“Okay, thank you, ma’am.” Leo said. “I’ll head down in a minute.”
“Suit yourself.” Hess said. “It’s fine with me if you want to stay a while longer.”
“Okay, Mom, thank you.” Olivia said.
“Alright, I’m going.” Hess said, getting the hint.
As soon as they heard Hess walking off, Leo began tucking his shirt back in. Then he threw his hoodie back on and prepared to get going.
“I’m sorry, Liv, but I really should help my dad unload the Bronco.” Leo said.
“I understand.” Olivia said, her sad beautiful green eyes staring directly into Leo’s. “I’ll walk you…”
…Leo came in, their lips met and that was that. Leo wasn’t going anywhere.
◆◆◆
“Stacey… seriously?” Mick asked, expressionless. “You sure, Larry?”
“Well, if it wasn’t there’s two smokin’ hot blondes up here that look an awful lot alike.” Larry replied.
“You’ve been in the bush quite a while, Larry.” Joe said. “By now you’d stick your dick in a birch tree thinking it was a smokin’ hot blonde.”
“Fuck you, Joe.”
“Enough damn it!” Mick said. “The hell’s the matter with you two?”
“He’s the reason we’ve got this bullshit to deal with now, Mick.” Larry said. “He knew that stealing that fuckin’ ice auger would cause us problems.”
“You son of a bitch!” Joe shouted. “I told you I had nothing to do with that!”
“You weren’t the one that was saying we should go out ice fishing?” Larry asked.
“Doesn’t mean I stole their shit, dick!” Joe said. “Enzo wanted to go out too.”
“Don’t bring me into this.” Enzo said, holding up his hands. “I got nothing to do with nothing.”
“And what did you think smacking those two kids around was gunna accomplish, Joe?” Larry asked, completely ignoring his idiot friend.
“They’re lucky they only went home with a few bruises, the way they were talking.” Joe said. “Mouthy little assholes.”
“Will you two please shut the hell up and let me think?” Mick asked. “We could have a serious problem here. You two can pound the piss out of each other later, for all I care, but we ain’t got time for that right now.”
“Yeah… okay.” Larry said. “Sorry, Mick.”
“If it was Stacey that you saw, did she have her kid with her, Larry?” Mick asked.
“I don’t know.” Larry replied. “As soon as I saw who it was, we turned around and walked away. Her kid might have been in that truck with her, but we didn’t see anybody else.”
“So, she didn’t see you then?” Mick then asked.
“No, absolutely not.” Larry replied. “None of them even glanced at us.”
“Okay, that’s good, but we still have a problem.” Mick said. “Eventually, she’s gunna see one of us. Joe, you’ve been over to Tom’s place before, right? She’d recognize you too?”
“Shit yeah.” Joe replied. “Me and Tom have been buddies for years. I haven’t been over in quite a while, but we used to play cards at their place every Friday night. Stacey even played herself sometimes.”
“Enzo, you’ve never met her before, though, right?” Larry asked.
“Nope. I still don’t even understand why she isn’t with Tom.” Enzo said. “I mean, if she’s his wife why the hell is she…?
“…She took off, genius.” Joe said. “She grabbed their kid and bolted in the middle of the night.”
“Well, how the hell was I supposed to know that?” Enzo asked.
“You couldn’t have known, Enzo.” Mick said. “Everybody’s just a little wired here, that’s all. Don’t take it personal.”
“Okay, just trying to understand what’s going on.” Enzo said.
“And they were never actually married either.” Mick continued. “He asked a couple of times, but she kept turning him down. She said she was happy just living together. Tom just called her his wife because he was trying to keep all the other swinging dicks from sniffing around. Don’t know why he cared so much. Tom’s never had any problem with the ladies.”
“He told me that she found out he was screwing around on her.” Joe said. “That’s why she left.”
“Whatever.” Mick said. “I don’t really give a shit about any of that. The point is, she took his daughter with her, my niece. That’s what matters to Tom and me. If it wasn’t for that fuckin’ nuke, my little brother would have his daughter back by now and Stacey would be lying dead in a ditch. Shit, I can’t even remember the last time I saw that kid. She must be a year old by now. I think they named her Ellie or Ella or some stupid thing.”
“Alright, so what’s our play then, Mick?” Larry asked. “We can’t take those guys on by ourselves, man. They’re loaded for bear up there. Do we send Enzo in to talk to them?”
“We can try that I guess, but I imagine they’ll want to talk to all four of us at some point.” Mick replied.
“That’s assuming they’re here for us at all.” Joe said. “Maybe they’ve been muscling Hal for supplies and they’re just here to throw their weight around. I’m sure that kind of thing is pretty popular these days.”
“I don’t think so, Joe.” Larry said. “I mean, it’s possible they’re not here for us, but I don’t think they’re squeezing Hal. They looked legitimately happy to see one another.”
“They looked like old friends to me.” Enzo added.
Mick took a moment to think about what he was hearing and consider a game plan.
It’s very possible they don’t give a damn about the little beat down Joe gave those two meatheads. They could very well be here for an entirely different reason. Sending Enzo in by himself would probably be a disaster. He tries, but he’s a complete moron. He’d screw it up for sure. I’ll have to figure out a way to meet them on my own without Stacey around. Joe’s gunna need to make a little sacrifice though.
“Alright, we have no idea what’s going on yet, so we have to slow play this thing. Once Stacey sees us, we’re screwed, so everybody wears their hoods from now on and tries to stay away from her. If they want to meet with us we’ll have to send Enzo and hope they don’t need to speak to the rest of us. Maybe I can figure out a way to meet them without Stacey around.
“In the meantime, we have to start playing by their rules, make it look like they’ve scared us straight. As far as they’re concerned, we’re just four hunters from Sudbury with no place else to go. We’ll chop wood, we’ll hunt and we’ll shovel snow. We’ll even say nice things to the neighbours when we see them. It’s my understanding that, ‘Hi, how are you?’ is a fairly popular thing to say to people that you don’t give a shit about.
“Joe, you’re not gunna like this, but you’re gunna apologize to those two kids and you’re doing it today. You’re gunna say that your sorry that you took their ice auger and for hitting them. Then you’ll apologize to their parents and swear that it won’t happen again. Then, to prove to them that you mean it, you’re gunna give them your .270 and a box of ammo.”
“You’re out of your fuckin’ mind, Mi…”
“…Mick threw a fist hard and fast right into Joe’s mouth. An audible crack echoed off of the wooden walls of the small lakeside cabin. As Joe went down, Mick leapt on top of him and gave his unconscientious face several hard slaps as well. Powerful slaps. Welt rising slaps. Slaps that would not only swell his face, but also leave him considerably bruised as well.”
“Okay, Mick, enough!” Larry shouted, pulling him off. “Shit, man, you’ll kill him!”
“He needs to look like we made him pay… for bringing this shit down on us.” Mick said as he tried to catch his breath. “Also… he needed to pay for bringing this shit down on us.”
“Well, he’s paid enough.” Larry said.
“I’m going out to chop wood and think this shit through.” Mick said. “When he wakes up, you two march his ass over to those families. Make
sure he apologizes and gives them his deer rifle.”
“Now there’s two of us that Stacey won’t recognize.” Larry said as he looked down at Joe. “As long as he keeps his big mouth shut, we might actually pull this off.”
“Why give up the rifle, Mick?” Enzo asked. “I don’t get it, man.”
“One bolt action rifle won’t make a bit of difference against what these people have.” Mick replied as he started to put on his coat. “Giving one up, though, will send a very clear message that we’re willing to work with them. When Tom, Xander and the others get here, we’ll pull out the ARs and these people will be done for. He can have his precious deer rifle back then… if he can find it under the pile of corpses.”
◆◆◆
“Hey, Stace, take a look at this guy.” Corey said as Leo slowly approached the cabins.
“Ha! Gee, I wonder what he’s been up to.” Stacey said, smiling from behind her coffee cup.
“Hey, Leo, you alright, man?” Corey called out from the picnic table. “You look a little under the weather, buddy.”
“Shut up, Corey.” Leo said.
“Don’t go to your cabin like that, Leo.” Stacey said. “Your dad’s in there. Come over here.”
Leo stopped and looked towards the cabin with the Bronco out front. There was no sign of his dad, so he veered over towards Corey and Stacey.
“What the hell is wrong with me?” Leo asked. “I can barely walk, I’m aching so bad.”
“Ha! We’ve all been there, man.” Corey said, patting him firmly on the back.
“I take it you have a new girlfriend, Leo.” Stacey said.
“Yeah, I guess, but we didn’t do anything except kiss and stuff.” Leo said, shifting uncomfortably as he stood there.
“Leo… you’ve been up there for two hours.” Stacey said.
She received only an oblivious stare in return. She was delicately trying to remind Leo of a male condition that he was obviously never made aware of.
“You’ve got the blue balls, my boy.” Corey said, blurting out what Stacey was only hinting at. “It’s a right of passage for guys about your age.”
“Well, it sucks.” Leo said, hunching over a little.
“It’s part of growing up, Leo… a really shitty part.” Corey said. “You’re too old for kid’s stuff and too young for adult stuff. You’re stuck right in the middle… the blue ball zone.”
“My dad’s embarrassed me with ‘the talk’ twice now and he never thought to mention this?” Leo asked, questioning everything now.
“Well, if you go in there like that he’ll mention plenty, believe me.” Stacey said.
“Next time pace yourself a little.” Corey said. “Take lots of breaks.”
“Sounds good in theory, Leo, but it’s not always easy.” Stacey said. “Especially with an aggressive woman.”
“A what?”
“Just head into our cabin and wait in the bathroom.” Stacey said with a comforting smile. “Corey’s gunna fill a couple of buckets with ice cold lake water and bring them in to you.”
“I am?” Corey asked.
“You are.” Stacey replied sternly.
“Alright, but why…?”
“…You need to… Corey will explain when he… Look, Leo, you want to ask questions or you want to feel better?” Stacey asked, too embarrassed herself to describe the ‘cold dunk’ procedure in detail.
“Yeah, okay… Thanks.” Leo said, accepting Stacey’s assurances and slowly waddling off.
“What the hell do you know about blue balls?” Corey asked as he got up to grab some buckets.
“Ha. Back when I was in high school, you know how many guys I sent home looking like that?” Stacey asked mischievously.
“You girls knew what you were doing to us?” Corey asked, astonished by the sudden revelation.
Stacey smiled from behind her coffee cup again.
“It’s a right of passage… for girls about that age.”
Chapter 9
“You’re right on time, guys, come on in.” Hal said. “You manage to get a nap in today?”
“Thanks, Hal. Yeah, I got a few hours in.” Brian said as he stepped through the door. Then looking back towards Stu and Corey he added, “I think Sleepy and Dopey back there were asleep for nearly five hours.”
“Four.” Stu said.
“I might have got five in.” Corey said impishly.
“You did.” Stacey said.
“I could have used another hour though.” Stu added. “It was so quiet and peaceful down there. Forgot what it was like to not be woken up by a bunch of screaming kids.”
“Well, I’m glad you guys at least got a little sack time in.” Hal said. “Gunna be a long cold night out there on watch.”
“Won’t be the first, Hal. Doubt it’ll be the last.” Corey said.
“That’s for sure.” Stu said.
“Everybody’s together in the front room and dinner’s in an hour.” Hal said. “Do yourselves a favour and wrap it up by then or Nora will wrap it up for you.”
“Ha! Roger that, Hal.” Corey said.
“Should be plenty of time.” Brian added.
The five of them stepped into the modest mud room and began removing their boots. It was a tight fit with more than one head knocking incident, but they eventually got them off. Then they all shuffled through the kitchen and into the front room where the Weyr and Bishop families awaited to offer a friendly greeting. Nora was sitting on the sofa with Hess, Nate and Rob while Hal angled towards what was obviously ‘the chair.’ Olivia was seated alone on the love seat. She was smiling widely and tapping her hand anxiously at the Leo sized spot beside her.
Along the back wall, just in front of the forever darkened flat panel television, four reasonably comfortable looking kitchen chairs were set up for them.
“Just set your rifles on the desk there and hang your coats off the back of your chairs, guys.” Nora said. “We keep things pretty informal around here.”
“That’s the way we like it, Nora, thank you.” Stu said.
Along with their coats, Corey and Stu also removed their chest rigs and hung them over the backs of their chairs as well. Leo hung his coat and ammo vest over the arm rest of the love seat and apprehensively took a seat beside Olivia. Leo was feeling much better now and he was very interested in keeping it that way.
“Drinks?” Hal asked.
“No drinks for us, Hal, thanks.” Brian said. “We like to stay sharp when we’re away from home.”
At that moment, Hal realized that Brian wasn’t completely aware of everything that his guys did when they were away from home. The taste of Jim Beam and Jack Daniel’s still lingered fresh in his memory from the day he and Rob had first met this group.
“That’s a good policy, Brian.” Nora said. “We’ll have coffee after dinner, but I’m afraid I can only offer you all a glass of water now.”
“I think we’re fine, thanks.” Brian said, looking at the others. “We’ll look forward to that coffee though.”
“Does anybody know if those guys took off hunting today?” Stu asked, not wasting any time in opening up the discussion.
“Ha. It’s the damnedest thing what happened today.” Hal said, shaking his head. “Still a little confused by it all, to tell you the truth.”
“Please, Hal, go ahead.” Brian said.
“Well… apparently, Mick was out chopping wood all day. I was told that he was working away like a man possessed down there. They never seen him move so fast, they said.”
“I’m sorry, who was this?” Stacey asked.
“One of the guys from Sudbury.” Hal replied. “Mick is his name. The others joined him too eventually. Between the four of them they got the woodshed half way full. I didn’t think any of them would have the energy to go out hunting, but I guess Mick still did. The guards told me that he walked off alone a little under an hour ago.
“Anyways, while Mick got started with the firewood, the other three went ove
r to visit with the Campbells. They and their friends, the Greens, were all hanging out on their back deck. Those fellas walked straight up to them, set a rifle down against the railing and apologized. The one guy that had actually done all the punching apologized to the boys and to their parents and took responsibility for all of it. Landon Campbell said he seemed legitimately sorry too. He even apologized for stealing their ice auger.”
“They apologized for the ice auger?” Hess asked, surprised herself by the unexpected development.
“The one guy did, yeah. Joe, I think is was.” Hal replied. “I guess he…”
“…Is there a washroom nearby?” Stacey asked, suddenly interrupting. “I don’t feel well.”
“Just down the hall, sweetheart.” Nora said, pointing the way. “Last door on the left.”
“Huh…” Hal said after Stacey left the room. “I didn’t even get to the gruesome part yet.”
“Please go on, Hal.” Stu said.
“Well, I guess this Joe guy looks like his friends have all taken a turn at him. The guy’s lip is split open and his face is all bruised and swollen. Landon thought that he might even have a broken jaw, so he had one of the boys run and fetch Collin. He’s one of the Americans staying with us. He’s an Army medic, so they thought he might know what to do. Collin checked him out and said that he chipped a few teeth, but his jaw looked alright.”
“Unbelievable.” Stu said. “What the hell is going on down there?”
“But wait, there’s more!” Hal said. “Before they left, Joe took that rifle that he brought along and handed it to Landon. He even gave him a box or cartridges for it. ‘For the trouble I’ve caused you and your family,’ he told him.”
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” Stu said, honestly unable to understand a thing about what had transpired today. “You think it’s possible we don’t have a problem anymore?”
“I’m just gunna go check on Stacey.” Corey said, excusing himself and walking out of the room.
Once Corey was out of sight, Nora quietly asked, “Are they expecting?”
“Oh, man, I hadn’t even thought of that.” Stu replied. “I hope not.”
EMP [Collateral Darkness] | Book 4 Page 12
