Page 29 of Kent's Watch
“Logan Bishop?”
“Yes.”
“I know Spencer, Logan, and the others that run the Centre. Do you know the names of any of his buddies?”
“I met Ryder, he climbed back up the side of the mountain after the chopper took off for the hospital. Kent went with Tate, Ryder came up and walked back to the campsite with me.” Rita shook her head. “It wasn’t my idea, but I’m glad he did. It gave me an opportunity to talk to him. It turns out that he is specially trained in SERE.”
“What is that exactly?”
Rita laughed as she sipped her wine. “I asked him the same question. It is survival, evasion, resistance, and escape. I’ve taken a few of Spencer Barnes’s self-defense classes.” Shepaused at her father’s look of shock. He turned around to face her fully, but Rita held up her hand to ward off any questions. “Dad, I’m a thirty-six-year-old, single female living alone. Out on the trail, on a call, I have Zeke, but he’s not always with me. I only took them as a precaution.”
“Okay, nothing happened that you needed to take them?”
“No, Julie was taking yoga classes over there, but they didn’t appeal to me. I took the self-defense classes.”
“Okay, make sure you tell me if anything happens.”
“I will, Dad.” She smiled behind his back and shook her head at him. “How much longer before dinner?”
“Twenty minutes, maybe twenty-five. Why?”
“Because I want a shower. I’ll be right back.” She hopped off her chair and hurried out of the room. As she headed up the stairs, she smiled when she saw Zeke come in his doggie door with Tank close behind. She shook her head as she saw her father give them both a treat. With limited time available, she let it go and hurried down the hall to her bedroom. Eighteen minutes later she walked back into the kitchen feeling a lot better after washing the grime and sweat of the day off. She probably could have waited until after dinner, but she didn’t want to offend her father with her appearance. As soon as she entered the kitchen she started setting the small table in the corner and in no time, they both sat down to the meal her father had cooked. Neither said a word until they were halfway through. Rita hadn’t taken as much as she normally would have, and told her father that she and Kent had stopped off to have burgers in the park before they headed for home.
As they finished eating, Rita leaned back with her wine and studied her father intently.
“What?” Marvin scowled at him.
“You’re probably going to be mad at what I’m about to say, and you can come into the training facility to check it out foryourself. I told Kent I would talk it over with you, but after today, I feel as if both Kent and Tate passed to become a member of the search and rescue team. With your permission, I’d like to give Kent one of the radios that other members have.”
“First, you don’t need my permission, Rita. I trust you. I watched him with his dog that day I was there. He’s good, and I agree with you. If you feel he could handle the radio, then by all means, give it to him.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Rita sighed in relief. She studied the man and shook her head in sadness. “Now, I have some bad news to tell you. Maybe not so bad, but it could have gotten ugly earlier.”
“With your search?” Marvin perked up at her statement and tone.
“No. It was after I went to the hospital and picked up Kent and Tate. We had gotten something to eat, and on the way home, we decided to replenish our supplies. On the way into the grocery store, we ran into Timothy Vickers.”
“Oh?” Marvin had drawled the word out, and both brows disappeared beneath the hair flopped on his forehead. “What did he have to say?”
“He again accused both of us of beating him up. If it wasn’t for Sheriff Jim, I don’t know what would have happened. He, Vickers, stood there yelling loudly, attracting a crowd, and accusing us of how we beat him because we didn’t like him.”
“Shit, what happened next?”
“Jim showed up only seconds after he started yelling. He immediately put the cuffs on him and put him in the car. I heard him say something about being under arrest for falsely accusing us of assault. While Vickers sat in the back of his vehicle, he came back to us and told us what happened.”
“Which was?” Marvin prompted when she remained silent.
Rita looked her father dead in the eye as she answered. “First, he told Jim that Kent beat him because he wanted to take me away from him.”
“Come again, I don’t follow.”
“Vickers told Jim that he and I were dating. Kent beat him up and told him to stay away from me, because I was his.”
“I take it by your expression that it was all lies?” Marvin smirked at her look of horror.
“Eew, Dad, I’d never date someone like Vickers. The guy creeps me out. Anyway, Maryann Picket went to Jim and told him that Vickers paid Elroy and Judd a thousand dollars each for them to beat him. They did.”
“What for?”
