Chapter 8
Jeremiah walked the perimeter of the yard with Dayton. As they neared the side of the fence where the empty lot was, Jeremiah pointed to the footprints. "It looks like he came from the lot. The mud in the grass leads from that corner up front, through the gate, and to the back patio."
Dayton nodded as he followed the path of the muddy footprints. "And the door was locked."
"Yes."
"But the gate wasn't?"
Jeremiah shook his head. "No, but it will be from now on. I had the electronic lock installed today with the other cameras."
Dayton pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped a few times. He held his hand out to Jeremiah. "Let me have your phone, I'll make sure everything is logged in and you're able to see anytime you need to."
He handed his phone to his brother, grateful he was so good at all this computer stuff. Jeremiah could manage some on the computers, but he'd rather do anything else.
Dayton tapped a few times and lost himself in setting everything up. Meanwhile, Bryce sat on the patio, watching them work, enjoying the late afternoon sun and the unusually warm day. But Jeremiah knew he was thinking.
Finally, Bryce took a deep breath. "What did Tommy say?"
"He would let the guys at the station know what was going on, and they'd locate Mercer and keep an eye on him.
Tommy called this afternoon before we left Rolling Thunder to tell me that an officer spotted Mercer driving toward the house and began following him.
It must have spooked Mercer because he turned away from here and hasn't come near the house at all this afternoon.
He said they'll keep the pressure on him. "
Bryce nodded. "He will too."
Jeremiah laughed. "That, I know."
Dayton handed Jeremiah his phone. "Here's the icon for the security system."
Jeremiah tapped the icon.
Dayton continued. "Here's the feed for each camera. You can see them all on this one screen. When you want to look at one closer, tap it."
He tapped one of the feeds. It expanded, and he saw himself and his brothers here in the backyard. He grinned.
Dayton said, "You can see the entire backyard up to the gate. You can see the gate is here, but until it opens, you can only see where it is."
Dayton walked over and opened the gate. Jeremiah saw it open on his phone and nodded. "Got it."
Dayton closed the gate and stopped next to him. "To go back, tap at the bottom here."
Jeremiah followed directions and nodded.
Dayton took a breath. "I have it set up to save on the Rolling Thunder servers.
Right now, they're being saved for six months.
We'll see how quickly that fills up, and we may want to cut it down.
If nothing is going on, there's really no need, and if something does happen, you can save individual instances on the server indefinitely. "
"Okay. For right now, in case Mercer does anything and until I get used to this, let's leave it as it is. But we'll probably need to reduce the timing on them in the future."
Dayton nodded. "Just let me know when, I'll take care of it."
Jeremiah hugged his brother. "Thanks, Dayton."
"Any time, really. We need to keep you two safe, and that baby, too. I'll also install this on Joci's phone, and it'll be on both of your computers, too."
"I appreciate it."
Dayton nodded to move toward the house. Jeremiah made sure the lock on the gate was secured, then walked toward Bryce. "Want a beer?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
Jeremiah laughed. "You know the score, Bryce. Help yourself anytime."
"I'm just busting your balls."
They sauntered inside, where Dayton was explaining the software to Joci. She smiled at them as they entered, and he winked at her. As they were talking about the software, his phone pinged, and so did Joci's. Dayton said, "That's your camera telling you someone is here."
Jeremiah pulled up the camera feed and saw Mercer's car driving past the front of the house. He rushed to the living room to see the back of his car. Bryce followed him and stared out the window at the car. "That son of a bitch," he muttered.
"At least now we'll have every time he drives by recorded."
"That's perfect." Bryce chuckled. "Harassment during probation is a no-no. The threat of putting him back in jail might be enough to stop his line of thinking.”
Jeremiah nodded. "We can only hope."
Dayton finished Joci's tutorial, then started working on the computers. Joci brought him and Bryce a beer. "You guys want some fresh bread with honey butter on it?"
Bryce's hand flew to his stomach. "Aww, hell yeah."
Jeremiah laughed and nodded. "That's two of us."
Dayton hollered from the kitchen. "That's three of us."
Joci laughed and disappeared around the corner to the kitchen. The black sedan drove by again, slower this time, and he heard Joci's phone ping, then his. He glanced from the chair near the window into the dining room to see Dayton looking at him. He nodded but said nothing more.
Bryce muttered, "Fucking lot of nerve."
Joci entered the room, carrying two plates with thick slices of fresh bread and melted honey butter on them.
She handed Bryce his first, then she delivered his plate and kissed his temple.
She didn't say anything about the cameras, but he saw her eyes look out the window before she retreated to the kitchen.
He turned to Bryce, who leaned forward. "We're all here for you."
Jeremiah leaned closer to Bryce, lowered his voice, and said, "I want Joci to have the Thanksgiving she wants tomorrow."
Bryce nodded. "She'll have it."
Jeremiah took a deep breath and sat back in the chair. He took a bite of the fresh bread his wife made, closed his eyes as the flavors mingled together in his mouth, and once again sent up thanks for the life he had.