“Don’t be like that,” she said.
He decided to play dumb. “Like what?”
“We’re still friends, Leo. Just because we broke up doesn’t mean—”
He whirled on her. “You dumped me two days after prom.” That had been two weeks before his mother died. Six weeks before high school graduation.
She threw up her hands. “I was overwhelmed, okay? We were only seventeen. There’s things I want to do with my life before I settle down. You were so serious, always talking about getting married and stuff. I was going away to school in Riverside. You had plans to go to Berkley ...” She stumbled over her words. He knew she was trying to find a way to tactfully avoid the subject of his supposedly injured throwing arm. “It wasn’t because I didn’t love you. But we were seventeen, Leo.”
“You said that already.” This time, he did look at her. He let everything he’d ever felt drill into her.
For him, Jennifer had been everything. He’d had every intention of marrying her. He may have only been seventeen, but anytime he’d looked into his future, he saw Jennifer.
Until the day she dumped him.
She stared back at him, shoulders slumping. “Leo ...”
He’d had enough of this shit. He shouldered past her, grabbing the flashlight off the picnic table before stalking toward the forest.
“Leo?” Her attempt was half-hearted. She was afraid of what he might say if he turned around.
Well, she didn’t need to worry. He flicked on the light and took a familiar path around the back of the cabin.
He and Anton had spent many hours playing up here on Pole Mountain. Faint dirt paths remained of their childhood romps. He took one that led to an outcropping of boulders on the southeast side of the mountain. The beam of the flashlight illuminated his path.
He found a seat on top of the tallest boulder and raised the binoculars to his eyes. Aiming them downward, he swept them across the two-lane country road that bordered their farm.
Dad and the others had to be out there somewhere. Surely they were almost back by now.
The road was dark. Not even an occasional car hummed by. Even though they lived in the country, they weren’t so far out that they didn’t get some traffic.
He swept the binoculars east and west along the road. If he waited long enough, they would show up. They had to.
A pair of lights appeared in the binoculars. His heart leaped. He scrambled a little further out onto the rocks to get a better look.
He searched for the familiar silhouette of the Beetle, for the oval headlights on his truck.
The headlights kept coming. It wasn’t just one vehicle. Leo counted five in total, all in a tight line.
Something was off. Caravans didn’t come out this way.
“Leo?” It was Anton. “Nonna said you better come and eat before your dinner gets cold ... woah. That’s a lot of cars.”
Anton leapt up beside Leo, quiet and nimble footed in the dark. “Can I see?”
Leo passed him the binoculars, waiting in silence while Anton scanned the road. As they watched, the line of vehicles stopped.
“Russians.” The words fell out of Anton’s mouth like rocks. “They’re in trucks. I can see the uniforms of the guys in the back.”
“Are they military vehicles?” Leo tensed, anticipating the answer.
“No. They’re regular cars. They probably stole them from people they killed.”
“Let me see.” Leo took back the binoculars. Two of the vehicles peeled off from the group and drove toward the Craig cattle farm. The other three continued down the road and disappeared from sight.
“What are they doing?” Anton demanded.
“Two trucks are driving toward the Craigs.” Leo followed the Russians on the Craig farm until they were out of sight.
Jim and Tate Craig were good friends of his. They’d played football with Leo, though they were one and two years older.
“I’m going down,” Leo said. “The Craigs might not have a clue about what’s going on. They’re going to open their doors to Russians.” If the Soviets even bothered to knock.
“We can’t drive down there,” Anton protested. “They’ll see us coming.”
He was right. “I’ll take one of the dirt bikes.” There were a handful stashed under the cabin in the storage room from when they were kids. Even their parents had ridden with them from time to time.
“The dirt bikes? Those are, like, small. We haven’t used them since we were kids.”
Leo shrugged “Better center of gravity for us.”
Anton cocked his head. “Us?”
“Aren’t you coming with me?”
“You’re being weirdly nice, but yeah, I wanna come.”
Leo turned and leaped lightly across the boulders. “I invited you to come spy on Russians and possibly kill them. I’m not sure that’s nice.”
Back at the cabin, Nonna heard them in the storage room and came out on the deck. “What are you boys doing down there? Leo, your dinner is cold.”
“I’ll eat later, Nonna. There are two trucks with Russians driving to the Craig farm.”
Leo expected argument. If not for their mission, then for his disregard of the warm meal she’d made. To his surprise, the deck boards creaked as Nonna went back into the cabin.
“Think she’s mad?” Anton asked.
“She’s probably worried. You know she and Mrs. Craig are friends.”
By the time Anton and Leo extracted two dirt bikes, donned headlamps, and rolled into the clearing, Nonna came down the front steps with rifles and spare ammo clips. Jennifer and Bruce followed on her heels.
Nonna handed the weapons to the boys. “Bring them here if possible.”
Leo nodded.
“You’re going to the Craig farm?” Bruce asked.
“Leo and I saw two trucks of Russians headed down the road to their farm. We have to help.”
“On dirt bikes?” Jennifer frowned.
“The truck will make too much noise and they might be able to see the headlights in the dark.”
“I want to help.” Jennifer started down the steps.
“No way,” Leo said.
Anton said, “There are extra bikes in the storage room.”
Leo glared at his little brother. “You’re not coming,” he said to Jennifer. “It’s too dangerous. You don’t even know how
