She continued to stare, the reality seeming to settle in. “Not something you would think a guy like Buck could afford, but maybe he bought it when he was still working in the corporate world.”
“Could be.” Micha set down the weapon and picked up a gun dealer’s business card for Atlas Armory to hold out to Ava. “Could’ve bought it here or gotten it in a less than legal deal.”
She shivered and turned away. “You look at what’s under that tarp in the corner?”
“Not yet.” He placed the rifle back in the box and lifted the tarp to reveal a ham radio set-up.
Micha studied the equipment. “It’s connected to the solar power station on the table. He has to have solar panels somewhere.”
She pointed in the right corner. “And that looks like a solar camera.”
“I didn’t see other cameras when we arrived. Colin and I wouldn’t have missed them. Maybe he hasn’t installed them yet. Either way, he was expecting and prepping for trouble. TEOTWAWKI even.”
“TEOTWAWKI.”
“The end of the world as we know it. A term survivalists use, especially online.”
“So Buck might not be quite as normal as he let on.”
“Maybe not.”
She gnawed on her lower lip. “Is there anything we can do about the weapons?”
“I’d like to report them, but then we’d have to say how we know about them, which we can’t do. Even then, the authorities might not do anything about it.”
Her mouth fell open. “Why in the world not? No one needs to own this many guns.”
“It might be illegal to own a machine gun in Oregon, but he could still legally own all of these, even the AK-47, as long as it’s registered with ATF before the date I mentioned.”
“Do you think it’s likely that he registered it?”
“No.” Micha turned to take in the back wall filled with canned goods and a large water bladder along with a cot and sleeping bag. He pointed at the bladder. “That’s a lot of water.”
“Meaning he planned to spend a good bit of time down here.”
“Indeed.” Micha got out his phone and snapped pictures of everything in the room. “We should get going. Never know if he has someone checking on his property for him.”
She turned to depart.
He followed, moving a little slower. He hated to walk away from such a major cache of weapons and ammo, but they had no choice. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t check in with Reid and the team to see if they had thoughts on how to handle this. The last thing he would want was to leave such a deadly supply available for an apparently unstable man to turn on other people in a potential massacre.
Ava couldn’t let go of her thoughts of Buck’s weapons, but as they pulled up to Jamal’s large piece of land, she had to prepare herself for what they might find here as she’d thought Jamal was more dangerous than Buck.
Jamal had posted numerous keep-out and no-trespassing signs at the property entrance, raising Ava’s unease even more. Micha jumped out of the vehicle to unlock a heavy-duty gate to give them access to the place. Instead of getting back into the SUV, he moved on foot in front of the vehicle. He hadn’t said what he planned to do, but he had a stick in his hands again, and she guessed he was looking for any booby traps.
They reached the log cabin, which was much better maintained and twice the size of Buck’s place. He’d mowed his yard, and a large garden plot, mostly dormant now, was located just past the building. Ava had studied gardening when planning to vacate the city for her hideaway, and even in the waning light she recognized garlic, kale, and other cool-weather crops, along with herbs like rosemary and thyme. Looked like Jamal had a green thumb, something that surprised her, but then she’d been told Oregon was a fairly easy place to garden as long as she could provide water in the dry summer months.
Colin made a three-point turn, facing the vehicle toward the exit and shifted into park on the driveway that continued past the house toward a large pole barn.
He leaned over the wheel. “Don’t see any cameras. Odd for a prepper who wants his privacy.”
“Maybe he hasn’t connected his electricity as he doesn’t want his information tracked that way.”
“Could be. Guess you’ll see when you go in.”
Micha came to her door and opened it. “Same drill as last time. I go first. Get the place open and tell you if it’s safe to come in.”
She got out and followed him across the green lawn. The sun plunged below the horizon now, a slight drizzle settling in. She needed to turn on her flashlight. She swept the beam of light over the lawn, the beam occasionally intersecting with Micha’s light.
