But then she recognized the woman. Cameron sucked in her breath so fast from the shock that her saliva caught in her throat and she started to cough. Her first instinct was to run out there and confront them both, but a small voice in the back of her mind advised caution. Whatever was going on here was a bad thing, and she needed to get to the bottom of it. Maybe it was just an affair, but maybe it was something a whole lot more sinister.
She very sincerely wanted to smack her dad upside the head at the moment, because she couldn’t think of any good reason why he’d be getting himself involved with the mother of the man she had killed. But then, maybe he didn’t know who she was. Still, he at least had to know she was married, because he was keeping their relationship a secret.
“You gonna stand there staring out the window all day, or are we gonna get this trailer loaded?” Chuck’s voice carried across the shipping bay, echoing slightly. Cam shook her head to clear it, and tried to ignore the sick feeling in her gut. They had a job to do. She would have to figure out what to do about her dad later.
When they got back to the farm, Cam didn’t even bother unloading the truck and trailer. There was no urgency there, and she had something a whole lot more important on her mind. By the time Chuck had pulled away from the hardware store, there had been no sign of her dad, or of Geraldine, but she hadn’t expected any. People conducting clandestine affairs generally didn’t bang one another in the middle of a street where anyone could see them. In fact, it had been a little stupid of them to meet on the street in the first place, because she herself had seen them.
The problem, of course, was that she had no idea when her dad would get back so that she could talk to him. He must have left the farm the day before, in order to walk so far in that length of time, which meant he’d probably disappeared right after she’d complained that he wasn’t there for her. It made her understand once again why her mother hadn’t stayed with him.
Thinking about it, she realized this wasn’t the first time he had given some woman priority over his own daughter. He’d done it when she was really young, which had resulted in fights between him and her mother. Finally her mother had issued an ultimatum. He either had to do what he said he was going to do, or he wouldn’t be allowed to see Cam. It must have been shortly after her parents had split up, because she vaguely remembered the woman her dad had been seeing at the time, and that she hadn’t liked her very much.
She considered his situation as she walked over the bridge to get to Kirk and Leigh’s cabin. It wouldn’t be hard to find at least one of them puttering around the place, and Cam needed someone to talk to. She preferred talking to Kirk, but she was pretty close to Leigh, too. They were the only people she could really trust to keep things to themselves, because they were her own friends, rather than just people who were in her life because of her mother.
Cameron found both of them outside with their archery equipment, which made her sorry she hadn’t thought to bring her own. She could have used the practice. For now, though, she would need to interrupt theirs. After a quick greeting, she explained what was going on.
“Oh. Shit. That’s bad. That’s really bad,” Kirk moaned.
“Tell me about it. It gives me a whole new perspective on the kind of person she is, and I let the filthy woman hug me! Hell, I cried on her shoulder. God, I can’t stand cheaters,” Cam snarled.
“You have no way of knowing what their marriage is like. He might be beating the shit out of her, or maybe they were about to get a divorce when suddenly their kid is dead and the world goes to hell. Now they can’t,” Leigh said pragmatically.
“If she was being beaten, I’m sure my dad would know, and I guarantee he would have made sure she got away from her husband. It’s possible they were splitting up, or that me killing their kid ruined their marriage, but they sure didn’t act like that when I was there. I only met her once, and him twice, so I can’t be sure, but I just didn’t get that vibe from them. Of course, I didn’t get the vibe that she was fucking around on her husband, either,” she said bitterly. She was really starting to feel like a fool for crying on Geraldine’s shoulder.
“I don’t know what to tell ya, Cam. All I can say is that I don’t think it’s a good situation. Even if it’s just them having an affair, the last thing we need right now is to have some crazy husband showing up at the farm, pissed at the guy fucking his wife. As shitty as it is, you’re going to have to do something about it. Not only is he your dad, but you’ve also got to deal with all the shit on the farm right now, so you’re stuck with the job.”
Kirk was right, she knew. There was no one else, and it was her responsibility for the moment. If her mother was here, it would have been her dealing with it, but she wasn’t. Cam was really starting to resent Ian for her mother’s absence.
“What I’m worried about, is what her intentions are,” Cam said, gnawing at her bottom lip.
“Well, yeah. She could be madly in love with your dad, of course, and she hasn’t known for very long who it was that killed Gerry, but she could have started something with him just to get inside information on what was going on at the farm. I’m sure by now she knows exactly where we all are, and what our set-up is. It’s not a good thing. I hope you took care of the holes in the security where that guy was getting through.”
“Of course I did, Kirk. I improved on the original set-up a bit, too, I think. Not only did we get the camera back in place so that everything is in view again, but I made sure there were screenshots printed so we can verify that the cameras are still pointed to the same place. I even kept an extra copy of them in my own file, in case someone fucked around with it and printed new reference images to keep people from being suspicious.
“Instead of moving the sensor by the dead tree, though, we cut up the tree and moved it. Mom will find a use for the wood, I’m sure. We checked all the other sensors, and I’m going to walk both perimeters every once in a while to make sure that doesn’t happen again without us knowing about it. Mom is going to freak out when she gets back, and finds out nobody told her about all this shit happening, but we did a damn good job taking care of everything.”
“You won’t get any argument from me, though I don’t envy you when she gets back. She’s going to chew up one side of you and down the other,” he said.
“I know. I’ll have to wait out the storm, and explain my reasoning when she’s done having her shit-fit. I know I’d be pissed, too, so I can’t blame her but it’s not going to be much fun for me.”
“Well, what was she going to do, other than worry? Every time you had a problem, you resolved it long before she’d have been able to make it back here to do anything,” said Leigh.
“I know, but she’s not going to see it that way. At least not at first. She has every right to be kept in the loop, just like when I got pissed at Gilles for trying to take charge. He and Chuck were making plans without consulting me. The plans were the same as mine, so the result would have been the same, but they kept me out of the loop. It pissed me off, and it’s going to piss her off, too. Still, it won’t be a question of her not trusting me after this or anything. She might not believe I’ll tell her everything if she has to leave again, but she’ll at least know I can handle whatever comes up,” she finished.
“Won’t be much comfort while she’s chewing you out, but it’ll pass,” Kirk said. Cam had to laugh. It didn’t matter that she was an adult. The thought of getting in shit with her mother still had her stomach knotting. Then again, her mother was pretty intimidating when she was riled.
“So when do you think we can get together again for a real game night? I really want to see what everyone thinks of that game once we’ve really gotten into it,” Leigh said.
“God, I wish I could. We still have to ship off that asshole who was stealing from us, and we’ve got two cabins to get built. Of course, Mitch is going to be stuck doing a lot of the work himself, because I want him to get a taste of what it takes to
do the shit we’ve been doing. He won’t be laughing when he’s got splinters, and blisters on top of blisters. Might be the first he’s ever earned anything in his life, and I’m looking forward to seeing that,” Cam said, grinning evilly.
“You already know that game is great, babe,” Kirk said, poking Leigh’s shoulder.
“I don’t know. Lisa was right in a way. I mean, we’re already dealing with all that shit, so how is it any fun for anyone?” Leigh looked worried, so Cam put in her two cents.
“Of course it’s fun! It’s competitive, for one thing, which isn’t something we can do in real life. And for another, the consequences aren’t real. It’s not the same thing at all. In a way it’s just like The Sims. You can do stuff in the game that you can’t do in real life, like drowning your Sims, or starving them to death. And you get to try different ways of doing things, to see what works best. Of course, I’m hoping you’re planning to make other kinds of games, too, so we have a little more variety. No rush, though. We’ve still got a zillion games to play. I made sure of that when mom and I were planning for all this.”
“Well, the next one is definitely different, but I’m not telling you anything more about it. Trade secrets,” Leigh said with a smirk, which had Cam rolling her eyes.
“Yeah, because the competition is so fierce out there now. Industrial espionage is at an all-time high, right?” Cam’s sarcastic comment had them both laughing, and the ridiculous statements only got worse from there. By the time they decided to go inside the cabin to get something to eat, they were almost wheezing with laughter. Cam forgot about her problems with her dad until they had finished eating, but then she brought it up again.
“It sounds mean, but the two of them looked silly together. Not just because she’s tall and he’s short, but because he’s not at all someone who would normally attract a woman like her. She seems so polished, and dad is really rough around the edges. And no, I really don’t want to hear comments about his potential skills in certain areas. It’s not something I want in my head.”
Kirk and Leigh laughed, but decided not to pursue that particular topic.
“Yeah, it doesn’t seem likely someone like that would fall in love with your dad. Some immature women might go for bad boys, or whatever, but that’s not really your dad’s thing either. He’s more the cute and cuddly type,” Leigh put in.
“Ugh. Okay, forget I brought it up, because there isn’t any part of this that I’m really comfortable talking about or imagining,” Cam said, wrinkling her nose. “I’d better get back. I told Chuck I’d come back later to deal with the trailer, and it’s going to get dark soon.”
“Alright. You know where we are if you need backup,” Kirk said, making her smile. She didn’t know what the hell kind of backup she would need for a confrontation with her dad, but it was nice to have friends who were there for her anyway.
“I don’t wanna be dumped off in the middle of nowhere,” Mike whined, as Chuck blindfolded him and they led him to the truck. The trailer had been hooked up to Chuck’s four-by-four, which was the only one that used gasoline. There were two other four-by-fours, but they used diesel, and Gilles’ truck was just a rear-wheel drive. Eventually, when they ran out of gas, it looked to Cam as though they were going to have a lot of scrap metal they could use. When she made that comment to Gilles, though, he corrected her misconception.
“Nah. Most of the cars have a lot of plastic on them. Not that we can’t find a use for that, too, but there isn’t as much sheet metal there as you might think. There’s some fibreglass, too. Very useful for certain applications, though.”
“Like what?” she wondered.
“We can use them as roof tile, for one thing. They’re waterproof, don’t rust, and don’t rot. All the cabins we’ve been building are going to start leaking eventually, because we haven’t been using proper roofing materials,” Gilles replied.
“Does my mom know this?”
“Of course. But we all needed places to live right away. We’ve got some of that thick plastic sheeting over the roofs, top and bottom, but even though that will keep the water out it will also trap moisture so the wood rots faster. For now, we’ll fix what needs to be fixed until we can come up with another solution.”
“But how the hell did people do roofs before they had roofing tile? I mean, there must be a way where they weren’t getting rained on or whatever.”
“There are lots of different ways to put on a roof, like those adobe roofs that were used on Spanish houses. It would take us a long time to start making our own bricks and tiles, though. And the fact is, roofs start to rot and leak eventually, and need to be replaced. Even the ones using regular roofing tiles. Roofing companies could give a warranty of a certain length, but it still meant replacing the roof in twenty years or so. Don’t worry. We’re all doing okay with what we’ve got for now,” he finished, patting her shoulder.
She didn’t take offense at the gesture, because it wasn’t meant patronizingly. He was just offering reassurance. Granted, she wasn’t the touchy-feely kind, but it didn’t bother her. At least nobody on the farm tried to hug her.
“You and Chuck going to be alright with this guy?” she asked, making Gilles laugh.
“I think we can handle this putz. We are cops, you know. It’s kind of what we do,” he reminded her. She grinned sheepishly.
“I think I’m starting to do the same thing my mother does. Jesus. She worries about every damn thing, and now I’m doing the same.”
“It’s called responsibility. Wait until you have kids. I don’t have any of my own, but I watched my friends go through it. I mean, look at Chuck. Not only does he have to worry about his own safety when someone like this Mike comes along, but he’s got a wife and three kids he wants to keep safe, and the fact is you can’t protect someone twenty-four-seven. It’s impossible. We just do the best we can.
“You’re worrying, because you know everyone’s safety and wellbeing has become your responsibility, and if you fuck up then other people suffer for it. It’s actually a good thing that you’re aware of it. Not everyone is able to understand that, and the fact is you’re holding up really well for what you’re having to deal with. I gotta say, I’m impressed. Then again, Mac wouldn’t have raised an idiot. A weirdo, maybe, but not an idiot,” he said with a smile.
“Look who’s talking … jerk,” she said with a grin, and a quick punch to the shoulder. She was starting to see why her mother was friends with Gilles, who hadn’t impressed her initially. The first time she had met him was after killing Gerry, and he’d been really nice to her then, but when he brought his family to the farm, she began to think he was an arrogant know-it-all.
He liked to mock women, too, which pissed Cam off at first. Her mother just gave as good as she got, however, which Gilles took no offense at. Maybe he really was just teasing, even though that hadn’t been Cam’s experience with men who made chauvinistic jokes. They quite often hid true misogyny behind the mockery. In the long run, Cam had decided she just had to trust her mother’s judgment. There was no way her mother would be friends with a guy who hated or disrespected women.
She didn’t ask Gilles any questions about where they were taking Mike, because she didn’t want Mike to overhear and figure out how to get back to the farm. Instead she just stood there and waved them off when they left, accompanied by the music of Mike swearing at her through the open window in the back seat. He wasn’t taking his situation very well at all, she noted with a smile.
A wave of relief went through her. They would continue to keep watch, and make sure the farm was safe, but no longer having a visible threat would be a major morale booster. No one had enjoyed seeing someone under guard, and it wasn’t as though they had a jail cell set up for that sort of thing. Chuck and Kayla had made sure their kids were kept from seeing it, and Jake was too small to understand anyway, but it had still been uncomfortable for everyone else.
Her dad wasn’t back, so th
ere wasn’t a damn thing she could do about that. The only other problem she might encounter now, was Mitch, but he seemed to be doing okay. He couldn’t live in a tent for the rest of his life, however, so she went to the house to grab a copy of the building plans they’d used for the one-room cabins, and then tracked him down. When she found him he was leaning against one of the goat pens, watching them and smiling.
“Hey Mitch,” she said, causing his smile to disappear.
“Cam,” he acknowledged. His tone had been emotionless. He was still being careful, which was for the best. Cameron didn’t want to be friends with him. She just wanted him to do his part and not fuck things up for everyone else.
“We got some more supplies from the hardware store, so you can start building your own cabin if you want. Ask a couple people to help you with some of the awkward or heavier stuff. Everyone here is willing to help everyone else, just so you know. They’re not afraid of a little bit of work, and nobody wants to see anyone suffer or do without. You’re learning the ropes just fine according to Gilles, and there really isn’t that much work with so many to do it. Believe it or not, you could have your own cabin in a couple of days, if you ask enough people to help.
“We haven’t really been rushing with Lisa’s place, because she’s already got the room in the house. We also needed to get more wood and stuff. We’ve got the trees for the outer walls, but they’re not so great for the inside part unless they’re planed and dried. At least according to my mom. She’s always complaining that it would be so much better if we had a wood kiln, but I honestly don’t know what it’s all for.
“Anyway, here you go,” she said, and handed him the papers. “Make adjustments if you need to.” She was already walking away when he spoke.
“It’ll be nice to not have to sleep in a tent, so thanks.” She didn’t turn around, but just lifted her hand in a wave to acknowledge what he said. God, was she ever looking forward to having her mother back on the farm. This responsibility shit sucked.
Tipping Point (Book 2): Ground Zero Page 20