CHAPTER 41
Riggs
It doesn’t get any better than this.
Barely dressed in our underwear, we’re having breakfast in our hotel room and Maddie is radiant.
I love everything about her—the way she almost snorts when she laughs, how independent and strong she is, and how her eyes smile when she’s trying to suppress a grin at how much I eat.
I finished off my eggs Benedict, and I ate all the fruit garnishes while drinking half the pitcher of orange juice. She’s eaten about a third of her frittata and hasn’t touched her side of hash browns.
She sets her fork, spoon, and knife on her plate. That’s when I know she’s done. She sees me staring at her food and does that thing—the smile in her eyes while she tries not to laugh. “Here you go, big guy.”
As soon as she slides her plate over, I take a big bite of the frittata. “Thanks,” I say with my mouth half full. Damn, it’s good. She always orders better food than me. Maybe I should start getting what she gets.
She watches me eat with an amused look, then turns serious all of a sudden. “I’m nervous about what your sister is going to say.”
I swallow my last bite. “It’s all going to work out.
You’ll see.” Might as well get this over with so she can relax.
I set my phone on the table, put it on speaker, and place the call.
It rings several times before we get a greeting that says to leave a message.
“Elsie, it’s me. Call me back.” I hang up, then turn my attention back to the beautiful girl in front of me.
“She’s probably in a meeting or something. ”
“Bummer. I’d like to get this over with.”
My phone pings. “That’s her.” I tilt my phone so we can both see the screen.
Elsie: At the vet with Odie and Arlo. I’ll call you later.
“Those are her Siberian Huskies, but they’re more like her children. I swear she loves them more than me and Ash, or anything else for that matter.”
“A lot of people are like that with their dogs. What time is it there?”
I check the world clock on my phone. “3:35 in the afternoon. What do you feel like doing while we wait? There are a lot of things to see around here. We could go—”
“How about a walk on the beach? We can do all that other stuff later, after we know she’s not going to put a hit out on you.”
Hmm. I can see she’s starting to understand my sister. And I can’t blame her for being nervous. We’re not out of the woods yet—close, but not quite yet. In the meantime, it looks like she’s not going to be able to enjoy herself until I’m officially out of the network’s contract. “I’d like that.”
The weather is nippy, but we’re dressed for it. The lake, with the surrounding landscape, is beautiful in the same way Sweetbriar is. With our gloved fingers interlaced I take in the cool, crisp air with a prayer on my lips that nothing will ever come between us again.
“I can’t believe you bought the fabric shop.”
“It was the only way to get you to come.”
Sharing my thoughts about what the next few months could look like, it feels like we’re old friends, like I’ve known her since grade school. How does that happen? I’m not sure, but it’s not lost on me how fortunate I am to have found her.
Not letting go of her hand, I turn to face her. “I asked Elsie to buy the shop because I had to see you again. I was dying inside without you.”
Her eyes drift up to mine. “It was hard for me too.” She stops and makes a footprint in the sand then studies it for a moment before turning her attention back to me. “What happens when we leave here?”
I turn, and we start walking again. “You mean when we get back to the States?”
“Yeah. Where will you live?”
I assumed we’d live together, but we haven’t discussed it. Would I stay with her in her new apartment until I buy a house for us? Maybe a ranch. I like that better. But I don’t think this is the time for that conversation. One step at a time, and the first step is getting out of the contract.
“I’ll get a place in Sweetbriar.”
“Your own place?”
I laugh. “No, of course not. I’ll get a dog. It’ll be our place, mine and the dog’s.”
“Oh, good, you had me worried there for a moment. I was afraid you’d want to move in with me. I like you and all, but I like having my own place, and besides, I’m not ready for that kind of commitment.”
My heart drops all the way down to my stomach where it’s slowly digested in a pool of acid. What is she talking about? She’s not ready for that kind of commitment? Then what, on God’s green earth, are we doing here? “Um… I was—”
“Unless you’re willing to agree to a few things,” she says cutting me off.
A few things? “Like what?”
“Well, for starters, I want to sleep in on Sundays. You have to agree to wash my hair in the shower at least once a week. You have to promise to just hug me if I’m grumpy when I’m on my period.
We make dinners together. We always tell each other where we are and when we’ll be late.
When I ask how I look, you have to tell the truth, even if it’s bad.
If I cry for no reason, you have to hold me and tell me how everything is going to be okay. You have to—”
I pull her into a hug and give her a kiss. She kisses me back, and I know everything is good. No, it’s better than good—it’s going to be great. I draw back and meet her gaze. “All that and anything else you want, I promise.”
“Good, then you’ll do all the laundry. I’m glad that’s settled.”
I can only laugh. “I did say ‘anything,’ didn’t I?”
My phone pings as Maddie’s phone chimes, indicating we both received texts.
Rhonda: Y’all need to get your asses over here, pronto.
Ash: What my sweetheart is trying to say is there might be an opportunity for the girls to work on the film crew. We’re talking to them now.
Maddie: How does that work?
Rhonda: We’ll explain when you get here. Hurry!
This is an interesting development. “We should probably head over there.”
Concern is written all over her face and I’m not sure why. “Yeah. Do you know where they are?”
“I do. It’s about twenty minutes away.”
On the way there, I explain some of the problems the studio is having with the project. “The producer assured the network that he would be able to film everything, but that’s turned out to be more of a challenge than he anticipated.”
“How so?”
“Well, originally they planned to use all-terrain vehicles to follow us, but they’re loud, and since the wildlife we come across is one of the biggest appeals to our audience, that’s a problem.”
“They probably need the vehicles to transport all their camera equipment, right?”
“That, and they haul trailers with beds and food, and there’s even a trailer with bathrooms and showers.
They’re too big. They won’t fit in a lot of the places where we’re headed.
I don’t know what they were thinking. They should have consulted with us, but in their arrogance, they didn’t feel like Ash and I had anything to contribute so now the whole thing is one giant cluster-fuck. ”
“Why don’t they just have you and Ash film everything with your GoPros like you’ve always done? Judging by the number of views your videos get, that seems to be working.”
“That’s been debated… many times. Their big cameras and drones can do a lot more, so the producer is determined to make their equipment work.”
“How have you been doing it? You aren’t carrying enough camera batteries for three months, are you?”
I turn off the main road into a warehouse district. “We do actually… well, sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“You know I’m an engineer, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, out of necessity, Ash and I came up with a tiny charging system. It’s hard to explain, but it weighs next to nothing and it’s small enough to fit in a side pocket of your pack.
I wish I had one to show you. Anyway, it expands, or opens up rather, similar to the way a satellite does in space.
That gives it enough surface area for the solar panels to do a quick charge, and it also has retractable fan blades that work with both wind and water.
If the sun isn’t out, we can use wind or a small creek to do a quick charge.
And if either of those aren’t available, it has a hand crank.
We can charge our batteries by hand in less than thirty minutes. It’s how we made our first billion.”
I wince at the memory of our sister seeing it for the first time.
She has a tongue that can cut you to your core and a vocabulary that can make you feel like the dumbest idiot ever.
“Elsie called us dumbasses when she saw it.” I shake my head at the recollection of that classic Elsie episode.
“And numb-nuts along with a few other things. She was in rare form that day. I think Ash and I still have a little PTSD from it.”
Maddie laughs. “Let me guess—you two were using it for yourselves and never even considered the value it could have to campers, or the army for that matter. Elsie started selling them to the Pentagon, didn’t she? You mentioned she signed some big contracts with the military.”
I love how smart she is. Veronica would have given me an exaggerated yawn with, you know this stuff bores me so why do you insist on bringing it up?
She never wanted to know anything about what Ash and I were doing, mainly because it drew attention away from her.
It didn’t bother me, probably because I really didn’t care about her, not that much anyway, but looking back, it’s all so clear now.
She and I could talk about one thing, and one thing only, her.
But with Maddie, I can share everything, we can talk about anything.
Even this conversation, as benign as it is, reminds me of all the reasons why I can’t lose her.
“That one was a contract with a clandestine agency actually. The deal also included some other things Ash and I came up with, like a device that made it possible for Elsie to track our location anywhere in the world.”
Her brows rise into arches. “Clandestine? Like the CIA?”
“What can I say? Spooks love their James Bond gadgets. It’s not like we set out to make anything for them.
We just needed the stuff for our crazy adventures.
We didn’t think much of it, but like you said, Elsie recognized the value and she’s the one who made it all happen.
She took a lot of our other gear and started producing it for the military.
Someday I’ll have to take you on a tour of her little empire. ”
“I’d like that, but it doesn’t sound so little.”
“No, I guess it isn’t.”
“So, back to the film crew, what’s the latest? Do they have a plan?”
“Does it matter? After I talk to Elsie, this whole thing is over, remember? I’m not going anywhere except back to Sweetbriar with you.”
She gives me a relieved smile, like she’s as pleased about that prospect as I am. “You’re right, it doesn’t matter. What do you think Ash is going to say about all this?”
“I think he’ll be glad. He was just as miserable without Rhonda these past few weeks.” We pull up to a giant metal building with a small sign on the door that reads National Discovery. “This is it. The network rented this whole complex for their base camp.”
As soon as we step inside, Maddie’s eyes go wide.
There are six all-terrain vehicles, each with ten wheels—two in the front and eight in the back.
They’re painted army-green and covered with antennas.
Together, they look like a small military unit.
Next to them are dozens of black Pelican crates sitting on the concrete floor alongside large cameras on tripods that are set up and ready to go.
Two girls are flying small drones around the vehicles.
Each drone is equipped with a small camera on the belly.
Then there are six fully enclosed trailers designed to be pulled by the all-terrain vehicles.
They take up the most space. Two of the trailers have rows of windows on the sides.
Those are the sleeping quarters, which are small but cozy inside.
Several people are scurrying about, frantically tending to preparations, adjusting cameras, and staring at their iPads like nothing else exists. It’s been this way since my brother and I arrived.
Ash and Rhonda are by one of the trailers talking to some men. I lean down to Maddie and lower my voice. “That tall, lean guy talking to Ash is the producer. The two guys with him are his assistants. The producer goes by Top.”
“Top?”
“His real name is Trey Kahlil. Top is what they call a first sergeant in the Army. I don’t know if he chose the nickname, or if it was given to him, but either way, he runs a pretty tight ship.”
Maddie’s brows arch. “That guy is in charge? How old is he?”
“He looks younger than he is. We thought he was in his early twenties, but he’s thirty-three. So far, he’s a nice enough guy to work with. I have no complaints.”
Ash waves us over. As we’re walking toward them, Top shakes my brother’s hand, then Rhonda’s with a pat on her shoulder like they just agreed to something. With their business complete he looks at his watch and says something to Ash before walking away.
“What was that about?” I ask.
Ash turns to Rhonda, like he’s not sure if he should answer or let her tell us.
Rhonda is beaming and blurts out, “They said we could work on the film crew! Elsie set the whole thing up. They’ll be doing five-day rotations, but we can be on the same crew.”
Maddie throws her hand up. “Hold on. Start from the beginning.”
If Elsie set this up, it means she understands how important these women are to us and she wants to help. That’s good.
“It’s complicated,” Ash says, “but they’re going to leapfrog the crews. Each team will go out for five days while the other team goes to the closest city and stays in a hotel to rest.
He explains about a million other details, like how the teams plan on using electric mountain bikes with small trailers to haul equipment up the narrower trails.
The all-terrain vehicles will try to stay parked ten to fifteen miles ahead of us.
It’s a workable plan as long as their people don’t keep quitting. That’s a different problem altogether.
“Anyway,” Ash says wrapping things up, “the jobs are yours if you want them. You’d be assistants, but you can choose to be apprentices if you want. They’d start teaching you how to do everything they do.”
Rhonda is practically bouncing up and down. “I’d love to be an apprentice, and this way, we’d all get to be together. At least most of the time!”
Maddie crosses her arms. “Let’s talk about this.”
Clearly this isn’t sitting well with her, but before I can figure out why, my phone rings. “It’s Elsie.”
As I bring the phone to my ear Rhonda guides Maddie by the arm toward the door of the trailer next to us. “Wait until you see where everyone sleeps.”
Ash turns to me. “See what she wants, then we’ll take Maddie on the full tour.”
Maddie looks up at me with a shrug, like she’s not sure what to do.
I don’t know what to tell her, not yet. “I’ll catch up to you,” I mouth then turn away to answer the call. “Elsie! How are Arlo and Odie?”