Page 41 of Ava
“Well, you’ll have your things when they get here. If you don’t mind my asking, what are you working on?” Chip had seen some of the drawings on the table, and was intrigued by what little he’d seen.
“The new office building for Morgan. As I said, she wanted a basement with reinforced walls, and a war room. Said she wanted what we trained in back at your place in New York.”
“Ah, what about a firing range?”
“Not here. It’s solid bedrock about a hundred yards out, you’ll have to talk to Tom Erwin about that. I was thinking of something above ground, but I don’t know what all the shooting would do to the horses and cattle on the ranch.”
“You won’t be shooting toward them, will you?” Peggy asked. “Why not mound up some dirt to form walls, so the sound doesn’t carry as far, but you can still practice hitting your target.”
Chip looked at his wife and grinned. “And that’s why I love you. You’re always thinking. We’ll have to walk the property later to see what we can come up with.”
“Talk to Chuck.” Justin grinned. “He’s good with that stuff.”
“Okay, why don’t you call and have your beds delivered, Peg and I will go see Morg, then if Peg doesn’t mind, can you take her to town to start on the list? I don’t expect you to get everything today, but you can make a dent in it, especially the food, and maybe you can get the desks that have to be put together. Something to work on. Might be better to get them in the house if they’re in boxes, but get those beds here ASAP.”
“Let me come see Morg with you.” Peggy grinned as she pulled Justin down and kissed his cheek. “I should be ready to go in about twenty minutes. We rode the bike out and though we have some stuff with us, your parents are bringing the rest of our things. We still need to go find a hotel room for the night.”
“Wait until you talk to Morg. There are seven empty bedrooms upstairs. Ava took the green one in the back on the left. All the others are empty.”
“Why don’t you boys take them instead of getting more beds for downstairs?”
“Because, we don’t know when the other recruits are coming. It’s best to have them empty for when they come. If this Rizzo person is coming next, it won’t be until the end of next week, and I’m sure you’ll be gone by then.”
“Yeah, probably.” Chip sighed, then rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll go talk to Morgan.”
“I’ll call the furniture store, Aunt Peggy, I’ll be ready in twenty.”
“Okay.” She kissed his cheek again, and followed her husband out.
* * *
“Fuck me,”Ava said under her breath, when she looked in her rearview mirror, and saw the flashing lights of a cop car behind her. She downshifted the Jeep and pulled over to the side of the road. Not knowing what to expect, she hooked her thumbs on the wheel and spread her fingers. She wasn’t about to be accused of going for any weapons. Luckily the gun she had on her was registered, but it was also hidden in a secret compartment, that if you didn’t know it was there, you’d never find it. Tom Erwin, or whoever had fixed up the Jeep knew what they were doing, or they were paranoid.
“License, registration, and insurance card,” came a squeaky voice from outside her rolled-down driver’s window. It took everything Ava had not to giggle at the sound. It sounded like the lawman had taken a hit of helium before getting out of his car.
“What seems to be the problem, Officer?” Ava tried to be nice, but the man stood taller, and placed his hand on his gun. When he unsnapped it, she raised her hands, and said, “I’m going to get my purse.” She pulled her small bag to her, withdrew her wallet, then leaned over and took the other information from the glovebox. As she handed them to the man, she noticed that the name badge read, ‘Tanner’. She made a mental note to run his name when she got back to the office. She’d been out riding the roads for several hours, not finding anything interesting. She had just pulled onto the new county directly north of the one she was living in when she’d been pulled over. The cop turned on his heel and left, and she quickly wrote down his name, badge number, and a brief description of him on a receipt from her bag, then she wrote the number of the license plate on his car. She wanted to make sure she had all her facts straight. It didn’t take long before he returned, and it took everything she had not to scream at him when he pulled his bully club from his waist, swung it, and took out her tail light.
Shocked, Ava didn’t do anything as he approached her window. What she wanted to do was reach out the window, grab him by his tie, and choke the living shit out of him, but she had to remember she was on reconnaissance, not to engage the enemy, because Officer Tanner, just became the enemy, only he didn’t know it yet. He also didn’t know that she had the perfect view of him as he approached in her side mirror and that her phone was filming his actions. She had it all on tape. Just before he approached, she stuck the phone under her leg to hide what she’d been doing.
Tanner gave her the papers back, along with a ticket for a broken tail light. “Better get that light fixed,” he smirked at her in his helium-sounding voice.
“Abso-fucking-lutely,” she said between gritted teeth.
“What did you say?” he demanded, and again placed his hand on his gun, with it still unstrapped.
“I said, yes sir. Are we done here?”
“Have a nice day.” He grinned at her, and it took everything Ava had not to gag at the fact that he didn’t have two bottom teeth, and the ones on either side of the hole in his mouth were rotten.
Without saying a word, Ava cranked the motor order, dropped it into gear, and took off. She pulled into the first driveway she saw, and turned around. She was only a little under a mile into the county, and she wouldn’t be driving in this one any longer today. Not until she could get her temper under control. As she drove by Tanner, just getting into his car, it took everything she had, and all the training she’d been given not to flip the asshole off. As soon as she was over the county line, she pulled over, then got out and took a picture of her busted light. She looked up and saw Tanner sitting at the line staring at her. She not only waved her hand at him, but she also wave her phone, after she made sure to snap his picture., then she hopped back in, and grabbed the map to see where she could get back home without crossing into that county. When she finally had her bearings, and her route mapped out, she spun her tires as she beat it for home. The trip added an extra two hours, and by the time she arrived home, she was livid.
Instead of parking the Jeep in the garage, she pulled up outside the office, slammed out of it, and only gave the gleaming black Harley a curious glance as she walked by, then she opened the door to the office, and slammed it after her. To say there were looks of shock on the faces of the two inside would be an understatement. She held up her hand when it looked like Morgan was about to say something, until she went to the refrigerator and pulled a can of Cola. She didn’t stop drinking until it was gone. Satisfied by the sugar rush, she finally began to calm down. Grabbing her purse, she looked at Morgan, and finally noticed the man standing beside her—a complete stranger to Ava.
“Oh, hello. Sorry about my entrance, but I’m pissed.” She walked forward and put out her hand. “Ava Hanson.”
“Chip Boswell.”
“Wow, Morgan, you didn’t tell me your uncle was so young.”
