Page 100 of Eco-Activist's Mountain Men
"So how's he supposed to pee? And shouldn't we at least give him a drink?"
"Hark at Toby the humanitarian. Who'd have thought it?" Luna leers at me.
"He's right, though," interrupts Luke. "Just because he's an asshole doesn't mean we have to lower ourselves down to his standards."
"Doesn't it?" Luna's half smiling, half serious. But in the end, she comes around.
"Yeah, yeah, alright, you bunch of mother's boys. I'll make the asshole a sandwich, and you can give him that and a bottle of water, and maybe if you have your rifles with you, a couple of you could let him use the bathroom before he settles for the night. If you really want to, then I guess we could sling him a mattress to sleep on. Take his boots and his belt, though, so if he does get himself untied in the middle of the night, he'll be less likely to run, given there's a hundred or so miles of forest in every direction."
CHAPTER 29
Jack
It's nearing midday, and the police have let us know they're on their way. They want to know if there's room to safely land their chopper.
"Plenty," Toby tells them. "You could land ten out here and still have room for a baseball game, a cheerleader display, and a hog roast." He's probably not far wrong.
Meanwhile, Luna is up to something on her phone. She's been smirking all morning, and she's bossed us all into showering and putting on clean clothes. She even makes Eric shave, then sits him down and cuts his hair. He blushes to his ginger roots, but he doesn't seem to mind the attention.
"Chopper!" Luke suddenly calls out. "Coming in from the south."
A pause. "Wait. There's another one, and—hell—now a third. Why are they wasting three helicopters on us?"
We all turn toward Luna, whose smirk has stretched into a full-on grin.
"Alright, Luna," I say. "What did you do?"
"Me?" Her eyes go wide, trying for innocence but failing miserably. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm talking about the three damn helicopters overhead."
"And two of 'em ain't police," Luke cuts in, squinting into the sky.
"Oh, that." Luna's grin widens. "That'll be the media."
"What?"
"Tim Collier's not the only one who can set up a press event." She folds her arms smugly. "But this time, Tim Collieristhe press event." She giggles.
The police chopper and one of the media helicopters land, whilst the other chopper remains in the air, a cameraman leaning out, taking footage of the action going on below.
A sheriff and two of his deputies get out of the police chopper, bending low and hanging on to their hats to stop them blowing away as they jog across to where we're standing in the yard, watching them approach us.
"Be pleasant, be polite, and leave all the talking to me." Luna hisses.
"Okay, Bossgirl."
"Oh, and Toby, act the fool all you like after they've gone, but whilst the cameras are on you, please remember you're a senior director of a company, so act your age, not your boot size, okay?"
I can see she's serious, so for once I decide to behave myself. "You got it." She gives me a long look, and I hold her gaze to show I mean it. Eventually, she seems satisfied, gives a slight nod, and looks back towards the approaching cops.
A film crew and interviewer have emerged from the other landed chopper and are also making their way across to us. The police arrive first, and the sheriff appears less than delighted with the media presence.
"My name's Sheriff Dwayne York, and these two here are my Deputies, Smith and O'Callahan. Who's in charge here, and why have we got the media all around us?"
Luna steps forward, a friendly, welcoming smile on her face, her hand offered out to shake.
"Sheriff York – may I call you Dwayne? First of all, thank you so much for coming so soon. We know you're still mega-busy after the recent storm, and we really do appreciate you taking the time to help us right now. My name is Laura Wilder, and I'm the daughter of Kingsley Wilder, Head of Wilder Investments—you may have heard of him."
