“But they’re not forcing private practice doctors, are they?”
“I know you’re usually the one who reads the conspiracy sites, but I’m seeing the writing on the wall. If the dollar collapses, I can see the government mandating a lot more than they have been.”
“You mean like declaring martial law, seizing gold, keeping medical professionals under guard so they can work where the government wants them to work? Things like that?”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Andrea told him. “Which is why I know not going out to eat or the movies is annoying… and now everyone knows where we live… I still feel the safest here.”
“I do too, Andrea,” he said, leaning over and kissing her.
“So, quit being a whiny little bitch and do something,” she told him.
“That’s just it, I don’t know what we need to do next,” he admitted.
“Look in the workshop here. What do you see?” she asked, rhetorically.
“A million billion solar panels. But we’re waiting on Steven to finish wiring the battery house before we start on the panels.”
“Well, what do we need to do to get a field of solar panels up?” she prompted.
“I mean, we clear some land or mow some spots flat, dig posts, build supports—”
“And you don’t know how to do any of that?”
“You know what, I have a feeling you’re trying to get me doing busywork,” Curt said with a grin.
“Or I want you to teach me to run that big tractor.” She smiled. “You can do all the heavy labor.”
That is when it hit Curt like a ton of bricks. His wife had been on the injured reserve list for a long time now. He was feeling useless? All she got to do on the farm was drive around on a souped up, gas-powered Kawasaki utility vehicle, that others sometimes called a golf cart on steroids. He had not only been moping around, but he had missed the signals that his wife had been feeling the same, but deeper and for longer.
“You want to learn how to run the tractor? Shall we set a date and time, or is this some hankering that needs to be addressed immediately?” Curt asked in his best LeBaron impression.
“Oh, immediately works fine for me,” she said with a grin, glad to see him smiling.
The Weavers worked in the medical center. It had been incredibly useful when the police and some of the rioters had needed immediate treatment, but now they were getting things truly organized and putting their electronic helpers in place. They had electronic gate controls and a separate intercom installed, just in case. They also worked on an office area, filling the walls with LED TV screens while the equipment was cheap. They had a mirror setup from what they had in the living room, right there hidden in the middle of the medical center.
Dante had figured if the farm was ever hit, the medical center would be targeted for medication, but having the ability to see who was coming and from what direction had been something they wanted in more than one place. They had considered opening up their own practice right there on the farm or in town, but things felt too hot for them, despite the entire group falling temporarily out of the limelight.
Steven took delivery of the rest of their personal belongings and said hello to his mentor. Luis was looking over the farm. “Nothing much has changed here,” he said with a grin.
“We’ve got new fences up, new gates, motion sensors, cameras and dug emplacements in case we’re ever attacked again. At least that is all I can remember since the last time you were out here,” Steven told him with a grin.
“Si,” he said, “but it’s not noticeable. Except that medical center is famous now,” he said, pointing. “Those doctors have been all over the news, almost as much as your wife.”
“That’s why all the extra protections are in place,” Steven told him. “If I could get claymores and landmines, I’d use those too.”
“All things can be arranged,” Luis said, chuckling. “Where do you want the Garcia boys to unload your trailer?”
“Third cabin down. There isn’t a ton, is there?”
“A couple of dozen boxes and that many totes. We left the furniture. It should be easy to set up as an Airbnb, like you were talking about. Robin Garcia owns a cleaning company, and said she’d love to help you out.”
“That’s Jerald’s wife, yeah?” Steven had heard the name before but could not remember where.
“That’s her,” he said, “You going to be needing some help out in this direction?”
“Jobs running tight?” Steven asked, knowing the construction business was drying up, period.
“Si,” Luis said.
“Hm… I mean, if you three want to help, I think there is a solar project Curt and Andrea have been getting ready for me. They’re out back on the tractor right now.”
“Thank you,” Luis said gratefully. “The crew… the regulars have been taking any odd job they can lately. I do not expect to see many of them back unless we start getting regular work. The Garcia brothers, heck their whole family, they go where I go, and likewise. We’d love to continue working for or with you.”
This had been the moment Steven had been afraid of. The economy had been getting worse and bidding jobs had not stopped, but there were fewer and fewer jobs, and no money for building custom homes. He had not had a call in a month and had resorted to calling on public building projects that counties and cities had published. It was not the kind of work his crew was used to doing, but they could do it.
Except the government and counties had run out of money as well, and there was hardly any work to bid on. Anywhere.
“I’d love to keep you guys busy,” Steven said. “I can ask the group right now if they want to hire you on for the solar job if you want?”
“Thank you, we give a friends and family discount,” Luis said with a grin.
“It’s so good to see you,” Steven said, almost tearing up, hugging his old mentor.
Anna had been packing. She had two different bags going with her. One held her outfits and beauty supplies. Her second bag was a combination of her heavy loadout and her get home bag. Having second thoughts, she had refused to leave the state for the photo shoot, but they wanted her to fly out. In the end, they had compromised, and she had decided to meet the photographers at a gun range both had been familiar with, halfway between Texarkana and where the farm was located.
“Is Steven good with you going?” Angelica asked, helping her drag the heavy bags to the SUV.
“Not really, he wants me to stay, but his crew showed up after doing us a big favor. He is throwing them some work to help out. I’m just helping to pay the bills.”
“The economy is bad now, isn’t it?” Angelica asked.
“Pretty bad. I’m worried about a crash, and Steven doesn’t have any jobs coming in, not for a while at least.”
“I hate to ask, but it’s about Rob’s job…”
Anna laughed and hugged her friend. “He’ll always have one here, and you guys are family now. For the boys, not being the big breadwinners… it is a blow to their egos, but when we started prepping, we prepared for the worst. That sometimes means times when there aren’t any jobs or money coming in. We’ll be ok, and we’ll make sure you guys are too.”
“Will you call Harry while you’re gone?” she asked.
“It’s only a daytime shoot. I’ll be done later on today and drive back tomorrow,” she said with a grin.
“I know, it’s just that… what if… He really loves spending time with you and Steven.”
“I have a sheriff’s deputy who’s going to follow me to the photo shoot, then the company who hired me has a security team who will be in place. The whole range will be locked down, except for shooters who are paid to be there as extras, and the photographers.”
“And the security people.”
“Yeah, them too,” Anna said dismissively.
“You be safe bud,” Angelica said, smacking her on the arm. They doubled up on the bags to get them stuffed in the bed
of the SUV, both small women straining at the weight of her second bag.
“What have you got in there? A case of grenades?” Angelica asked.
“Let’s just say, I’m going to give the gun girl look a whole new paradigm if I have to bust the gear out of this,” she said with a grin.
Rob, Harry, and Ranger had been walking fences all morning. With the crops getting closer to harvest, they did not want to take a UTV all over the place. Hunting season was soon approaching and Rob was taking the opportunity to teach his son how to stalk. They had caught sight of a few deer browsing through the corn, headed for the woodlot. They were moving as low and slow as a big man and a boy with two left feet could. Their saving grace had been that the wind was with them, the deer upwind.
“Let’s go slow,” Rob said quietly. “Ranger, heel up and be quiet.”
Ranger wagged his tail, his whole body shaking and shivering in anticipation of chasing it. Rob’s phone rang, startling everybody as well as the deer. They took off in bounds, their butts to the boys.
“Hello?” Rob asked.
“Hey, it’s Sherry,” Officer Parker said.
“Hey, Officer Parker, how are you doing?”
“Good. Listen, I’ve got preliminary results from those bones that were found on your property,” she told him.
“Shouldn’t you be calling the owners about this?” Rob asked.
“I tried, even your wife, but nobody is answering right now.”
Rob turned to look across the field, able to see over the corn. “Ahhh, looks like they’re all using a couple of pieces of machinery near the big barn. Probably couldn’t hear their phones ring.”
“Ok, well, could…” The cellphone cut out. “Dammit, lost signal,” Rob muttered. “Come on guys, let’s call her back and see what they found.”
Harry followed his dad, with Ranger trailing beside his boy. The woodlot had the closest trail back to the barns, and the open spaces where he could get signal again. The group had talked about getting a signal booster to go along with their satellite dishes, but Rob was the only one who had signal issues at the farm with his el cheapo Walmart special calling plan. It usually did not cut out on him, so it had not really been a worry for a while.
“Ranger, come,” Harry called, but the dog had caught the scent of something and started chasing. Probably had the scent of the deer again.
That is when Rob’s phone rang again. “Hello Sherry, sorry my signal cut out here,” he said.
“That’s ok. I just wanted you to know the technicians were able to get a partial DNA match.”
“What’s partial?” Rob asked her.
“Dad, I want to go after Ranger,” Harry said.
“Ok, watch your footing, you know why,” Rob told him.
“Yes sir,” Harry said, then took off running, yelling Ranger’s name for all it was worth.
“Partial… Uggg, they explained it to me. It’s like a familial match. We know the bones are related to Lyle.”
“Lyle? How'd you get his DNA?” Rob asked, surprised his old boss had come up in the conversation.
“They said the remains found there are a familial match to Lyle. You know what that means?”
“A sister?” he asked.
“Or a daughter or son. A relative. They haven’t told us the sex of the bones yet,” Sherry said, “But I guess that is already in a report that I haven’t seen yet, because it is being run by the sheriff’s department. So, expect to see them sometime soon. I just wanted to give you folks a heads up.”
“I appreciate it,” Rob said absentmindedly. “Are they going to contact Lyle?”
“Of course. But what I told you, that stays between you and the farm, ok? Until you hear it officially. I’m just calling as a friend.”
“I got it. Thank you, Officer Parker,” he said with a chuckle.
“What’s with this ‘Officer Parker’ stuff? You can call me Sherry,” she said with a laugh of her own.
“Do you know how much my little wife scares me? She once told me if she caught me looking at another woman, she’d sew the sheets I was sleeping under to the mattress, then beat me half to death with a broom handle.”
“Shiiiiiiiit. Mr. Little, I pray you and your lovely family have a wonderful life. Give my best to the missus.”
“I will,” Rob said, trying not to laugh.
“And I don’t blame you for being scared, that shit would scare anybody.” Sherry hung up.
“Bye,” he said to a dead phone.
Rob pocketed it and walked the trail until he came to the area he had seen Harry go in, following the dog. He picked his way carefully, dodging the odd branch that wanted to poke his eyes out. Harry’s tracks were easy to follow and, within a couple of minutes, he found them both staring at something on the ground in front of them. Ranger stood squarely on all fours, looking downwards, his head cocked.
“What did you find?” Rob asked.
“Papa, we found another one,” Harry’s voice was quiet, almost terrified.
“What, son? What did you find?” Rob asked, stopping next to them.
Part of the ground had collapsed a long time ago. The limestone cave was much like the one they had found Harry in when he had been hiding from the rioters. A beam of sunlight shone down into the hollow, carved out of the earth itself. At the edge of light, something long, thin and ivory was sticking out of the leaf debris that had been collecting there.
“Some bones?” Rob asked his son, his heart dropping into his stomach.
“Somebody,” Harry said, pointing.
He looked where his son was pointing, a few feet away from the pile, where a human skull sat on top of a larger rock in the cave. It hadn’t been with the rest of the bones, it’d been placed there, and it looked like it had been sitting there for a long time.
Rob swallowed thickly. “Son, make your way back to the group, and have them come here. Take Ranger with you.”
“What are you going to do, Daddy?” he asked.
“Call the police lady back,” he said softly, hitting redial.
“Hey, Mr. Little, forget to ask something?” Sherry asked, answering her phone almost immediately.
“We found another one,” he said numbly.
“Another one what?” she asked.
“Another body, a pile of bones, in a cave on the edge of the property.”
“I’ll be right there,” she said. “I have to bring the sheriffs in on this too.”
“I know,” he said numbly, then hung up.
The group came quickly. They stood around the opening in silence, looking at the second body that had been found at their new home. They were silent, but the afternoon peace was shattered by the sounds of sirens in the distance.
—The End—
This is the end of Book 1. Signup for my mailing list to be alerted for the next book’s publication at: http://eepurl.com/bghQb1
About the Author
Boyd Craven III was born and raised in Michigan, an avid outdoorsman who’s always loved to read and write from a young age. When he isn’t working outside on the farm, or chasing a household of kids, he’s sitting in his Lazy Boy, typing away.
You can find the rest of Boyd’s books on Amazon here.
boydcraven.com
[email protected]
Behind The Curve-The Farm | Book 1 | The Farm Page 22