Pragmatism hadn’t worked for her, though. She’d had the boat at top speed the whole way, not bothering to check on potential leaks or anything. Neil had shoved a sandwich in her mouth at some point, nagging her to chew and swallow until she finished it, though it might as well have been cardboard for all she noticed of its taste. She let Neil take the helm just once so she could pee, and then glared at him until he surrendered the wheel to her again.
“We should be there soon. Get on the radio and let them know we need a pick-up at the docks,” she ordered rigidly. Neil stood there, stubbornly waiting for an apology. At first she just got angrier, but then she realized it was terror making her behave that way.
“Look, I’m really scared right now. I’m sorry I’m being an asshole, but I can’t help it. And I need to concentrate right now. It’s getting really dark, so I can’t think of a bunch of pretty words to convince you. Help me, here!” Pretty or not, her words were enough to get him moving. She had to remind herself that having a husband with a backbone was usually a good thing.
Neil sat down at the navigation desk behind her, and started calling on the radio. Eventually a female voice answered.
“Hey, Neil. Donna here. How’s it going? Over.”
“Donna? Uh, okay. We’re almost home, and we need someone to come pick us up right away. Is anyone available to do that right now, or has Cam arrested the lot of you and stuck you in her new jail? Over.”
“Ha! That’s a good one. I’m sure I can find someone to come and get ya. Cam only stuck that one guy in jail, and he ain’t from around here anyway. Over.”
“So you caught him then? Over.”
“Yup. We were all there. Went off without a hitch. She was smart about it, and we were careful. No worries. You should hear Jim rave about her. What time you need your ride? Over.”
Mackenzie frowned at what she could still see of the shoreline, though relief poured through her at Donna’s words. According to the GPS they were only about forty-five minutes away. She sure hoped the lights on the boat would be able to pick out the features around the docks when they got there, but she’d use the dinghy if necessary.
“Tell her we’ll be there in forty-five minutes or so, though I can take it a bit more slowly now that I know everyone is okay,” Mac told Neil. Neil finished up the conversation, and Ian poked his head into the cabin.
“Did I hear that right? They caught the guy?” Ian asked.
“Yeah. Thank Christ!” Neil responded. Apparently he’d been a lot more worried than he’d let on. Probably trying not to make her worry about the situation even more than she already had been, she realized. Suddenly the view before her got really blurry, and a sob broke free before she could contain it. She just barely had a chance to cut the throttle before Neil had pulled her into his arms. He didn’t say anything. Just held her.
“I thought everyone was okay!” Ian was confused, which made her tears turn into a short bark of laughter. She flapped her hand at him to get him to shut up.
“They’re all fine,” Neil assured him. “She’s just venting.”
“Oh. Okay,” he replied, still sounding unsure. Mac started giggling, though she still had tears in her eyes.
“It’s hard to explain,” she finally said. “That’s the thing about having kids. They can scare the living shit out of you. It doesn’t matter if you trust them and you know they’re smart. I don’t know what I would have done if she’d become a cop or gone into the army. Doubt that’s a concern anymore, but what she’s been doing has been bad enough.”
“You’re a nut,” Ian said.
“Tell me something I don’t already know. I probably wouldn’t be crazy if I’d never had Cam. Then again, you don’t have any kids, so what’s your excuse?”
“Watch it, or I’ll have Bella bite you on the butt!”
“You can say ‘ass,’ you know. We’re all grown-ups here. Besides, I think Bella likes me. She’s not gonna bite me,” Mac said, then wiped her eyes and got the boat moving again. Even if everyone was safe, she was still anxious to get home, and get back to what had become her daily life. That thought made her wonder if her daily life would still exist when she got home. It sounded as though everything had changed.
Chuck was waiting with one of the crew cabs when Mac let the boat drift slowly toward the dock. It was hard not to be disappointed that Cam wasn’t there to meet them. Neil had already packed everything they had brought with them, so they were able to disembark as soon as Ian had jumped down and tied off the mooring lines. Neil picked up Bella, and lowered her down to Ian, and climbed down the ladder. Mac kissed her fingers and patted the boat with them, murmuring her thanks for it getting them back again safely, despite Neil scraping the sandbar. Then she climbed down to the dock and gave Chuck a giant hug.
“Hey Mac,” he said, grinning down at her.
“Hey Chuckles. Hear you’ve had some rough weather around here. You doing okay?”
“Not too bad. Cam caught the guy,” he said, which let her know he was willing to acknowledge the situation.
“So I heard, though I think there’s a lot more I probably haven’t heard. Hopefully I’ll get the whole story when I get home. Where’s Cam then? I mean, she caught the guy, so why isn’t she here?”
“She’s trying to decide whether or not to shoot your ex, I think,” he said with a laugh.
“Jesus. Which one?”
“Mitch again, though I don’t think she’s too happy with Allan right now, either.” Chuck explained the latest situation while they got their gear loaded, and finally got themselves buckled into their respective seatbelts.
“I think I might shoot him myself! What the fuck was he thinking? Anyway, Chuck, this is Ian. And Bella, of course. Ian and Bella, this is my friend Chuck.” Ian reached over the seat to shake hands with Chuck, and then Mac continued the conversation.
“You know, I think Cam has been more patient with Mitch than I would have been, and she hates him. Mitch has this nasty habit of not taking things seriously. Particularly women. And Cam is young, so he probably didn’t think there was a serious reason for the guy being locked up. I don’t think he’s going to be with us much longer. I’ll talk to him first, but in all the years I’ve known him that’s one aspect of his personality that’s never changed.”
“Well, I think the real reason Mike is locked up has been kept pretty quiet, so Mitch probably only knows about him stealing food. Not that, uh, well, the stuff with Katherine,” Chuck said. Mac could see the sheen in his eyes from the dash lights, even though they were dim. She wanted to comfort him, but knew from experience that sympathy could make a person even more emotional.
“Wasn’t anyone guarding him?” Neil wanted to know.
“John was out there, but had to take a quick bathroom break. There’s no way for Mike to get out, so he didn’t think it would be a problem. Besides, you know what he’s like. Nice guy. Good kid and everything. Just doesn’t think anything through yet. He’s still pretty immature, and it’s not like he’s got any training for this kind of thing. Jim chewed him out for it, so I don’t think he’ll make that mistake again, but he’s been taken off guard duty. Cam’s not letting me anywhere near the guy, either, which is probably for the best,” Chuck said. Mac patted him on the arm.
“It’s better that you won’t have the chance to do something you’d have to live with. Trust me on that. Cam knows what she’s doing there. So do I. Gilles probably already told you what happened after Cam was born, I’m guessing?”
“Yeah. I think he was still in shock. Not at what you did, but that none of us knew the whole story. You could have told us, Mac. We would’ve understood.”
“Uh, Mac? Who the hell did you kill?” Ian’s question had her hanging her head.
“My first husband. I’ll tell you the whole story another time, but it was self-defense, and yes, Neil knows all about it. I’m pretty sure everyone at the farm knows now. You boys gossip worse than a bunch of hens. I didn’t tell anyone becaus
e I was trying to make sure Cam didn’t have to deal with any of that while she was still a kid, and then later I just didn’t want to talk about it,” she said, uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation.
“But you told Cam anyway,” Chuck said.
“Because she was trying to deal with killing Gerry. You saw what she was like for those first six months. Completely disassociated from everyone and everything. And that’s what she’s trying to spare you from, Chuck. If you do something you can’t take back, believe me when I tell you you’ll regret it. Not because of what happens to the other person, but because of what it does to you. It changes you, whether or not you think it should.”
Neil hopped out when they got to the concealed gate and went behind the tree to press his thumb to the pad. Ian watched in amazement as the gate swung open.
“You said you were paranoid, Mac, but I don’t think I really believed you until now,” he said as Neil hopped back in the truck and closed the door.
“Well, now you’ve got proof. Neil was my one shot at total reckless abandonment. Pity he’s been so irritating lately, because now I can’t get rid of him,” she needled her husband. He needled her back in a more direct way by poking her in the ribs, making her yelp. Chuck glanced into the rearview mirror at Ian.
“Ignore them. They’re always like this,” he said. Ian laughed.
“I know. I had to share a boat with them. Bella shows more dignity,” Ian replied. Mac just rolled her eyes.
“By the way, Ian. I’d advise you not to touch Cam,” Mac warned as they were getting out of the truck in front of the main house. Chuck waved and headed back toward his cabin.
“You calling me some kind of pervert? Jesus. I’m only, what, thirty years older than her?” He looked mortally offended in the light shining over the front entrance. Neil laughed, shook his head, and went into the house to look for Billy and Cam.
“That is not what I meant. Get your brain out of the gutter. I meant when you meet her, don’t try to hug her or anything. It freaks her out, and you’re one of those touchy-feely people. She’ll start running away every time you’re around otherwise. Just shake her hand and she’ll be okay with it.”
“I thought you wanted me to teach her jiu-jitsu? How the hell am I supposed to do that without touching her?”
“That’s different. It’s physical affection she can’t stand from people. Even me. It’s not anything that happened to her. She just doesn’t like it. Fighting with someone won’t bother her in the slightest.,” Mac explained.
“Didn’t you say she’s had boyfriends and all that?” Ian wondered.
“Yup. She’s okay with sex, apparently, but she kicks them out of her bed afterwards. Every boyfriend she ever had has complained about it. She won’t cuddle, and won’t spend the night. I always thought maybe she’d meet someone one day where she’d feel comfortable that way, but considering the state of the world now, it’s not bloody likely.”
“Wow. You’re all crazy, I think. Every one of you. Besides, don’t most guys think that’s the ideal woman?”
“They start out that way, until they get serious about her, and then they’re all upset that she isn’t the clingy type. Weird, I know. Mostly it’s that she likes her space, and she hasn’t found anyone she’s fallen in love with yet. But she’s happy this way, too. She never really cared about having a boyfriend, so it doesn’t matter.
“Anyway, this is it! What do you think? Well, what do you think of what you can see of it at least?” Mac asked him. Ian looked around, peering into the darkness. Mac decided to look around, too, wanting to see the changes.
“How many buildings are there? I’m seeing at least five or six, though just barely.”
“I’m not sure now. Kelly and Annette live together in that big building there, which is where all the ferrets are housed. Chuck and his family are in that cabin. Carol and Samantha have the small one over there. Allan’s little cabin is behind theirs, so you can’t see it from here. Gilles and his wife are there, while her daughter and son-in-law, which is the John we mentioned earlier, are in that one. John’s parents, Jim and Donna, have their own cabin as well, and the one that’s partially finished is for Lisa and her little boy, Jake.
“Kirk and Leigh have Neil’s old place, but it’s about a ten- or fifteen-minute walk from here, across that bridge. I’m guessing the tent is where Mitch is still sleeping. Hmm. That little building in the middle must be the new jail cell where Mike will be living for a while. Good location for it, but I’ll have to take a look at it from a construction standpoint when it’s light out. Wonder what they’re doing for plumbing,” she muttered to herself.
“Holy fuck!” Ian exclaimed. Mac’s head jerked up.
“What?”
“What do you mean, ‘What?’” Ian was gaping at her. “You’ve got, what, twenty-some-odd people here. You said ‘Chuck’s family,’ so I don’t know how many that is.”
“Wife and three kids. From the sounds of it, he could very well end up being a grandfather, too. We’ll have to wait and see. It’s not like the kid will have a choice if it turns out she’s pregnant. Abortion is no longer an option, though it would be far safer in her case,” she said sadly.
“Where did all these people come from?” Ian asked.
“Me, mostly. I can’t help myself. I even offered to bring Sharon, Vigo, and Denny back here. I guess they’re okay, though. They have neighbours that are still alive, so at least they’re not alone. Well, let’s head inside and see where the hell my wayward daughter is.”
At the sound of shouting, Mac turned to Ian.
“Never mind. I found her,” she said with a laugh. “Come on. I’ll introduce you to Miss Crankypants.”
Mac didn’t want to interrupt whatever was going on, because it could be something serious, so she walked up to her daughter without calling out. When she heard what was being said, however, she almost started laughing.
“You’re so lucky my mother isn’t here,” Cam was winding down. “But I can tell you this much. If she decides to kill you, I’m not throwing her in jail for it!”
“Well, thanks! Will you help me hide the body, too?” Mac couldn’t help it.
“Mom! Oh my God! When did you get here? And why didn’t anyone tell me you were coming?” Cam ran over and flung her arms around her, shocking the hell out of her.
“Sure, make a liar out of me,” she muttered, but hugged her back. “Wow. You must have missed me.” Cam pulled back.
“No. I’m just happy I’m no longer going to have to deal with this kind of bullshit,” she snapped, flapping her hand toward Mitch who looked seriously pissed. Mac figured it was probably something to do with the earlier incident, so she wasn’t about to smile at him.
“Yeah, I heard something about that. Have you told him why the guy was in jail, or is he still under the impression it’s for stealing food?”
“Oh, he knows, but apparently raping a fourteen-year-old girl isn’t a big deal in his books, and he thinks we’re all overreacting. He knew exactly what Mike had done when he tried to let him out,” Cam snarled.
“How the fuck is it rape when she said she wanted it?”
“Mitch,” Mac growled, her mood instantly changing at his words. “Are you telling me that you’ve been out raping fourteen-year-old girls?”
“No! You know me better than that.”
“I don’t think I do, if you can stand there and tell me it was okay for another man to do it. You know it’s wrong for you to do it, but not for someone else? That doesn’t make any sense to me. In fact, the only thing that makes sense is that you’re lying, and that you have no problem with the idea of raping a child. Do you understand what it means to give consent? Are you at all aware of the definition of sexual assault? Did you know that sixteen is the age of consent in this country, and that there’s a good fucking reason for it?” Mac was beyond livid, and she could see Ian’s disgust on his face. She knew how he felt about pedophiles, but then all decent peo
ple felt that way.
“I thought it was fourteen!”
“No, it’s not, unless you’re less than five years older. Any older than that and it’s sexual assault. The very thought that you could stand there and try to justify a grown man raping a child sickens me. You can’t stay here. You’ll have to find somewhere else to go, and you won’t be welcome back,” Mac said, rigid in her anger.
“We can do the same thing for him that we were going to do with the pedophile before we found out about Katherine,” Cam suggested.
“What’s that?”
“Gilles was taking him to a hunting camp beyond walking distance, and leaving him with the supplies he needed to start a small farm. He wouldn’t die, but he’d be away from decent people,” Cam sneered. Mac nodded.
“Let Gilles know. Mitch, have your things ready tomorrow if you prefer that to simply getting kicked off the farm and starving. You’ve been learning how to deal with animals and gardening shit, I hear, so you probably won’t die.”
“Mac, listen. You can’t do this to me. I walked all this way so I wouldn’t be alone.”
“I don’t actually care, Mitch. You’re a piece of shit. I don’t ever want to see you again,” Mac said, and walked away. He must have started to go after her, because she heard Ian’s voice.
“If you take one more step, I’ll break every fucking bone in your body. And if you get past me, she’ll kill you. You’re already scum. Don’t be stupid scum.”
Mac smiled and continued walking without bothering to turn back. She walked with Cam back toward the house.
“So, when did you get here?” Cam asked.
“About two minutes before you saw me. Donna was on the radio. I guess everyone thought you needed to finish dealing with Mitch before they told you. We must have got back before you were done.”
“Between getting Mike back into the jail cell, and reaming out Mitch, that doesn’t surprise me. Plus Gilles had to tell him why he was being detained, and read him his rights and all that. We’re trying to do things according to the original laws as much as possible,” she explained.
Tipping Point (Book 2): Ground Zero Page 27