Page 24 of Ava
“I can only imagine what that was like. As you can see, I had three older and three younger brothers.” She grinned as they walked back down the hall, and paused when Justin frowned at him.
“Is that room reinforced?”
“It is, the entire basement is.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, Uncle Chip sent me the information on how to do it. At first I balked, but when he said it was keeping you and the women safe, then I caved. That’s why I want to redo your office, make it safer for you.” When it looked like she was going to reject his idea, he grinned. “Think about what Wyatt would want.”
“Fine,” Morgan sighed, and shook her head. “Let me know at dinner if you need anything else from me. I have a lot of work to do, and I have yet to brief Ava on what we’re trying to do here.”
“I’ll let you go then.” Justin nodded, then walked up the stairs behind them. As the women went to the front door, he went up the stairs to work with his brothers. Morgan let them out, and led the way through the mud, over the plywood and boards lying down as a footpath, to her office.
CHAPTER11
“While I getmy stuff from the truck, why don’t you see if your key unlocks the door?” Morgan told Ava, as she stopped by her truck to open the driver’s side door. “Remember, it’s the green one.”
Ava nodded and did as instructed. After opening the door, she pushed it open and allowed Morgan to enter first. Morgan hit the light switch to the right of the door, and carried her files over to the desk on the far side. She set them down, then before seating herself, she went over to a small refrigerator, opened it, and withdrew a bottle of water. She looked at Ava with a grin. “Cola?”
“Sure,” Ava said, and made a mental note to purchase some the next time she was in town. She settled in the seat Morgan pointed to, then watched as Morgan settled in behind her desk. After taking several swallows, Morgan looked at Ava, and sighed heavily.
“I don’t have all the answers, but a few months back, Tom Erwin came to me with the scuttlebutt I told you about earlier. At this point, that’s all it is, scuttlebutt, but he has been gathering more and more information almost daily. He brings it to me at least once a week.”
“Erwin?” Ava interrupted.
“Yes, he’s Wyatt and Dillon’s cousin, but he’s also the county sheriff. He came to me when he found out I was a former EWM. He himself was in the service, and though he’d never worked with them, he had heard about them.” Morgan drank again, while Ava digested that information, when she nodded, she continued, “Tom came to me to tell me that he had heard noise that some people were running guns, drugs, and later, women and children over the border into Canada.” Morgan stood, and had Ava follow her over to the opposite wall. “As you can see, these are maps of North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. I have no idea where Tom is getting his information from, but he assured me that the runners, are not in his county. This red X is where we are. This red outline is the county we live in, and the area Tom is in charge of.”
“I hate to ask, but do you trust this guy?”
“I do... and I’ve had some conversations with Uncle Chip, and he trusts him also.”
“What will I be doing?”
“First, you’ll be going over the files of the other women I’d like to recruit, then you’ll go over the information Tom has given me. If at any point you know of any other women that you think might want to join us, then give me their information. I know they’re all former military, and EWMs too boot, but I won’t hire anyone without an extensive background check from Uncle Chip. I’m here to do a job, but I also need to keep all my employees safe. Then, by next week, you’ll be going on and traveling the back roads to see if you can gather any information. You know, stop in, purchase a Cola, or water, get gas, eat at a local restaurant. At this time, we have no idea where these preppers are actually located, and…” Morgan let her word draw out. “We have no idea what they look like.”
“Shit, so we really have nothing to go on.”
“Correct, just what Tom’s been hearing.”
“Are they definitely preppers? Because, there’s a difference between them, and your everyday average Joe.”
“What difference?” Morgan knew, but she wanted to make sure she and Ava were on the same page.
“They’re fanatics, and wouldn’t hesitate to shoot anyone who crosses onto their land. And if they’re running guns, drugs, and people, they’d be doubly so. What I’ll do, while I’m traveling the back roads, is look for locations that might have fences blocking a driveway, or any type of roadway, and see if there are any no trespassing signs up. That would be my first indication of anything going on. Now, I only have one question.”
“What’s that?”
“These maps are wonderful, and will probably be useful, but to do what I need to do, and I’m assuming once the other women arrive, they’ll be doing the same thing, but for what we need, these maps are useless on the information gathering missions we will be doing. Here in the office they would be great.”
“How so?”
“Because, I’d like to get my hands on a county map. This red outlining our county is about three inches, by four inches, not all the roads are indicated on this one. Now with a county map, that’ll be different.”
Morgan nodded and went back to her desk. She picked up the phone, but set it back in its cradle when there were three loud raps on the door, then it opened. Both women looked, as a man dressed in a police uniform entered.
“Tom, what brings you here?” Morgan asked in surprise. “I was just going to call you.”
“Glad I saved you the time. I’m here for several reasons. Well, definitely two.”
