Page 68 of Matthew
“Yeah. Dark one. Really clean. No logos. Parked out by your gate right after sunrise this morning. No one got out, it just idled there for a while. I was walking my dog, and it gave me a weird feeling, y’know? Thought I’d mention it.”
Behind her, Maggie edged into view, sipping coffee.
“Hey there, Maggie,” Everett greeted with a nod.
“Hi, Everett,” she replied.
“Did they come in?” Callie asked, forcing her voice to stay casual.
“Nope,” Everett said. “Sat there maybe five minutes, then turned around and drove off toward the county line.”
Her stomach twisted.
Not only was it weird, it wastimed.
They’d come for it.
Her pulse kicked up as she nodded. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“No trouble,” Everett said kindly. “Thought I should say something, though. Don’t like the idea of strangers lurking around out here.”
“Me either.” Her voice was quiet now.
Everett gave her a polite tip of his cap and left, taking the morning euphoria with him.
The earth felt as if it had tilted under her feet. Callie moved closer to the counter and dropped the remains of the muffin in the nearby trash, her appetite gone.
A truck waiting by her gate.
A box that was on her manifest but shouldn’t have been.
They’d come to pick it up.
But it wasn’t here, it was at ESI.
She pulled the phone from her pocket, thumbs poised over the screen, but she didn’t text right away. For a second, she stood there, breath shallow, mind whirring. Not with panic, but with certainty.
This was her land. Her family’s business. She’d poured herself into this place, and into every bed of soil, every customer interaction, every order double-checked and signed off with care.
And now, someone had tried to hijack that trust. Smuggle poison through her home.
Callie swallowed hard.
Not on my damn watch.
She typed fast.
Neighbor spotted a truck waiting by the gate at dawn. No one got out. Turned back toward county line. I think they came for the box.
She hit Send before she could think too long about it.
Maggie’s voice was soft behind her. “What’s going on?”
With a sigh, Callie filled her sister in. “My guess is they were here to pick up the shipment.”
“They didn’t get it.”
“No,” she said. “They didn’t.”
