Abe just snorted and looked back out the window. "You cooking?"

"Yeah..." Boredom in his voice. "Grandma's Pickled Eggs."

"Mmmm."

Their sense of humor was flagging.

Abe leaned forward to see if he could see a bright spot in the sky that would denote where the sun was hanging, but the fog was too thick. Everything above them was just a big, off-white smudge. "What time you got?"

"Thirteen-fifteen," Lucas said and went back to flipping through the magazine that he'd flipped through about a dozen times already. Probably not even looking at the pictures anymore. Just giving himself something to do. Each time he flipped it, the glossy pages crinkled lightly, the only noise in the building. Even and methodical. Like a metronome.

Abe leaned back into his chair. Took a deep, quiet breath.

Another few minutes pa.s.sed. Forty-three flipped pages. Abe was counting.

A sound worked its way into the old convenience store. An engine thrumming up the road, through the fog. Abe came upright from his reclined position, put his shoulder up against the wall and peered through the window, looking off towards the North Carolina border.

Lucas unslung his rifle. "That him?"

"Can't see yet."

Lucas moved quickly around the counter and took up a position on the other window, on the other side of the front door with the little hanging sign that said, "Sorry...We're closed." Abe squinted into the fog, annoyed at how brightly it refracted all of that sunlight, without actually letting any sunlight through.

It came on them quicker than Abe expected, because of the color. But the shape was unmistakable. A Humvee. One of the cargo truck variants with no gun on top. Tan in color. Abe raised his rifle and moved back a little farther from the window, putting the post of his front sight on the windshield of the vehicle as it approached.

"You got him?" Abe asked.

"Yeah...I see the truck. Can't see who's in it."

Gotta be him, Abe thought. Hoped. Prayed.

The truck was already moving slow, but the sound of the engine faded off and the vehicle slowed to a coast as it drew up to the old gas station. It almost rolled to a complete stop in the road, no doubt the driver eyeing the gas station, hoping he hadn't come to the wrong place. Then the wheels turned and the Humvee rumbled into the lot, stopping just short of the single set of pumps.

"It's him, right?" Lucas asked.

"Hold on." Abe waited, still not wanting to jump the gun. He would let the guy in the truck get out, reveal his ident.i.ty. If it was their guy, then they would make their presence known. If it wasn't their guy, then they would hope that the unfortunate stranger would move on.

And if he didn't, they would kill him.

The driver's door opened.

Eddie Ramirez slid out, looking at the windows of the convenience store, trying to see inside.

Abe nodded. "It's him."

"Thank G.o.d," Lucas smiled with relief.

They both lowered their rifles, moved to the front door and opened it. Eddie Ramirez waited behind the engine block of the Humvee, cautious, until he recognized the two men coming out of the front door. He raised a hand by way of greeting, walked around the front of the truck.

"Major," he nodded to Abe, then Lucas. "Captain."

"You're a little late, Ramirez." Abe smiled, tried to force some good humor into it. He clapped Eddie on the shoulder to compensate. "You okay? Everything turn out alright?"

Eddie nodded. "Everything went fine."

"Do you have it with you?"

Eddie reached into the cargo pocket of his pants and withdrew the handheld GPS device. He looked it over for a minute, seemed to be weighing it in his hands, judging its importance and coming up mystified as to why everyone would go through such great lengths to have it. He handed it to Abe.

Abe took it, turned it over. He activated it, watched the screen light up. No apparent damage. Still operational. He put it in his own pocket. "Thank you, Ramirez. You did a good job." Abe turned and took a step away, his hand slipping into the grip of his rifle.

Eddie stretched, scratched the back of his neck. "You got a chopper inbound to take my a.s.s home?"

"No, not today," Abe said over his shoulder.

Then he turned quickly and put two rounds into Eddie's head.

As Eddie Ramirez fell back, Abe transitioned smoothly to Lucas, putting his sights right where he'd put them on Eddie. Lucas stood there, still watching the dead body on its trip to the ground, still watching the spirals of blood and brain matter that hadn't even splattered back onto the Humvee yet. By the time Lucas even registered that Abe pointed a rifle at him, Abe could have put half his magazine into the man.

Could have.

But didn't.

"Don't f.u.c.king move," Abe commanded.

Lucas stared at him in complete shock. "What the f.u.c.k are you doing, Abe?"

Abe raised his voice over Lucas'. "You listen to me, okay? I don't want to hurt you, Lucas, I really f.u.c.king don't. Eddie had to go because he wasn't working for me and I don't f.u.c.king trust him. But I trust you, Lucas. We're friends. And I need you to trust me right now, okay? Can you trust me?"

Lucas bladed his body just slightly, like he might try to attack, or make a run for it. "Abe, you're not making any f.u.c.king sense. And could you please stop pointing that thing at me?"

Abe lowered the rifle, but only slightly. "Lucas I need your help, man. This is me asking. Not Briggs or anyone else. This is just me."

Lucas shook his head rapidly. "What are you talking about?"

"Briggs is out of control, Lucas."

"Abe..."

"He's out of f.u.c.king control," Abe said more sternly. "We both know that. He's maintaining power through force, and I'm not going to help him do it anymore. It's not too late to fix what we've done. Project Hometown still has a chance to work, but we need to make a move now, before Briggs gets too powerful."

"All the coordinators are either with Briggs or they're unaccounted for," Lucas said flatly.

"Except Lee." Abe said. "And I have his GPS."

"You never slaved it. You can't access it. And Lee's dead."

Abe shook his head. "Lee's not dead. Eddie's been using the sat phone to stay in contact with me. He called me right after he took the GPS. Told me that he'd shot Lee in the head, but that Lee was still breathing and seemed like he was coming to. Wanted to know if he should finish the job or just leave him. I saw my chance, Lucas, and I took it. I told him to just leave him alive."

Lucas frowned. "Why didn't he just kill him? That's what Briggs wanted."

"I lied to Eddie," Abe said. "I know he was loyal to Briggs and I couldn't just tell him to cancel the mission completely, because he would've known it was a lie. But about a week ago, when he told me he was getting close to Lee, I convinced him that Briggs changed his mind on Lee and was only concerned with the GPS. And he bought it." Abe grimaced. "I had hoped that Eddie would have just taken the GPS quietly and without hurting Lee, but he said that Lee kept it close all the time. Said that shooting him was the only way." Abe looked bitter. "Lucas, I thought we lost everything until Eddie told me that Lee was still breathing. I know it's a small chance but..."

"Jesus, Abe!" Lucas looked pained. "Lee's been shot in the head! Do you know his chances of surviving something like that? All the complications that can happen? The swelling on his brain probably killed him twenty minutes after Eddie left him!"

Abe blinked rapidly. He was not so hardened that he could not feel the shame of betraying a friend, of allowing that friend to be taken advantage of, possibly killed. He was Judas, trying to undo a crucifixion at the eleventh hour.

"Lee's not dead," Abe repeated stubbornly. "He wasn't dead when Eddie left him, and if there's ever been a motherf.u.c.ker too stubborn to die, it's Lee. And until I see evidence that he is dead, I don't f.u.c.king believe it. And I don't think you do either."

Lucas stood stiffly, trying to sort things out.

"Come on, Buddy. We have to give Lee a chance. We need to help him. We have to make things right. Before Briggs gets control of everything." Abe lowered his rifle completely, and hoped to G.o.d that Lucas was the man that he thought he was. "You with me, Lucas?"

"You know how strong Briggs is getting," Lucas stated.

Abe shrugged. "He's only going to get stronger. That's why we move now, while we still have a chance."

"A slim chance."

"It's the only chance we have."

"Jesus," Lucas fidgeted. "You're putting me in a bad spot."

"I know. But I need your help. This is the only way."

Lucas nodded, slowly. "Okay. Alright."

"You in?"

"I'm in."

END OF BOOK FOUR.

end.