Cantina Valley (A Ben Adler Mystery Book 1) (13 page)

13

Ben woke up before light, which would probably never come completely on this Sunday.
 
The rain had turned from freezing to a light, warm drizzle, making tree branches spring back from their load of ice with resounding snaps and cracks.
 
The ground everywhere was still slippery from ice and mud.
 
He finished his chores feeding the animals, milking his cows and collecting eggs, before heading back into his house.

He stoked the fire before going into the third bedroom in his house.
 
This room was mostly used for storage now, but it also contained a large desk in front of one window with his radio equipment.
 
His parents had been short wave radio enthusiasts, keeping track of friends across the country.
 
Most of these friends they had never met in person, but they were more real than most found on social media in current times.

With large headphones over his ears, Ben cycled through the chatter trying to find out how the ice had affected people locally.
 
For now he simply listened.
 
There were a lot of reports of downed trees and icy roads.
 
Most concluded everyone should stay put.
 
The power was down in a lot of areas.
 
Of course that didn’t impact Ben, since he ran power off the grid.
 
In fact, most on the short wave had backup power if they weren’t entirely off the grid like Ben.
 
Soon he became engrossed by a series of conversations that made little or no sense.
 
It reminded him of something he had learned about in his military training.

Suddenly, he was startled with a tap on the shoulder.
 
Ben turned and saw Maggi behind him.
 
She was wearing only the old Air Force T-shirt he had given her to sleep in the night before.
 
He pulled his headphones to his neck, but could still hear some of the chatter.

“Good morning,” Ben said.
 
“I hope you slept all right.”

“I did,” Maggi said, almost in a whisper.
 
“It’s so quiet out here.”

“The winds picked up for a while after midnight,” Ben said.
 
“A lot of trees are down in the area.”

“Is that what the radio said?”

“These are people all over the area giving first-hand accounts,” he said.
 
“Much more accurate than a computer model.”

“Short wave?
 
I didn’t realize people still used those.”

“Mostly in the country.
 
But I just got reports from a few in the Portland area.
 
And you don’t have to whisper.
 
Sonya is gone.”

“This early?”

“She’ll be back soon.
 
She went for a run.”

“With this ice?”

“I know.
 
I told her not to go, but she’s pretty dedicated.
 
She’s done a number of marathons.”

“How far will she run?”

“Five to ten miles, depending on the road conditions.”

Maggi shook her head.
 
“That’s not my thing.
 
Good for her, though.”
 
She paused, considering her words.
 
“How long have you two been together?”

“We’re not.
 
Not really.
 
She keeps reminding me that we’re not exclusive.”

“Do you want it to be?”

That was a damn good question.
 
One he’d been asking himself for weeks.
 
“I don’t know.
 
I’ve been alone for so long that I’m not sure anyone would want me fulltime.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

Ben heard something over his headset, so he put a finger up and listened in on the conversation.
 
Then he shook his head and pulled the headphones down to his neck again.

“Everything all right?” she asked.

“I don’t know.
 
I’m hearing some strange things over the waves.”

“Like what?”

“Coded messages.”

“That’s not normal, right?”

“Well, throughout history there have been clandestine stations with folks broadcasting without license or authorization.
 
Many people off the grid now do the same thing.
 
The off-the-grid folks usually don’t want the government to know they exist.
 
These messages are coming from a frequency that was saved by my father.
 
But he didn’t leave me a guide book to say where these people were located.
 
I guess he didn’t want anything written down.”

“What do you think it might be?” she asked.

“I don’t know.
 
It’s a conversation that most people can’t pick up.
 
You have to know what you’re doing to find it.
 
I just lucked on to it based on my father’s presets.
 
It might be nothing.”
 
But it might be something, he thought.
 
Since one of the voices sounded familiar.

“Do you mind if I take a shower?”

“Go for it.”

“It’s too bad Sonya is coming back or you could join me.”
 
With that, she turned and left him.
 
As she turned, the T-shirt floated up, exposing the lower part of her bare butt.

Okay, he thought.
 
How in the hell would he handle this?
 
He pulled off the headset and turned off the short wave.
 
By now he could hear the shower running, and he imagined the naked body of Maggi McGuffin rubbing soap over soft, porcelain skin.
 
She didn’t have the sinewy, lithe type of body like Sonya, but that was not a bad thing.
 
Maggi had not run her breasts into submission.

Ben wandered into his living room and added another small log to the fire.

The front door opened and Sonya came in, a smile on her face.
 
Running brought a high to her disposition.
 
She didn’t just do it for her body, but also for her mind and soul.

“You survived,” Ben said.

“Barely,” she said, taking off her running shoes.
 
“It was treacherous.”
 
She stepped over to him, her feet leaving prints from the moisture on his hardwood floors.
 
Sonya kissed him quickly on the lips.
 
“I need a shower.”

“Maggi is in the back shower, but we have no shortage of water.”

“But you know how I like to share the shower.”
 
She gave him a wry grin.

“Go for it.”

“Seriously?”

He thought she was just toying with him.
 
But now he wasn’t entirely sure.
 
He simply shrugged and watched as she started down the hallway.
 
Instead of continuing to the back shower, she turned into the master bedroom.
 
She left the door open as she stripped down naked.
 
Then she smiled and went into the en suite bathroom.

Ben went into the kitchen to figure out breakfast options.
 
Sonya ate just about anything, but he wasn’t sure about Maggi.
 
Regardless, he put a slab of bacon in a cast iron pan and started to heat it.
 
Then he started the coffee pot.

Moments later and Maggi came down the hall wearing the clothes from the day before.
 
Her hair was still damp and she wore no makeup.
 
But Ben didn’t think she needed any.

“I didn’t bring any extra clothes,” she said.
 
“I wasn’t expecting to stay.”

“You’re fine,” he said.
 
“Coffee is on.
 
Do you like bacon?”

“Who doesn’t?”

“More than a billion Muslims.”

“Their loss.
 
More for us.”

“Great.”
 
Ben used a fork to turn the bacon.

“I hear another shower.
 
Sonya got back?”

“Yeah.
 
She said the roads were crazy.
 
You’ll have to wait a while before heading back to Portland.”

“You keep trying to get rid of me.”

He smiled and shook his head.
 
“Not at all.
 
I like your company.
 
I just figured you might have things to do before work tomorrow.
 
Also, maybe your brother tried to call you.”

“I didn’t even think about that,” Maggi said.
 
“Am I crazy, or did I hear Italian last night?”

“Sonya is fluent in three of the romance languages,” he explained.

“Yeah, it sounded like she was very passionate about it.”
 
Maggi smiled and turned her head toward Ben’s bedroom.

Just then Sonya came from the shower wearing a set of Ben’s tight silk long underwear tops and bottoms.
 
Despite their flexibility, they were a little baggy on her.

“Nice look,” Ben said.

“Just temporary,” Sonya said.
 
“I have to get going.
 
I’m meeting my mother for mass.
 
Do you have any eggs to go with that bacon?”

“Coming up,” he said.

The two women drank coffee and ate bacon while Ben cooked them fresh eggs gathered that morning.
 
When they were done, Sonya changed quickly and headed out the door.
 
But first she gave Maggi a hug and whispered something in her ear, which seemed to shock the attorney.

Ben sipped on his coffee and said to Maggi, “I hope she didn’t offend you.”

“Not at all,” Maggi said.
 
“She told me she would understand if I wanted to sleep with you.”