Page 23 of Astrid
“I don’t like this.” Astrid turned to Joyce with a heavy frown.
“What?” Joyce took in her expression with her own frown, then shook her head at Astrid. “I don’t understand what you’re looking at.”
“Okay, I’m not saying this is going to happen, but what if somehow the people you, and Ava, and I’m sure me, and the other women yet to arrive, piss the locals off. Think about this as a mission. What do you see?” She spread her arm and watched the expressions go over Joyce’s face, and nodded when she realized she understood.
“There’s too much brush close to the building. Yes, the brush is okay, but we need to clean out at least twenty yards.”
“Exactly,” Astrid said, and looked up when she heard someone approach. She sighed in relief when it was Ava and Morgan who joined them.
“What’s up?” Morgan asked. “You look concerned.”
“I am, stand here and look around. Picture what would happen if we’re somehow under siege, what’s wrong with this picture?” she asked Morgan, and again waved her hand to the foliage behind the garage.
“Shit, the brush needs to be cut back, and thinned out in places.”
“Exactly. I’m here to mount the cameras on the garage. I won’t shrink in our safety, but I can tell you right now that we’ll never be able to see what’s coming at us on the cameras the way this landscape is now.”
“I’m not telling, or even suggesting you cut back on your safety, but can you still install the cameras, and then once the guys get to the point of breaking off, have some finish the office, while others come out and take care of this?”
“Yes, this won’t hinder me from mounting the cameras. It’s just that it won’t show a whole hell of a lot until this is cut back.”
“I have one question,” Ava said as she frowned into the area they were discussing.
“What’s that?”
“Will you have motion-activated equipment?”
“Meaning?”
“I mean will lights come on if something moves in the night? I’m only asking, because Justin and I were out at the firepit late a couple of nights ago, and we heard something out here and came to investigate.” At the expressions from the others, she held up her hand and shook her head. “Yes, I was armed, and we were careful, but we saw a family of racoons trying to open the doors. That’s what I meant by motion-activated. If you install security lights, would they go off every time a wild animal comes into the area. And though I agree with you that we need to cut this back, but what about any animals that already live in there?” She pointed to the overgrowth in question.
Astrid looked at the other women with raised brows. “I never thought about that, I’m not a total bitch as to saying the animals don’t need a place to live, but I can install the cameras, and we can observe them for a few days before we make any drastic decisions.”
“I vote for that plan,” Morgan said, then sighed heavily. “Now that I’ve got you three here, I talked to Uncle Chip.” When she had their attention, she nodded. “First, Astrid, he said to expect your shipment late this afternoon. It’s in my name, and I’ll have to sign for it, and it’ll be delivered over to the ranch. If you’re around when it arrives, then we can go over and have the delivery guy bring it over here.”
“Do you trust him?” was Astrid’s first question. “We don’t know who is doing all this bad stuff, and I don’t mean to tell you what to do, but do we really want a lot of trucks coming in and out?”
“Shit, I never thought of that. I do know that Tom had all the drivers with the company John hired to bring in the soil, stone, and sand investigated, or at least he did background checks on them.” Morgan looked at the other women and rubbed her forehead. “That’s why I have you guys to remind me of all these things.” She sighed again, and looked around.
“What else did you have to tell us?” Astrid asked as she sipped her coffee Joyce had brought her a few minutes ago.
“I mentioned to Uncle Chip what Carl said about maybe sending half of you guys to Idaho.”
“And?” the three women asked as one.
“And he said to wait until he sees them.”
“I don’t understand,” Astrid said.
“Three more women are due to arrive between next Monday and the middle of August. If they arrive on time, then there will be one here with a week to a week and a half between arrival times. The last person I’m expecting won’t be until later in October, or not even until after the first of the year. She’s still up in the air.”
“Can I ask why?” Astrid frowned.
“The last person is Bernadette Cromwell.”
“Bernie?” Astrid asked in shock. “But, she is a Commander for a team.”
“Was… According to Uncle Chip, she was injured on her last mission, and had to go under the knife for knee surgery. They won’t know if she’ll be able to go back to active duty, until she goes through physical therapy.”
