-run accident that was never solved. At the time of her death, his mother had been working on a scathing story about Hannibal and his political influence. And Ax, then just a young boy, had seen a strange man in their home the night their parents died. A man who took his mother’s computer and notes.
He’d made it his life’s mission to ruin Hannibal Silo, so it was only right the two of them had found each other.
She’d come to care for Ax, strangely enough, even though they’d never met face-to-face. He was only thirty-two, and would have been around the same age of any child she would have had, had Hannibal not forcibly gotten her tubes tied and denied her the one thing she’d always dreamed of.
Children.
She’d been hiding out in St. Louis. With the winter setting in early, she’d moved south to Atlanta, knowing that’s where Ax and the Drunk Monkeys were. If she got into trouble and needed help, better to have it close by, where she could reach out to them, than be alone.
Her plan had been to infiltrate the church’s St. Louis stronghold and kill Hannibal there, but now she wanted to wait and see what happened with the vaccine.
Completely disgracing him and hopefully getting him thrown in jail would be utterly satisfying as well. Then she could take over the church, set it on a course of humanitarian care, and erase all traces of her husband from its history.
Then she could retire and enjoy the smug satisfaction of knowing he’d rot in jail and be cursing her name.
Or maybe she’d just kill him and take over anyway. Surely the Drunk Monkeys could help her there. Let him suddenly “disappear” after she returned. Claim he was on the run for his crimes.
Decisions, decisions.
Ax responded. The vaccine testing is going well.
Excellent. When are you releasing the next video?
I had two more bids for exclusivity. Probably by Friday, depending on how the bidding goes.
She grinned. When she left Hannibal, she’d also transferred a considerable sum of money into another account. Far more than she’d need to spend the rest of her life comfortably. In return for helping her take on a new identity, Kali had told Ax he could sell the videos and other clips and keep all the proceeds.
Wonderful. That’ll ruin Hannibal’s weekend.
The Drunk Monkeys were helping Ax stay hidden so Hannibal’s computer people couldn’t track him down.
There’s supposed to be another winter storm coming next week.
She glanced up at the TV in the coffee shop, which was broadcasting the Weather Channel. Yes, she’d seen that news.
I’ll be all right, she assured him. I have taken precautions.
She had to assume Ax knew she wasn’t in St. Louis any longer. He probably knew she was in Atlanta. But she didn’t want to come in yet.
She’d spent the last forty years under Hannibal’s thumb, drugged out of her mind and forced to comply with his every craven, disgusting whim.
Freedom tasted far too sweet to give it up yet. Even to give it up to safety.
Hannibal’s men hadn’t found her. Wouldn’t find her. Not now. She’d been far too careful and with her new identity and new appearance, no one would recognize her.
And she’d purchased herself a gun while in St. Louis, learned how to use it. Practiced a couple of times a week with it.
She’d taken self-defense classes, too. She was no martial arts expert, but she knew she could easily take on Hannibal.
From all the walking she’d been doing, she knew she was also in far better physical shape than Hannibal.
Simple pleasures such as deciding what and when she ate, what she wore, where she went—all of that was too delicious to relinquish. The scientists would find a vaccine, of that she felt certain. Once they did, Ax would tell her that, and then she’d make arrangements to come in on the condition that they did her a solid, as they said.
By the time that happened, she would know in her heart how she wanted to finish off Hannibal Silo. And if they wanted her help, they’d have to help her do it.
* * * *
Ax couldn’t help but worry about Mary Silo.
Kali Enyo, he reminded himself.
She’d spent forty years sheltered, tethered, imprisoned.
Now she was out in the world and discovering everything it held.
He didn’t want her to escape Hannibal Silo just to have her get mugged or something.
He typed a reply. I worry about you.
I know you do and I appreciate it. It’s nice to have someone genuinely care about me for a change.
I’m not saying this to scare you, but I want to meet you at some point. I want to at least give you a hug for all you’ve done for me.
Her reply was slow in coming. Done for you? You have that backward. I want to hug you for all you’ve done for me. You gave me a new life by helping me. If it wasn’t for you I couldn’t have gotten free and stayed free.
He put it out there. I was six when Mom and Dad died. I hope this doesn’t sound stupid, but I kind of think of you as a mom.
Another lag he thought meant maybe she’d dropped off-line, but then she replied. That man stole my ability to have children. No telling how many others he’s been responsible for dying over the years. I consider it an honor that you think of me like that, and would be proud to call you my son.
He glanced around. He was in one of the offices in the safe house facility that they hadn’t converted to another purpose yet. Alone, fortunately, because he found himself sniffling and wiping at his eyes.
Thanks. :) I’m going to let you go. Please keep in touch with me.
He was about to shut down the connection when she replied. I will. What are you doing for Thanksgiving?
He thought about it for a moment. Honestly? He didn’t know. He wouldn’t be with his brothers. Bubba had already relocated them out
of the area. They were safe and provided for. Even when he was with them, in years past after Aunt Cora died, usually one or more of them was working. Sometimes they went to a restaurant or got a chicken and baked it. It wasn’t like they’d had a lot of money to do much else.
I don’t know yet.
Keep the date open for me. I’ll let you know. But it has to be you alone.
His heart raced. Sure thing. Do you want me to come to St. Louis?
No, I’ll come to you. Stay safe, son. I’ll be in touch. :)
She ended the connection.
He sat back, smiling. They’d told him they wouldn’t force him to locate her, even though he knew he likely could. He’d given Kali a crash course early in her escape about staying safe online, hiding her location.
Absolutely, he trusted the Drunk Monkeys. About the only people he could trust with any degree of certainty in this world.
While he was online, he tried to contact his friend, Tank. Part of a self-proclaimed anarchist group that called themselves the Freedom World Fighters, they were trying to get the word out about how the military had blown up Barstow, and how they were hiding the truth about Kite casualties and what happened in LA.
Tank didn’t know what was going on with Ax, or that he was involved with releasing the information about Rev. Silo, but Ax was trying to keep tabs on her little group and feed her information and donations whenever possible. The Drunk Monkeys knew about her and knew he was keeping her in mind as a back-up source of help should they ever need her.
Right now, last he’d heard, they were camped out in Omaha, squatting in a vacant office building and planning to ride out the winter there. He’d held that part back from the Drunk Monkeys, though.
Didn’t want to give away all of his secrets.
The FWF had gotten the power going—he didn’t want to know how—and were running various intelligence operations against the military machine, trying to dodge the attempts to squelch every last bit of information about Barstow and LA and what really happened as soon as it was posted online.
He definitely didn’t want them trolling around in his pond with the Church of the Rising Sunset. If they knew Rev. Silo had a hand in spreading Kite and what happened in LA that led up to Barstow being destroyed, they’d be all over the preacher’s operation like flies on shit.
Silo was his target. His, and Kali Enyo’s. And he wanted to be the one to help finish him off for good.
If for no other reason, so he could put the ghosts of his parents to rest in his mind.
Tank didn’t appear to be online at that moment, so he shut down his laptop and headed out into the common room that was their kitchen and dining room.
Juju and Delta were cleaning up from their lunch.
“Hey,” Juju said. “Any news from Mary Silo?”
“No,” Ax fibbed. “I think once the vaccine’s confirmed I’ll be able to talk her in. Right now I’m just trying to keep tabs on her.”
“She still in Atlanta?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“That’s good.” Juju leaned against the counter. “She knows we just want to help her, right?”
“She does. I really think she’s enjoying herself too much to come in yet. Did you see the evidence of what that bastard did to her?”
He looked a little ill. “Yeah. ’Nuff said. I’d probably be enjoying myself, too, if I finally had freedom after forty years with a bastard like that.”
“Yeah,” Delta said. “She’s probably living it up right now.”
“You still want to go shoot today?” Juju asked, changing the subject.
“Absolutely,” Ax said. He had no clue how to defend himself before now. The unit had offered to teach him self-defense skills, including firearms.
He knew it wasn’t exactly altruistic on their part. They wanted anyone travelling with them to be able to pick up a gun and defend themselves or their teammates. All of the women who’d joined the unit had learned at least the basics, if they didn’t already know them. Donna—Scooter, he reminded himself—would be learning those things once she was settled in at the Florida base. Annie and Chief and the men would all work with her.
What Ax didn’t tell them was that he had an ulterior motive of his own. If he had a chance to stand face-to-face with Hannibal Silo, he wanted to know he could take the man down himself.
Make him pay for the deaths of his parents.
And Ax would make sure Silo knew their names before the man drew his last breath.
Chapter Six
The next morning, after Shasta had a short nap in an attempt to right her body’s capsized natural clock, she cooked her parents breakfast when they got up to go to work.
Shasta already peeked on her way to the kitchen. Stu was asleep in his room.
His clean room.
Apparently, he’d done his laundry, too.
Maybe it’s April 1st and not November 3rd. This sure feels like a trick.
“Sweetie, you didn’t have to do this,” her mom said as they sat to eat.
“Yeah, well, I did because I wanted to, and I have to tell you that Stu’s back.”
“He is?” They both sounded shocked.
She gave a quick explanation that he’d gotten a job working at the VA in an experimental program and would have some weird hours for now because of his shifts. And that he might actually sleep at the VA some nights.
She despised lying to her parents, but Stu had produced green and cleaned his room, both of which were hell-thriving-snowball moments to begin with. She’d cut him a little slack, at least.
“So I can get glasses today,” she said.
“That’s great!” Her mom looked like she was close to tearing up. “I’m…I’m still going to say that this is his last chance. If he screws this up, well, we have to be able to support ourselves.” She nodded as if trying to convince herself of that.
Her father stared down at the table. “He’s not dealing drugs, is he?” he quietly asked. “That’s awfully funny that he’s just…better.”
“No, Dad, I don’t think so. I mean, I thought so at first, but even he said he actually felt better. He looked better. Heck, he did clean his room.”
His parents exchanged a glance before looking up at her.
She slid into a chair at the table. “If I think it’s bad news, I’ll tell you.” She hated fibbing to them like that, but she would be the buffer between them and the truth, whatever the truth turned out to be, for their sakes. “I’m willing to give him another shot.”
Her father reached over and squeezed her hand. “I trust your judgment. If you think it’s okay…well, then we’ll let it go and see what happens. But I’m with your mother on this one. He gets no more chances.”
“Agreed.”
With them out the door, she was able to relax a little and get the bathrooms cleaned. She tried to take up the slack as much as possible with chores so they weren’t forced to do them.
Once that was done, she grabbed a quick shower and then left a note on Stu’s door.
Going out for new glasses. Please leave a note with a schedule so we don’t worry about you.
She hesitated for a moment before adding one more line.
Love you. Thank you for this.
Still unable to shake the feeling that this wasn’t a good thing, Shasta headed out.
* * * *
Shasta’s first stop was the bank, who confirmed the money was, indeed, genuine.
She deposited it in her account, uncomfortable having that much cash on her. If her debit card got lost, she could immediately cancel it with her phone app and not worry about losing any money.
Gone cash was just that—gone.
She had to wait two hours to get in to see an eye doctor and get an exam since she didn’t have an appointment, but it was worth it. Due to a coupon in the paper, not only could she get one pair of glasses, but two, for a little more than she’d expected to pay for one pair in the first place, which included no-line bifocals. r />
Something she’d desperately needed.
They’d be ready the next day, something she paid an extra charge for, but that she could afford with the money from Stu.
Unable to believe her good fortune, she walked next door to treat herself to lunch, a healthy salad and some good coffee for a change. It was a little bit of a splurge, and one she normally wouldn’t indulge in, but today she would.
If there was bad news on the horizon, at least she’d have this bright spot to remember.
Shasta wasn’t giving Stu the cash back, that was for damn sure. And when she got home, she’d pay their electric and water bills and there’d still be enough left for her to get the oil changed in her car. That was overdue as well.
She also went grocery shopping before she got home. She’d just pulled into the driveway, noting that Stu’s car was once again gone, when her cell phone rang.
Work.
Groaning, she answered. “You promised me seventy-two off, Lou.”
“Yeah, no, not why I’m calling. Actually, it is why I’m calling, but it’s not bad. Bailey and Waxler both showed up for work this morning.”
She’d been unbuckling her seat belt and froze, unable to believe what she’d heard. “What?”
“Yeah. Frankly? They’ve gotten more done in the past couple of hours than they have in the past few months.”
“No shit? Did they explain oh, what the fuck?”
“Yeah. They both had doctor’s notes that they’d been getting medical treatments.”
She had an odd thought. “Treatments for what?”
“Didn’t specify and they wouldn’t say. The notes cited privacy concerns.”
“They both vets?”
“Huh?”
“Veterans. They’re both veterans. Former military. Aren’t they?”
“Yeah, I think so. Why?”
“Just curious. My brother just went through a treatment, too. Showed up here at home early this morning.”
“Huh. Think it’s connected?”
“Probably. Were they both chipper and glowing?”