***
They had breakfast before dawn and rode quickly back to the ranch. Tom stopped at the old cabin. Tom and Kate were on a mission to get Jerry started on adapting the drones to handle a gun or drop bombs. Tom knew they didn’t stand a chance fighting Carlos’s superior force head to head. He needed a large edge for any fight to be successful. Tom also knew that killing a few of the gang who strayed too close would eventually help Carlos pin down their location through trial and error. He needed a decapitating strike. The drones might give him that edge he desperately needed.
Tom filled Jerry in on what he wanted Jerry to do to the drones, and Jerry was confident he could perform the work. “Tom, I can do the work with the hand drill, files, and grinder, but I’ll need some help. It doesn’t have to be skilled help, just someone to shape the metal with a file.”
Tom laughed. “Free help is the one thing we have plenty of. Can you do the work up at the old cabin? I want to keep the drones as confidential as possible. I don’t want anyone at the ranch besides you, Rick, Jackie, Kate, Jack, and me to know about the drones. Only Bill and Greta can know at the Community.”
“Boss, that’s not a problem, but can I add my two cents?”
“Of course! What’s on your mind?”
“I don’t know if I’d bring Lucy and Sam in to too much of the confidential stuff. Those redhead sightings kinda spooked me,” Jerry said.
Tom didn’t like what he heard, but kept a poker face. “I agree, but only because the fewer people who know, the less they can tell if interrogated.”
“Could you let Doris and my kids come up to the old cabin for a few days? I could use them to help and free up Jack. I’ll get my part drawings done and hide the drone in the shed. I can sneak back there to check for fit when we get that far.”
Tom replied, “Use your judgment. Kate and I’ll be using the drone first thing after you get your measurements. We’ll do some surveillance while you get started shaping and cutting. Give me notice when you need the drone back.”
Tom unloaded the drone from the packhorse, and Jerry took it and the support equipment to the shed. Tom and Kate wandered on down the hillside to the ranch.
***
“Hey, Doris! Thanks for doing a great job guarding the place. How is everything at the ranch?” Tom asked as Kate, and he rode up to her.
Doris frowned and looked concerned. “Sam went for a walk early this morning and hasn’t returned yet. We’re gearing up to send a search party out to find her skinny ass.”
Tom glanced at his wife, who only smiled. “What did she say before leaving?”
“She didn’t tell anyone besides her daughter. That’s what has everyone pissed at her. That’s a cardinal sin around here. Your rule says to always use the buddy system when leaving the camp.”
Tom clenched his fists. Jerry had just warned him about trusting a woman he’d trusted, and now she’d done something stupid. “When she returns, I’ll have a serious conversation with her.”
Doris asked, “Aren’t you and Jerry going to help look for her?”
Kate whispered in Tom’s ear. “I’ll launch the drone after Jerry gets a sketch and measurements from the drone. I’ll head up there now.”
He kissed his wife. “Be careful with your ribs. I’ll be up that way in an hour or so.”
Tom looked over to Doris. “Kate and Jerry will join the search. I’m checking in with Jack, and then I want to talk with Lucy.”
Jack had just finished gathering his backpack to get the search started. Tom took him off to the side. “Hey, Jack! What gives with Sam? I thought she was too weak to do any walking.”
Jack said, “She’s a dumb red-haired blonde. The idiot got lost when the sun went down and will stroll back after we all get upset looking for her.”
Tom knew Sam played dumb sometimes, but was very smart. “Let’s hope it’s something that simple. Has anything unusual happened while I was gone? Maybe something to do with her?”
Jack scratched his jaw and stared away for a minute. “Lucy mentioned her mom was different a couple of times. I didn’t think much about it at the time.”
Tom walked down the steps into the bunker and barely entered the common room when he ran into Lucy. She ran to Tom. “Tom, I’m glad you’re here. Mom went for a walk and wouldn’t take me along with her. She didn’t return last night, and Jack wouldn’t send out a search party.”
“I’m sorry your mom is missing, but Jack was right. More people would get hurt stumbling around in the dark. Besides, your mom is a trained survivor now, and evaded Carlo’s men for a couple of months. She probably got lost after dark and will return on her own. We’re sending people out now to find her. You need to stay with an adult.”
“But I’m …”
“You’re only thirteen, and will do what I say. Now, did your mom say where she might be going?”
Lucy thought for a minute. “She just said she was going for a walk. I wanted to go, but she said she needed the time alone.”
Tom probed a bit more. “I thought her wounds were keeping her in bed.”
“Me too. She overheard Jack and some others talking about whether her band of vigilantes should be allowed to join us, and it upset her,” Lucy said.
Tom asked, “Did she say anything odd before she left?”
Lucy glanced away from
