Page 22 of Crew

“It had to be Colton,” Zara said. “It’s a warning.”

“Love, why don’t you head into the house? I need to make a call.”

She let out a little groan. “I’ve still got the phone the herd gave me. I should get rid of it.”

Crew took it and said, “It’s not very updated. Do you want a new one, or do you want us to just replace the SIM card?”

“What do you think?”

“We can get you a new one.” He popped out the SIM card and broke it into pieces, then turned off the phone. “They know where we are, so they weren’t tracking you, but it’s probably best to just be done with it anyway.”

She nodded. Giving him a kiss on the cheek, she walked out of the barn.

“I can repair some of what happened, but I don’t have enough tires to replace all the damage. I’m checking the auto and farm stores and it’s going to take a week to get everything shipped to us,” Ford said.

“I’ll call Neo,” Crew said. “Maybe they can spare some tires. We need to harvest the hay and corn so we can prep the fields for fall planting. A week, assuming we can even get everything in that fast and also make the repairs, could mean we lose some things to pests, overripening, or even weather. We could lose more of the crop than is acceptable.”

“Maybe Neo can help us out too,” Grey said. “He said he was willing to help if we needed a spare mechanic.”

“Cool. I’ll make a list of what we need for repairs,” Ford said.

Scrolling through the contacts, Crew called Neo.

“Hey, Crew, how’s it going?”

“Shitty.” He gave him a quick rundown of what had happened. “I can send you a list that Ford’s putting together. Do you think you can help us out?”

“Hell yes. Let me talk to Atticus. Send me the list as soon as you can, and maybe I can get a delivery to you later today and stick around to help.”

“That would be awesome, thanks. Hey, can you also ask Jupiter or one of the security guys for some recommendations for better security cameras? I thought what we had was good, but they were easily messed with.”

“Absolutely. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Thanks, Neo.”

Ending the call, he looked around the barn. “What’s the point?”

“Point?” Grey asked.

“Yeah, I mean, he ruined the vehicles and machinery, but to what end? It messes with our farm, but it’s not dire. I just don’t get the point.”

“To show he didn’t go far?” Grey offered. “That even though you said he wasn’t welcome, that he can come back when he pleases?”

“The fuck he can,” Ford snarled.

“Exactly,” Crew said. He cracked his knuckles, thinking about the look of fear that passed through Zara’s eyes when she saw the damage. The male and his herd had been in the barn that night, close to the farmhouse where they’d been sleeping without a care in the world. “We need to overhaul our security system, period. I’ll let Khyle and Dexter know as well, but I kind of doubt Colton would bother with them.”

“The question is,” Ford said, “why would Colton do what he did?”

Crew looked around at the destruction and remembered the strange feeling he’d had in his gut that the male wasn’t being entirely honest with them. Something dawned on him, and he said, “I think he didn’t want sanctuary, I think he wanted to check us out.”

“To what end?” Grey asked.

“To take over.”

While Crew waited for the park shifters to arrive with supplies, he video-chatted with Dexter and Khyle while they were on the construction job, explaining what happened with Colton and what they could do to keep everyone safe.

“He could just be blustering,” Dexter said. “But it’s definitely better to err on the side of caution in this scenario. Khyle and I will stop by after we’re done here and help with the security install.”

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