Page 35 of Bernadette
“Yes, but when June was imparting that last bit of information you read today, Carl’s boss received a phone call that Gus Carter had been shanked in prison, and died from his injuries.”
“What, the person they pronounced dead identified by one of you? Or someone from this BCI office?”
“No,” everyone said, and they stood there in silence for a long time, thinking of how to connect the dots, to see if they led to why Morgan and Wyatt hadn’t returned by the time they said they would.
“Okay, we can get to that later. In the meantime, let’s go look for Stuart and Erwin.” She turned to the women to ask, “Where are your spare weapons?” She followed them to the back of the office, and when they opened a locked door, she whistled. In no time Dillon had the man taking weapons from him. “Miller, could you go get the Kevlar vests you have? Ladies, get what I’m assuming you have in your rooms. Chuck, can you come with me?”
They did her bidding, and as Chuck led her through the tunnel, she inspected the weapons there. Once they were in the house, Chuck looked around in confusion. “What did you need me for?”
“Normally I would never do this, but could you please carry me to my bedroom, then to the attic. I think that would be faster than me taking one step at a time.” Before she’d even finished talking, Chuck had her in his arms and taking the stairs two at a time. Once in her bedroom, she told him to place her on the bed, and she began ripping off the supports of her knee brace.
“What are you doing?”
“I have one that has hinges on the knee that allows me to bend it. I’m not supposed to use it all the time, but I think it’ll be best for this.” As she worked, she asked questions. “Do you know how to use a weapon?”
“I do, Tom Erwin, as well as Dillon trained all of us. I want to put it out there that I don’t have any military experience.”
“Can you follow directions without questions?”
“I can.”
“Can you fire a weapon?”
“I can.”
“Then you’ll do fine.” She stood and lifted her knee several times in the new brace, and grabbed her cane just for extra security. “Follow me,” she said as she grabbed her keys at the last minute. Together they walked out of her room, down the hall, and up the stairs to the attic. Once there, she handed him the keys to open the trunks. Chuck opened the first one and whistled.
“Did you rob the military before you left?”
“No,” Bernie said, and began grabbing things from each of the trunks. By the time she was done, she had on a Kevlar vest, gave one to Chuck, and was loaded with no less than ten weapons and their ammo. She jerked when someone spoke from the doorway.
“You got any spare vests?” Dillon asked as he came in, then at Bernie’s nod, he reached in, assessed a few weapons, and grabbed some others for himself. “I’d like to have one for April and Dolly.” Bernie nodded and pointed to yet another trunk. When Dillon took what he wanted, he nodded and grinned. “We’ll compare trunks later. I don’t think I’ll have time to go to my place and get what I have.”
“Okay, just one question, I don’t want to scare anyone, but do you think we should call the sheriff before we go?” Both Bernie and Chuck looked at Dillon for reassurances, since he knew the layout of the land, and if there would be cell service or not.
“I can tell you there won’t be any cell service out there, but there’s a satellite phone in the ranch office. I saw it there earlier today, so we can stop there, and I’ll pick it up. If necessary, we can come back a few miles to get service.”
“Okay, do you have any problem with the both of us leading this mission?”
“No, I figured you, because you have the most experience out of all of us, and me, because I know the layout of the land.”
“That’s how I figured it too. Now, before we join the others, will we have any problem with either of your sons not following directions?”
“No.” Dillon said with such finality Bernie believed him. The three of them made sure Bernie was the first down the stairs, and with the new brace and her cane, she was able to walk at a surprisingly good clip. Fast enough that Dillon and Chuck had to hustle to keep up with her. Everyone was in the kitchen, dining area when they arrived, and Bernie nodded when she saw how well-prepared her girls were.
“Who’s in charge?” Lucas was the first to voice his question.
“Bernie and me,” Dillon said. “You listen to her, Lucas. If you can’t promise me that, then you’re going to stay home. You too, DJ.”
“We’re good,” Lucas grinned as he held up his hand to ward off their evil stares. “If you recall, I did pretty good when we caught those asshats cutting the fence to let the cattle out.”
“Yes, you did, but no fighting this time.” Dillon gave him a stern look, and shook his head when his youngest son blew him a raspberry.
“Wait,” April said as she took the vest from Dillon, and allowed him to put it on her. “Are you going to the ranch first?”
“I am,” Dillon said, “I’ll have Wilson take the others to a different pasture.”
“While you were talking with Bernie,” Wilson said, “We went over to the ranch and grabbed the ATVs. I’m assuming the others are in the garage?”
