Aftershock Page 6

  She looked startled. “In this?”

  “Sure. Let’s take her back to camp. We need the radio nearby in case someone answers. If she feels up to it, Penny can send out a call in Spanish.”

  “That’s a good idea,” she said. Some of the despair drained from her eyes. “Let’s do it.”

  He put the truck into gear, released the hand brake and stepped on the gas. They took a serpentine route back to the RV because there were so many obstacles. He parked next to the triage area, facing the north corner.

  Jeb and Mickey would have a hard time sneaking up on this baby. Tonight, Lauren could sleep in the back while Garrett stayed up front.

  When he hazarded a glance at her, he realized that she also understood the benefits. Her lips curved into an appreciative smile, as if he’d done something special. She seemed grateful, and he didn’t know what to say.

  She was the one who’d fought hard all night, trying to save lives. He’d just thrown a few punches after falling asleep on the job.

  He scolded himself for being flattered by her attention. There wasn’t anyone else she could count on. It didn’t take any skill to tap out an SOS code, or do the heavy lifting. But he loved the way she looked at him, as if he were smart and honorable and strong. He wanted to be that man, the superhero she thought he was.

  “You must have been a good soldier.”

  He’d been a Marine, not a soldier, but he didn’t bother to correct her. “I was okay,” he said, shrugging. Off duty, he’d been pretty dishonorable.

  “How many years did you serve?”

  “In the Marine Corps?”

  A crease formed between her brows. “Were you in another branch of the military?”

  “No,” he said, tightening his hands on the steering wheel. “I served four years, two overseas.”

  “Why’d you leave?”

  “I had PTSD.” It was the truth, but such a small part of the truth that it felt like a lie. “After my second tour ended, I was discharged.”

  “Did you get treatment?”

  “Not really. I refused to see a psychologist.”

  She made a sympathetic face.

  “I was kind of screwed up.”

  “How’d you get better?”

  “I met some other war veterans. They were like a support group. I also read a lot. I read Dune while I was recovering.”

  “Really? That’s amazing.”

  He didn’t see how, but it wasn’t polite to argue with a lady.

  “What else did you read?”

  “Lots of things.” He tried to remember some titles. Science fiction and fantasy were his favorites. He also enjoyed travel stories, wilderness adventures...anything to take him away from cold, hard reality. “Watership Down, The Stand, Lord of the Rings, White Fang.”

  She smiled. “I’ve read some of those.”

  That didn’t surprise him. Her eyes were alight with intelligence and compassion. She reminded him of some of the teachers he’d had in college. “It’s kind of ironic, but the last book I read was about a guy who got his arm stuck in a rock.”

  “Aron Ralston? I read that, too.”

  “Did you?”

  “Yes. It wasn’t my usual type of story, but I enjoyed it. I’ll read anything.”

  “If I find any books in the cars, I’ll bring them to you.”

  She glanced out the window, falling silent. They hadn’t been able to sit down for more than a few moments at a time. Leisure reading wasn’t on the schedule. “Hopefully we won’t have to cut any limbs off to get free.”

  He shouldn’t have brought up that Ralston book. It was a little grisly. “Do you want to lie down and rest?”

  “No,” she said. “I have to check on Mrs. Engle again. I’ll see if Penny can come over here to monitor the radio.”

  He had to get going also. “Let me show you how to do a basic SOS.” Turning the CB back on, he tapped three short beats, followed by three longer beats, and then three more short beats. “It just repeats. You can try different channels and frequencies.”

  Before he climbed out of the truck, she reached between them, covering his hand with hers. The bandage, which had been snowy-white in the predawn darkness, was now dingy. Like everything else he touched.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “I haven’t done anything.”

  “You’ve done a lot.”

  Her hand looked small compared to his. Slender and capable, while his were clumsy, blunt fingered, brutish. She squeezed his palm gently, her fingertips sweeping over his thumb. The caress was innocent; his reaction, anything but.

  He had to go now, before she noticed. “Can I have my hand back?”

  She released it with a frown, confused by his rudeness. If she only knew. He muttered a terse goodbye and left the semi, walking away in discomfort. After putting several car lengths of distance between them, he slowed his pace, taking a deep breath.

  That was close.

  He really had to get ahold of himself. If he couldn’t control his thoughts, or his body’s response to her, he might not be able to control his actions. Lauren had placed her trust in him. He was supposed to guard her from the other men.

  Who would guard her from him?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  AFTER LAUREN SAW to her patients, she checked on Penny again.

  The teenager was having her hair done at Cadence’s “beauty shop” inside the RV. Penny was sitting on the floor in front of the bed, her hands cupped under her swollen belly, legs crossed at the ankle. Cadence was perched on the mattress behind her, mouth pursed in concentration. With her dark brown hair braided into two neat sections, Penny looked like Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island.

  Penny had styled Cadence’s hair also. The girl’s thick curls were tamed into two puffy pom-poms.

  Lauren waited for Cadence to finish, her heart warmed by the scene. She’d always wanted a sister. Her mother hadn’t fussed with her hair much. But Lauren had been a tomboy, more interested in playing sports than dressing up.

  “I wanted my hair out of the way,” Penny said, fingering the braids.

  “In case the baby comes,” Cadence added.

  “Are you having contractions?” Lauren asked, concerned.

  “No. Just lower-back pain.”

  Lauren checked her vital signs and palpated her abdomen. “Is it a boy or a girl?”

  “I don’t know. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

  “You’ve had medical care throughout the pregnancy?”

  “Yes. I’ve been taking my prenatal vitamins and going to the doctor every few weeks.”

  “No complications?”

  She shook her head.

  “Any complaints?”

  “I have to pee every five minutes.”

  Lauren smiled, removing her stethoscope. “The baby’s head is putting pressure on your bladder,” she explained. “That’s normal. It’s the right position for delivery. We don’t want the baby to come out feet first.”

  Cadence seemed excited by the idea of a new addition to their group. Penny appeared sick with worry, which was understandable. Going into labor under these circumstances could be disastrous.

  “Drink plenty of water, even though it makes you pee. You’ll lose a lot of fluids when the baby is born.”

  Lauren didn’t want to take Penny away from Cadence, or the safety of the RV, but she needed her help with the radio. If she didn’t join Garrett on the search for supplies,
he’d go alone and possibly endanger himself.

  She didn’t know what to think of him. Sometimes she caught him staring at her in a caged-animal sort of way. Hungry, but unable to hunt. He also seemed tense and distant, as if her presence set his nerves on edge.

  Maybe she was imagining things. They were all stressed out.

  “We found a CB radio,” she said to Penny. “We haven’t had any luck with responses, but we need to keep trying. If you’re feeling up to it, I’d like for you to send out a message in Spanish.”

  “Sure,” Penny said, rising to her feet. The huge belly didn’t hamper her movements as much as Lauren expected. She was young and spry and eager to leave the claustrophobic confines of the RV.

  Cadence stood also. “What can I do?”

  Lauren squeezed her shoulder. “Stay inside for now. Garrett and I are going to search the cars some more. We’ll come back for lunch.”

  She didn’t like being cooped up any more than Penny. Eyes watering, she curled up on the bed and hugged a pillow to her chest.

  When they were outside the RV, Penny said, “She misses her mom. They were talking on the phone when the earthquake hit.”

  Lauren thought of her own mother and felt a stab of guilt. Their relationship had been strained since her father’s death, but she knew her mother loved her. Right now, she was probably worried out of her mind.

  “I hope the rest of my family is okay,” Penny said.

  “Do they live nearby?”

  Penny shook her head. “L.A.”

  “Maybe that’s best. Farther from the epicenter.”

  They passed Don, who was helping Garrett make an SOS flag, and climbed into the truck. Lauren showed her how the radio worked. Penny voiced a tremulous message into the receiver. Although Lauren didn’t understand Spanish perfectly, she admired Penny’s delivery. The teen sounded sweet and innocent and distressed.

  If Lauren could telegraph a picture of her fine features and luminous skin, men from all over the country might come running.

  Unfortunately, the only response they heard was static.

  Lauren demonstrated the SOS signal that Garrett had taught her. Penny picked it up easily. She seemed to have a quick mind and a nice personality. Lauren assumed that her pregnancy was unplanned, and wondered if Penny would keep the baby. Being a young mother was always a struggle.

  “I wanted to talk to you about the other men,” Lauren said, tackling an even more difficult subject.

  Penny brought her attention back to Lauren. “The convicts?”

  “Did Don tell you what happened?”

  “He just said they were dangerous, and that they attacked you and Garrett.”

  She nodded, swallowing hard. “The heavy one, Mickey, woke me up last night. He tore my shirt and held his hand over my mouth. When I started struggling, he tried to slam my head into the concrete.”

  Her mouth thinned. “What did Garrett do?”

  “He hit him with a flashlight and broke his nose.”

  “Good.”

  “But Jeb threatened to shoot, so Garrett let him go.”

  “You think they’ll try again?”

  “Maybe not,” Lauren replied. “But I wanted you to know...what they’re capable of.”

  “I already knew what they were capable of.”

  “How?”

  “They’re men.”

  Lauren wasn’t sure how to respond to this logic. Extreme caution seemed appropriate in a survival situation. Maybe Lauren had been too reckless. She shouldn’t have been sleeping out in the open, where she was vulnerable.

  “I’m glad you warned me, though. I’ll talk to Cadence.” Penny paused, studying her. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, of course.” Tears sprang into her eyes, but she blinked them away. “Garrett hurt his knuckles.”

  “I hope Mickey’s face hurts more.”

  Lauren took a deep breath, pushing aside the disturbing memories. “If they do come back, be careful. I wouldn’t put it past them to attack you. You’re a beautiful girl. I could tell that Owen noticed.”

  “Owen?”

  “The blond guy with the bruises.”

  She squinted out the driver’s-side window, surveying the space where Owen had stood. “I’ll throw rocks at him if he comes back.”

  Antagonizing the convicts wasn’t a good idea, but it couldn’t hurt to be prepared. Garrett was carrying a crowbar. Don had been keeping a baseball bat next to his lawn chair. Lauren wouldn’t mind having a blunt object at the ready. The women needed to be able to defend themselves, too.

  “This is a cool crash pad,” Penny said. She sat down on the bunk, testing the mattress. “It’s like a tiny apartment.”

  Lauren was distracted by the local radio, which she’d kept on at a low volume. A series of beeps indicated an emergency broadcast, so she turned it up.

  “The president has declared San Diego a disaster zone. Yesterday the city experienced a powerful eight-point-five earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks. Rescue teams are in the process of evacuating the entire county. If you are located near the epicenter, emergency personnel may not be able to reach you. The greater downtown area has sustained considerable damage and many roadways have been destroyed.

  “Those who cannot evacuate are urged to take shelter. Air support will be delivering supplies to strategic urban locations.”

  The broadcast went on to give advice about tap water, warning that pipelines had been contaminated. Power wasn’t expected to be returned to the area soon. Most residents had no electricity and no means of communication.

  It was a mess. The death-toll estimates were astronomical.

  When the announcement ended, Lauren exchanged a glance with Penny. Disaster teams were focused on evacuation. It could be days before they launched a concerted rescue effort. When she considered the specialized equipment and manpower necessary to sort through a freeway collapse, she anticipated a much longer wait.

  Penny placed her hand on the top of her belly. “The baby’s kicking,” she murmured, her eyes flat.

  “Will you stay here and tap the SOS code every few minutes?”

  “Sure,” she said, sighing. “I don’t have anything else to do.”

  Lauren left Penny to it and returned to Don and Garrett, relaying the latest information. “We might not get rescued until evacuations are complete.”

  Garrett made a noise of agreement. “If they’re doing airdrops, putting out the flag is crucial. They’ll prioritize searches by areas where they know there are survivors. Even then, they’ll do the easy jobs first.”

  Lauren couldn’t imagine how many small-scale rescues the disaster teams would perform in the next few days. Crews would start on the outer edge of the most affected areas and work their way toward the epicenter.

  Which they were smack-dab in the middle of, as far as she knew.

  “I need the mirror you were using last night,” Garrett said.

  “Why?”

  “I’m going to stick it through the crevice in the concrete and try to look around. Assuming I make it that far.”

  Lauren retrieved the mirror, watching while he taped it to a wire clothes hanger, which he’d bent and doubled. He was a regular MacGyver. Although she admired his ingenuity, she worried about his safety. She knew he worked well under pressure and had courage to spare. But he seemed a little too willing to put his life on the line.

  “We should search the rest of the cars first,” he said. “It
might take all day for me to climb the wall.”

  Before they set out again, Lauren strapped a pair of scissors to her belt. It wasn’t an ideal weapon for stabbing, but the blades were sharp and handy. For Penny she found an even better tool: landscape clippers in a leather sheath. She attached them to a strip of gauze that Penny tied around her waist, under her belly.

  The teen looked like a pregnant pirate. With Mary Ann braids.

  Lauren exchanged a smile with Garrett as they walked away. Although his face was streaked with dirt, his teeth appeared very strong and white. Her breath caught at the sight. Then she remembered how he’d reacted to her touch.

  She looked down, focusing on navigating through the debris. He might like her as a friend, or be attracted to her as a woman, but he wasn’t comfortable with intimacy. She should keep her smiles—and her hands—to herself.

  * * *

  PENNY WATCHED LAUREN and Garrett fade into the dark edges of the cavern.

  They were cute together. Total opposites, in looks. Lauren was light haired and small; Garrett was dark haired and big. Both were save-the-world types. Penny’s soccer coach had been that way. Miss Alisos had cried when Penny quit the team.

  Penny had cried, too. Just not in front of everyone.

  She didn’t consider Garrett as much of a threat as the other men. He’d saved her life, which counted for a lot. He’d also protected Lauren from a rapist. Although Penny had caught him checking Lauren out when he thought no one else was looking, he seemed like a good guy. Penny didn’t think he’d hurt anyone.

  She did the Morse code thing again and listened for a response. Nothing.

  Bored and restless, she rifled through the trucker’s sleeper cabin. There was a stack of dirty magazines and a box of condoms in a drawer under the bed. Curious, she selected the most shocking cover and returned to the driver’s seat to peruse it.

  The images were pretty gross. She’d only seen one men’s magazine before, which featured glamorous women in sexy shoes and expensive lingerie. These shots depicted worn-out hookers with mussed hair and weird grimaces.