The Army Comes Calling (15 page)

     She whispered back, “Screw the vote. There’s no way anyone in the compound would vote to keep her out after hearing what she and her kids have already gone through.”

     Amy and Little Steve had joined their mom in the front yard.

     Steve looked up at Sarah and asked, “Are there any other kids where we’re going? We haven’t seen any other kids in a very long time.”

     Sarah reached down and picked up the boy, but was too choked up to answer his question.

     That fell to Bryan, who assured him, “Yes, sir. There are lots of kids, and they’re nice and will be good friends to you.”

     Sarah took Glenna by the hand and led her into the house to pack.

     It didn’t take long. Everything the three had in the world fit into two small suitcases.

     Frank looked to Bryan and said, “We’re going to wrap up this operation and head out to San Angelo. We’ve got plenty of security. Why don’t you and Sarah cut out and make sure these good people make it home okay.”

     The girl, Amy, repeated the word, “home,” as though trying to understand the significance.

     As the group piled into one of the humvees, Mark asked Frank, “So. What do we do with the dead body in the back of the truck?”

     Frank said, “I just asked Marty where the town dump is. Turns out it’s on our way. We’ll drop him with the rest of the garbage.

     “May he rot in hell.”

Chapter 25

     By nightfall, three vehicles came limping back into Eden: A humvee and two Kenworth tractors. They’d left the trailers in San Angelo. They’d been abandoned by their original owners anyway, and Marty didn’t have any emotional attachment to either one.

     The San Angelo city marshal promised to donate the goods inside the trailers to a worthy cause, once the prisoners were all booked into the city jail.

     Frank promised to return within a week with victim statements and witness accounts to provide to the prosecuting attorneys.

     For all practical purposes, Eden was a free city once again. Frank had a lot of interviews to conduct, but he didn’t mind. He enjoyed being a policeman, always had. It gave him a sense of purpose that nothing else he did came close to matching.

     Marty, on the other hand, had never been a policeman. But he was fascinated by the work.

     “Mind if I come along and help?” he asked Frank.

     Frank smiled his broad smile and said, “You’re more than welcome, my friend.”

     “Actually, I want to come back to the compound with you tonight too, if you don’t mind. There’s something I need to discuss with Hannah.”

     If Frank was at all curious as to the nature of Marty’s conversation with Hannah, he didn’t let on.

     “By all means. Hannah will be happy to see you. But I have to warn you, if you’ve a mind to try to take her away from Mark, you’ll have a fight on your hands, I assure you. He’s kinda fond of his little wife.”

     “As he should be. She’s a beautiful woman, and as sweet as honey to boot. But he needn’t worry. I merely have a business matter I want to discuss with her.”

     “Will you stay for supper, since you’re going to be there anyway?”

     “I was kinda hoping you’d ask.”

     The pair walked into the compound a bit later and Frank, being Frank, went immediately to the security console to check on things.

     John and Hannah were laughing uproariously when he walked up.

     “You know,” Frank said, “You two could give a guy a severe complex. It seems that every time you see me, you start laughing.”

     “Yeah, well, the cat’s out of the bag. I guess we don’t have to pretend anymore. But darn it, Frank, you just have one of those faces that makes people want to crack up.”

     “Yeah, right. Very funny, but I’m not buying it. I’ve been told my face creates more nightmares than laughter.”

     “Yeah, well now that you mention it…”

     “What’s so funny?”

     “Bryan. When he and Sarah got home earlier with Glenna and her kids, she called an emergency meeting to explain why she brought them here.

     “She asked me to take Glenna and the kids on a grand tour of the place while the meeting was going on. I gave her my proxy to cast my vote however she saw fit.

     “Anyway, she told me a little while ago what I’d missed. It seems she told everyone about Glenna’s situation and the abuse she and her kids have had to endure. She said that the only cure she knows of for such horrible abuse is massive doses of love and security from further harm. She said she brought them here because this is the only place she knows of where both of those things exist.

     “She told the group, ‘You guys go ahead and debate this issue if you want, but understand that if you decide

not to let Glenna and Amy and little Steve stay, then Bryan and I will be leaving with them.’

     “Bryan happened to be eating a cookie at the time. He was caught totally of guard by her proclamation and sputtered ‘We will?’

     “Sarah said, ‘Yes, we will. Someone has to protect these people. If we as a group won’t, then you and I will.’

     “Anyway, Sarah needn’t have worried. There was no debate. A lot of tears and a lot of anger directed at the animals who abused that poor family the way they did. But no debate.

     “When they took the vote, it was unanimous. Thirty two votes to let them stay, none against.”

     Frank said, “Thirty two? Wait a minute. Mark and I gave Sarah our proxy as well, but even counting our votes, there are only thirty one eligible voters. How did they count thirty two?”

     Hannah giggled.

     “That’s why we were laughing when you walked up. Bryan raised both hands and tried to vote twice. He said that he liked the people here, and the food was good, and he had no desire to leave.

     “Well, it was obvious that the vote was going to be unanimous anyway, so Helen went ahead and counted both of his hands. It was officially logged into the meeting minutes that the motion carried with thirty two votes, even though only thirty one people were eligible to vote. Future archeologists who stumble across our minutes log will certainly be scratching our heads over that one.”

     “Well, I’m glad that Bryan and Sarah are staying. It just wouldn’t be the same around here without them.”

     “You ain’t kidding. Glenna and her family are in apartment 118, if you want to stop by to check in on them. In fact, I’m headed that way, after I hit the Walmart to pick up a couple of teddy bears. You’re welcome to tag along if you want.”

     “Sure, why not?”

     As Frank and Hannah headed to the storage room in the basement the group lovingly called “Walmart,” Marty asked Hannah if she had a few minutes to spare, after she finished checking on their new residents.

     “Sure, thing. I’ve always got time for a handsome knight in shining armor. What you did for the people in Eden was nothing less than saintly, Marty. Most people would have looked the other way. You, sir, are my hero for the day.”

     Marty turned red. He was a good man, but not one used to flattery.

Chapter 26

     The last thing Hannah did before leaving Glenna’s new apartment was remind her about dinner.

     “It’s every evening at seven. Do you remember where the dining room was?”

     “Yes, I think so.”

     “Would you like for me to pick you up here and walk you all over there?”

     “No, you’ve done too much already.”

     “Nonsense. You’re part of our family now. And families can never do too much for one another.”

     Glenna’s head was still spinning. When she woke up that morning she’d been a captive woman, horribly abused in so many ways.

     Now, a few short hours later, she and her children were free, and surrounded by caring people determined to help her.

     “I just know I’m going to wake up any time and find that this is all only a dream.”

     Hannah smiled. “Nope. If it was a dream, I wouldn’t be in it. Nobody ever dreams about me. My husband says he does. But he only says that because he has to.”

     The women hugged and Hannah told her, “I’ll knock on your door just before seven.”

     Then she found Marty in the lounge and said, “Okay, I’m all yours, Bub. What was it you wanted to talk about?”

     “I have a business transaction I’d like to pitch to you.”

     “A business transaction? Well, that’s interesting. Let’s go to the dining room and talk over coffee, shall we?”

     The two settled in at a square table for four with a Monopoly board inlayed into the center of it.

     “Wow, this is cool,” Marty said. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a table like this before.”

     “It was at the mine for the seven years we lived there. We brought several of the tables over here to accommodate our growing population. Sami’s pregnant, did you know that?”

     “It isn’t mine, I swear.”

     Hannah smiled an easy smile.

     “Well, Brad will be very happy to hear that. Anyway, with Sami expecting, and with Frank and Eva and some of their people joining us, we were in need of more tables. Now that Glenna’s family is here too, that’s even more true.”

     She opened a discreet drawer beneath the table and pulled out Monopoly money and all the other things needed to play the game.

     “Everything you need is under here. We also have other tables with chess boards, poker, crayons… whatever you’re in the mood for.”

     “Pretty nice,” Marty said. Do you play? Monopoly, that is.”

     “Oh, yes, indeed. No one around here will play me anymore. Because I’m ruthless, and no one can beat me.”

      “That’s only because you’ve never played me.”

     “Well, then, Marty dear, perhaps we’ll play sometime. But fair warning, you’ll leave here crying like a newborn baby. And you’ll swear you’ll never play me again.”

     “I’m looking forward to the challenge. Maybe it’s high time somebody knocked you off your pedestal.”

     “Maybe. But you’re not the man to do it.”

     He laughed. “We shall see, my dear. We shall see.”

     “Okay,” she said. “Now that the gauntlet has been thrown down, let’s get down to business. What was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

     “I want you and Mark to consider getting little Markie a dog.”

     He saw a flash of something in her eyes. A hint of nostalgia, perhaps? Of longing, or hope? Whatever it was, it was fleeting, and gone as quickly as it appeared.

     “Marty, that would be so wonderful. But you know as well as I do that none of the dogs survived the freeze.”

     His eyes sparkled and he smiled.

     “Wrong. At least some of them have.”

     Hannah’s mouth dropped. Literally.

     Mark chose that very moment to walk up, and said, “Well, that’s a good look for you. Want me to get you a napkin before you start drooling all over the table?”

     “Baby, Marty just told me there are dogs out there.”

     “Yeah, right. And Santa Claus and Bigfoot too.”

     Marty said, “Seriously. I’ve seen them. German shepherds. And they’re available for a certain price. Not very many people can pay that price. But you guys can.”

     He had their attention. Hannah said, “Go on…”

     “Let me start from the beginning. About a month ago a lady came into the Trucker’s Paradise to fill up with fuel. She caused quite a stir when she released a full grown German shepherd from the back seat to do his business against my fuel pumps. But I didn’t mind that. I was so excited to see a real live dog that he could have pissed on my leg and I wouldn’t have cared.”