Brushfire Plague: Reckoning

by R. P. Ruggiero

  Cooper felt the blood surging across his temples, “You mean…” He was unable to even form the question.

  Julianne’s face was alive with the excitement of explanation, “Yes! They wanted to just make China happen now! And, if you had invested everything you had there, guess what? Your wealth wouldn’t just be protected, it would multiply beyond belief!” She finished, breathless.

  “I don’t want to think about it. It’s too much.” Cooper said, waving his hands. He stood up quickly and walked away.

  “But you have to, Cooper. The websites still up are on fire about the Chinese sending troop ships over. Right now! They will likely start landing in a few weeks.”

  Cooper shook his head in despair, “What?”

  “Well, you know how we’ve had scattered reports of police and military with their medical personnel?”

  He nodded wearily.

  “I think those reports were favorable enough for the Chinese to green light a full-blown invasion,” she was breathless.

  Cooper could muster only a lackluster nod of his head. “Well, at least there is some good news?”

  Julianne cocked her eyebrows and drew back in surprise, “What’s that?”

  “The bastards gave the world too much of a dose and the planet that China will inherit is a big stinking pile,” Cooper’s words dripped with dark sarcasm. Julianne shuddered when she saw the black look on Cooper’s face.

  He went back inside. His heart ached and he was despondent. Angela and Doug were still cleaning up from Dranko’s surgery. They must have moved him to one of the bedrooms because he wasn’t there or on the couch. He stormed past them, not wanting to talk to anyone right then.

  Angela’s hand caught his wrist and stopped his attempted escape. Their eyes met. Her eyes pleaded with his to tell her what troubled him and what feelings consumed him. He saw the welcome comfort that she offered. He desperately wanted to embrace her, open up to her, and bathe in the solace he knew she could provide. But, as his heart began opening to Angela, he recalled the ferocious intensity of his attraction to Julianne. His desire and connection to Julianne defied logic and vaulted the obstacles that should have made his heart a dead stone to her. And, he could not forget the way her lips had felt on his just days ago.

  Their eyes remained locked. He watched her gain hope at his first thoughts and then the disappointment as she could tell his thoughts had drifted to Julianne. He felt miserable at his indecision and the hurt he caused her.

  “I’m not ready,” he whispered to her. She nodded, but disbelief at his words clouded her eyes.

  He descended the stairs to find some solitude in the basement. His mind raced. I’m losing my son to the ravages of despair and hopelessness. My best friend is clinging to life. Julianne tells me that my wife and a billion others died for the cause of money? I’m torn between two women and I cannot make heads nor tails out of it! His head sank into his hands. He wept futile tears.

  The ham radio crackled. Julianne must have left it on.

  “Sheriff Hodges, you there?”

  Cooper looked at it for a moment, confused. But, then he deliberately picked up the handset, “Yes, I’m here.”

  “Do you have the package?”

  Cooper’s confusion was replaced by clarity, “Yes.”

  “Good, the Governor will be pleased. Meet at the rendezvous as planned.”

  The cold comfort of revenge stiffened Cooper’s heart and he welcomed it. His mind raced to a possibility, “That’s a no go. It is compromised.”

  “Say again?”

  “The rendezvous is compromised.”

  There was a long pause. “Please authenticate with the password.”

  He cursed them for having good Operational Security in place, but then his grin turned sinister, “Three. Oh. Eight.”

  Another pause, “What? Say again.”

  “Tell the Governor. Three. Oh. Eight. That’s the caliber of the bullet I’m going to bury in his goddamned brain for what he’s been a part of.”

  “Who is this?” the voice on the other end asked, indignant.

  “Nobody. Just a man who is going to get to the bottom of the truth.”

  “How dare you! Threaten our Governor. Who the hell is this?”

  “Just tell the Governor that I know just what he did for a new fistful of dollar bills…or Chinese Yuan. And, he’s going to pay for it.”

  Silence lingered for a moment, “What? Who is…”

  Cooper clicked the radio to ‘off’. He smiled at the rage rising in his belly, which was pushing away the confusion and despair. He knew what he had to do next. He resolved on Elena’s soul and his son’s childhood that the Governor and the rest involved in the Brushfire Plague’s conspiracy would be burned. Yes, his mind churned, burned by a brimstone fire that only the truth can stoke.