by Sean Liscom
“Oh?”
“Yeah. What if I let Dan and his security forces handle more of the day to day stuff around here? What if I started spending more time here, handling the administrative stuff?” I asked. Her eyes immediately lit up in excitement.
“Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously.”
“Wait, you’re not suggesting this because you feel guilty about all the late nights and gun fights, are you? Because if you’re wanting to do this out of guilt....” I held my hand up to stop her.
“Guilt has nothing to do with it, babe. This is about me and you getting that little break both of us are so desperate for. It’s about seeing my father and having absolutely no connection with him. I’ll ride this desk all day long if it means I get to be home with you every night!”
“You’d do this for me? For us?”
“I’d do it for you, us and those two kids in there that are going to need our help and guidance. I don’t want them to grow up in the care of babysitters all day.”
“Oh, Jason….” tears started to spill from the corners of her eyes.
“Question is, can you handle having me home more?” I asked with a smile.
“YES!” she jumped out of her chair, ran around the corner of the desk and gave me the tightest hug I could ever remember.
“I’ll make it official at the morning staff meeting,” my voice was muffled because my face was buried in the crook of her neck.
CHAPTER 6
Friday, September 1st, 2017
Jill finally relaxed her embrace and sat on my lap with her legs hanging over the side of the office chair. Her face was a scant few inches from mine. Neither of us spoke, we just searched each other’s eyes and enjoyed the private moment.
During the course of the conversation with my father, I’d come to realize something very important. Something I might have overlooked if it hadn’t been for what Jill had told me that morning. He had tried to control the entire narrative, from the time he walked in, till the time he left. He tried to keep me off balance, but she had given me the key to keeping control. He’d tried insults, praise and even vague conversation, fortunately, I didn’t engage.
I also realized that the man who was here now, wasn’t the man I’d known. The end of the world had changed all of us. It had affected us in so many different ways. The change in Jack was driven by something else. I had to ask myself if the change had come before or after the EMP. He was spiteful, hateful, mean and angry. If I was going to find out why, I’d have to find out what his motivation was. Something about his grandiose tales didn’t feel right. Was it a diversion from the truth? Every time I tried to get something useful from him, he’d go off on a tangent. Why?
“Your father?” Jill asked quietly.
“Yeah?”
“Your eyes give you away,” she smiled. “Don’t worry, babe. You’ll figure him out. Just, when you do, fill me in too.”
“Shack, main gate. Team two just turned off the main road. They’re coming in hot!” the radio broke into our moment.
“Copy that,” I replied
“Medical copies. We’re standing by to receive casualties,” Samantha Williams reported.
“Tomorrow morning?” Jill asked.
“Yes, ma’am. Tomorrow morning at the staff meeting I’ll hand the reins over to Dan,”
“I love you, Jason. Thank you,” she planted a quick kiss on my lips and then stood from my lap. “Go on, you’re about to get busy again.”
“Where you going?” I asked as I stood too.
“Luke and Tara asked if I’d take them out to see the horses. So, while you’re dealing with blood n guts up here, we’re gonna go out there.”
“Sounds like a good plan, babe. If you see Jack or my sisters, make sure they get an invite to dinner tonight,” I said. She cocked her head, question in her eyes. “Call it a power play,” I told her.
“Jessica told me you were one hell of a poker player,” she referred to her best friends’ comments after our first assault on Marvin Wesson’s men so long ago.
“I’m going against the world champion, ‘bout time I bring out the “A” game. I got him to start talking when he was in here. Now, I just gotta build on that.” I replied, she grinned a toothy grin and started toward the door. I followed and we went our separate ways as soon as team two came roaring into the parking lot.
I watched as the doctors and medics descended on the vehicles. As chaotic as the scene might look to the uninitiated, I could see the patterns in their movements. I started to walk that way. There was no sense in running, I’d only be in the way of the triage that was taking place. Dan emerged from the passenger seat of the lead MRAP and started in my direction.
“Hey boss,” he greeted me when we met at the halfway point.
“What’s the word?” I asked.
“Those poor bastards got hit pretty hard. Fourteen wounded, three dead. Sheriff Wagner is in bad shape, Doc’s taking her directly to surgery,” he reported.
“Team One?” I asked.
“I left them behind to secure the site. There is a lot of equipment sitting out there along with everything these guys own. I’ve already contacted Elko and asked them to send a security force out and assist in getting everything back there.”
“Sounds good, Dan. What did you do with the dead enemy?”
“Left ‘em where they fell. Buzzards gotta eat too.”
“Okay,” I said it like this was something that happened every day. Had I really become that desensitized to death? “After you get your gear stowed and rigs taken care of, can I talk to you? In private?”
“Sure. Give me an hour?” both of us looked at our watches.
“That’s fine. Where’s deputy Kerns?” I asked. He pointed over his shoulder at the crowd in front of the medical building. I patted him on the back as he started toward the security shack. I continued on to find the deputy.
The scene before me brought back some bad memories, really bad memories. I saw Kerns standing next to the medical building. He was out of direct sight of most of the people and he had a young woman standing in front of him. Their body language told me that they were having a bit of an argument.
It looked like the woman was reading him the riot act, much as Jessica had done to me the day Jill had been shot. I could still remember her telling me to pull my shit together and do the job. This whole scene was eerily reminiscent of that fateful day.
Rather than barge in, I hung back and waited for them to finish. It didn’t take long for her to infuse some steel into his backbone. His facial features hardened, his fists unclenched, and he took a few deep breaths. She took a step back, said something else and then headed back into the clinic. He looked around and started walking through the crowd with a renewed confidence. He spotted me and worked his way toward me, holding out his hand as he drew close.
“You guys saved our asses today, Mr. Sterling. We owe you one.”
“You owe us nothing, Kerns. We will always help our friends when they need us,” I replied and shook his hand. “Any idea who attacked you?”
“It was Judges men.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I recognized one of them. He was an enforcer that left Lund before you got there. When we were mopping up we checked all of them. They all had scars on their palms.”
“I think those guys are gonna be a pain in the ass for quite a while to come. Too bad we couldn’t have wiped them all out down in Vegas. You gonna be okay?”
“I’m fine, thanks to you. Your doctor said Kaitlyn was in a bad way....” his voice began to crack.
“We’ve got a hell of a medical team here. If she’s got a chance, they’ll grab on and do everything humanly possible. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.”
“I hope so,” he said quietly.
“Where were you headed? If you don’t mind my asking,” I changed the subject.
“Elko. Kaitlyn said we would be safe there.”
“I’m sure we
can make arrangements to get you the rest of the way there.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sterling. I’m sure most of these people would like that. Can I stay here until I know if the Sheriff is going to be okay?”
“You’re more than welcome to stay here if you want.”
“Thank you, sir. I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to go check on the rest of my people.”
“No problem, Kerns. If you need anything, just head over to that building over there. Its manned 24 hours a day,” I pointed toward the security shack. He nodded and moved off.
Ironically, my pickup truck was backed into the same spot it had been the day Jill was shot. I walked over to it and dropped the tailgate. I slid my butt up onto it and let myself get lost in my thoughts. I found myself looking up every once in a while to see if Amanda McHale might be headed toward me. God, would the terrible memories of that day ever fade away?
What was up with Jill anyway? Why the sudden shift from her usual, all business, attitude. I knew she had something on her mind, but I’ll be damned If I knew what it was. Jack. It had to be Jack. Less than 24 hours ago we learned that he was alive and well and he had managed to upset every apple cart at The Ranch.
What was he up to? What was the game this time? He had blurted out some very personal details about Braden’s family at the dinner table last night. Did he do it to knock Braden’s legs out from under him, to get him to shut up and quit asking questions about our sisters?
The two of them had a very bitter past but to do that to him in front of everyone was just downright mean. He could have simply not engaged in the conversation but no, he went nuclear on my brother. Then, when Megan came into the room, he switched moods like a light switch.
That switch got flipped again when I told him we weren’t going to go to L.A. with him. He went off on me, accused me of being a spoiled prince. When he was done unloading, he stomped out of the house like a petulant child.
What was it he said? “I’ll ask one last time that you join me in going after the ARK. I’ll give you one last chance to secure your place by my side. One last chance to ensure the future of your ranch and your family.” what the hell did he mean by that? Even if I did decide to move everyone there, the other ARK’s would still be a threat. If we weren’t here to help out, wouldn’t that mean leaving everyone else out in the wind….”
“Jason?” a softly accented voice disrupted my thoughts. I looked in the direction it had come from and was greeted by Kari and Isabella.
“Yes?”
“Our father has told us of a lookout tower where the view is magnificent. Does such a place exist?” Kari asked.
“It sure does and he’s right, the view is second to none. We call it Hightower and it’s on the peak of that mountain right there,” I pointed, and their eyes followed.
“Would it be too imposing if we asked if you could take us up there?”
“I, uh.... I guess we could go up tomorrow. I’ve got a meeting in a few minutes and we would miss dinner if we went today. Would that be okay?” her question had caught me off guard.
“Tomorrow would be wonderful. We could make a picnic lunch to take with us, yes?” Isabella asked and I nodded.
“Please forgive the questions, but he also said that if you take the horse trail up to the lookout, there is a waterfall? Is this also true?” this was Kari again.
“It’s true. We’d have to leave here right after my morning meeting if we want to be back by dark,” I told them.
“Let us know what time you would like to go, and we will be ready.”
“Meeting is at 7am, we could leave here at eight.”
“We will be ready then. Thank you, Jason,” they started to turn away.
“Wait,”
“Yes?” they said in unison as they turned back to face me.
“I was planning on having a family dinner tonight and I wanted to make sure that you two and Jack would be there.”
“Yes, we will be there. Jill has already invited us, thank you.”
“You’re welcome and, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow's ride. I’ll admit, I was shocked to learn who you were, but now, I think I’d really like to get to know you. You seem like really nice girls.”
“We would like that too, Jason. We have heard so much about you and Braden over the last few months, you almost seemed like mythical creatures, like unicorns,” Isabella said with a smile. That made me smile too.
“I don’t know what Jack’s been telling you but were just a bunch of people trying to keep the wheels from flying off,” I glanced at my watch and slid off the tailgate. After closing it, I looked back to them. “Tomorrow we can swap all of the tales you want. For now, I gotta go to my meeting.”
“Thank you again, Jason,” Kari said, and they turned away.
I turned and headed toward the shack. I figured that I would give Dan a heads up on his impending promotion to Operations Chief. When I had completed that task and he said that he would accept the position, I made my way out to the horse barns. There I found Jill and the kids brushing out her favorite mare and the mustang that I had acquired in Duckwater.
After leaving Blisshaven, I had worked out a deal with Thomas and Anthony to have both horses brought back to the ranch. Good horses were a valuable commodity in this new world. They made good on their promise to bring them home, for a few pieces of gold, of course. Those two were always working the angles to increase the size of their coin purses.
The four of us stayed in the barn until it was almost dinner time and then we made our way back to the house. After cleaning up, we took our seats at the table. I was at my end; Jill was to my right. Braden was sitting in his place at the opposite end.
Megan had just finished putting a platter of baked chicken and baked potatoes on the table. She placed the platters between two large bowls that were filled with sliced cucumber, carrots, watermelon and strawberries. Next came the carafes of coffee and pitchers of water. From the opposite end of the table, I could see that Braden looked tired.
“How’s it coming with the journals?” I asked.
“Slow. Whatever it is that I’m looking for might take some time. I hope you’re not in a big rush,” he replied. Just then, I heard the front door open. Jack walked into the dining room with Kari and Isabella trailing behind him. He paused for a second and then slid into the chair he had occupied the night before. Both girls had waited to sit until he had slid his chair in. Odd, I thought to myself.
“How’s it coming with your rigs?” I directed my question to Jack. So began the poker game I was playing in my mind.
“If there were any wrecking yards around here, I could probably sell ‘em the whole lot for $20,” he grumbled.
“There will be a security team from Elko here later tonight, I’ll have them take that list you gave me and give it to the Major.”
“I appreciate it, Jason. Even then, I think two of the MRAPs are terminal. Both of them are having transmission problems.”
“Let’s see what the Major can do before you lose hope. He’s pretty crafty when it comes to that sort of thing,” I said, he nodded as he slid a chicken breast onto his plate.
“I hope you’re right,” he paused to collect a potato. “I hear you and your sisters are going for a horseback ride tomorrow?”
“Yeah. They wanted to go up to Hightower and I thought it would be a good chance to hang out with them. Jill and the kids are going too. Braden, you guys want to go with us?” I asked. I was trying to see what I could do to control the conversation this time.
“I can’t, I’ve got work to do. They can go if they want,” Braden motioned toward his wife with his head. I didn’t wait for her to answer. I already knew she and my nieces would want to tag along.
“Can I ask you a serious question, Jack?” I drew my first card.
“Sure.”
“Would you mind if I tasked one of my teams to make the run up to Ambrose? They could check on the status of the ranch while you are making your
run south,” he pondered the question for about a half a second before he answered.
“It’s a very remote location. Odds are, your people wouldn’t be able to find it. No offense.”
“Oh, none taken. These guys have been taught how to read a map; all they would need is the ground coordinates. I’m sure they could find it,” I persisted. Hmmm was that an annoyed flash behind his eyes.
“I don’t have the coordinates on me. I’ll get them to you when you get back from your ride tomorrow,” he shoved a fork full of chicken into his mouth.
“That’s fine. I just thought maybe we could help out in other ways.”
“I appreciate it, Jason. You’d be a bigger help if you were going to Los Angeles with me though.”
“Well, we all know that isn’t going to happen. We should probably quit beating that horse,” I quickly turned my attention to my sisters and just as quickly changed the subject on my father. “Kari, Isabella, what was it like growing up in Costa Rica?”
“Oh, well, it was beautiful,” Kari began. “At the ranch there in Fortuna, we had just about everything you have here. We had all the livestock and the nice houses, but we have one thing you don’t have too much of here.”
“What would that be?” Jill asked from beside me.
“The waterfalls! There were several on the ranch property but there was one that was magnificent. In the afternoon, the sun’s rays would catch the mist and it made it look like fire was pouring from the falls. It was beautiful,” by her wistful tone, I could tell she missed it.
“Your ranch is very much like I picture the ranches in the history books,” Isabella piped up. “Like the old-time cowboys and stuff. I like this place very much. It has a beauty that is very different than what we are used to, but it is still beauty defined.”
“I’ve heard that it can be pretty wet during the rainy season. Is that true?” I asked.
“Oh. Very true. We can get rain in one day that will surpass what you get in an entire year. It’s nice because it helps our crops grow and we rely on those more than we do the livestock,” Kari said.
“The thunderstorms are a sight to behold too,” Isabella picked up where Kari left off. “It was three summers ago when our medical building got hit by lightning. Scared the dickens out of everyone!” she chuckled.