Page 71 of Bound in Ashes

“Who the hell is Travis?” I asked, grabbing bags out of the back.

“Him,” Miles said, pointing at a man who ran over. “One of the new guys.”

“Let me help out and grab that,” the man said, reaching for one of the heavy bags at the back of the truck.

“Getting settled, huh?” I said studying him. His face wasn’t a mask of terror, so I didn’t quite recognize him, but I catalogued his features now.

“Yeah. Just trying to help out. We all are. The others are helping tend the livestock. And Ms. Bridget even has the younger girls helping out around the house.”

He stared at me, a slight smile on his face, waiting as if he expected approval.

None came, but Travis wasn’t deterred.

He just nodded, and gave a tip of his cap, and then scurried off.

“See? Good guy,” Miles said when Travis was out of earshot.

“Forgive me if I don’t trust your judgment.” I slapped the kid on his shoulder.

“You taught me a thing or two. And he’s already asking how he can be useful around here.”

“Follow his lead, and get this stuff to the storage shed for inventory,” I said.

“Already on it!” Miles said before he walked away.

Asia had come out of the house, and she wordlessly followed me as I walked away. I grabbed wire and pliers and went to patch a hole I had spotted in the fence.

“Your new guests seem to be settling in,” I said as I examined the fence.

“I heard. Isn’t it great?” She smiled at me.

“But that’s not what’s on your mind, is it?” I asked.

“What does that mean, Jack?” She tried to keep a straight face, but failed miserably.

“It means you’re cooking up something, and I’d bet tonight’s rations I’m not gonna like it,” I said.

She let her smile burst through. “Well…”

ELEVEN

Asia

“You think they’re going to roll out a red carpet for us?” Caitlin said.

Jack checked his weapon. The click of the magazine sliding into place was answer enough.

Caitlin blanched, but didn’t say anything else.

We piled into my uncle’s dusty four-by-four. It looked exactly like the one he had when I was a kid. That truck had been totaled, but Uncle Levi had driven all the way to Delaware to get the same make and model. Aunt Kathleen said he spent twice on this truck what a brand-new one off the lot would have cost, but she said nothing because she knew how much he loved that thing.

We’d been at the farm for a while, and after using every skill I had in my defense attorney’s tool box, I finally convinced Jack and Uncle Levi it was time to make the trek.

I knew Hayes well enough to know that he would be back at the farm soon enough, wanting to make his presence felt.

Part of me wanted to avoid him as long as possible, but the other part knew it was best to get it over with. We needed to know what we were dealing with, so going to Hayes before he came to us seemed like the best move.

Jack was surprised when I said we should bring Caitlin along. Honestly, I was, too. The drive to town was usually less than twenty minutes, but we didn’t know how the roads were going to look, so committing to quality time with Caitlin was definitely a sacrifice.