"You wish," Simon said, smiling slightly at the old joke. "It's about the Hernandez family."
Jason sighed and turned his gaze upward. "Not what I needed."
Simon nodded. "Yeah, I know. Masters has been talking a lot of crap and it's got to be dealt with."
"Let me guess. Masters, Evans and Reid."
Simon nodded.
Jess looked at her husband knowingly.
"They want to hand them over."
Simon nodded again.
"Great. This town is governed by you and some morons."
The chairman shrugged. "Nah. Mitchell's alright."
"But no argument on the other three?"
He shook his head. "None."
"Good. The last thing I needed to hear was that they were the real brain trust running this town."
"The good news is that they want your input. You'll be at the meeting, right?"
Jason nodded.
"Great. In that case-"
"In that case," Jess interrupted, "someone's going to have to keep Jason calm." The look she gave Jason made it clear that he wasn't to deny needing someone for such a purpose. He was about to protest anyway, but the truth was that she was right. Dealing with idiots was never a pleasant thing.
Chapter 5
The next morning, Jason walked to his office. The council meeting was later tonight, and he wasn't looking forward to it. Sitting outside was Hector. The deputy was trying to look relaxed, and might have fooled people who didn't know him as well as Jason did.
"What's up?"
Hector looked back at him. He didn't twitch a muscle, but his body loosed up from relief. "Someone inside to see you. Billy wanted me to give you heads up."
"Why?"
The deputy shrugged. "No clue. He caught me before I got through the door."
Jason nodded as he opened the door. Inside, he saw his friend sitting with an unknown man in the same uniform as Conklin's troops. Both men stood as Jason strode up to the Billy's desk.
"Billy," Jason said before turning his attention to the other man.
"Boss, this is Al Holliman. He says he's with the Somerton Resistance Movement."
Jason shot his friend a surprised look. Billy simply nodded in acknowledgement.
Holliman pretended not to notice, but instead held out his hand. "Mr. Calvin."
Jason shook the hand. "Jason, please."
The other man nodded.
"So, I assume you wanted to speak with me about something?"
Holliman nodded. "Yes, sir. Unfortunately, I need to tell you that your home is being watched, as is the Chairman's. I figured it made more sense to come here and request a meeting. I figure you were followed, but they'll leave when you do as well."
"Understood. I'm assuming that's not why you wanted to speak to me, right?" Jason said as he sat down.
"No, sir. It's about the Hernandez family."
Jason raised an eyebrow.
Holliman took a deep breath before continuing. "By the laws of the Republic of Somerton, they're guilty of theft, but you need to know that it's only in the most ridiculous way possible."
The phrasing of that surprised Jason a bit. Republic of Somerton? Instead of letting the words slip past his lips, he said, "Do tell.".
"After the war, we had it as bad as I suspect the rest of Tennessee had it. The winter wasn't pleasant and food got scarce. Conklin, saying he was speaking for the mayor, declared all food not currently in private hands belonged to the town. Then he kept expanding the town’s borders, usually without telling the folks who lived there until afterward."
"Really?"
Holliman nodded. "Unfortunately. Then, a couple of years ago, he decided that the town of Somerton was just too damn big to be a town, so he changed it to the Republic of Somerton."
"And the slavery thing?"
Holliman nodded. "Conklin's idea to keep people from leaving the area."
"Huh?" Billy said. "Why would he care?"
"Because tyrants need subjects, right? Jason asked.
The Somerton trooper nodded. "Exactly. He says he's doing this for the mayor - who he now calls the governor - but no one's seen the 'governor' in over eight years. We're not even sure he's alive."
"So you figure Conklin either knocks the governor off, or takes advantage of him dying of natural causes and seizes power."
Holliman nodded. "That's pretty much it."
"And the slaves?"
"When he started with the indenture, it was supposed to be a temporary thing. Someone would get sentenced to two years indenture, and then someone bought the bond and had labor for a couple of years. Then the sentences became more and more draconian until before long, all the sentences were for life."
"So what do you want from us?" Jason asked.
"Don't send the Hernandez family back. Conklin figures they came through here, but he doesn't know if they're still here or not. If they are, tell him they're not. For their sake."
"I've heard Conklin is a little rough with the women," Jason said.
"You've heard wrong," Holliman said. As Jason began to think of what that might mean, Holliman continued, "He's a sadistic bastard that likes to hurt people. Women in particular. I know what you meant, but I've seen the aftermath of what he does to these women. I know you were being fascias, but it's just too bad to even do that. Not for me anyways."
"Alright, so he's a mean son of a bitch. All you want is for us to not help Conklin out? I mean, if this guy's so bad, why not ask us to take him out for you?"
Holliman gave a pained grin. "Because he outnumbers you four to one, at least."
"You guys only had a few dozen follow him into the square?"
"Yeah, but that was just a small honor guard. He had over two thousand waiting for him."
"For a single family?"
"I'm not sure what the deal is. I mean, Megan Hernandez is attractive enough, but the whole damn state could be falling apart right now. I still haven't figure out what his deal is on this one," Holliman confided.
"I'm sure you'll understand if we don't take your word for all of this?"
He nodded. "I wouldn't believe me, so I understand it completely. Hell, I've seen it all first hand, and I'm not sure I believe me."
Jason looked at Billy. The big man nodded his understanding.
Holliman said, "If it's alright with you, I'd like to wait a little while here after you leave. I'd rather your watcher didn't see me."
"Of course. Billy, in a little while, let him out the back," Jason said as he stood and left the room, Billy right beside him.
"He gave us the location of their campsite when he got here. I've already got Jimmy Peterson taking a look," Billy said as soon as they were out of earshot.
Jimmy Peterson was the most skilled hunter in New Eden. While most people had starved, he'd still managed to find game through the long winter and kept his family feed. If he didn't want to be seen, he wouldn't be.
"Let me know in the morning if he finds anything," Jason said. He knew they would. Holliman might not be completely above board on everything, though Jason was inclined to buy his story, but he saw zero reason for Holliman to lie about numbers that could be so easily checked.
Billy nodded.
** ** **
Jess knocked on the door to the parsonage, a canvas bag weighing down the hand opening the door. "Hello?" she called out.
Megan Hernandez peeked around the corner, drying a dish. "Hi!" she said cheerfully.
"I'm Jessica Calvin. I believe you've met my husband?" She stepped toward the other woman with her hand extended.
Quickly drying the dish, Megan sat it down and took the other woman's hand. "Oh! Mrs. Calvin? You're Jason's wife?"
"That's me. Please, call me Jess," She said with a smile. "I brought you guys some stuff. You've been kind of cooped up here for a little while and figured you could use it." She held out the bag.
Megan took it and sat it down on the small kitchen table. Her eyes widened as she loo
ked inside, cutting them back toward Jess. "We can't take this. I appreciate it, but…" She held up a ripe tomato larger than her fist.
"Sure you can. A lot of us kicked in what we could. No one who couldn't afford to give it up though," Jess said with a smile. She'd always been told she had a million dollar smile, and figured this might be a good time to use it.
"You sure?"
Jess nodded. "Absolutely. A few things from a lot of people adds up pretty quickly, you know?"
Megan nodded her understanding.
She continued. "There is another reason I came by."
"Oh?" Megan asked.
Jess hated this part. She hated that Jason hadn't done it already, but she figured he was a little preoccupied with everything going on, hence why she was here. "There's a meeting of our governing council tonight."
"Oooookay?" she said, her confusion obvious to Jess.
"They're going to be talking about you three. What to do about you guys, to be specific."
Megan pulled out a chair and sat, dropping her head into her hands.
Jess continued, "For what it's worth, Jason's going to fight for you three. If he can't win the council over, well…I know my husband. If he says he has no intention of handing you over, then you're probably not going to be handed over if he can do anything at all to prevent it."
She looked up. "He's not going to break the law though, right?"
Jess shrugged. "Knowing my husband? I don't put anything out of the realm of possibility."
"He's a good man," Megan said with a sorrowful smile.
"He is, but he's something more than that. He's a righteous man. He's got a sense of right and wrong, and he kind of sticks by that, regardless. He doesn't realize that, but that's who he is."
"You seem to know your husband better than he does."
"What wife doesn't?" Jess said with her own smile.
Megan laughed. "True."
"I'll keep you in the loop, so don't worry about that. I know how much it sucks being blindsided, so I'll do what I can to make sure that doesn't happen."
Megan's laugh subsided, but she smiled painfully.
"I've got to run. I'll come back tomorrow and let you know about what happens at the meeting, alright?"
Megan nodded. "Thank you."
Jess put her hand on the other woman's shoulder, squeezing gently and then leaving the church.
The air outside was stifling. After years of perpetual winter, she was beginning to sympathize with northerners who had moved south. She'd kind of made fun of them back before the war for their inability to deal with the southern heat, which was generally returned come winter time. Now, the heat was impacting her.
She muttered apologies for all the harassment she'd offered as she wiped the already forming sweat from her brow.
Outside of the church, a busy roadway bustled with people pushing carts to and from the small market in the town square just a few dozen yards away. Reverting to old habits, Jess looked both ways before crossing the busy trail. Left, then right, then left again.
Her brain processed the view to the right a bit slow. She had been focused on traffic, what else she'd seen hadn't really registered immediately. Without meaning to, her head shot back toward the right.
John Baskin stood off to the side of the road. Still dressed in his non-matching black clothing, he was talking to two men, though Jess used the term as loosely as possible. Oh, this isn't good.
The three looked at her, hatred etched on their face. They made no move toward her, so she opted to simply cross the road and look for her husband.
** ** **
For the third time since he'd been home, he stood outside Mrs. Marshall's house and tried to explain reality to the old lady. "I understand that the chickens can get kind of loud, but Horace's had that coop there since before you came to New Eden. I'm not going to tell him to move it. I'm sorry, but he's got the right to do what he wants on his property."
"But they wake me up too early in the morning," she argued.
"I'm sorry about that, but they're chickens. It's something they do. You knew that when you had your house built here."
"I did not!" she protested. "He built that coop just last week."
Jason fought the urge to roll his eyes. "No, ma'am, he didn't. It's been there a long time."
"I'm going to go to the magistrate," she said, a crooked finger point up at his face.
He smiled. "If that's what you think you need to do, go right ahead. That's certainly your right."
"I'll take you before the magistrate, too!"
He forced his smile wider. "That's also your right."
Jason turned and began walking away when he caught sight of Jess moving toward him. He shifted his direction to meet her. He face betrayed her concern.
"Hey, babe. What's up?"
She recounted the sight from outside the church. "It might not mean anything, but I don't see John Baskin trying to tell the Elias brothers to repent of their evil ways. He hasn't got the balls for it."
Jason nodded. The Elias brothers were trouble, and they were allegedly connected trouble. Rumor had it that they'd run the crime in a small town in northern Alabama before the war and used their cutthroat methods to survive. Jason never gave all that much credence since people like that tended to go raider instead of settling down in small communities. Instead, Jason pegged them as petty crooks who saw an opportunity in New Eden that didn't exist in a lot of places.
"Thanks for letting me know," he said.
"You got a plan?"
Jason shook his head. "It's not illegal to talk to people. Not much I can do except keep an eye out."
"You don't think he's still pissed about you bringing Katie back, do you?"
He smiled. "Oh, he's still pissed. Baskin's still pissed about a wedgie he got back in high school. That man can hold onto a grudge until it dies of old age."
"Maybe he wants the brothers to do something?"
Jason shrugged. "Maybe. Like I said, I'll keep an eye out, so no need to worry," he said with a smile.
She nodded.
He smiled at her, the freckles across her nose always making her look more youthful than him, regardless of their similarities in age. Besides, I'm already stressing enough shit with the council meeting tonight.
** ** **
Jason hated politics. His philosophy had always been "to each their own". Unfortunately, that seemed far too complicated for most politicians, which were something else he generally didn't like. Simon may have technically been a politician, but he was the exception in Jason's mind. The rest were in there for power and nothing more.
The room was unusually empty. Normally, when the council met, at least half of the seats were filled. Most didn't care about the day to day operations of the council so long as there was food available, but a few liked to keep up on what was happening. Without TV and newspapers to tell them, they figured they'd best sit in and find out.
A long table stretched across the front of the room. Jason wasn't sure, but the table looked like it was made out of cherry that had been polished to a shine. The work itself was impressive since Jason remembered when it had been commissioned. The man who made it died a short time later, but he truly had been a master of using hand tools to craft wood. It was a shame his skills were gone.
Behind the table, the council members sat. Simon, as chairman, was in the center. Mildred Evans and John Mitchell sat to Simon's left. To his right, Cory Masters occupied a seat, followed by Zack Reid to Master's. The council secretary sat at the end of the table, a stack of paper in front of her.
Simon looked around for a moment before speaking. "I'm going to call this meeting to order. As we all know, the matter for discussion is the disposition of the Hernandez family. They were allegedly convicted of theft under laws outside of our jurisdiction. Sheriff Jason Calvin has looked into the matter, as I understand. Is that correct?"
Jason nodded. "It is, Mr. Chairman."
"Your findings?"
>
Jason recounted what he had learned, keeping Holliman's identity secret. While he trusted Simon, he wasn't so sure about some of the other councilors.
When he finished, Masters spoke. "Mr. Chairman, may I ask Sheriff Calvin some questions?"
Simon nodded, but he didn't like it. Anyone looking at the man's face could see it.
"Sheriff Calvin, you say this information came to you via a member of Mr. Conklin's outfit?"
"Yes, Councilor."
"And you consider this information credible?"
"I do."
"And just what makes you think that?"
"Because it corroborated what the Hernandez family told myself and Chairman Redfeather."
"And it's not possible that this was arranged before hand by the Hernandez family?"
Jason didn't have a poker face. He knew it. It's part of why he didn't play poker for money. Everyone in the room, in that particular moment, also knew he had no poker face. They also knew exactly what flavor of idiot he figured Cory Masters was. Everyone, apparently, except Cory Masters.
"Answer the question, please, Sheriff."
Jason took a deep breath, desperate to hold onto what self control he had left. "Councilor, when we recovered the Hernandez family, they were about to be carved into steaks by the Jones Brothers. They have been surrounded by people of New Eden since that moment. At no point has there been any reports of any stranger entering the church, where they've been since arriving in town.
"Frankly, I find the suggestion not only unlikely, but ridiculous. For it to have happened, the Hernandez family would have had to have planned on having a partner travel some distance away but still able to make contact from time to time. That same partner would have had to be willing to leave their companions to the tender mercies of cannibals, while still being willing to step up to keep them from being taken back to Somerton."
"I'm sorry, Sheriff, but I don't appreciate your tone," Master said, drawing himself up to look superior. "I am an elected member of this council."
"That's enough," Simon interjected. "Your question was asked, and it was answered. As for Sheriff Calvin's assessment of the likelihood of your theory, I'm afraid I have to agree."
Bloody Eden (Soldiers of New Eden Book 2) Page 4
