Outside, Mercy could see her breath. The temperature had dropped rapidly, and she zipped up her coat to her chin. The shed was about a hundred feet from the home, closer to the main road. Steve was right. There was just a concrete pad and a neat pile of singed lumber. A faint scent of smoke still hovered.
“I salvaged what I could from the shed itself,” he said, kicking the edge of one board. “I can rebuild it after I get some more lumber. And the supplies will eventually be replaced.” He shot Mercy a rueful glance. “It just stings, you know? I didn’t want to mention it in front of Julia, but it makes me feel unsafe. Julia has enough problems sleeping at night, and this has added to them. Especially after the murders the other night.”
“That’s completely understandable.”
“I’ve added heavier locks on our house and barn and wired up motion-detector lights that we turn on at bedtime.” He gave a short laugh. “It wasn’t the best idea. Now we’re woken up by lights every few hours as a rabbit or deer runs through the yard. I need to rethink that one.” He paused, staring at the concrete pad. “At first I assumed it was stupid kids who didn’t care if they caused damage to other people’s belongings.”
“And now?”
“I don’t know what to think since those two deputies were killed. That doesn’t sound like kids fooling around to me.”
She circled the rectangle of cement, searching the packed dirt with her flashlight, not knowing what she hoped to see. “Have you had any run-ins with people who didn’t like the fact that you’re preppers?” she asked quietly.
“Not here.” Steve pressed his lips together. “My father was a bit of an ass about it, but he’s in Arizona. It’s one of the reasons we moved to Oregon. To get away from him and the heat.”
“Have you found . . . a supportive community here?”
He met her gaze. “We have. Your father has been instrumental in introducing us to people. I like that your mother is a trained midwife.”
So they’ve joined my father’s circle.
“What do you do, Steve?”
“I’m a journeyman plumber. Pretty good at construction too. I have a knack for it.”
Preparedness wasn’t just about accumulating a pile of stuff. People needed practical skills that took training, study, and practice. Anyone could buy up a pile of guns and canned goods, but without the skills, they wouldn’t last long. Steve and his family were committed.
That would be reason enough for my father to add him to his small circle of people who have agreed to band together if disaster strikes. Steve’s specialized skills would be useful in TEOTWAWKI.
The end of the world as we know it.
Her parents were considered wealthy by prepping standards. They had four vehicles: one powered by gas, one by diesel, one by propane, and one by electricity. Folks just starting out, like the Parkers, probably had one diesel-fueled vehicle, the versatile choice to start with. Mercy suspected the young family was dedicated for life, and had been happy to join the tight-knit prepper community that her father had organized.
“I’ve met your siblings,” Steve said. “Winslet adores Rose. But I don’t recall your father mentioning an FBI agent in the family.”
“He wouldn’t bring it up.” Mercy turned and shone her flashlight on a copse of trees a few yards away, wanting to look anywhere but at Steve’s questioning gaze.
It’s a small town. Time to get used to people asking about my father and me.
“So since you moved here in April, have the people you met have been good to you?” Talk about anything but my father. “No arguments with neighbors? No problems with people on your acreage?”
“No problems at all. It’s very quiet out here. If we don’t go into town, we might not see another person for days.”
“That’s why my father originally built in this area,” Mercy said.
“It’s a good location,” Steve agreed. “A bit cold and dry in the winter, but the rest of the year’s weather is good for growing and getting work done. We considered the west side of the Cascades in the Willamette Valley, where the weather is milder, but the cost was too high. And there were too many people.”
She wanted to tell him that there was more to life than judging an area by how ideal it was in case of a natural disaster or government meltdown. Try to enjoy life now. Don’t focus entirely on what hasn’t happened yet. Don’t ignore your children for the sake of an obsession.
She remembered how he’d looked at his daughter and wife. There’d been genuine love and affection. Had her father ever pressed his lips against the top of her head when she was a child? Surely he had.
Hadn’t he?
She couldn’t remember any outward signs of affection from the man. Ever.
Steve Parker wasn’t her father. Yet.
“You have a beautiful family,” she told him. “Lola will be very lucky to join it.”
Even in the poor light of their flashlights, she could make out his happy reaction. “We can’t wait. I don’t care that it’s another girl. Girls are awesome.”
“I agree.”
EIGHT
Kaylie silently closed the door and tiptoed down the apartment stairs, excitement rushing through her veins. Freedom gave her a heady rush as anticipation about seeing Cade made her feet move faster. She hit the sidewalk and jogged through the dark night to their usual rendezvous spot, her breath creating big clouds in the cold air.
Am I in love?
No matter what this sensation was called, she felt fantastic. The energy bubbling through her was oblivious to the fact that it was one in the morning. She and Cade had been dating for over a month. He was three years older than she, and she’d known who he was for a long time, but they hadn’t spoken until she waited on him at the Coffee Café early one morning on his way to work. He came back three mornings in a row and finally asked her out.
He’d been the best thing to happen to her since her father died. Aunt Mercy was great, but with Cade she felt beautiful and special. He’d bought her a gold necklace for her seventeenth birthday, lessening the pain of her first birthday without her father. He was tall and gorgeous and kind. When his brown eyes looked into hers, she felt like the only woman in the world.
She jogged faster, the icy air invigorating her.
Aunt Mercy will kill me.
But she didn’t care. She was happy and energetic around Cade, and she’d do whatever it took to spend more time with him. He worked twelve-hour days on a ranch far out of town. At first they’d simply texted and FaceTimed in the evening, but soon it wasn’t enough. Nights were his primary free time.
She spotted his old Toyota pickup parked up ahead, and elation raced through her.
She’d kept the relationship quiet, unsure what her aunt would think of her having her first boyfriend. Especially one who was three years older. Her father had told Kaylie that his sisters hadn’t been allowed to have boyfriends in high school. Would Mercy continue that legacy? She didn’t seem like the type to look down on young love, but she did preach self-sufficiency. And Kaylie felt as if she couldn’t breathe without Cade.