by Casey Lane
The RV had stopped and Boulder started to roll the truck forward into the open space allowed on the road.
“All right then, girl, you got it.” T-bone nodded, and patted my hand before he stepped back. He waved us on, but then called after the truck, “You can count on T-bone!”
I called back, “And quit talking in the third person, dammit! I told you it’s disturbing!”
Chapter Nineteen
“I believe in benevolent dictatorship provided I am the dictator.” -Richard Branson
I directed Boulder through the pasture gate, bypassing the King House lane and skirting widely past the Red Rose Barn area. Off to our right, the barn was lit up and people could be seen milling around the flagstone patio outside.
The big meeting would be starting soon.
We pulled off and parked deep in the shadows on the side of the quarantine shed.
I ran in ahead of the team. I interrupted Gary listening to an Asian man talking. The man’s hands moved fluently to stab the air in emphasis to his words.
Gary saw me and a grin broke out across his tired face. “Rod and Coop found you! They swore Robert was wrong! Kim, meet Acadia King, owner of this farm. Acadia, this is the nurse I told you about, James Kim.” His smile disappeared as I walked closer. “Your face! Come with me.”
I smiled briefly at Kim, not even feeling surprise that Kim was male and not the female nurse I expected. “Gary, don’t worry about me. Do you have a bed set up somewhere? My friend Liz has been hurt.” My voice broke a little, but I hurriedly said, “She’s been beaten and has a broken or cracked rib.”
Matt stayed on guard outside while Craig led the team of soldiers that carried Liz into the quarantine shed. She had awakened, but was woozy.
Dr. Gary and Kim immediately took over. I briefly touched Liz’s arm before they directed the men to carry Liz over to an area blocked off behind some hanging sheets. Craig and I followed while Gary rapped out questions and Craig described the wounds he had observed and lightly dressed. I said another prayer when Craig verified Liz said she hadn’t been raped.
We stopped at the edge of the sheets when Kim held up his hand. His eyes were kind behind rimless glasses, but his voice was firm. “Your friend is in good hands now.”
The men carefully laid Liz down on an examination table and walked out past us.
Gary’s voice was gentle when he asked Liz some questions that I heard her haltingly answer through her swollen lips.
I started forward. “I want to stay with her.”
“No,” Kim said. “She’s lucid, so after we examine and treat her, the Doctor will be giving her pain medication that will put her out for hours.”
Eyes level, I stared him down, torn with indecision. “Let me talk to her for one minute.”
Kim stepped aside and I rushed over to Liz. At Gary’s nod, I picked up her hand and pressed lightly. “Liz, you are going to be fine. You met Dr. Gary this morning, remember?”
Liz nodded slightly. Seeing her swollen, bruised eyes under the light, I choked up again, but kept control. Liz didn’t need me bawling over her.
“Not even a rapist could get it up,” Liz whispered and then emitted this miserable little croaking sound that I realized was meant to be a chuckle.
I burst out laughing at the reminder of our earlier conversation. “Liz, that was terrible, even from you!” I continued seriously, “Listen, there will be guards here who I trust to watch over you, and in a minute, you are going to get some really good drugs and take a long nap. Robert was behind all of this today. He’s the reason we were hurt. Right now he’s in the Red Rose Barn. I can stay here with you or I can go to the meeting at the barn. You tell me what you want me to do, Lizzie.”
Liz’s head lolled my way and she squeezed my hand slightly in return, but her whisper was surprisingly fierce, “You go tell him hi from me.”
I laughed on a sob, and swiftly kissed the back of her hand. “You know it. Now be good and sleep tight.”
Liz managed to make her soft grunt of assent sound sarcastic.
Gary and I walked a few steps away from the bed. I thanked Gary quietly and said I’d be back.
“I don’t want to see you here for at least a few hours, unless you want medical treatment for your face?” Gary’s tone was that of the doctor in charge.
“No, no, I’ll be fine,” I said quickly.
Gary frowned, and I recognized that stubborn chin from the parking ramp last night. “After you go to the meeting, you need to rest, Acadia. If there is anything seriously wrong with Liz beyond what Craig said, I promise to send someone for you. Otherwise, she will be out cold for hours. I don’t want to see you in here again before 3:00AM, but preferably morning.”
He patted my arm, and hurried back to Liz without another word.
Kim asked Craig, “Will you leave two of your men here to watch the few people we still have in quarantine back there?”
Craig answered, “Yeah, I think that’s what Acadia had in mind, so no problem.”
Kim held the sheet curtain back with a pointed look at me and swept it closed when I passed by him.
I asked, “Craig, can I take Matt and Mark with me?”
“Sure, they can go, as long as Boulder and I can tag along, too.” Craig answered equitably, and when I smiled, he told the other two men on his team to stand guard here over Liz and the people in quarantine.
I hurriedly thanked the two soldiers staying for all their help and we left the quarantine shed. We stayed in the shadows outside while I explained to the four men what Robert had done and what I was going to do. I walked away to give them a chance to discuss it privately, but Craig called me back almost immediately. They were unanimously in. We put our heads together and made a quick plan.
In a single file, we walked swiftly down the road that traversed the farm yard. I wished I knew where Rod and Coop were, but did not have time to go find them. The meeting was about to start.
At the edge of the Red Rose Barn, our small group gathered again. There was an older, grizzled man that I vaguely recognized from the quarry on guard at the back door into the barn. He stood under the light and smoked a cigarette. A pistol hung loosely from his hand.
Craig tapped Mark on the shoulder and the young soldier immediately walked out of the shadows, his hands in his pockets while he whistled a happy tune.
“Hey! Am I too late for the meeting? Do you have another one of those smokes I could borrow?”
The guard didn’t lift his gun, but hid it behind his leg. “Sorry, no smokes, son, but you can go right in. The meeting is about to start.”
“Great!” Mark enthused.
As he drew level with the man, Mark pulled his hand from his pocket and pointed the barrel of my Glock in the man’s face. “Drop your gun.”
The older man dropped his gun and his cigarette. “Don’t kill me! I ain’t done nothing!”
“You called me ‘son’. I consider that reason enough to shoot you.”
I glanced at Craig with raised brows and he lifted a shoulder with a slight smile at Mark’s ad lib.
We walked out of the shadows. Matt picked up the gun off the ground and stepped on the lit cigarette.
Boulder aimed his shotgun at the man while Mark stood down and handed me back my gun. He withdrew a big knife from his boot and tilted the curved blade to reflect the light.
Hands raised, the man was unable to take his eyes off the knife in Mark’s hand. I didn’t blame him because I barely could, either. The older guy swallowed hard.
“I’m going to ask you this question just once and you had better pray I like your answer.” Craig warned menacingly. “What is Robert planning to do in there?”
Visibly relieved at the simple question, Robert’s man couldn’t answer fast enough. “He’s going to be informing the people that we’re taking over the farm, that’s all. Robert says it’s his farm anyway, now that his brother’s wife is dead.”
“Oh, yeah? So why the need for a guard on the door and the gun?
”
“Robert’s the boss.” The older man shrugged. “I’m just following the orders I was given.” His expression turned sly and he chuckled ingratiatingly. “You soldier boys ought to know how that goes, eh? He told a few of us that if we helped him stop any trouble from a couple of folks that may have some other wrong ideas, he’d make us part of his ruling council.”
“How many is a ‘few of us’?”
“There are seven, counting me and Robert. Wait,” he scratched his head, “or is it eight counting me? I’m all mixed up here and gotta think a min…”
“Don’t strain yourself, just listen.” I’d heard enough and stepped forward. There was not a flicker of recognition on the man’s face. My swollen cheek must be really bad, or maybe it was the haircut. “Knock on that back door. Tell the man inside the kitchen to go get Robert. Tell him there’s a blonde girl out here with really big boobs. She has something urgent she’ll tell only face to face with Robert about what Rod Ramaldi’s planning to do.”
A little less nervous since he hadn’t been hurt yet, the man searched the area with an air of bewilderment. “Where is she?”
Mark got in the guard’s face with the knife. “She’s back by that wall so you can’t see her, now go do what this lady said or I’ll gut you. Say exactly what she told you or I’ll gut you. If you make one wrong…”
The older man raised his hands higher, and said with fear, not sarcasm, “I know, I know, you’ll gut me! I promise I don’t want any trouble!”
He knocked twice, paused, and then knocked twice more on the barn door. We stood behind Mark and Boulder a few feet in back of the door.
The door opened. “What the fuck you want now, Webster, the fun’s almost about to start. I got to pick out my girl. I owe you a pack of smokes for pointing out that young one with the long dark hair.” The invisible man’s laugh was gloatingly nasty. “That is one prime piece of…”
Webster quickly repeated what we had told him to say. He was obviously furious the guy at the door had already got to pick out his girl, but also he knew we’d overheard. His frustrated tone was perversely the perfect blend of pissed, scared, and thwarted.
The guy inside swore, but said he’d be right back and pulled the barn door closed.
Mark motioned for the older man to step away from the door. Mark then grabbed his shirt and forced him to march down a few feet to face the barn. He was warned not to utter a sound.
We all got in position. I shot Craig a tight nod that I was ready.
Robert didn’t make us wait long. The door banged open and he strode out alone.
His voice was briskly impatient, but didn’t disguise the excited curiosity while he looked around. “I’m here, Webster, so where’s this chick with the gigantic tits?”
Boulder slammed the door shut and stood off to the side, ready if it opened again.
“Hello, Robert. Sorry, it’s just me, the girl with the itty bitty titties.”
Robert was quick, I’ll give him that. His coarse face stiffened in shocked surprise for less than one second before the wheels began to spin behind those cagey lizard eyes.
Hands at his chest, Robert staggered back a step, as if he had seen a ghost. After that, he grinned so broadly and spread his arms wide so wide; I could almost believe he liked me a little. Almost.
“Acadia! I don’t believe my own eyes, but you’re alive! Hurry, we have to go in and tell everybody. Bobby will be so happy! I told them you were dead, but that was obviously a big mis …”
I raised my gun with two hands.
Robert froze again, but he recovered quickly and laughed in disbelief. “Oh, come on now, Acadia, quit playing around. Are you mad I didn’t save you? I swear I was too far away and powerless to help you, or whoever the poor woman was.” His voice rang out in happiness, “But look, here you are, back with us safe and sound! My God, are you going to shoot me in cold blood for telling people the truth that I thought I saw you get ripped apart by those animals?” He glanced at the men for the first time, as if to say, ‘Women!’, but then he sighed towards me in fond exasperation. “If you want an apology, I totally understand. I am sorry, but it was an honest mistake. I swear the woman was your body double. What were we all to think when you didn’t come back to the farm all day? Where have you been?” He didn’t pause for my answer, but continued in a voice heavy with sympathy, “I suppose you’ve heard many of the people here tonight begged me to take over as head of our new community?” Robert eyed my gun warily, and when I made a move to lower it slightly, he joked with a friendly chuckle, “Hey, I understand you might want to shoot me over that, but can you really blame them for choosing me? They only want a stable, dependable leader, Acadia, and we all thought you were dead.”
When I remained silent and didn’t shoot, Robert was on firmer ground.
“I know you had talked of creating a council.” Robert couldn’t do genial for long before his superior sneer creeped back. His tone was rapidly changing from that of an affectionate relative witnessing a miracle to that of a man cajoling a dangerous idiot. “I thought that sounded very democratic of you. Why don’t we go back in there and do that right now? We’ll have people vote for a council and then we can move on and forget this ever happened--one big, happy, democratic family.” Robert’s sharp smile would certainly do a politician proud. “What do you all think? I think that sounds about as fair as we can get in these circumstances, eh men?”
“You’re right, Robert,” I said, and watched as his eyes regarded me back in thinly veiled contempt to have won so easy. “If King Farm was a democracy; a vote would be the fair thing to do. Your first mistake was the refusal to understand King Farm has not been, nor ever will be, anything but a dictatorship. And guess what? I’m the friendly benevolent dictator,” I laughed and shrugged a shoulder, “unless someone is stupid enough to cross me.” I dropped the smile and raised the Glock. “Your second mistake was being that stupid.”
I pulled the trigger once, then again.
It didn’t hurt that I had quite a bit of practice shooting people in the head over the last day. The shots hit Robert since I was only three feet away; although one round penetrated close enough to his neck to be debatable as a head shot, but in this instance, dead was dead.
I stared down at his body. “Liz says hi, you weasel prick.”
The kitchen door bumped against Boulder’s restraining hand.
There was a muffled noise from the shadows where Mark stood with the older guard. I said to Craig, “Let’s show Robert’s little gang the same kind of mercy.”
I whirled when I heard Rex’s joyful bark. My dog bounded over and licked my hand. I squatted down to rub his head and ears while he whined, grinned, and twisted his body around my legs.
Uncle Coop said, “Sometimes, Acadia, just once in a very great while, I am so happy to call you niece that I want to burst with pride.”
I snorted into my dog’s fur.
“I’ll help Craig and his boys take care of everything down here. Why don’t you and Rex go on inside King House and put Football out of his misery? He’s cleaning up after a little skirmish we had out on the road.” Coop shook his head. “That man sure can shoot!”
“I should tell Bobby first.” I motioned to Robert’s body on the ground.
Coop said, “No, let me tell him. You and Rod can join us in a while when the dust settles to talk to the crowd inside, okay? Now go on, Niece.”
I stood up and offered my right hand. “Craig, Mark, Matt, Boulder. Welcome to King Farm. I can never repay you for rescuing us. Thank you.”
Craig shook my hand, his bulldog face straight. “It’s good when a friendly dictator owes you a favor or two.”
I implored, “Please keep it a secret. Nobody else knows what I am!”
They all laughed while we shook hands and Mark teased, “I wouldn’t dream of crossing you, lady.”
Uncle Coop and I hugged tightly as I whispered in his ear, “They think I’m joking, but get Craig and his
team to swear not to tell anybody else what I said to Robert.”
Coop stood back and squinted at me, but then grunted and waved me off. I started jogging along with Rex, not back to King House, but to the quarantine shed. I needed to verify for myself that Liz was out for the night like Gary promised.
When I opened the shed door, Gary was just emerging from the curtained off room. I caught a glimpse of Liz lying with a blanket up under her chin.
Gary crossed his arms in exasperation. “Liz has a cracked rib and will have to take it slow. Otherwise, her wounds look terrible, they are very painful, and she’ll be quite colorful while they heal, but she will be fine.”
“Can I just go see her…”
He interrupted, “She is sleeping and does not need to be disturbed. Now go.”
“But I…”
“Go home and rest, Acadia!” Gary said uncompromisingly, and pointed to the door.
Like my uncle, Dr. Gary obviously got the dictatorship concept because I found myself outside the quarantine shed, too.
Rex and I started jogging towards King House. Liz was going to be fine and my heart lightened for the first time in hours, or maybe it was years.
Through the gray fog that has covered my life since Law died, I’ve felt a dull pain like a persistent toothache at his loss. A veil lifted sometime tonight after being punched by Tryg. I saw how my grief, while necessary for the healing process, had been left unchecked far too long. I had become dangerously fixated on the past, like Tryg was fixated on me.
Outlaw biker psychopath aside, I didn’t want to become anything like Tryg--fixated on a love that was gone forever or had never even existed.
I would never be my old self again. That woman had died and was buried with Law. It was past time, though, for me to figure out who the new Acadia King was going to be.
Revenge against Tryg and the Iron Fist motorcycle gang would be at the top of that list, and zombie slayer a close second. In fact, I had to round up a group pretty soon to go clear Hwy 52 in Coates before we had a real cluster fuck at our gate. But those were necessary evils to stay alive, not a choice how to live.
