“Trust me; you get used to it,” replied Cory. “I always had someone looking over my shoulder— from the City Council to the Mayor, and an occasional news reporter begging for a story.”
“Yeah, I guess,” replied Mac. “I’m not looking forward to tomorrow,” he added. “I don’t think they have any intentions of leaving.”
They met up with the security team. “We need eyes up there tomorrow morning by 7:30,” Mac told them. “We will scout it out, and if they don’t leave, we will observe the 11-12 hour to see if the children are put out again. That will be it for tomorrow morning—observation only.”
There was some grumbling amongst the crowd of nearly twenty, just as Mac had expected.
“Any questions?” he asked loudly. More than half of the hands went up. “Besides why we’re only observing tomorrow morning?”
All hands went down, except one.
“Yes, Whitney,” he said.
“I just want to make sure none of the children get hurt, no matter what.”
Mac, sensing the growing connection between her and Drake, took the opportunity to bring him into the conversation, hoping he would answer the way he wanted him too.
“Drake, what do you know about us here in regard to children?”
“Well, I know you are all about families first, before anything else. Is that what you’re asking?”
“Yes, that is it. We’re about families. We want the children to have a fighting chance in this new world, but we can’t keep them here or at your grandparents’ house. And the adults, as Mrs. MacDonald said before, need to know we are serious and that this will be our last encounter with them. That, unfortunately, may require some tough love to get the point across.
“Get some rest today. We may have a big one tomorrow…and the next.”
* * * * * * *
Chapter Thirty-seven
Saddle Ranch
Loveland, Colorado
Sarah spent the night, for only her second time, at Mac’s place. She listened to his plans for tomorrow and quieted his deepest fears.
“What if we gas them and get the kids in it?” he asked. “What if someone has breathing problems and we kill them trying to make a point?”
“You will do what needs to be done,” she told him. “Nothing more, and nothing less. It’s not about one or two of us now, but all of us in this Valley. I don’t want to walk this pristine land that I have always called home in fear. Not now and not ever. You have given Ralph enough chances, and anyone who chooses to follow him now will be lumped in with his fate, as far as I’m concerned.”
“I understand,” he replied solemnly. “I will figure it out and have them moving on tomorrow, however it has to be.”
* * * *
Mac was up early at 5 a.m. and grabbed Cory for a meeting before everyone else was up.
They met out in front of Cory’s place. His son, Cameron, was sleeping in.
“What do you think?” Mac asked him.
“I don’t think they will be gone by the 8:30 a.m. deadline, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I am more concerned with the response we will need to give them when they don’t leave,” added Mac.
“We then have no choice,” said Cory, “than to do it ‘Mrs. MacDonald style’ and let them know we mean business. We get most of our team up there and in position by 11 a.m. and hope they proceed as usual, even though they missed the deadline. Then we hit them with the gas while the kids are outside, and we lay them down.”
“What do you mean by laying them down?” asked Mac.
“Well, we deliver the smoke bombs and then put them down riot-style—face down in the dirt with a rifle in their back. It’s scary for sure, but it sounds worse than it is. We need them to believe that this is it, and there is no returning back to this property without confrontation and grave consequences.
We had to do this in town a few times in the past, with guys who violated their restraining orders with wives or girlfriends. It worked then, and it can still work now.”
“That makes sense,” replied Mac.
“As for the children,” Cory continued, “most of them already know Whitney and she can take them a little bit up the road and play a game, so they don’t have to see it. Let’s just keep Mrs. MacDonald away from them all, or she might take matters into her own hands!” he added.
“Agreed on that last point for sure!” Mac replied.
* * * *
Mac tasked Drake to spy on the group from 8-10 a.m. They were likely to miss the deadline on purpose but would no doubt be more cautious at that time. He also didn’t want a group who was, on the off chance, intending to leave but was running late to suffer consequences they couldn’t reverse. By 10 a.m. he would surely have his answer.
All available security, including the MacDonalds and Whitney, met at the machine shop at 8 a.m., right after breakfast.
Willie was not happy about his only granddaughter being used to divert the children, but with Cory’s promise she would be covered and with her grandmother’s insistence, he didn’t have a choice in the matter.
“It’s going to be just fine,” Whitney told him. “They already know me, and I was up there for a few days by myself. Now I have nearly a small army behind me. Plus, it may be the one thing that keeps the children safe.”
Drake was in position at 8 a.m., on the same cliff he had perched on more than 100 times over the years.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as the men, women and children walked aimlessly about, sticking close to the house.
He wondered
