Page 13 of Ava
“Coming right up.” The woman named Dolly nodded as she backed out of the room.
“Come in, have a seat. I’m Morgan Stuart, welcome.” Morgan held out her hand, and liked that the other woman had a strong grip on her return shake. “I’ll get right to the point. First, thank you for coming. I’d like to apologize for going through Angel to recruit you, but I’m in the middle of a nightmare.”
“May I ask what kind of nightmare?”
“I’m trying to get the barracks built where you and any other women I recruit will be living while you’re working for Boswell Two.” Morgan held up her hand at the knock on the door. She rose and went to the door, where she took the tray from the woman. “Thanks, Dolly. I’ll be out soon to help with supper.”
“Don’t worry about it, Wilson’s going to fire up the BBQ later, I’ve already got the salads chilling. Nothing to do but shuck the corn when the times comes, and put on the potatoes.”
“Thanks, Dolly, but I’ll still help.” Morgan came back in and handed Ava a glass filled with ice, and poured iced tea in it. “I hope you don’t like sugar in your tea, because we drink it plain here.”
“So do I, and this is perfect.” Ava downed almost the entire glass before she came up for air. After refilling her glass, she sat back and waited for Morgan to continue.
“How much did Angel tell you?”
“Only that she gave you my name, and then told me about the Boswell Group. I recall doing several missions for them when I was with the teams.”
“Good.” Morgan sat back with her cup of coffee. “I’m starting another branch of Boswell here. Why? Because I was an EWM for ten years. Then, Uncle Chip recruited me, and I worked for him at the main office for several years. Two years ago, I was on a lone motorcycle trip. I planned to take three months off and enjoy riding my Harley to where I wanted to go. My goal was to go to Sturgis, and see several other sites. The trip was successful, except for on my way home. I was trying to outrun a hell of a thunderstorm. Lightning struck on the side of the mountain, hit a rock, which flew and hit me in the side of the head, which caused me to wipe out, as well as the rock slide that occurred from that lightning strike. I subsequently lost my memory, but I lay where I landed for two days before I was found.”
“Shit,” Ava settled back, and listened to Morgan’s story.
“Yeah. You’ll meet him later, but Lucas found me. Wyatt took me in, because I had nowhere to go.”
“Couldn’t they trace your bike?”
Ava watched as Morgan opened a drawer and pulled out a frame. She passed it over to Ava.
“Holy shit,” Ava cried, and looked at Morgan in shock. “This is what happened to the bike?”
“Yes, and it was brand new before I left on my trip. Hell, I didn’t even have three thousand miles on it when she crashed and burned, but during my time here on the Rocking E, I fell in love with Wyatt. When my memory returned, I went back to my own life and forgot about everything here. I went out on a mission for Boswell. That was a mistake. Nothing bad happened on that mission, but it could have. That’s when I knew I had lost my edge, and then some things happened where Wyatt and I got back together. He asked me to marry him, and I said yes. That’s why I’m here. I knew I couldn’t work for Uncle Chip any longer, but I could recruit women like you and do the same thing, but domestically, not abroad.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means that there’s scuttlebutt that there is a group of doomsday preppers that aren’t just preppers. The scuttlebutt is saying that they’re running drugs and guns across the border.”
“Mexico?”
“No, up into Canada. I’ve got my ear available to several bowls of alphabet soup, and they all agree that we need people like EWMs to be out on the streets. I read in your file, but I have to know, you ride?”
“I do, I drove my bike from San Diego to Montana to meet with Angel, then she gave me your address to come here.” Ava leaned forward, then shook her head in frustration.
“What?”
“I almost lost control two miles down the road when some asshat pulled out onto the road without looking. Damn near took me out. Luckily, I had already slowed down, because of all the mud in the roadway. Whatever they’re doing down the road, they need to clean up after themselves.” She shook her head as she remembered what had happened earlier. “Don’t worry, I gave the asshat a piece of my mind. He said he was sorry, and I shouldn’t have been so hard on him. I could tell from his expression he was shocked that he’d almost hit me.” Ava shook her head, then frowned when Morgan sat up so quickly that she spilled her coffee.
“Down the road?” She pointed toward one wall, and Ava nodded. “Son of a bitch!” She grabbed her cell phone and quickly dialed. “Justin, what the hell is going on over there?” She listened, then barked out, “I’ll be there within the hour. So help me god there better not be a mess.” She hung up, and Ava heard the man she’d called Justin still speaking as she did. Morgan looked at Ava and sighed heavily. “Sorry, but I believe that it might have been one of my brothers that almost ran you over. See, that construction site is where the barracks is being built for you to live. It’ll have rooms upstairs, and the downstairs will be a common area that will have a kitchen, living room, laundry, a war room, and whatever else I decide to put in there for you. My brothers are in charge of the construction.” Morgan shook her head. “Oh, and there will be a room in the basement that won’t be quite like a panic room, but it will be a weapons room.”
“Where do I stay until the barracks are ready?”
“Here in the main house,” Morgan held up her hand. “We have a bedroom with an attached bath that won’t interfere with the rest of us living here. The only people living here now are Wyatt and myself, however, mealtimes, breakfast and dinner, it’s a madhouse in here. Dolly, the woman who opened the door, is our housekeeper and cook. She arrives at six every morning, and leaves once supper is on the table, unless she and her husband join us. They usually do when they fire up the BBQ. Her husband is the ranch foremen, Wilson. You’ll meet him later.”
“You’re alluding to the fact that there are lots of people here during mealtimes.”
“There are. Besides myself, there’s Wyatt, his brother, Dillon, his fiancé April, and their two sons, DJ and Lucas. During the week, they are in high school. Dillon’s a senior this year, and Lucas is in the tenth grade. It was Lucas that found me. They are all family on Wyatt’s side.” She sipped her coffee and leaned back in her chair again. “The other six people that will be present at the table are my brothers.”
“You have six brothers?”
Morgan grinned. “I do. We call them the J’s and the A’s. They are triplets. The J’s, Justin, John, and Josh, are five years older than me. The A’s are also triplets, Alfred, Alan, and Alex.”
