This morning MC joins us for our swim, were still in the water when Mom walks in with Daniel. Kara and Karen normally come over in the morning to be with Sam. It’s a trading day for us. Sam’s two aunts babysit her throughout the morning all the way through lunchtime, they usually help Alyssa around the house as well. Alyssa has insisted I start paying them for their work, and that something I gladly do.
Daniel immediately notices Sam’s Aunt Kara and I hear him suck in a breath. He came over to ask a few more questions and showing he has done so far. Marshall and I are looking over the plans for his house, while the women play in the pool.
I hear Sam tell Kathryn she’s going to start her laps now. Sam comes to the end of the pool, takes the short run and dives in. I had a grab Daniel’s shoulder the keep them from grabbing Sam before she dove in.
Daniel just watches as Sam swims nearly half the link of the pool before she comes up to the top and begins a dolphin crawl. The dolphin crawl is an altered style to the front crawl which happens to be the fastest style of swimming. Sam is very fast for a four-year-old child, she will do maybe five or six laps in that style then switch to breaststroke or a butterfly. She’s recently learned to do the back stroke usually about lap ten or twelve she’ll switch to that to catch her breath.
Daniel shakes his head after seeing Sam do about four laps he says, “Bet the Coach had something to do with that.”
I chuckle and say, “If you want to hear him brag on Sam for an hour just bring it up.”
Daniel asks, “About how many laps does she do?”
Marshall says, “I think she’s over twenty now.”
Daniel shakes his head before he asks, “What she trying to do?”
Chuckling Marshall and I say, “Learn to swim the English Channel.”
Daniel chuckles and says, “That’s the Coach.”
Of course that’s when he showed up this morning. He asks, “What lap is she on?”
I answer. “Five. We got a late start today, Kathryn had morning sickness.”
He asked Kathryn, “You okay baby, you know you’re always going to be my little girl.”
Kathryn giggles and says, “Yes Daddy I’m fine.”
Then he acts like the coach he is and asks, “Then why aren’t you doing laps? I got to keep you healthy for the baby.”
Kathryn straightens up, gives a little salute to her father. Checks where Sam is in dives into the pool and begins her laps.
After drying off MC gets to take a look at her plans. While she’s looking over her plans I go get a sleepy Joan to have a look at her home plans as well. I find Alyssa in the kitchen she hasn’t started breakfast yet so she joins Joan viewing the plans.
Misty and Marshall like the progress so far. They only have a few questions and there’s an area they want to change. Daniel says that’s easily done, he pencils and the changes on the plan to remind him later. Alyssa and Joan are very happy with what they are getting. MC on the other hand has a half a dozen changes she wants made. She and Daniel discuss those. He writes on her plans what she asked for and asks a few more questions writes down her comments. He smiles when they finish. He commented, “Michelle you’re going to have a very interesting home.”
I noticed Daniel looking over at Kara several times she even look back a couple times herself, I even moved away just make sure she wasn’t looking at me. For the first time in four years I’m pretty sure Kara was more interested in someone else than me. I’ve always felt bad knowing Kara was interested in me. But the way I am I wouldn’t risk what I have with Kathryn, to even give Kara a single kiss. It may have caused us both a lot of heartache if I ever broke down and did that. Then again could’ve been like that one kiss in twenty-seven dresses, one of Kathryn’s favorite movies. Katherine Heigl is a leading actress and she kisses her boss only to find out there’s no fire there. She had been infatuated for years with him only to find out it was not what she thought or hoped for. I’m absolutely sure it would be like that.
Kathryn and I are so connected. Yeah I know it’s common for a husband to be very empathetic to his wife. But I swear I can feel what emotions she feels even in a different room. I know when the two of us are separated by a long distance I feel poorly. That’s one reason always go along when Kathryn go shopping. I will joke about carrying the bags. When it comes right down to it, it’s the separation that I can’t stand.
It’s in the morning and my feeling of uneasiness hasn’t truly left. It’s not our trading were doing great. We just finished a major sale got a large profit from it. The six of us are discussing what commodity to buy next as we watched the market. Then it happens the phone call even the fact Sam is in our room to witness it. Sam’s nightmare becomes reality, Lester just escaped. He was in the middle of the transfer to a different County for trial. When three men stopped the transfer armed to the teeth against a single guard. County Sheriff Deputy was shot. Thankfully his vest prevented it from being lethal. Lester is considered armed and dangerous. The Judge informs me he’s on his way. Our Sheriff is en route but he’s across the county at nearly an hour travel before he arrives here.
Uncle George informed me that he has already told Michael. He has me put Marshall on the phone. I’m telling Sam and Kathryn they need to go to the safe room. Sam doesn’t say anything but I can tell she scared to death. I tell Kathryn, “Everything is going to be fine. Just go in there and be safe, don’t cry for me please it will scare Sam. If I say anything other than its fine kill whoever comes in the door. You got that.”
Kathryn’s eyes are very large hearing me say that. “You mean to say something like everything’s good we should shoot.”
I clarify it, “That’s right if I say anything, but everything is fine, be ready to kill whoever comes in the door, but keep it locked. It should take them quite a while to get in. If I say, everything is fine, it’s safe, and you can come out.”
In a way it’s worse than what I feared. Lester has several armed men with him. They may all come here for none of them.
Misty is coming down to the safe room, I pull Joan over; I have her get her mother and Johnny in the room as well. Mom comes she had one of Dad’s old bats with her. MC is sitting in the back holding herself around her knees. She stressed out too.
I logged everyone off. The safe room as the power control for the rest of the house. I turn off everything except for the intercom system, and the lighting within the safe room itself. There are two high-powered lights that shine directly out through the door of the safe room there designed to come on the instant the doors open. I make sure their set and ready. I pulled Marshall over and I have him stay in the room. He’s back his shotgun he doesn’t have the right type of ammo for a long-distance shot. From a few feet away what he has is as deadly as anything.
I say to Marshall, “Stay calm, your Dad and Michael know what they’re doing and I can be as deadly as anyone of you.”
Marshall chuckles, “Yes just ask the bear.”
What Marshall said got me thinking. What I did worked against the bear it was something that bear didn’t expect. The bear never expected a man to stand up to it, let alone one kick it in the neck so hard that they crush several his vertebrae.
Why should I do what Lester expects? He expects to get out of his car and begin the fight. Let’s not let that happen. Whoever’s in the car with him will probably be as guilty as he is by the end of the afternoon. If it’s the men who assisted in his escape, they had already shot a Sheriff’s deputy. Who else could he have gotten in this short amount of time?
There is a load of hay in the truck about forty bales. I grab Michael and we take the truck down the road away. We’re the last two houses on this road, we see very little traffic if any. Michael has called our neighbors and gave them warning of what possibly maybe going on.
I tell Michael what I’m planning on doing is setting the bales across the road basically making two visual obstructions. The first of the two I want to do will have nothing behind it. The second is to hide the truck. When they stop at the first and find there is nothing behind it. They probably assume the second is the same. They will ram through it assuming it’s like the first and hit the truck. Will need to warn the Sheriff but he should be the only traffic on the road this afternoon. If nothing else we get a few shots at them as they get out.
Michael has me stop at the perfect place is just around a blind curve, just as we stop the judge pulled by we tell him what we’re planning on as we begin to dump bales of hay on the ground. I only make it a single bail deep and four high. It probably will fall over the first good breeze but it’s a calm day. I have my stack completely across the road. They should hit it the pass right through. That will be better than them stopping to check and possibly get involved with a neighbor. Michael and the Judge are doing the second as I finish stacking the first then run the half-mile to the next barrier that is just in tenth of a mile before you get to the house. They don’t know the road well enough they won’t even slowed down. Even if they miss the truck there’s not much room for them to stop.
The Judge is calling the Sheriff on a police radio, he receives an update. They are traveling in this direction. We have two patrol cars now out of commission. Someone has sabotaged the cruisers removing all the lug nuts on all four tires. Basically as soon as the cruisers moved the tires came off, dropping them on the ground. It will be a couple hours before their up and running. So basically we have no backup to the Sheriff arrives.
The Judge says, “Your truck is parked illegally and you have twenty-four hours to move it. “
At that moment we hear screeching tires from about half a mile away. The three of us just grin at each other and move into our positions. Even from this distance we still hear them shouting. I don’t know whose voices is a really care. But what they say is music to our ears. “Those fucking assholes are just trying to slow us down. Get back in the fucking car and don’t slow down for the next one.”
Leave a Reply