Page 121 of Five Mountain Daddies

“Right now, we’ll donothing.”

“Nothing? We should string that fuckerup.”

“Nothing,” I repeat. “Just watch him. If he tries to leave town, have them stop him. Other than that, it’s business asusual.”

“Doesn’t seem usual to me,” he sayssoftly.

“Yeah, well.” I sigh, shaking my head. “Better muster more guys. Ingram’s going to be on the warpath these next fewdays.”

“He hasn’t beenalready?”

“It’s going to get worse, but after that, it’ll getbetter.”

Vernon sighs and we sit there in silence together, thinking about the weight of what we’re doing. It’s the weight of the mountain we mine under, all that rock and death and pressure behind held up above our heads by human ingenuity. We can do that, and we can do so much more. We can do this, I’m sure ofit.

“Get the guys,” I tell him, slowly standing. “You’re my number two now. I’ll spread theword.”

He nods. “Okay, Samuel. I’ll doit.”

I head toward the door and stop. “Vernon.”

He looks up at me. “Yeah?”

“Thanks,” Isay.

“Yeah.” He shrugs. “Man’s gotta do what a man’s gottado.”

I laugh and leave his house, get back into my truck, and headoff.

27

Amelia

I’m nervous when I knock on his door. I shouldn’t be doing this, coming to his house on a weekend, but I can’t helpmyself.

This isn’t the sort of thing that can wait untilMonday.

An older woman answers. “Hello, can I help you?” sheasks.

I assume this is his wife. “Hi, Mrs. Watt? I’m a colleague of Neal’s, and I was hoping I could speak tohim.”

She looks at me for a second and sighs. “It’s the weekend, youknow.”

“I know,” I say. “I’m so sorry for thisintrusion.”

She gives me a look that could wither a vine but finally nods. “Come inside, I’ll see if he’sbusy.”

I step into their home. It’s surprisingly modest, although I don’t exactly know what Neal makes every year. Board members are treated differently, so I don’t see what their pay is, and they’re not normal employees. His house is a nice colonial, clean entryway, with photos of children and family members running up the staircase along thewall.

Mrs. Watt is gone for a few minutes. I feel so stupid coming here, but I couldn’t let this wait, not a single second longer. I check my phone, seeing if Samuel tried to contact me, but there’s nothing. That’s okay, he said he’d call if there was trouble, so no news is good news, at least sofar.

Finally, I hear footsteps, and Neal rounds the corner. He smiles a little uncertainly. “Amelia? What are you doinghere?”

I smile back. “I’m really sorry to bother you likethis.”

He motions to a side door nearby. “Come in here,” hesays.

I follow him into an office. He shuts the door behind me and moves around behind the desk, sitting down with a sigh. The office is nicely furnished, with good light coming in through the window to the side. There are vinyl records along one side and fancy-looking equipment against the far wall. He folds his hands and look at meexpectantly.

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