Behind The Curve-The Farm | Book 3 | The Farm

by Craven III, Boyd

  He let the conversation swirl around him and thought about how he was going to make his way to his family. The trooper he’d rode with had made arrangements to pick him up in the morning and to deliver him to Oklahoma, where another trooper would be waiting to take him to the reservation, where their own police would finish the trip. A lot of personal favors and burner phones had been used to set this up, but as the trooper he’d ridden with had said, he was tired of being part of the problem, so he didn’t mind.

  “Who is ready for some pie?” Goldie announced.

  Everybody chorused a big yes, including Tom. He grinned as Goldie pulled out two of them from the oven. New plates were pulled out and Goldie produced some homemade whipped cream from the fridge. Tom Christian’s brain was boggled. Everything they had eaten had come from the farm, except the sugar and seasonings. The chicken was raised right here, the corn grown here, the grains, the salad, the berries, the wheat that the flour had come from…

  His eyes crossed in pleasure as he took a big bite. It was good stuff.

  “My grandma is the bestest of the bestest cook, isn’t she?” Harry asked, having taken his own seat again.

  “She is. I don’t think I’ve eaten like this in a long time,” he said simply.

  “Whipped cream comes from a cow down the road,” Goldie said. “We don’t have a milk cow, but I hope we can trade for a couple soon.”

  “I thought you had cows?” he asked.

  “Beef breeds and hybrids,” Rob said digging in himself. “I guess we could milk them, but we’ve got a neighbor who trades us milk for all the eggs and veggies she and her granddaughter can eat.”

  ‘That’s… This place is amazing,” he said, pushing his plate back.

  “Thanks. It took a lifetime of planning, and a lot of money, but mostly, it took the right combination of talents between friends and family,” Andrea answered for Rob, who had a bite in his mouth.

  “I mean, other than power, you’re pretty much self-sufficient here,” he said, then waited as the laughter died down. “You have that covered too?”

  “Yes, early in the pandemic we bought out the stock from a solar company that was going under. We have more solar energy than we need, with a battery bank that’d run a couple of diesel electric trains,” Steven told him, loving this part of the subject. “We're tied to the grid, but everything is ready in case the power goes out. With a little adjustment, we could probably go totally off power right now with the four cabins, the house and workshops and wells.”

  “Holy crap. How are you growing fresh greens and—”

  “Greenhouses,” Luis said. “If it is ok with the others, I can show you after the meal.”

  “That’s fine with me,” Dante said, and looked around the table. The rest were nodding and smiling.

  “Good, that is my baby. I am very proud of my projects,” Luis said, smiling.

  “So, the rest of you… farm?” Tom asked finally.

  “Rob is in charge of that, we’re learning,” Anna said. “The others are pretty handy on the equipment and my husband is the builder. I just sit around and look pretty.”

  “Yes, you do,” Bailey muttered, then turned pink as she realized she’d muttered that in a lull, and the entire table had heard it.

  “She’s our resident armorer,” Rob told Bailey, hoping to change the subject before the laughter started. “She built the AR-10 I was using to knock out the transformers.”

  “You can build guns?” Bailey asked, surprised; she also wanted to change the subject. She was worried the group of conservative right wingers, who were very nice, might be uncomfortable, but they gave no indication. Maybe it hadn’t been widely heard? Bailey hoped. She’d had a small crush on Angelica from the day she’d apologized to her in the hospital, but realized that girl's heart was already spoken for and full of love. Anna’s beauty had just about smacked the sense out of her, and she’d slipped up and said something out loud.

  “Guns, ammunition, metal parts. I’ve got some CNC machines, lathes, three of the big Dillon reloaders. When I’m not working out or shooting or modeling, I try to help out with whatever folks need me to do here.”

  “I figured you were probably a model,” Bailey muttered. Out loud again, dammit!

  “Do I hear Cupid’s arrow?” Dante asked, grinning.

  Leah jabbed him in the side, but she was looking away, trying not to laugh. It wouldn’t be fair to Bailey, who looked smitten, and she was more laughing at the expression on Steven's face as he realized what was going on. Curt was keeping his expression blank, but Andrea was smiling.

  “I’m sorry, it’s just… I’ve seen you somewhere, and… oh lord, I don’t think—”

  “It’s ok Hun,” Anna reassured her with a smile. “Nobody here is upset.”

  The woman who used to be a bully looked up and saw nothing but smiles and restrained laughter. She looked over at Angelica, who was smirking at her.

  “Hey, at least you’re not crushing on me now,” Angel told her.

  “What the shit?!” Bailey said, throwing her hands up in the air. “Am I that transparent?”

  “Yes,” everyone chorused.

  “Ain’t no shame in attraction,” Goldie told her. “It’s actually kind of funny. Anna there won’t hardly get embarrassed by anything. It took me weeks until I talked to my family about Luis and I. Took him longer.”

  “It’s ok,” Bailey said. “It just hit me funny for a second there.”

  “Changing the subject,” Tom Christian said, “can I take any plates to the kitchen?”

  He’d finished his pie off and was having a hard time watching Bailey squirm. He had a pretty good idea of why she felt uncomfortable, and didn’t feel like it was his place to explain to her that she was the only one who felt that way. Maybe Steven, because it was his wife, but she was a model, one he’d seen in magazines himself, and he didn’t figure her husband was the jealous type.

  “I’ll help,” Goldie said, just having finished her plate.

  “Me too,” Bailey said getting up, her face crimson. “Mind if I tag along to see the greenhouses?”

  “I’ll join you,” Angelica said.

  Anna was smiling, and about to say something, but Angel shook her head. Anna gave her a nod and mouthed, “talk to you in a bit.” Angel gave her a thumbs up.

  “This is absolutely amazing,” Tom said, looking at the setup.

  “Thank you,” Luis told him. “In my youth, I learned how to grow things other than food. That’s how I figured out how to change it around to grow produce.”

  “In my youth, I might have bought things from growers like you, before mandatory drug testing in college sports,” Tom said, grinning. “So, does this take a ton of power to run?”

  “It’s all solar,” Luis told him.

  “Luis set it up with reservoirs in the bottom of each bucket, so when the sun doesn’t shine, there’s still a little bit of water for the roots. But when the sun is shining, the system just runs.”

  “This is pretty amazing, and look at these tomatoes!” Bailey exclaimed, going to the far wall of the first greenhouse.

  “We’re having a harder time getting them to ripen, but Goldie has her ways. Something with apples and how they put out ethylene gas naturally.”

  “There’s so much produce in here,” Tom said. “No wonder the feds have been coming at you guys hard.”

  “The feds?” Bailey asked, looking up sharply.

  “I’ll fill you in. It’s been a long story. Tom, this is part of the reason why they are coming after us. We’re just about 100% self-sufficient. We could close our gates and not have to worry about leaving for years, and help take care of the local community.”

  “Except for medical emergencies though, right?” Bailey asked.

  “No, we’ve got that covered too,” Luis told her, grinning. “Three of the folks you were sitting at the table eating with are doctors or surgeons. Leah and her husband Dante, and Andrea.”

  “No wonder the
y were laughing about my stitches,” Bailey muttered.

  “And you checking out Anna was pretty funny too,” Angel said, making Tom turn away to grin.

  “Oh for fucks sake!” Bailey said with heat.

  “Don’t worry, hun,” Angel said. “I don’t swing that way, and even I can see she’s a heart stopper.”

  “Listen, I’m not gonna be weird,” Bailey told her. “She’s married and stuff… it just hit me funny and now everybody here knows I like girls as well as guys.”

  “Why would they mind either way?” Luis asked, confusion in his voice.

  Tom turned around to them. “Because a lot of folks on the political left think that republicans are ultra religious, anti-lgbtq, and racists. It’s almost indoctrinated, from college on.”

  Bailey looked at him like he had two heads, and Luis turned his confusion to Tom. “You almost sound like a politician.”

  Angelica spurted the words out before she thought them through. “He is, that’s Governor Tom Christian.”

  Luis went pale in the face, then took a long hard look again. “I thought you were dead.”

  “That’s what they wanted folks to believe,” Tom told him.

  “Bailey,” Angel said, “there’s conservatives, republicans, tea partiers and right-wing wackos and all kinds of others, all under one umbrella. Not all of us are the same thing. If you hadn’t noticed here, we’ve got a pretty diverse group, and nobody batted an eye at the dinner table. You’re fine, and if you’d like to stay, I’d like to talk to the group about a more long-term solution.”

  “I…” Bailey sputtered then walked to her friend, the woman who’d beaten her literally senseless, and busted her head open, and hugged her hard.

  “You’re kinda squishing my guts out of my ass,” Angel gasped.

  This time, they all burst into laughter.

  “Where’s your new BFF?” Anna asked.

  “Rob put her up in the guest room. Tom’s staying with Luis for the night.” Angel took a swig of the tequila and then handed it back to her buddy.

  Roscoe slept at their feet. Ranger was literally sleeping on Rob’s chest, who had sat back in his lay-Z-boy and gone lights out.

  “Is she trustworthy?” Anna asked her.

  “I hope so. If you’d asked me a week ago, I would have said no. When I beat her, I think I broke her? I don’t know. She’s not the same woman I met when I first got there.”

  “How did that happen?” Anna asked, taking the bottle, and downing a slug before passing it back.

  “The guards put her up to it. I fucked up three of the guys who kidnapped me, and it was their way of trying to humble me.”

  “So, they sent in Rob’s female equivalent?” Anna asked.

  Angelica snorted, then took a pull from the bottle before answering. “Yeah. When that went the other way, I told her, she came after me again, I’d hurt her. She didn’t learn, and I lost control. I think I was trying to kill her for a few moments there. I was… all the fear, and all the pain… I took it all out on her. She saw my ugly and I think it scared her almost as much as it scared me.”

  “So, you became friends?” Anna asked.

  “Yeah. I went to the hospital building. I felt bad for trashing her like a tornado in a trailer park. We talked. We both apologized. When I’d told her she’d be my bitch if she ever came after me again, she sort of took that to heart. She’s been as loyal as Ranger and Roscoe ever since.”

  “Cool. By the way, I’m all good. You can tell her she doesn't need to be weird around me, I’m used to it.”

  “I told her that,” Angelica said. “I think she’s been through some really rough times, and has issues with men... She’s also a whole lot smarter than I expected. I think Dante and the Docs would be impressed with her actually.”

  “That smart?” Anna asked.

  “Yep. Now tell me about that bruise on the side of your chin,” Angel said, changing the subject.

  “Oh, shit. Um, so we found more of those…. Wait, were you here when we found the gold?!”

  “Hold that thought, I think we’re going to need more tequila.”

  Thirty

  The deputies arrived early in the morning to pick up the governor. He hardly had a chance to thank the group before he was whisked away. Luis had given him a couple of burner phone numbers and a radio frequency to stay in contact if he was ever this way again. Although the governor owed Angelica and Rob a lot for breaking him out of there, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be connected to them. As bad as his situation was, he was terrified of staying at the farm once the feds realized not only had Angelica been able to make her escape, but it was because of them that the camp had been breached.

  Luis was working in the greenhouses when the radio went off.

  “Car approaching the gate and parking. Shiny, black. Looks official.” Dante’s voice came out of the radio.

  “You at the medical center?” Rob asked as others tried to talk over the transmission.

  “Leah, Andrea and I all are,” Dante answered.

  “Luis, are you at the camera feed?” Anna’s voice asked.

  “No, I’m in the greenhouses, but I’m carrying my old bones to the big house as fast as I can.”

  He wasn’t lying, he was moving by the time the next transmission came.

  Dante and Leah were doing a prenatal checkup on Andrea when Dante noticed movement on one of the big monitors. Andrea had listened as they called each other back and forth. While Leah and Dante were communicating with the fam, getting them ready, Andrea was getting her vest on and checking the chamber of her AR. Lastly, she clipped the throat mic into her radio and put in the earwig.

  “Don’t forget your lab coat,” Dante said with a grin.

  Andrea shot him the bird then changed to the frequency she and Curt used.

  “Hey baby, what are you doing?” she asked.

  “I’m working in the cold storage with Steven. We’re going to be making a ton of jerky and—”

  “Listen, we’ve got a car at the gate. Looks to be official-looking. It sounds like they’re going to be letting them in soon. Get topside and ready.”

  “Give me two minutes, I have to put the fake box on the lift and raise it up. I’m coming up through our basement.”

  “Copy,” Andrea said, then turned back to the common frequency.

  “Did you get ahold of the boys?” Leah asked.

  “Yeah, they were in the big cooler, they’re heading up now.”

  “Little Angel?” Rob's voice called over the radio.

  “I hear you, big daddy.” Her voice was a Texas drawl that only came out when she was stressed.

  “Stay in the equipment barn with the rifle. Maybe get in my perch and be overwatch. We have to go radio silent soon, they might be monitoring transmissions.”

  “Copy.”

  “Copy.”

  “Copy.”

  “Copy.”

  “It appears to be two men in suits that are at the gate,” Luis said. “They are talking within range of the intercom.”

  “Go ahead and hail them,” Rob said automatically.

  “Excuse me gentlemen, how can I help you?” Luis’s voice came over their radios. “And please press the button before responding.”

  Dante, Leah, and Andrea watched on the second station in the small medical center. The taller of the pair walked up and pressed the intercom button and spoke.

  “We’re here to talk to the doctors and their spouses. We’re both agents with the FBI.”

  Dante muttered curses. “Ask him what doctors he's looking for.”

  “I’m old and hard of hearing,” Luis said, almost making Dante break into the transmission before he realized he was talking through both the intercom and the radios, “What agency are you from again? Your names, and can you please once again tell me who exactly you are here to see, by name.”

  The cameras were great, the best money could buy. Dante zoomed in far enough to see the second agent roll his eyes and
the man talking on the intercom take a deep breath, as if he were fighting snapping back.

  “Agent Korey and Agent Gorman. We’re both with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. We’re based out of Fort Smith. We would like to have a conversation with the doctors and their spouses. Doctors Dante and Leah Weaver, along with Doctor Andrea Mallory, her husband Curt and both of the Castiglione’s. May we come in and speak?”

  “Depends. What’s the nature of the conversation?” Luis asked.

  “We need to ask for their assistance. I know others in the government may have rubbed you the wrong way, but we’re here under orders of the regional commander of the district to make the request in person.”

  “Rubbed us the wrong way? Son, agents of a mixed bag of other alphabet boys tried to raid the farm here. More than half of them had to be carried out in bags. I’m not real sure that letting you boys in is a good—”

  “Go ahead and let them in,” Curt said over the radio, coming into the building with the doctors. “Have them come to the medical center. Rob, Steven, Anna, Bailey, Bailey’s friend, and anybody else, get ready for a double cross. This might be legit, and if it is, we may want to hear them out.”

  Andrea smiled at her husband and tilted her head to the side. As Luis opened the gates and explained things to the agents, Curt explained that he and Steven had linked up with Rob and the rest of the group. The newer cameras that had been recently installed could see a lot farther, and the agents didn’t appear to have anybody following or hiding out.

  “Are you going to put on your lab coat?” Curt asked Andrea, grinning.

  “Fine,” she said, handing him her rifle and putting on her extra-large white lab coat over her vest, before taking it back. “If I need to go for my pistol and I can’t get it in time, dying in the process, I’m haunting your ass.”