Recon Marines II: Marine's Heiress, The (4 page)

Vin entered the café next door to the
surgery. Men occupied nearly all the tables. A rough lot of all
ages, sitting in groups of three or four around the tiny tables and
all staring at him. Conversation ceased as he closed the door
behind him.

The last few months hadn’t eased Vin’s
discomfort with civilians though he hid it well. Then again, Emma
had deduced his military background easily enough. Being around her
rubbed against the temper he’d discovered within himself since
losing Yalo. Trying to fit in with these illogically minded people
frustrated him further.

The large man Vin had met in the
surgery two days previous rose from the table nearest the kitchen.
He held his hand out in the common civilian greeting. “Sorry I
didn’t take the time to welcome you as I should have with the
emergency and all. Most name me the mayor around here though I hold
no official office. Call me Vannie as the rest of them
do.”

Vin took the mayor’s hand and shook it
with a firm grip. It served to measure the man’s massive strength
and gave proof of a hard life in his rough calluses and crooked
fingers. “Vin Smith.”

“
Smith?” Vannie smiled and
raised an eyebrow.

Vin wondered if he’d chosen some
notorious moniker. So many people acted amused upon hearing it.
Perhaps it wasn’t the innocuous name he’d intended.

“
What brings you to Merris
Five?” Vannie gestured for Vin to join him as his table.

Vin had prepared a story. “I caught a
ride on a transport ship after my last job ended. I didn’t care
where it took me.”

Vannie’s smile stayed but it looked
less friendly. “You’re a vagabond then?”

Vin’s mind raced to put meaning to the
word. It sounded unsavory and he suspected he needed Vannie’s leave
to stay in Hovel Port. “I do odd jobs while seeing new
places.”

“
There’s more chance of
work at Hadrason Mining upriver.” Vannie leaned forward across the
table, his scarred fists resting beside the empty mug in front of
him.

“
I don’t care for the
large crowds at the big mines or the demands they make for past
work histories.” Vin had scouted out the ugly town surrounding the
deep mine. He hadn’t found Emma there but had heard about Hovel
Port.

“
What type of work do you
usually do besides stitching up a man’s hide?” Vannie leaned back
in his chair.

The big man Emma called Moe swept aside
the curtain separating the kitchen from the dining area and walked
through carrying a metal pot. He swept his gaze around the room and
then lumbered toward Vin’s table. He snatched a cup off a shelf and
slammed it down in front of Vin. Without asking, he poured steaming
liquid into the cup. “Heard you helped our girl out and saved poor
Russ’ life.”

The two men watched Vin as if waiting
for his reply to a question. Such things confounded him about
civilian conversation, but he tried. “I did what I
could.”

Moe set the teapot on the table and
pulled up a chair. He stuck out his hand toward Vin. “Moe Hallis.
You intending to stay on here?”

Vin took the offered hand, finding it
without the calluses of Vannie but just as big and strong. “I’d
like to find some work.” He gestured around the café. “But I see no
one is working today.”

Vannie cursed with a gift to equal a
soldier. “We’re being cautious after what happened to Russ. He’s
the second victim of those cursed man traps. We’ll lose three days
of work waiting for the water level to go down so we’ll have a
better chance to spot those damn things. We found two after the
first man stepped in one and felt safe. Until it caught Russ and
that was on a shallow water day.”

“
Who puts them out there?”
Vin had seen traps used to capture wild beasts but hadn’t imagined
any coward would use them on men.

Moe slapped his hand on the table,
quieting the conversations near them. “No proof, but it can only be
those greedy bastards running Hadrason’s mine up on the mountain.
They tried to tell us the silver we take should be theirs when we
first started this settlement but even in this lawless corner of
the universe, they can’t enforce such an idea.”

“
Why they care is beyond
our figuring.” Vannie refilled his mug from the teapot. “We manage
enough silver to keep us in food and clothing. None of us are
getting rich.”

“
It’s pure maliciousness,”
Moe spat. “They have their tons of silver and resent our
ounces.”

Vin lifted the tea to his lips, knowing
the expected behavior. He’d rather have pure water but wanted to
continue his act of fitting in. The hot drink surprised him with a
rich taste of honey and cinnamon. Not as good as water but not
horrible. “Can’t you set guards on the stretches of water you
pan?”

“
We cover about three
miles of stream, too much for us to watch. And it’s not safe out
there at night,” Vannie said. “Moe and I traveled to see the big
boss up the mountain. He told us they knew nothing about the traps
and if the work was too dangerous for us we should pack up and
leave.”

“
If they want to get rid
of you why don’t they kill everybody? Twenty armed men could take
this town.” Vin wanted to call the words back when he saw their
expressions. “I meant from a military viewpoint, it seems expedient
for them to just attack.”

Moe looked at Vannie and received a nod
before answering. “We feared that very thing after they ordered us
to leave and we told them to go to hell. We fortified our walls and
purchased some weapons when we could gather enough silver. They
haven’t come at us yet so maybe we’re only a minor stinging insect
to their great hulking beast. Killing or injuring one of us here
and there is just them taking a swipe at us.”

Vannie shrugged. “I’d like to think
they have some hint of humanity and don’t want to outright kill us.
There are many women and children here. And lot of our people keep
in contact with relatives in the civilized systems. An outcry for
an investigation would occur if all these families were
killed.”

“
I think Hadrason Mining
could make us disappear completely and the hell with any protest.
They’d throw out bodies in some deep branch of their mine or dump
them in the middle of the jungle to be eaten. If anyone came to
investigate, they’d find us gone and no hint to what happened,” Moe
said.

Vin sensed the two burly men had argued
this before. “Hadrason Mining doesn’t wield the power it once
did.”

“
We heard those rumors a
few months back.” Vannie leaned toward Vin with an intense gleam in
his eyes. “Is Hadrason in prison?”

“
Yes.” Satisfaction shot
through Vin as it always did imagining the rich bastard suffering
in some dank cell. Joe and the other Recon Marines had taken care
of Geoff Hadrason. The mine owner deserved death but Vin would
accept the prison sentence for now. All of the soulless men who had
manipulated and used the Recon Marines were either dead or in
prison. Except for one. Did that man protect this little town
because his daughter lived here? “I don’t understand how the mines
keep working when the owner is incarcerated.”

Vin caught the look exchanged by the
two men. Damn, he must have said something stupid again.

“
Big business like that
runs itself, lad,” Vannie said. “Hadrason is probably still raking
in millions every month. I bet his prison cell is a plush resort.
Money buys almost anything.”

“
This is true?” Was it
possible that the pieces of human trash he’d delivered to the doors
of various military outposts weren’t suffering for their crimes in
dark, lonely prisons?

Again the men exchanged a glance. Moe
answered. “You’re rather innocent of the world, aren’t
you?”

“
I’ve never been around
rich people,” Vin muttered, lifting his cup to hide his discomfort.
He was sure he’d said all the right things.

“
You’ve proven yourself
handy with emergency care, what other skills do you have? I have to
tell you, lad, I wanted to send you on your way. But I’m thinking
of giving you a chance,” Vannie said.

Vin wondered how anything he’d said had
changed Vannie’s mind. At least he’d prepared clever answers for
this question. “I’ve done hunting before and guarding for other
settlements.”

“
We could use another
hunter,” Vannie said. “With Russ out and Larry gone, we’re down two
panners. We’ll be short on coin for supplies until we replace them.
Especially if we’re afraid to go back in the water. Don’t suppose
you have any experience panning for precious metals?”

“
No. But I’ll help clear
the water of traps.”

“
How?”

Vin thought of all the things he had
back in his camp and even more on his ship. It would raise too many
questions if they knew he had the latest weapons technology
available. “I have some ideas, but I’ll need to see what you have
available.”

Vannie held out his hand again.
“Welcome to Merris Five. When can you start?”

Chapter Three

Emma rubbed her back after sliding the
last clay pan into the oven. None of the café’s customers had
complained over the last three days when Moe had no fresh bread to
serve. They’d known she needed to remain at Russ’ side. Now that
his fever had broken, Jenny could care for him. He woke often
enough to take some broth and water.

“
Sit down and rest, Emma,”
Moe said. “You’ve been on your feet since dawn and I’m guessing
you’ve not slept much the last few days.”

“
You know I enjoy baking.
It eases my worries.”

“
I’m not one to turn you
away from my kitchen.” Moe grinned. “I’ve been hard pressed to keep
them fed these last three days when the men weren’t
working.”

Emma’s chest felt tight. “So they’re
back in the water today?”

“
Don’t start your worrying
up again, lassie. Vin checked a section of the stream for traps and
is going to check a different section each day. The boys are
safe.”

Her heart did a funny little hop at the
mention of his name. “How does one check for traps? Wade in?” The
image of Vin’s graceful stride and his lean muscular legs overlaid
the nightmare memory of Russ’ torn limbs.

Moe chuckled. “I’m not sure, but he
acted confident. Said he had some equipment to help.”

Emma turned to the counter where she
had bowls of vegetables washed and ready for chopping. Moe busied
himself dicing a thick slab of jungle antelope steak. They would
simmer it all day long with the vegetables to form a thick stew to
serve with the bread. Not a fancy meal, but hardy and filling. They
worked side by side in companionable silence as they did most days.
But keeping her hands busy didn’t keep Emma’s thoughts from to
turning to Vin and the dangerous job he undertook. “Why did Vin
take on such a task?”

Moe shrugged, but his knife didn’t
pause in its work. “He came here looking for work, said he had
experience as a guard and hunter. He brought me this antelope late
yesterday, given in exchange for taking his meals here.”

“
But why?”

“
Does it matter? The lad
wants to work, and we have a use for his skills.”

“
It’s not like you to be
so accepting of a stranger, Moe.” Emma had seen the ghosts behind
Vin’s cool stare. Traumatized military veterans still occupied a
place in her heart though it had been two years since she’d worked
with any. She longed to help Vin deal with whatever horrid events
lay in his past, but even her trusting soul found suspicion in his
willingness to help Hovel Port.

Moe paused this time. “Normally I would
have doubts, but there there’s something about him.” He tapped his
temple. “He seems a bit slow in his mind, confused about simple
things. You’re the doctor, but I suspect he has some kind of brain
injury. He thinks real slow and careful about his words. Suspect
that might be why he lost his last job. We couldn’t turn him
away.”

Emma’s heart swelled with love for Moe
and Vannie. The two big, tough men had hearts as soft as their
fists were hard. “Thank you. Moe.”

“
For what?” Moe went back
to chopping the meat into bite-sized chunks.

“
For being you.” Emma
started slicing the yellow potatoes again. She could never express
enough gratitude to Moe and Vannie for taking her in like family
when she arrived at Hovel Port.

Moe grunted an answer and tossed a
handful of red meat into the pot sitting on the stove. “Only hope
the boy doesn’t get himself killed.”

The burst of happiness evaporated like
the steam escaping through the ceiling vent. Emma wanted the chance
to clear those shadows behind Vin’s eyes. What would his handsome
face look like with a smile?

* * * *

Vin needed the help of five men to pull
the heavy man trap from the bottom of the muddy stream. He’d
already triggered the spring and could have left it but the
bastards that had placed it might come back and reset
it.

“
Evil contraption.” Vannie
wiped his arm across his brow.

Vin squatted and examined it. The
mechanism looked similar to an animal trap but an inanimate object
couldn’t be evil as Vannie named it. The sharp edges of the jaws
did look lethal. It surprised him that Russ hadn’t lost his legs
completely. “The next quarter mile of the stream is clear for
tomorrow.”