“Why can’t anyone buy property in Molly’s Valley?” Cash tried to keep her on track.
“Because it’s a depository for nuclear waste.” The men at the table paled. Lily nodded at their reaction. “I know. It’s frightening what happened. From what I remember from Rachel’s report, there was ground seepage. They have to monitor it forever.”
“Why aren’t there any signs? How didn’t I know this?” Cash asked, surprised something of that scale had been sitting practically in his front yard and he hadn’t had a clue it existed.
“I have no idea.” Lily shrugged. “Like I said, ask Rachel. She got an A on her paper. None of us could hardly understand a word of it, but she gave lists of the companies who stored their waste there. She’s writing her doctoral dissertation on it. She had to get special permission from the state and federal governments to take soil samples. She’s writing about some kind of isotopes.”
“Transuranic?” Cash asked sharply, remembering his chemistry.
“That’s it!” Lily exclaimed. “I would call her and ask to make sure, but there’s no cell reception there. She went there today to get some samples; her paper is due next week.”
“Holy fuck!” he said, getting out of his chair and running after Viper. “Shade, call Lucky. Tell him everything and to notify Homeland Security.”
Cash followed Viper’s lead as they hauled ass toward Molly’s Valley. He prayed, bargained, and pleaded the whole way there, something he hadn’t done in a long time and didn’t think himself capable of.
They cut their motors as they drew close, seeing the gate standing open. He knew they were too late.
The men climbed off their bikes, motioning for Stud’s men, who were coming in, to go quiet, also. They made a line in the long grass, trying to shield themselves as they moved through the land.
His eyes momentarily caught Lucky’s when they found the guards dead outside the facility.
The men, many who had served together in the Navy, took the lead while Stud’s men came behind as backup.
Once they entered the building, it wasn’t hard to find them. Rachel’s screams could be heard, leading them in her direction.
Cash’s military training went out the door; instead, he became the man he had been born to be. He reached inside his pockets, pulling out his brass knuckles. The men inside thought they wanted a new government, but he was about to give them a whole new world.
*
Rachel sat on the dirty concrete floor. “You have to stop. You don’t know what you’re doing,” she screamed.
“Shut her up!” Scorpion yelled.
Vaughn mercilessly smashed his fist into the side of her face.
“You won’t have to shut me up. You’ll kill us all if you breach that concrete casing,” Rachel cried, angry at herself for believing Scorpion was taking her to show her the property he had bought. She had been heading toward Molly’s Valley when he said it was in Jamestown. She had stopped by for a quick look, not listening to the warnings about trusting people Tate had drilled into her head for years, and the ones Shade and Cash had given her.
When she had arrived at the property, Scorpion had tied her up and thrown her into a car along with her purse and credentials to get into Molly’s Valley. One guard had been killed as soon as he had opened the gate, the other at the facility door. Both guards hadn’t stood a chance against the number of men and weapons trained on them.
“Listen to me, Scorpion. Those casings are holding radioactive materials. Anyone near them without protective equipment is going to die.”
“I told you to shut her up! I know what I’m fucking doing.”
“You didn’t tell us this was a suicide mission,” Vaughn snarled.
Scorpion raised his gun, firing it at the man standing next to Vaughn.
“If I hear one more word from you, your next.” Scorpion raised his gun toward Rachel.
“Go ahead. I’d rather die quick, you dumb-ass.”
“Fine.”
Rachel closed her eyes, preparing herself, flinching when she heard the gun go off. Surprised she didn’t feel the pain, she opened her eyes to see The Last Riders fighting Scorpion and his men.
Rachel sat, watching as the men fought, her eyes glued to Cash until Rider lifted her off the ground, carrying her outside.
Several of Scorpion’s men tried to escape, only to be brought down by Stud’s men.
Rider untied her, taking her to a car that had pulled in and forcing her inside. “Take her back to Treepoint.”
“Wait.”
Rider slammed the car door, disappearing back inside the facility.
Rachel turned frantically in her seat, but the car speeding off knocked her off balance. She worried all the way back to Treepoint about Cash’s safety.
The car dropped her off at the police station where Knox was waiting.
“Is he okay?” she asked as soon as she got out of the car.
“Cash is fine. Come on inside; I need to take your statement.”
Rachel blinked back tears of relief, going inside the Sheriff’s office. All she could do now was wait.