6. Cody
CHAPTER 6
Cody
With my foot ramming the accelerator to the floor, I drove the tractor along the muddy track between the cornfields as fast as the rusty old beast would go. The sun had long disappeared, and my faded headlights barely illuminated the uneven path ahead. Yet, in the distance, the bright lights of the canning shed carved through the darkness, casting sharp beams across the area between the factory, the homestead, and the old barn.
It was odd to see those lights on. Usually, by this time, everyone had gone home for the day, and Bruce and Uncle John would have already downed at least two beers.
I should have been planning the burning of that cornfield, but I couldn’t start without the help of Bruce and the farmhands. My confrontation with Bruce and that damn accountant still simmered in my mind, and on top of that, the extent of bug infestation was pissing me right off.
I had so many questions swirling in my mind: How did the bugs get here? Why hadn’t Bruce checked the field? What would the costs be from this devastation, both mentally and financially?
The plantation’s reputation was at stake. A reputation I’d been working on for over a decade.
Where the hell was Uncle John? I needed to tell him about the bug problem, but his truck wasn’t parked in its usual spot at the base of the steps to the homestead. He still hadn’t returned from his trip to town. He was probably at the pub, glued to the screen, watching the Cowboys play their rugby league quarterfinal. If they lost, Uncle John would stumble home both drunk and furious.
That was going to make talking to him about the Fall Armyworms even harder.
As I neared the homestead, two more bright headlights sliced through the dark, and I frowned as the semi-trailer pulled out of the canning shed. It was leaving about an hour later than it should have. Bruce was going to be pissed about that too.
If both Bruce and Uncle John were already angry, trying to reason with them about burning that paddock would be damn near impossible. But I had to. We needed to set that field ablaze come dawn tomorrow.
It was going to be a long night.
Frustration twisted in my gut as I parked the tractor in front of the old barn and killed the ignition. As the engine ticked and cooled, I grabbed my basket of bug samples from the back.
A muffled scream came from inside the barn.
Frowning, I spun toward the entrance. The barn was mostly dark, except for a dim light spilling over the row of old horse stalls at the back. That was weird; nobody used that area anymore.
The terrified cry reached me again, sharper this time.
I dumped the basket of specimen jars and sprinted into the barn. The whimpers of my dying dogs rang in my ears, and I wondered if I was hearing things as I raced toward the light.
Bruce stepped out from a horse stall, hands on his hips, a scowl etched across his face. “Ah, for fuck’s sake. What are you doing here?”
I strode right up to him, heart racing. “What’s going on?”
Another cry echoed through the old timber, sending a chill down my spine. I peered into the stall and froze. “What the fuck!”
A woman lay on her side on the filthy floor. Her hands and feet were tied behind her back, and a gag muffled her cries. Her wide eyes radiated pure terror.
I whirled to Bruce. “What the hell are you doing!” I demanded.
“Caught the stupid bitch trespassing,” Bruce said, shrugging as if it were no big deal.
I glared at him, anger boiling over. “What? Where?”
“Found her in the paddock.”
“Trespassing?”
The woman shook her head, trying to scream through her gag with panic written all over her face.
“I reckon it has something to do with your bugs. She’s sabotaging our farm.” A smug expression crept onto his lips.
“What?” My mind raced, trying to make sense of his statement. “Why?”
“How the fuck should I know? But it can’t be a coincidence that you found those bugs on the same day I find her snooping around.”
The woman shook her head again, her fear piercing through me like a knife, dragging me back twenty years to the memory of my mother, face down with her hands tied behind her back.
“Who is she?” I demanded.
Bruce’s scowl deepened. “She had no ID. Don’t tell me that’s not suspicious.”
I glared at her; she shook her head and screamed through the gag again, her wide eyes pleaded for help.
“Let her talk, for fuck’s sake.” I stepped toward her.
Bruce shoved me aside, and I stumbled, catching myself against the barn wall.
“What the hell, Bruce?”
He loomed over me like a WWE wrestler, all muscle and menace. “I’ve called the cops. Let them deal with the bitch.”
A surge of fury burned through me. “You can’t keep her like this! She’s terrified!”
Bruce scoffed, crossing his arms. “What do you want me to do? Make her a cup of tea? She’s a trespasser. So back off, Cody.”
My mind raced as I took in her flaring eyes. “Maybe there’s another reason she’s here. Did you even ask her? You can’t just assume she’s out to sabotage the farm.”
Bruce’s face hardened. “Don’t be fucking naive. She didn’t just stroll here by accident. I caught her creeping around, instead of asking to talk to anyone. That’s enough evidence for me.”
Another muffled cry echoed from the woman as she wrestled against the ropes binding her wrists. Memories of my mother’s arrest flooded my mind—the blue vein that zigzagged down her forehead as she screamed her fury, the fear that made her eyes bloodshot, the cop pinning her to the carpet, refusing to let her speak.
“Let me talk to her.” I barged past him.
“No!” he barked, shoving me back.
“Hey.” I punched his shoulder. “You can’t do this. Look at her—she’s terrified.”
“Yeah, that’s because she got caught snooping. She knows she’s in trouble.”
“You’re not a cop, Bruce.” I glanced at the woman. Her fear was real. There was more to her story than just trespassing. “You can’t tie her up like that.”
“Yeah, I can.”
This wasn’t right. I stepped toward her.
Bruce blocked me, using his body as a solid wall of muscle. “Back off, Cody. I’m warning you.”
The rage simmering in his eyes was enough to tear me apart with his bare hands.
What the hell is going on? This is more than just a woman trespassing.
Clenching my jaw, I took another step toward her.
“I told you to back off, you stupid bastard.” Bruce rammed his fist into my stomach.