Page 20 of Levi
“Sadie,” he continues to use my false name, “place your hand out to let him get a good smell of you.”
I do as I’m asked, and Brody brings him over, and I fidget a little as Zeus sniffs the heck out of me.
“I need you to trust me so that Zeus understands what you are to me.”
I give a quick nod and watch as he walks over to me, and he engulfs me in a tight big bear hug.His arms are ripped and he could easily toss me around like a ragdoll with those things.Zeus whimpers, not getting any of his attention, and Brody scoops me up and carries me over to the large oversized couch.He sits down with me in his lap, and Zeus follows his master but stays at our feet.After a few minutes, Zeus leans forward and plants his chin on my legs where my hand sits.
“Give him a scratch around the ears.”
I make a move to do just that, and it startles Zeus, as he whips his head back quickly.
“Slowly, Sadie.”
With the movement of a snail, I reach for the top of his head and when my fingers graze over his hair, his look of apprehension fades in his eyes and he leans in once again.It doesn’t take long before Zeus and I are best friends, and he is following me around everywhere.
After giving me the grand tour of the spacious ranch-style house of four bedrooms, six bathrooms, gym, a media room, and man cave, he and Zeus show me the outside part of the property.As far as the eye could see is green grass and large trees.There are several large barns throughout the property, and men who are busy with the animals, tractors, and fixing things.
“We have six men who work on the property,” Brody tells me as we leave the cow barn, where two men help deliver a baby calf.
“We?”I wonder if he has a partner who helps finance a place like this.
He gives me a side smirk.
“Yes, Sadie,we.As in you and me, remember?We are married after all.”He nudges my shoulder as we walk towards a shop.
A man in a cowboy hat walks out of the shop, wiping his hands of what I suspect to be grease, and finds his way over to us.
“Brody, you’re here!I didn’t think we would be seeing you for a few more months.”They shake hands and turn their attention to me.I watch as this man gives me a once over, taking in my injured face from being assaulted at the jail.
“Patrick, I’d like to introduce you to my wife, Sadie.She’s the reason we decided to come sooner.She just couldn’t wait another day to get out here in the great wild.”Brody’s smile makes me smile and Patrick reaches out to greet me, only to be stopped by Zeus who has now put himself between me and Patrick.Zeus bares his teeth until Patrick returns his hand to his side.“Easy Zeus,” Brody commands.Brody must’ve noticed Patrick’s looks so he adds, “Sadie was attacked in the mall parking lot before we came here.It’s also one of the reasons we wanted out of the big city.We didn’t want our little one raised in all the hustle and bustle.”He places his strong arm around my shoulder, then places his large hand on my stomach.I flinch at his touch, as only Levi touches me this way, but I remember we have to do this if I want to stay hidden, so I lean in playing the part.
“Well, that makes greeting a little harder.”Patrick chuckles as Zeus sits his bottom at my feet, but is still on high alert.“I’m Patrick.I’m in charge of the workers and making sure the ranch is running smoothly around here.”He reminds me of my dad.I can tell from the wear on his face and hands that he’s been working outside his entire life.
“Sadie.”I finally greet, but make no move to touch him for fear Zeus might remove his hand from his body.
“I hope everything is up to your standards, ma’am.We’ve been trying to get this place move in ready for the last three months, since she’s been deserted almost three years.”
“It’s beautiful out here and everything looks amazing.Please call me Sadie.”I tell him and brag of his hard work.
Off in the distance, Patrick gets called away and Brody, Zeus and I start to walk over to the horse corral to check out the new ones who were bought at auction two weeks ago.
“What is it that you do?I mean, how do you afford a place like this?”I say before thinking, and want to kick myself for being so nosy.“You don’t have to answer that.I just know that my dad never received a payment to afford a place like this when he left the service, but maybe times have changed.”Again, the filter has been opened.But surely the government wouldn’t put me with some drug trafficker or some crazy person, right?
“It’s okay, Sadie, you need to know whereourmoney comes from.”He shrugs as we lean on the pipe fence as a black stallion trots in a circle.“After I got out of the military, I had no clue what to do with my life.Being a Marine was all I knew.A few months later, I was out at the shooting range and a thought came to me about the guns we used out on one of our tours.I always said it would work better if it had a better type of scope, and we were wearing a better type of glasses out in the field.Thus, came the grand idea of trying to create a new scope with goggles you can wear for both day and night time.Even if a person has a prescription.”
It sounds impressive and Brody seems like the determined type; if he puts his mind to it then it will happen.
“Three months later I had a prototype.I contacted an attorney to patent it and they were able to get me in contact with someone who knew how to get a government contract, so I could have them distributed to our men and woman in the service.”
“Whoa.That’s amazing, Brody.”
“So, we’re millionaires,” he says casually.“Anything you could ever want is at your feet, Momma Bear.”He smiles as big as the Grand Canyon.
After lunch I’m exhausted, even though I just slept for almost twenty-four hours, and decide to take a nap while Brody heads out to discuss some things with Patrick.Zeus, of course, is with me laying down at the foot of the bed, keeping a careful watch of the door.
Brody had given me a tablet to keep in touch with the outside world, as long as I didn’t communicate with anyone from back home.I pull up the news back in Los Angeles, to see if there was any news on what Levi’s current condition was, and found several videos outside of the hospital.Clicking on the top one makes my blood boil, as I watch Daniel Thorne come to the top of the steps to make a statement.
“Thank you all for your support during this difficult time in my family’s life.Right now, there haven’t been any changes to my son’s condition but we’ll let you know as soon as there’s any improvement.”
