Chapter 10 #2
“That would be awesome.” Ollie hugged Elena, whose brows rose at the unexpected move. Then she gave Ollie a quick squeeze, and they walked toward him.
They hit the library, and with Elena’s help, Ollie soon had a stack of outdoor and wilderness books that he helped her carry.
They’d printed the promised material as well, then returned to the cabin to find Piper and David in deep conversation with Maya and Gideon.
Gideon leaned against the kitchen counter with arms folded, expression strained.
The others, seated at the kitchen table, leaned toward each other.
They were all clearly in the middle of a tense discussion.
Ollie took one look at the four of them, sighed, and shook her head.
“I’m going to take a shower. I don’t want to know.
Yet. Give me a little while before you have to drop any bombs on me.
” She snagged a drink from the fridge and took a swig.
She then grabbed three books from the stack Sully had set on the counter and aimed herself for her room.
Sully patted her shoulder as she passed, and Elena shot her a sympathetic look. Once she was gone, Sully let his gaze sweep over the others. Elena helped herself to a drink too, then pulled up a chair.
“Where are we?”
Piper’s lips tightened. “David and I went out to scout a little more. More fences have been cut and there are ATV tracks all over those areas. It looks like the preppers are moving closer.”
“That doesn’t sound like preppers,” Elena said. “They didn’t use ATVs when I was there, and maybe that’s changed by now, but I can promise you the preppers I knew wouldn’t leave tracks like that. They’d find a way to cover them.”
Sully frowned. “You think it’s the other guys we saw?”
“Possibly. Unless it is the preppers and they just don’t care at this point?
” She wrinkled her nose. “I can’t see that being the case, but then this isn’t the normal, nonviolent group that I was born into.
The group here has always been an outlier.
” She hesitated. “Maya thinks they’re a cult.
I haven’t wanted to believe it, but I can’t deny it either.
Or it could just be a few bad apples in the basket.
Either way, we need to keep trying. I’ll ride out again and see if I can find someone.
” She looked at David and Piper, who were staring, mouths open at the information she’d dropped, and she cleared her throat.
Gideon simply looked thoughtful. He spoke for the first time, voice low but certain. “From what I’ve seen, I have to agree with Maya. And not just because I’m married to her. I think ‘cult’ is the right word. And it’s obvious we’re not dealing with amateurs. These guys are trained.”
Elena pinched the bridge of her nose and gave a short nod. “My . . . uh . . . sister lives up there. My dad too. At least I think they’re still there. No one will confirm it, but I’m convinced they’re there.”
“Going back out there is a terrible idea,” Sully said. “I saw Lindy Grace’s reaction to you and it wasn’t warm and fuzzy. She was scared and I think she was scared for you. She warned you to stay away. You’re the last person who should go up there.”
“But I think I have to. They know me. They don’t know you.”
She said it like it was so simple.
“I’ll go back,” David said. “And I’ll take some of my guys with me. And this time, we won’t come back empty-handed.”
“No,” Elena said. “That won’t work either. They’re not going to talk to you. And they might just shoot you. The people we saw didn’t seem to have an issue with violence.”
She was right. Sully pictured Boss Man with his weapon pointed at the prepper’s temple.
For a moment he’d thought the man might shoot.
But he was a professional. He’d read the situation.
Pulling the gun established the pecking order.
He was in charge no matter what anyone else wanted to think.
With the prepper backing down—and no one else coming to his defense—that just reinforced the message.
Gideon leaned forward. “She’s right,” he said, echoing Sully’s thoughts. “We can’t escalate this. The moment they perceive us as aggressors, we’ll lose any chance at intel—or de-escalation. We need to think tactically, not emotionally.”
David’s iPad buzzed and he grabbed it. “Someone set off one of the alarms at the south fence line, which means they came across Reeves land.”
“Isn’t that the one we just repaired?” Maya asked.
“Yeah. Billy and Van should be near there. I’ll get them to check it out. And warn the Reeves about these people. They’ll want to check their fences too, and beef up security.”
His phone rang and he answered it and listened for a short moment before his eyes went wide. “Call an ambulance,” he told Sully. “Billy’s been shot.”
“What!” Sully dialed 911 and slapped his phone to his ear while Maya lasered in on David.
“Put him on speaker,” she said. “I need details so I know what to bring.”
Sully fed information to the dispatcher as soon as Van gave it. “Broken Chains’ south fence line just inside the tree line on the south fence.” He pictured the layout in his head. “Okay, best access is through the ranch entrance and a guard will point the way.”
He hung up to hear Van still talking.
“. . . shot in the thigh. Bleeding a lot. I had to move him to cover and I’m sure that didn’t help, but I’m putting pressure on it.”
“I’ll grab the first aid kit at the big house and then head out there.” Maya raced to the door, flinging the words over her shoulder.
David rushed past her. “I’m on the way now.”
Sully wasn’t sure who the man was speaking to. Either Van or Maya or all of them, but the door slammed behind him, leaving Maya gaping for a split second before she opened the door once again.
“I’m going too,” Elena told Sully and Maya.
“No, no, no, this may be some kind of trap,” Sully said. “Wait for the ambulance and local police to get there.”
Maya and Elena exchanged a glance. “This is what we do, Sully,” Elena said. “We help people. We can’t risk letting that poor man bleed to death.”
Sully sighed. “Of course not.” He looked at Piper. “You’ve got Ollie?”
“I’ve got her.”
He nodded to the others, then narrowed his gaze at Gideon. “Can you please stay here for added protection?”
Gideon hesitated, his eyes on Maya, clearly not wanting to let her go.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Help keep Ollie safe.”
“Fine,” Gideon said, “but you call if you need me.”
“Absolutely.”
Sully headed to the door. “Let’s go then. You may need someone with a gun who’s licensed to use it.”
“We all have guns and licenses to carry,” Elena said.
“I know, but you don’t have time to fend off attackers and deal with a man who’s hurt.
And it’s less red tape if I fire mine as a federal officer.
” It sounded good even if it wasn’t necessarily true.
There would be so much red tape. “Let’s just avoid shooting anyone and keep things really easy. Ready?”
“Ready.”