CHAPTER 26

Taylya looked down at one specific spot on her equipment vest and then back up to Hoop. He simply nodded and then made sure he had his footing before she reached down and snatched the grenade from it’s carry strap. Taylya took one last look at the ground next to her and then jerked the pin free from the grenade. She hesitated for a second after that, listening intently for a sound that she did not hear, and then casually reached out before dropping the grenade to the ground.

The explosion did not come from the grenade. It came in the form of a man jumping up out of what had looked like nothing more than another patch of ground. Debris was still flying as the man jumped for a nearby stone wall. He never made it. Taylya came around with her knee and swept his leg, sending him rolling in the dirt. By the time the guy was crawling back up, trying to claw for the wall, Tay had the barrel of her M-14 rifle pushing against his nose. Then she casually reached behind her and let the grenade pin fall. Hoop grabbed it and put it back in the grenade.

Taylya snidely commented, “I had the spoon taped.”

Her captive was breathing heavily but, when he saw who it was, Anders began to try and relax, “Tay! Hoop! I thought you guys were…” This time, Taylya put her knee between the human’s legs. Anders doubled over as she walked off. His knees hit the ground and then he went over further, only being stopped by the arm that was still working right. Anders was more than a little angry, “what the hell was that for!”

Hoop was still a few paces back and still had his Kalishnikov rifle aimed right at Anders’ head, “why don’t you tell us?”

Taylya found a seat on what had once been the pedestal for some kind of marble column. It was grown over and moldy now but, made a good enough place to sit down. There was very little in this forest that wasn’t molded over. She looked at Anders but, unlike Hoop, she did not point her weapon at him. Her voice was more hostile than any firearm, “where is Camiceau?”

“What?” Anders was a little confused, “what do you think I’m doing here? This was the rally point.”

That was not what Hoop had thought. He looked over to Tay and then back to the Navy S.E.A.L. and told him, “that’s bullshit. You’re just setting yourself up for an ambush. Who would have picked this place? You might as well have hung a sign on your ass that said free goddamn dinner.”

To Hoop’s surprise, Taylya was remaining a little more rational, “Camiceau picked this place, didn’t she?”

“Hey guys,” Anders looked to the Delta commando, “Hoop do you mind lowering the AK already? We’re all on the same team here, ok?”

“That remains to be seen,” Hoop replied.

Now, Taylya raised her voice, “did Camiceau pick this place or not?”

Anders snapped, “yeah! I didn’t like it but, she was pretty insistent!”

It was not like Hoop had failed to notice this place in the past. He had seen it from a distance but, like most familiar landmarks, in an otherwise unremarkable landscape, you avoided them like the plague because such features usually drew in all sorts. When you were on patrol, the last thing you wanted to do was bump into anyone by accident, hostile or otherwise. Besides that, given their current location, Hoop was pretty sure he knew the kinds of people and things who would camp here. What he did not know was, “Tay-Tay, what is this place?”

The elf was busy looking around but, it was quite obvious she was not trying to sniff out threats or even cared about the ruins themselves. Taylya seemed to be in deep thought. When she finally answered Hoop she said, “I guess the closest word in your language would be, monastery? It’s been abandoned for centuries.”

Given the piles of rubble, the leaning statues, the lack of any roof, Hoop had to reply, “no shit. I just thought it was a pricey fixer upper.”

Anders was still more concerned with, “Hoop, can you point that thing in another direction already?”

It was not an act that Hoop was willing to do, “not till I know you ain’t the one that sold us out. Given what I know, I’m kind of thinking it just might be the case.”

“Sold out?” Anders became even more disoriented, “what the hell are you talking about? What happened?”

If Anders was intensely disoriented, Hoop was just as intensely angry when he replied, “what do you mean what happened, cocksucker! The eL-Zee you was supposed to be covering got ambushed! Don’t tell me you got some amnesia shit cause I’ll blow your head off right now if you do.”

“You think I didn’t know that?” Anders went on the offensive, “the bastards came out of nowhere. We didn’t see the first sign that there had been any traffic thru there, in three days! You’re the ones who show up after, pointing guns at me and dropping grenades on me and shit!”

It was quite obvious that Hoop had a come back but, Tay would not let him. When she interrupted she sounded calm enough but, her fury was still obvious, “why were you tagging Camiceau?”

Again, Anders looked surprised, “what? I wasn’t!” Taylya raised her M-14 and flipped the safety off as she pointed it as his head. Anders back pedaled, “hey! I didn’t screw her if that’s what you’re pissed about? Honest to god!”

Now the elf marched right up too him and put the barrel on his forehead. Anders raised his hands to his side and began panting as she forcefully told him, “you’re damn lucky you didn’t cause I would pull this trigger now and not bother with the rest of this unicorn shit.”

Anders blinked, “what? Why would you care?”

Hoop was sounding a bit more rational now, “dude, that little Cami is Tay-Tay’s little sister.”

“She’s…” Anders eyes opened wide and he suddenly did not even seem to care about the barrel being jammed in his forehead, “holy shit!” He began pleading with his teammates, “honest to god guys, I didn’t know!”

Taylya took a few steps back but, she still kept her weapon pointed at Anders. Hoop slid down from his cover and did lower his weapon as he asked, “who was it Joe? Did you get rapped up in Avery’s side business? Don’t tell me, John leaves and they need another mule to fuck over? Was that it?”

“Avery?” Anders was even more confused and he stumbled over his words as he thought about it, “no! You guys got it all wrong! I don’t have anything to do with any of that!”

That caused Taylya to flare back up as she became ever more threatening with her weapon, “then why were you tagging my sister!”

“Tay!” Anders looked as if he thought she would really shoot him this time. He blurted out, “Balfour!”

The weapon lowered and Taylya took a moment to think about it. Unfortunately, given what she knew, it made sense, “what were his instructions?”

“He just wanted me to keep tabs on her,” Anders was pleading, “honest to god! He just wanted to know if she was, you know, getting along and all that stuff. I figured what was the harm, you know? It was easy cash! I mean Jesus H. Christ, the guy was paying in Euro’s.”

Now Taylya dropped her weapon by her side and stomped off back to her seat. She was not looking at anyone as she did. Hoop remained in place as he watched her. He then asked, “I’m taking your reaction to mean that you believe him?”

Anders asked, “can I put my hands down now?”

Hoop was very quick with his response, “fuck no.” He then asked Tay, “what is this all about Tay?”

Taylya was almost in a state of mourning as she replied, “Balfour was the one who helped me hide Camiceau.”

Now Hoop really did loose interest in Anders. He also went from business like to ticked off in no time at all, “were you insane woman? What the hell were you doing business with that cocksucker for? He’s worse than goddamn Avery!”

“Oh Hoop,” Taylya pleaded, “who do you think Avery works for?”

“That Tay,” Hoop replied, “does not make me feel any better about all this.”

Taylya became defensive but firm, “who else could I have gone too? Do you honestly believe that anybody else would have risked my father’s wrath?”

Anders asked again, “can I please put my hands down now?”

Now Hoop snarled at his comrade in arms, “I’ll deal with your ass when we get back to base mother fucker. I still don’t like what the hell you just told me.”

Now Anders did get off his knees and drop his arms. He was also not pleading any more as he firmly replied, “and what’s that supposed to mean Hoop? You still think I set up our own guys? Just how in the hell could I have done that even if I wanted too?”

“Right now Joe,” Hoop told him calmly enough but, still with a twinge of anger, “I’m hoping like hell you are the slimey little bastard I thought you were, cause if you ain’t…”

“Yeah Hoop,” Anders replied with his own anger, “I get that part. Only you didn’t answer the question, how would I?”

His hands gripped his weapon even tighter. Still, Hoop didn’t raise it and point it at anybody. He even considered killing both of them right here and just walking out of this circus. Maybe, when somebody found what was left of the bodies, they’d think he was dead too? Then, after a few deep breaths, Hoop told them, “why the hell is it, I’m the only one standing here that don’t have all this double dealing, back stabbing, drama bullshit going on?”

Anders shrugged, “cause you’re a simple son of a bitch?”

Taylya relented, “he’s right Hoop, you are. I have to give him that one.”

Tossing his weapon on his shoulder, Hoop tried to be a little more rational, “the problem we got here Anders, hell more the one actually, is that we know the Orcs have pretty much ignored the triangle. There’s got to be some reason for it and, near as I can figure, it’s because they get something out of there too. If somebody was going to set us up…”

Anders exploded, “nobody set anybody up Hoop!”

Hoop ignored the outburst, “then it would have gone through the triangle. Now we got some elf princess on a patrol she should have never been on in the first place,” Hoop eyed Taylya when he said that. He continued anyway, “and if we don’t get her back before anybody notices then Tay-Tay’s father is going to have all our heads stuck on the end of a pike.”

“My dear Hoop,” Taylya replied, “you have always had a gift for stating the obvious.” She got up off of her seat and squared off with Hoop as she said, “only there is no way I will take my sister back to that. I did not go to all this trouble just to hand her over. Is that clear?”

“Guys,” Anders raised a finger, “I think I should point out the practical problems with all your theories here. First off, the Orc’s aren’t ignoring the triangle anymore. I heard some shooting coming from up on the trail, not an hour ago.”

Hoop relented, “yeah I know, we heard it too. I was hoping it was somebody killing your dumb ass.”

“Second,” ignoring the comment, Anders went right on, “no matter what you guys want to do with Cami, she’s not going to let you. That is, of course, ignoring the fact that we don’t even know where the hell she is right now!”

Taylya’s jaw tightened on that note and she looked to Hoop and said, “I should just go ahead and shoot him.”

Hoop deflated, “better not Tay, who else we gonna play quarters with.”