“They said I was on my own.That I’d broken the deal.A deal?My brother was dead because of them.”
“So, they’re not gathering weapons for a war or for some survivalist theory?” asked Remington.
“God, no,” he laughed.“No.They lend the weapons to the hunters, sometimes sell them.”
“One of them said that Saylor was the chosen one,” said Gator.“What does that mean?”
“Th-they got a new idea for the girls, the daughters on the property.They were going to offer them up to the hunters.For entertainment.If they got pregnant, they would keep the babies.If they didn’t, the hunters were allowed to hunt them.I’m ashamed of myself.I’m ashamed I didn’t call the police sooner or go back and try to save my brothers.Are they alive?”
“We don’t know, son, but we’re going to find out for you.Are you safe where you are?” they asked.
“Yes, sir.I work on the reservation.No one gets on the property without them knowing about it.Like I said, the people at the compound are not very good with a computer and they don’t want the kids to be good at it either.Is, is Saylor okay?Was she hurt?” he asked.
“She’s perfect.We’re happily married and have a family of our own now,” said Remington filling with pride.
“Don’t let them get to her.She was worth a lot of money to the hunters.They usually come in groups of three or four.They use one of the daughters, or a girl that they kidnap from a nearby town.The compound wants the babies, the hunters want to chase the girls.”
“How fucked up is this?” muttered Gator.
“Pretty fucked up, sir.Will you tell Saylor I’m glad she’s okay and to stay away from them?They’re all crazy, certifiably crazy.”
“I’ll tell her,” said Remington.“Our man is going to give you some contact information if you ever need help from us, let us know.”Gator stepped forward and leaned toward the phone, clearing his throat.
“One more thing Zane.Where are the animals kept?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Animals?They’re killing animals?” frowned Saylor.“I never made that connection.”
“What do you mean?” frowned Ham.
“I mean, our house had these animal skin rugs.What I thought were faux animal skin rugs.I never thought to ask if they were real.There were two zebra rugs, a bear rug and my father had a rug with a tigers head in his office.I swear, I thought they were fakes,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“You didn’t have a reason to believe otherwise.You didn’t even know about the guns until you were in high school,” said Gator.“Did you ever suspect that they were sending the daughters to these hunts?”
“Never,” she said shaking her head and swallowing.“But in fairness, I was one of the younger daughters.There were a few others, but most of the families had sons.”
“Saylor, we know that’s not true,” said AJ staring at her.
“Wh-what do you mean?It was mostly boys on the compound.There were only a few other girls and they got married and mo-,” she stopped suddenly realizing where it was all going.“Dear God.They didn’t move away.They were sent to entertain the hunters and didn’t return.”
“We think that’s probably right.There were four young women, older than you that no longer live on the compound from what Zane told us.One was supposed to be his wife.When she was chosen, hence ‘the chosen one’, he knew he’d never see her again.
“What I can’t figure out is why none of these girls aren’t getting pregnant, which would have saved them at least until the babies were born.Do you remember any of the families having new, unexplained babies?Maybe they said they’d adopted them or were taking care of them for a family member or something.”
“No,” she said shaking her head.“Nothing like that.Why would my father tell me I had to marry one of the Yeager boys?I mean if I was going to be a chosen one why make me marry him?”
“Maybe it was to save you, in a way,” said Gator.“If you were married, you wouldn’t be sent to the hunters.”
“This is all so sick.So perverse!” she said pacing the front of the room.“Do you understand how this makes me feel?These people were my family.They were supposed to protect me, protect the other kids and now I find out they’re sending them to their death.”
“Honey, it’s not your fault,” said Sor.“You had no idea what they were doing and I suspect they did a very good job of hiding it from you.All of this helps us to understand why they had the cache of weapons and maybe even the food.They could have been using it to provide for the hunters at the camp.”
“Why did they send the Miller boys to Mexico?Why not send them to the place they own in the Dakotas?” she asked.
“Most likely because the boys would have suspected something.Although Zane didn’t say it, I got the feeling that he and his brother weren’t planning on returning to Nebraska.I think they were going to sell the guns and hides, and then take the money and hide,” said Ham.
“God, those poor kids.The other five boys are probably paying for their brothers leaving them there.Can’t we help them?”
