“Not watching, but you better believe they all keep their finger on the pulse.Even the group of men who are there for a different reason,” Cade answered.“Enstrom does it so he knows his turf and can identify any threats.The others know it simply because they’re out and about, see her in her truck, at the farmer’s market, whatever.Or they could hear news from Enstrom.But she’d lived there a long time, and one way or another, they knew about her and that she was flying solo.”
“So some guy was out checking on things, he caught me going, he went off script,” Hutch finished it.
But Cade shook his head.“No.He didn’t think he was going off script at all.If Enstrom had a word, as he says he did, that word probably didn’t go over too well.”
At this point, Cade took a deep breath, and Hutch braced.
“Shit like that causes a fissure,” Cade said.“A fissure can weaken an entire structure.Things start crumbling.”
“You think there might be a revolt,” Hutch surmised.
“I can’t say.But if it happened, in this situation, it wouldn’t be a revolt, it would be a mutiny.And one other thing, again, I might not have a lock on this.All I’m sharing are theories that were formed from a lot less information than I’d like to have.These men might be totally all right with everything.They’ve followed Enstrom into what appears to be a very cushy life for them, regardless they don’t have Internet.They may not chat with him because he’s identified himself as their leader, savior, prophet, whatever, and as such, it’s stand back and hands off until he gives you the nod to kiss his ring.So the people mutinying will be the women.”
Part of him hoped they did.
Most of him worried like fuck what might happen to them if they did.
“Is Mabel safe?”Hutch asked.
“I think they’d defend their home.I don’t think they’d go out and commit violence or violations.Even Enstrom doesn’t have any violence on his record.She’s not hurting them.She’s not interested in them.They left that note, and as far as they know, she ignored it, except they may have noticed she got a dog and put up some lights, but that would make sense to them.That note was a judgment, not a sentence.But at this point, they’ll be more focused on what’s happening inside that log fence and not worried about what’s going on outside.”
That made Hutch relax.
“So what’s next?”Hutch asked.
“What’s next,” Rus began, “is we start investigating lumber poaching.And we hope like fuck that leads to enough, a judge will sign a warrant to search that property.”
It was thin.
But it was something to go on.
And more.
Finally, the puzzle pieces were falling together.
TWENTY-FIVE
But I Won
Mabel
Ledger’s hand slapped on the massive pile of cards on the card table before I could get mine in there to gasp one last dying breath.
Defeated, I sat back and grunted.
“I win!”he crowed.“Again!”he rubbed it in.His head turned to the side to look at Nadia sitting on the couch by his dad.“I’m sorry, Nadia.”He came back to me.“But you’re more fun to play with.Nadia always just lets me win.”
As any good stepmother would when your birth mother all but abandons you to go play house with her latest baby daddy, after a string of “surprise” pregnancies that were essentially ruses to either trap a man into taking care of her and their baby (emphasis on “her”) or get money out of him to support the child who was a result of you poking holes in his condom.
Yeah, Doc Riggs’s fling with a local gal got him a great kid, albeit unplanned.
And Hutch had been very forthcoming on our drive to the Riggs’s for dinner.
Also, hearing this story, I might have some clue as to why Hutch didn’t bring up the topic of birth control.
We were exclusive.I was on the pill.He’d seen my pill case.
But he’d never broached it, even though I knew sex was better for a man if that barrier wasn’t there.
