by David Nees
“No sense waiting,” Clayton said. He stuck out his hand. “I thank you.”
Lori Sue was buried in a place of prominence in the city cemetery. She was part of a large funeral for all who had died in the fight—members of the United States Army, men from Clayton’s hills, Hillsboro citizens who had joined in the attack. People from the valley came to celebrate and honor those who had helped liberate the town. Many of the citizens of Hillsboro attended the funeral. Some of them knew someone who had died; others just came to honor the fallen. The story of what had happened to Donna Bishop had begun to spread, and a surprising number of citizens wanted to honor Lori Sue, Donna’s rescuer.
A stone carver had volunteered to carve a headstone for her grave. At the top it read, “LORI SUE MILLER”, followed by the date of her death. There was no birth date, since no one knew it. Beneath the name and date it read:
TWENTY-ONE YEARS OLD
LOVED BY BILLY TURNER
SHE DIED DEFENDING ANOTHER WOMAN
FROM AN EVIL MAN
“We girls got to stick together.”
Billy spoke only briefly. He wasn’t much for words. He sadly told the assemblage how she was the first girl to love and accept him, and how he missed her so badly. Donna Bishop spoke longer, eloquently telling the story of how Lori Sue had pushed her way into her isolation, had brought her hope, and, at the end, had given her own life to save her.
Catherine and her family stayed close to Billy at the funeral. In spite of their efforts, Billy remained devastated. He had fought loneliness ever since his daddy’s death; when he had found Lori Sue, he had discovered a happiness greater than he had ever experienced. Now he was alone again. His valley friends were a small comfort in the face of his personal desolation.
A week later, there was a dual wedding in a Baptist church. The entire population of the valley had now arrived in Hillsboro, and they all joined in the celebration, but they were dwarfed by the rest of the crowd. The heroes of Hillsboro’s liberation were marrying, and it seemed as if the whole town turned out for the reception, which was held at the site of the first trading day. With no restrictions this time, the crowd stretched away for blocks. Steve Warner had anticipated this and had persuaded Jason to have a full-blown banquet at the reception and have extra food distributed to all the food centers as well. Donna Bishop could be seen there with her son, and they clung to each other with hardly a break for eating.
“You know you’ll probably get elected mayor, Mr. Richards,” said Anne to her husband with a smile as they ate. “You ready to give up farming?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure I like the idea of being a politician.” Jason smiled back at her. “You ready to leave our beautiful valley?”
A hint of a frown slipped across her face. “I could do that…if it was for a short time. I like our life back in the valley. I hope you do too.”
Jason put his arm around her and they kissed, ignoring the wave of hoots and hollers that rose from the rest of the banquet. “I do,” he told her. “A short term of office is the only thing I could accept. I want to go back to where I met you. You saved me, by letting me into your life…into your family.”
“And you saved us.”
They looked into each other’s eyes. The world closed in until it was just the two of them.
They had come through so much. Anne’s husband had abandoned her after the EMP attack and she almost hadn’t survived. Jason’s arrival had brought a new chapter to her life and to the lives of her two girls. And now she and Jason had a son, a new life. They both understood how lucky they were, and how fragile the peace was that they had attained.
Across the table, Catherine leaned over to Kevin. “You ready to become the chief of police?”
“I guess so, if my wife says it’s okay to give up my commission.”
She chuckled. “I think you did that when you sent Roper off by himself.”
“Well, I can’t do it officially until Stillman gets in contact. But I can tell him that I’ve been continuing my original mission in a manner required by the changing circumstances. Then again, there’s the concept of posse comitatus…”
She punched him in the arm. “Are you trying to make me feel dumb? I never got to Latin lessons before the EMP attack.”
“No, my dear,” he said apologetically, rubbing his arm. “It means ‘the sheriff’s posse.’ He can call one up in times of trouble and we have to respond. I hope Colonel Stillman sees it that way.”
“He better not give you any trouble, or he’ll have trouble with me,” she replied with a fierce look in her eyes. “Anyway, you have my permission to be the police chief. If I’m going to be an ambassador, I want some security I can rely on.”
The two of them smiled at one other. Their earlier spats now seemed so small and insignificant. They had prevailed. They both felt the burden of working to secure the gains that had been so painfully won.
“You’re right,” Kevin replied. “I guess I better take this job. Otherwise I’m unemployed. Not a good way to start out a marriage.”
“Rodney,” Kevin called out. “You going to help me run the police and defense department here?”
Rodney Gibbs looked up from his plate. With the exception of the mandatory toast as best man for Kevin, he had been quiet through most of the reception. There was no sadness in his face, but there was a distant look in his eyes; as if his mind was being called to another place.
The now ex-sergeant shook his head. “No, it’s a good offer, but I finished what I said I wanted to do here. ‘Do some good,’ remember?”
Kevin nodded. The conversation around their table had stopped. Everyone was looking at Rodney.
“So,” he continued, “I think it’s time for me to head out to Missouri…to find my family, if I can.”
Kevin looked at his sergeant. Tough; solid; an Afghan and Iraq veteran; someone who had experienced discrimination as a black man, but who still hadn’t begrudged Kevin his rank and inexperience. Rodney had taught him so much from his war experience; Rodney had patiently put up with his rookie mistakes and had helped him to be a better officer. They had formed a strong bond. Kevin had thought, in the back of his mind, that they would always be working together. Now he would face this new job without Rodney working beside him. A sense of sadness swept over him.
“I guess I understand,” he told Rodney. “I’m going to miss you. Miss your council and your humor. You kept me from doing foolish things so many times.”
“Yeah, I sure did.” Rodney grinned. “But you’ll do all right. You can handle yourself pretty well, and now you’ve been battle-tested.”
Everyone was silent around them. Kevin got up off the bench, walked over to his sergeant, and embraced him.
“I’m going to miss you. Even if I can handle the job, I’m going to miss working with you.”
“We’ll always be connected…by this.” Rodney swept his arm around, indicating the tables of people, the crowd beyond, the whole city around them. “This is more good than we could want to do in a lifetime.”
“And now you’ve got a personal mission to accomplish,” Catherine said.
Rodney nodded gravely. “Who knows? Our paths may cross again.”
“I hope so, but somehow I don’t think so,” Kevin replied.
“Don’t stop hoping, you’re too young to be cynical.”
“And you’re not? Keep being the realist, but don’t you become a cynic.”
They embraced again. Kevin looked at Catherine. She had risen too. He took the unspoken suggestion. He went to her, put his arm around her, and they walked away from the table.
“How do you feel about leaving the valley? Making our life here in town?” he asked her.
“I said I would go with you, wherever the army sent you,” Catherine answered. “Events seemed to have sent you here. You stayed for me, I know, but you also stayed for Hillsboro. So, yes, I can leave the valley to make our future here. I’m glad the valley’s still close. But I feel that
we should work with the town, to help rebuild it, as this country becomes whatever it will become. Ensuring Hillsboro’s future will help ensure the valley’s and Clayton’s clans’ futures as well.”
She paused. “Donna asked me if this would be the end of the bad guys. I told her I didn’t know…but I do know. I realize they don’t go away. We need to build structures that don’t allow them to take over our lives. I guess that’s the part of the fight that will continue.”
She turned to her husband. “I’m in…with you…for whatever the future brings.”
They kissed long and hard, though Kevin was careful not to squeeze Catherine too tightly.
When the crowd was starting to disperse and some of the guests were leaving, Billy went up to Rodney.
Billy had been sitting at the end of the long table. He was still recovering from his head wound. It had left a long scar down his right temple, and probably no hair would ever grow there again. He still mourned for Lori Sue. Since her burial he had just drifted between the apartment they had shared and City Hall. If someone asked him to help with something, he had helped, but he hadn’t jumped into any of the re-organization efforts. He hadn’t even gone out hunting. Both Catherine and Sarah had tried to cheer him up, but nothing seemed to work.
Rodney turned as Billy approached. “What is it, Billy?”
“I’d like to go with you…to Missouri. If you’ll have me.”
“Why would you want to do that?” Rodney replied. “You got your farm in the valley. You got kin here. Aren’t the clans relatives of yours? At least one of ‘em?”
“They ain’t close kin and it’s too sad here. I don’t have anything here without Lori Sue. Everything reminds me of her.”
“Well—”
“I can help. You know I can shoot. Hunt.”
“Yeah, I know you’re good with a rifle.”
“And maybe, like you said to Lieutenant Cameron, maybe I can do some good…you know, help you.”
Rodney smiled at Billy. He put his arm around Billy’s shoulders. Billy stood about as tall as Rodney, but he wasn’t nearly as solid as the powerfully built sergeant. Rodney gave him a squeeze.
“I’d be proud to have you go with me. It’ll be quite an adventure, and I could use a partner.”
For the first time since Lori Sue’s death, Billy smiled.
The End
Author Afterword
Many sequels run out of gas after the third book. As you can tell, I’ve left the door open to continue the story with Rodney and Billy. There is also an adventure forming in my mind for Jason as well. He’s my original protagonist, a man who had to change from being a quiet, kind person into a focused killer in order to protect the ones he loves. I like the characters and they all have some interesting stories to tell, but my first duty is to my readers. If you would like to read more about these characters, you can let me know with your reviews. If the reviews indicate a desire for the storyline to continue, I’ll get to work on it right away and deliver you a new story in the fall of 2017.
In order to receive notice of any new works, click the “Follow” button on my author page on Amazon or sign up for my reader list here. I look forward to hearing from you.
Works by David Nees:
After the Fall: Jason’s Tale (Book 1 in the After the Fall series)
After the Fall: Catherine’s Tale Part 1 (Book 2 in After the Fall series)
After the Fall: Catherine’s Tale Part 2 (Book 3 in After the Fall series)
Payback (Book 1 in the Assassin series); a new thriller coming in August, 2017
