Chapter 12

We were coming into Elk City for our monthly supply trip. Suzy had decided that Kathy’s overalls were getting a bit worn and that she needed new shoes as well. Kathy, on the other hand, thought that any excuse for a cheeseburger and hot fudge sundae was just fine by her.

As we rode into town heading towards Mable’s pasture, I saw two obvious outsiders coming out of the diner. I could tell that they were not tourists from their dress. I also had a bad feeling about them. They had that hard look I recognized from my days in the desert. These guys reminded me of the civilian “Security” consultants that ran around on mysterious do not ask business. I also did not like the way they were eyeballing us. But as we got closer, they calmly walked to an oversized land yacht parked in front of the diner. I watched closely as they slowly drove away, and the passenger watched us just as closely.

While we were settling down the critters, Paul walked up. “Matt, what’s going on, partner?”

“Nothing much, Paul. We were just coming in for a shopping trip. We’ll stay the night and head back up before noon tomorrow. That is if nothing comes up.”

“Good, Good. Say, Matt, did you recognize those two suits that you passed on the way in?”

“No, can’t say that I did. I think I would recognize a couple of hardcases like that.”

“Well, they claimed to be friends of yours. Said they were looking for you.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“I agree, plus they were packing. Those suits were tailored to hide it, but I could see the sag in their belts. Is there anything going on that I should know about?”

“No, nothing that I know of. Just a normal summer.”

“I think I’ll keep an eye out. I suggest you and Suzy do the same.”

Suzy had stepped up at the tail end of the conversation. “Suzy should do the same, What, Paul? Is there something going on? Do I need to start getting worried?”

Paul raised his hands. “It’s probably nothing, Suzy. It’s just a cop’s natural suspicions popping up. I hear that this is a shopping trip. Anything special?”

Paul’s answer did not satisfy Suzy, but she did not push the issue. She reached down and hugged Kathy to her. “Nothing really special, just clothes for Kathy. She’s starting to get a growth spurt, and as rough and tumble as she is, she goes through overalls like Sherman through Georgia.”

Paul chuckled. “Kids are like that.” He knelt down to get eye-to-eye with Kathy. “How about it, sweety? Are you about ready to start wearing dresses?”

Kathy made a face. “Yuck, you can’t do anything fun in a dress.”

Paul laughed as he stood back up, “You’ll learn, Kathy, don’t worry, you’ll learn.”

Turning back to Matt, he got serious. “I’ll leave you to it, guys. I think I need to run a license plate and a few descriptions.”

At a large estate in the Sierra Mountains, on the border of Nevada and California, not far from the infamous Donner pass, a well-dressed middle-aged man was walking through the estate’s large and well-groomed garden.

Vinny Ammalati was unhappy with where he was and what he had to do. Walking through the complex’s garden, he noted the four men standing unobtrusively around. He was not worried about them. He had been through this garden before.