Chapter Three
Shay shook his head and changed the subject, “Let’s hope your call tree to the neighbor comes through.
” He gazed down at the book sitting on the table.
“At least we might be able to use this to form some sort of map, maybe even figure out Soleman’s plan of action.
” He turned back to Mindy. “What else do you know about this son of his? Is Salvador as insane as Soleman is?”
Mindy nodded her head. “I think he bought into his dad’s ideals but since he hooked up with Louise, he’s gotten more than just crazy.
” She glanced at Maudie. “You called it beta come tout? Well, Soleman tried to keep his son under his thumb but I don’t think beating a guy is the right way to do that? Do you?”
King paused at this and asked, “What do you mean, beating a guy?”
Mindy shook her head and explained it, “Back home, Soleman ruled that compound with an iron fist. You didn’t dare even speak up or you took the risk of his security team stepping in.
They would drag you to the shed and by the time you came back out of that shed they were dragging your beaten bloody body out and just drop you in the dirt.
You usually stayed there in the dirt for an hour or until you could wake up on your own.
No one would come to help you or they risked the same beating.
Salvador visited that shed many times. I think Soleman even forbade him from seeing Louise but she put an end to that.
I don’t know how but the whole compound heard them arguing later the same day he gave Salvador his last beating.
After that, Salvador and Louise began living in their own wing of the main house.
That was three years ago. Soleman then acted even more paranoid.
Will Salvador come looking for his father?
” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know if he even cares if Soleman is alive or not.
But if he does come here, he might just want to know if he’s really dead but for his own reasons.
He never had a chance to become a decent person under that man’s rule. ”
“What are the odds that Salvador will take over his dad’s compound?” Teige asked.
Mindy looked over at him and replied, “That might be what he’s really after.
Louise has the knowledge to build her own bombs.
She learned how to from Lester Diamond. We never really knew what Soleman was up to, only his council knew that.
But I have a feeling Salvador knew. Is he going to follow his father’s exact plans? ” She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“But those three bombs mean something, don’t they?” Shay surmised.
They all went quiet at this summation. The one thing they all did fear was for someone to come along and plant bombs in the swamps.
Boomer had just sat listening to everyone but now he leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. “You could ask Trudy to look into this sonofabitch. You know this is something right up her alley, right?”
Shay turned his head to look at him. Then he nodded. “Yeah, I know and I also know she would be more than happy to do just that, but something feels off about this whole thing. I can’t explain it but something isn’t right here.”
Maudie gasped and her hand flew to her chest as she had to sit down quickly and quietly. Now her face looked ashen.
King stared at her, his concern very apparent. “What’s wrong bae? Are you feeling poorly?”
Maudie turned her head and tears appeared in her eyes. “I just felt a sudden pain in my heart, cher. Something bad is coming our way.”
“Where be it coming from?” Leeza asked quietly.
Maudie looked over at her and whispered, “From the north. I can feel the cold darkness coming from the north.”
Leeza, Rhetta and Renee grabbed their weapons.
“We’ll check things out,” Renee said.
Colt and Tannin went with them. The five of them left out the back door.
King had dragged Maudie over to his lap and they sat while King tried to calm his woman.
Shay shook his head and reached for his phone. “I guess I have no choice but to call Trudy and see what she can find out.”
Boomer shook his head. “No, I think you should wait until whatever is coming here gets here. If you get a gut feeling then you need to listen to that feeling. Maybe just contain who all is involved.” He stared at Shay.
“Sometimes that gut feeling of being in danger or something being wrong is exactly what’s going on around you.
You’ve been in enough battles to know that. ”
Shay nodded. “You’re right, I’ve gone head-to-head with the world’s worst men and women and that feeling is getting stronger. Something is coming and it's almost here.”
The room went silent and tension went high.
Out in the swamps...
Leeza, Rhetta and Renee made their way silently through the brush. They had come far from Maudie’s place as they traveled fast in the last two hours. Colt and Tannin branched out further but kept the girls in their peripherals.
They all moved silently through the brush. Everything was silent, then Tannin noticed it was all too quiet. He whistled a soft bird call and everyone stopped.
They all came in closer and when all five were together, Colt looked at his brother and whispered, “What’s going on brother? Why did you stop us?”
Tannin looked at his brother and then at his cousins. “Listen for a minute.”
They all looked around and listened. One by one, they all noticed what Tannin had noticed.
Leeza finally broke the silence, “There’s someone else in these trees.”
Everyone else nodded.
“What do we do?” Rhetta whispered.
Leeza looked over at her cousins. “We go high and we watch,” she whispered too. “Fan out and go high.”
Everyone split off in another direction then they began climbing the highest tree they could find.
For about twenty minutes nothing moved. It seemed like even the swamp held its breath. Then they all heard someone running below them.
A young woman carrying something came out of the trees while running then ducking for cover.
Tannin stared at the spot where the woman ducked under cover and paused, he hadn’t seen her face but there was something very familiar about her. He gazed around at the area again.
They all heard more running footsteps but no one came into view. Then the footsteps seemed to be fading.
Leeza motioned she would stay up high but the others should go down and see if the danger had passed.
He and Colt shimmied down the tree they were in.
Colt began searching the area whereas Tannin went directly to where the woman had gone to hide. As he got closer he heard someone sniffling.
He pushed his way through the outer brush and when he parted the larger plants that’s when he saw her.
This couldn’t be right. She left this place five years ago.
She had dreams of going to a school far from here.
She wanted to get away from her father and this swamp and she was going to do it with or without him. .. Bethy. It was her.
When she looked up at him her eyes widened. Then she whispered, “Tannin? What the hell are you doing here? You left the swamp...” Her voice cracked. “You just up and left.”
Tannin shook his head. “You were leaving too. You told me you wanted out. You wanted to see the world beyond this place.”
Bethy scoffed. “Yeah well, plans change, don’t they?” she growled.
Finally, he noticed what she carried in her arms. Then when the small face turned to look up at him, Tannin gasped and stepped back. “Who and what the hell is this?” he whispered.
Bethy sighed hard and looked down at the child in her arms. “This is my son Micah.” She snapped her head up to glare at him. “You’ll notice I said my son, right?”
Tannin tore his eyes away from the child and looked at her. “He might be your son but he’s got my eyes, doesn’t he? IS he mine?”
The boy buried his head in his mother’s neck and whimpered.
Tannin reached out to Bethy and she hesitated for a moment then she reached out to take his hand. He lifted both of them to her feet and then he hauled her out of the brush.
Colt stood there in the wide path and when he saw her, his eyes widened as his gaze went from her to the child in her arms. When Micah raised his head and looked around, Colt froze at first then he looked from Micah to his brother.
He noted the similarities between Tannin and the child. He slowly shook his head in confusion.