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How can she think I could ever be mad at her? Especially for something so obviously outside of her control.
Before I realize it, she’s standing from her chair. “Goodnight, Jesse. I’m glad you came tonight.”
It sounds like a goodbye, but my thoughts are moving too fast and I can’t formulate an articulate response. Nothing I can come up with seems good enough or appropriate in this situation.
She walks past me and a breeze of a touch brushes against my hair. So light as if I imagined it. By the time I can react, whipping my head around to look at her, she’s already disappeared down the hallway. “Goodnight, Sunshine,” I whisper into the darkness.
Within minutes, I’m pulling my phone off the side table, needing to speak my peace. I don’t want her to go to bed thinking that this is over. I should have said it before she left the room, but my brain needed time to process all of my thoughts.
Me: I want you to give me a chance, Thea.
My phone buzzes in the darkness not five minutes later. A text with her name on it.
Thea: I can’t give you a normal relationship. I wish that I could. Please, consider that before we both get in too deep…
Me: Too late, I’m already in deep. Sleep well, baby.
* * *
I pull in through the rusted gates that normally block the driveway to Jameson’s farm. You can’t see it from the road, the front half of the property is thick with trees and brush. When I got the text from Curtis this morning to meet at 9 a.m., I had to kick it in gear to get here on time.
I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Thea again before I left Nathan’s, but even after we sat and drank our coffee, the girls were both still asleep. It was probably best that I was pulled away. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Thea told me and it was taking everything in me not to mention it to Nathan. He’s my best friend, my only confidant, but I’d never betray Thea by talking about her behind her back.
I send her a quick text as I’m parking by the other vehicles around an old run-down barn. It’s the only place I’ve been on the property since these jobs started. Curtis says the parties happen in the house but I haven’t been invited to one of those yet.
Me: Had to get back on the job. I’ll see you soon, Sunshine.
I turn my phone off and slip it in my back pocket as Curtis walks up to my truck. “You ready for this, man?” He asks me like I know what the hell is going on.
“Ready for what?”
“Jameson has an important job to tell us about. Says it’s worth more than all the other stuff we’ve done so far.”
It sounds ominous but I follow him into the barn anyway, nodding at the familiar faces I see. It’s hard to believe so many guys are like-minded enough to follow this jack asses lead, but here we are in a room full of them.
The quiet chatter continues for a few minutes until suddenly everyone stops their conversations mid-sentence, watching Jameson enter from the far side of the building.
“Thank you boys for coming today. We needed to gather here, on the day of our lord, because we need to discuss the plague that is happening in this country and what we need to do to stop it. This is supposed to be one country under God, but we have left our morals behind to follow a tyrannical government.” Everyone murmurs in agreement.
“A government that has sacrificed all of us standing here today for their own agenda. Beaten us down, watched us suffer, and offered no assistance. I gathered you all here because we need to show them what happens when they disrespect the real patriots of this nation.”
The crowd around me cheers, bellowing from their lungs. I manage to raise my hands to clap, trying not to stick out like a sore thumb.
This guy is delusional. He’s managed to come up with a cause generated from bullshit. He wasn’t injured in combat, he is the product of all of his own mistakes. Now he’s using religion as a scapegoat for his agenda.
He’s grasping at straws to make these people follow him, and unfortunately, it’s working. I watch everyone around me hoot and holler for this leader of theirs, all of them ready and willing to betray their government.
This group of extremists is one of the worst kinds because it’s filled with uneducated, unorganized, and chaotic individuals needing any reason to cause anarchy. I look around, memorizing as many details as possible about every face I see. I don’t know all of their names but I need to. This could be bad.
“We’re making plans, boys. Big plans. And I need you to be ready!” He shouts to the crowd. The barn erupts in more applause.
This is insane. I glance to my right where Curtis stands, he’s cheering along with the others, but there’s a slight hunch to his shoulders that tells me he’s not quite sure about all of this. The damn kid should never have gotten mixed up in this.
“Alright. Let’s get to work.” Jameson rallies everyone to follow him to another location on the property and I’m not remotely prepared for what I discover.
Chapter Twenty
Thea
