by Kate Morris
A dark truck goes slowly by, followed by a full-size white van, two motorcycles and three ATV’s. It has to be them. Cory runs up the hill to his truck and fires it up. He slams it into gear and floors the gas, throwing gravel and grass out behind it. He angles the vehicle expertly but quickly down the road and comes out west of where he’d spotted them. They should be ahead of him. He takes a breath to relax and keep his cool.
Cory spots them stopped in the road about a few hundred yards away. They are easy to see, parked in the middle of the road like they are, all out of their vehicles and having a pow wow. He spies through his binoculars but quickly places them back on the seat beside him. They are turning around and going to head toward him again. He has to get off this road and hide. This time, he actually peels out in his haste to accelerate. He veers onto the first road to his right and flies down it, turns in an abandoned access road to a farmer’s field and slowly circles back to the main road. He waits, though. If they travel down this road, they’ll immediately see him. If they don’t, he can get in behind them again.
They must’ve gone as far east as they wanted and not had any luck robbing people. Now they are circling back in the opposite direction going west. He waits a long time, longer than it should take. They don’t go flying past on the road again. He was sure they were turning around. Cory rolls slowly toward the road and puts it in park. He gets out and jogs into the weeds and spies down the street with his binoculars. They’re gone. They hadn’t come this way. He sprints back to the truck and gets in. Had they changed their minds again and kept going? They were all turning around.
He pulls out onto the road again, turning left to pursue them in the eastward direction. He drives a few miles and doesn’t find them. His frustration is growing. They are gone, vanished into thin air. Cory turns around and heads back west. Then he turns left onto the road where he’d spied on them from the ridge. He realizes that they’ve taken this road. The grasses growing up through the concrete, thick in some places, are completely smashed down by multiple vehicles and four-wheelers. He comes to the spot where he’d parked and slows down. There is no one in sight. He looks behind him to make sure he isn’t being followed. He can see for at least a mile. Nobody’s there.
Cory drives forward another thirty yards and spots the place where he’d gone down the hill to spy on them. The grass was stomped from him. Only now it is trampled down from many people havinggone through it. There is a sign, a white, wooden sign staked into the ground. It reads:you are deadasshole.
An unbidden chill races up his spine. They knew he was here, or discovered it when they took this road to look for helpless victims. Cory gets back in the truck and turns around. He heads back down to the main road and continues west, still hoping to catch them. He doesn’t think there are so many that he can’t gain the upper hand and kill them. He just doesn’t like that they knew enough about tracking to realize he’d been at that spot watching them. They obviously know that someone is onto them because of the warning signs that they’ve no doubt seen in their travels. The ante has just been upped. He can’t speak for them, but Cory is ready to call.
He doesn’t catch sight of them, which pisses Corry off to no end. He wants blood. He wants them dead. They’ve killed so many innocent people, taken family members from their loved ones, and raped at least two women. Both women had been strangled to death, as well. They have a serial rapist, strangler in their group and are accepting of him. This makes them his enemy. Any man that would stand by and do nothing while another violated and strangled a woman to death is his mortal enemy. They remind him of the creep who killed his little sister. He’d like to find them all tucked in their beds asleep and shut them in their building and burn them alive like he had her murderers. They deserve no less in his opinion, but the trail runs cold.
Cory drives around Pleasant View and home to the farm, which is always a sight for sore eyes. It becomes an even bigger one when he sees Paige come out of the greenhouse with Sue. She is biting her lower lip and trying to conceal a smile. At least she’s happy to see him. Everyone comes out to greet him as a rumble of thunder echoes in the distance. They take their meeting into the big house where Hannah is setting out platters of cold meat, cheeses, and breads. It feels good to be home and surrounded by its comforting smells and sounds. The sounds are mostly coming from the kids who are playing the board game Risk in the music room on the floor. Arianna immediately spots him and comes running.
“Cory!” she squeals and hugs his waist, which is all the higher she can reach.
“Hey, monster,” he greets and rubs the top of her dark head affectionately. “Keep the boys in check while I was gone?”
“You know I did!”
“I have no doubts, Ari. No doubts.”
She smiles up at him, her eyes full of mischief. He’s well aware of her crush and finds her amusing. She’s a rotten little monster and a real tormenter of the boys on the farm. Huntley snorts with irritation from the floor.
“You did nothing of the sort. Don’t be so ridiculous,” Hunt offers sarcastically, gaining a roll of Ari’s eyes.
“I’ll play you a round of chess later, ‘kay?” he says to her. “Right now, I need to talk to the guys and your dad.”
“All right,” she agrees with a coy grin.
He gathers everyone into the dining room, and Doc closes the pocket doors. Then he relays what he saw this morning, the location, and the threat that was left for him. John is angry, but his brother seems more concerned. Kelly just acts nonchalant, as if the outcome is already sealed.
“They are threatening the wrong people,” John says.
Derek says, “The fact that they were able to tell that Cory was on that ridge watching them is what worries me.”
“And they got away from him. They gave Cor the slip,” Kelly adds.
“It’s a big area,” Cory explains. “There are a lot of back roads out there, lots of possible routes to take. The next time, we’ll pick a spot that’s a lot more congested with vehicles and debris so that they don’t have so many options.”
“That’s what we were talking about when you were gone,” Luke says.
“Soon,” John says. “Soon we’ll take them out. First, we need to assess the situation at the golf course in Clarksville, make sure they aren’t our highwaymen.”
“I don’t think they are,” Cory says.
John continues, “I agree. I don’t think so, either. But we have to find out who they are. Then we need to check out Fort Campbell, find out if those kids need help or what the heck they’re doing there by themselves. At least warn them.”
“My guess is orphans,” Reagan says. “I don’t know why they’re there, but we should definitely vet them.”
Doc jumps in quickly to add, “If those young people need our help, then it is our obligation and responsibility to do so. They may require medical attention, food, housing. We won’t know until we are able to make contact with them.”
“Hopefully, they don’t put a bullet between our eyes,” Kelly says.
“We’ll go at this carefully,” Derek says.
They discuss strategy, a plan, a date and time before the meeting convenes and everyone goes their own ways. They want Simon back on the farm with them when it goes down. He’s a valuable asset to the team. However, Cory is going on the trip to surveille and hopefully talk to the people at the golf course depending on their willingness to be friendly. He’ll also probably be with John when they try the same approach with the kids living at Fort Campbell.
Cory catches Paige in the hallway before she can leave.
“Hey, Red,” he says, touching her arm. “Miss me?”
Her gray eyes dart around nervously. He knows she is looking to see if anyone heard him. Everyone else split immediately following the meeting to do evening chores. The only person in the house is Hannie, and he can hear her in the kitchen working. Whatever she’s doing, it’s sure to be some magic food spell that makes everything she cooks taste so fa
ntastic.
“Cory, I’m going out to feed the goats for Reagan. She’s tired tonight.”
“Then I’ll help,” Cory says. She looks hesitant. “I don’t want them to attack you or anything.”
This time, he gets a smile. “I’m not afraid of the goats. Well, maybe that one billy goat. I don’t like him. I think it’s mutual.”
“I’d be scared of you, too,” he teases. “I am.”
“Yeah, right,” Paige remarks with sarcasm. “I doubt if you’re afraid of anything.”
He doesn’t tell her that she’s wrong. Mostly he doesn’t tell her because Cory doesn’t want to admit that the thing which scares him most is losing her. Instead, he walks with her to the barn where they’ve done massive repairs the last few weeks since the tornado. It looks like John finished the barn siding that was missing while he was gone. They’d been in the middle of it when he had to leave for Henry’s farm. He decides to broach the subject of Henry with Paige.
“What do you think of that Henry guy?”
She looks up at him, “Henry? He’s nice. He seems like a good person. He sure lets a lot of people live on his farm. That has to mean he’s pretty charitable.”
“Yeah, guess so.”
“Why? Did you not find him that way when you were there?”
“No, no. It’s not that.”
Paige frowns and says. “Then what do you mean?”
“I saw him last night kissing Samantha.”
She stops in her tracks and turns to him. “What?”
Cory shrugs because he doesn’t know what to say. He just offers a nod.
“Are they sleeping together? Is that it? Does Sam have feelings for him?”
Paige fires off a lot of questions, most of which he doesn’t have an answer to because he doesn’t know if Sam was being honest that she has no feelings for him. And also the fact that he doesn’t really understand women all that well.
“What about Simon?” she asks.
“I don’t know,” he says. “I asked her if she’s in love with this dude, but she said no. I don’t know. I don’t think she’s over your brother, but she sure avoided him as much as possible while I was there.”
“She’s just angry. Hell, I’m angry with him, too.”
Cory nods again and says, “Yeah, guess everyone’s feelin’ a little like that about the Professor. We just want Sam to come back. Now that this Henry is making a move, she may not.”
“I don’t understand Simon,” she says and resumes their walk. “I know he has feelings for her. I’ve seen it. I can see it in his eyes, Cory. I know him better than anyone else here on this farm. He’s my brother. I just don’t get it. And he won’t even talk to me. I don’t know what to do.”
“I don’t think there’s anything that we can do,” he says and would like to hold her hand in his as they walk but refrains. “I’ve got the same problem as Sam if you think about it.”
“What? Did you kiss Henry, too?”
Cory laughs aloud at her quip, knowing full well that she is being evasive with humor.
“Not exactly,” he says. “Although, I would say he is rather dreamy.”
She punches his shoulder playfully and laughs. He missed her.
“You’ve been doing a lot of avoiding lately, too, Red. Me! It doesn’t make any sense. I’m a total catch. I’m a stud, obviously. I’m handsome, funny…”
“Don’t forget humble.”
He chuckles and says, “When are you gonna just let go of all this denial stuff and just marry me?”
“Marry you? Was that your idea of a proposal, Neanderthal?”
He chuckles as Damn Dog joins their path. “Sure. Or did you want flowers and a ring and a wedding planner?”
Paige chuffs. “None of the above. I’m never getting married. I don’t want a commitment.”
“You seem fine with the sex,” he points out. He knows this worries her because Paige quickly peers around.
“Shh, don’t be crazy. You think I want everyone on the farm knowing that?”
He doesn’t tell her about John’s conversation with him that night on watch duty. That’s one person who knows. Maybe others do, too. Even though they’ve been discreet, the farm is only so big. There are many sets of eyes on it, too, which makes discretion even more difficult. He knows that John won’t tell anyone, but he can’t guarantee her that others don’t know. Probably Hannah.
“So, you like the…perks, you just don’t like the commitment that should come with them.”
“Pretty much,” she says.
He shoots her a frown of his own. “Maybe I’ll cut you off.”
She snorts. “Yeah, right.”
“Yeah, probably not. I’m pretty easy,” he teases with a grin, getting one in return. “But sooner or later, you’re gonna have to marry me. Doc’s not gonna allow this to continue if we’re caught.”
“Then we should stop,” she says, surprising him.
Cory sighs, “Not as easy as it sounds, Red. You’ve cast a spell on me that I can’t seem to shake.”
“Ask Simon. I’m sure there’s some herb you can rub on it to make it go away,” she jokes bawdily.
“Ha!” he says with a loud guffaw. “I don’t think an herb’ll fix it. This is an itch that can only be scratched by my red-haired witch.”
She gives him a snarky expression and goes into the barn. Cory is content to follow her since the view isn’t so bad from this angle, either.
“Hey, Cory!” Huntley calls out, jogging across the barnyard toward him. “I haven’t been able to talk to you since you got back.”
“What’s on your mind, little brother?” he tells him.
“Not much. How’s Sam?” he asks of his friend.
“Good. She’s doing good, Hunt. Don’t worry about her.”
Huntley looks at his shoes for a minute before saying, “Kind of hard to do. I miss her. I worry about my little shadi.”
“I know, man,” Cory says with a nod. “But, hey, if you can keep a secret, I’ll tell you something.”
“Sure, Cory. I’d never tell.”
Cory smiles, knowing the kid is loyal nearly to a fault. “I’m going out tonight to look for the highwaymen pricks. You wanna’ come with?”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” he says. “I’m going tonight because I don’t have guard duty. Luke’s taking my shift so I can rest. I’m not resting. I don’t need extra sleep.”
“Heck, yes, I’ll go.”
“Good, be ready at oh-one-hundred hours, and I’ll meet you at the equipment shed. Keep it on the down low, little brother.”
Huntley bumps his fist against Cory’s and smiles widely. Cory knows how much this means to him being included, and they are not in any danger tonight or he wouldn’t be taking him.
“And leave the bow. Bring a rifle instead. This ain’t the 1700s, bro’,” he teases and gets a laugh before Huntley jogs away.
He has no doubt that Huntley will be up, ready and probably early for their mission. The kid is always asking to tag along on pretty much any trip they make either for supplies, a run for building materials, or a more serious mission like the freeing of the women at the sex camp. He wants to contribute more. Huntley is an excellent shot, a great tracker, and a good soldier so far. He needs more practice, though, and a hell of a lot more practical experience.
Cory meets up near the goat pen with Paige again and helps her feed them.
“You never did answer my question,” he reminds her.
“You mean whether or not I think you’re the most annoying person on this farm? The answer is yes.”
He smiles at her and slips an arm around the back of her waist.
“Hey, don’t,” she warns as her gray eyes dart around nervously.
Cory kisses her quickly and releases her. Paige flits away to the other side of the small goat enclosure. “I missed you enough for the both of us, Red.”
He continues on with his work but notices that she has gone silent. Cory
looks over at her to find Paige just standing there as if she is surprised.
“We need to stop this,” she says as if she has come to some difficult summation of a problem. She even nods.
“No, we need to take this to the next level and stop all this foolin’ about.”
Paige shakes her head in disagreement. “No, I mean it.”
Her tone is serious, solemn even, and she is wearing a frown.
“What’s going on? Did something happen while I was gone?” he asks and walks toward her.
“Don’t, Cory,” she says, holding out her hand. “Stop. I mean it. I think this is over.”
He really doesn’t want to hear this from her. He’d missed her. He’d wanted to skip the asshole surveillance and rush home to her instead. The way she is so resolute in her behavior leads him to believe that something is amiss, something she is concealing.
“You didn’t up and ditch me for another dude, did ya’, Red?”
“No,” she answers simply.
Cory isn’t so convinced. She’s been separated from him for a full week. Maybe that dick Jason from town has made another move for her. He wouldn’t be surprised. That guy also dumped Jackie from the armory. He’s a real playboy. Cory will probably deck him when he goes to town next. It’s been a long time coming anyway. Likely no one will even be surprised or care.
“What is it then?” he presses.
“Nothing…I don’t want to talk about it. This is just stupid and a lot of people, including you, are going to get hurt. There’s no good, happy ending to this, not for us or Simon or the McClanes, nobody.”
“Sweetheart,” he says softly and steps into her space, “just talk to me. Tell me what’s going on. If I’m pushing too hard too fast, I’ll back off. Don’t shut me out. Talk to me, Red.”
“Cory…” she says, her eyes tearing up.
“What is it?” he asks with more concern and rubs his hands up and down her bare arms.
“Nothing,” she blurts, pulls free and rushes from the barn, leaving him standing there in a perpetual state of confusion. Usually, she’s a lot easier to read. Not tonight. He’s thoroughly screwed on this one. He missed her and wanted to come home to see her, maybe even spend some alone time with her while Simon is still gone at Dave’s compound, but she is clearly not in the same mindset.
