Colby tapped Zeke on the shoulder. “We don’t have a lot of time. Bring the ATV trailer around back and we’ll load it up and get it out of here.”
“And if we get stopped on the way?”
“You won’t. I’ll go ahead of you and make sure the road is clear.”
He couldn’t begin to imagine what the militia would do if they got their hands on this. Over the next half an hour under the cover of darkness they went back and forth loading the weapons into the trailer. When it came time to take the gold, Heath told them that wouldn’t be going.
“But it came with the weapons.”
“Your mother told me to specifically keep that. So it stays.”
Colby was in no mood to fight him on it. As far as he was concerned it had little value right now. Though he was curious as to how Alby had gotten his hands on it. Why had he been storing it for her? Had she been skimming off the top of all sales and converting it into gold? Her own nest egg in the event things went south with the business and she needed something for her old age? That was a lot for one person.
“Fine.” He grabbed what remained of the rifles and took them out. As he was loading them in the back he asked his brothers, “What do you know about this gold?”
Dylan spoke up. “When we saw it, Alby said it was his. That no one else knew about it. So hearing it’s hers is new. But I’m not surprised. She lies about everything.”
“Maybe he was lying. What Heath said about it belonging to their mother, and Alby storing it for her, sounds more legit. Makes you wonder why they kept that under wraps.”
“No it doesn’t,” Dylan said, closing the trailer. “Jessie always said that she was manipulative.” He patted the top of the trailer. “Okay, let’s roll out.”
“Wait. I’ll go ahead. Scout out the way. If we see anything, I’ll fire up the flare,” Colby said. “Then make sure you get off the road and take it through the back.”
Zeke gave a nod and mounted the ATV. Dylan got on the back and held on to him.
Heath emerged from his shop as Colby and Alicia made their way back to the horse. “Colby. A moment.”
He nodded and then gestured for Alicia to wait by the horse with Kane.
“What is it?”
Heath looked hesitant to say anything. “It’s good to see you back.” He glanced over at Alicia. “And I’m sorry to hear about your loss. I never got the opportunity to say that. I know what it feels like to lose a child.”
Colby assumed he was confused. He must have gotten him mixed up with Jessie and Nina. But how would he have known about that?
“You mean Nina?”
Heath offered a puzzled expression. “Nina? No. Skye.”
“Skye wasn’t pregnant.”
Heath looked him square in the eye. “Huh, I could have sworn your mother said she was.”
Colby didn’t know how to reply to that. It would have been an easy mistake. If Skye had been pregnant, he would have known. She would have told him.
Heath patted him on the shoulder and told him to not worry about it before he went back inside. Colby stood there thinking back to that night. She’d wanted to see him and tell him something important, but he thought it was related to them moving. Was she about to tell him she was carrying his child? He refused to believe it. He couldn’t. If he went there, he would have to question everything including the decision made by his mother to kill Skye. She’d told him that Skye had sold him out to the cops. She’d told him that Skye would have brought down the whole family, his mother included.
But what if she’d lied?
Chapter Eighteen
Colby pushed the conversation from his mind as he guided the horse out of Briceland Road and headed south on Redwood Drive. A bright blue sky spread out over the trees as an intense sun bore down. He gripped the reins tight with one hand, his other holding a flare gun. He scanned ahead and to his right as Alicia looked off to the left. It wasn’t just the militia they were concerned about, but the Stricklands. Weapons were one thing but ammo would soon become harder to get and right now it was more valuable than the gold sitting in that safe.
Within a month, locals, at least those that had remained in the county, had taken it upon themselves to move stalled vehicles littering the road out of the way in and around the city. It made travel easier but seeing them at the edge of the road only served to remind them that the world had changed.
“You okay?” Alicia asked.
“Yeah, why?”
“You just seem a little out of sorts after speaking with Heath.”
He shrugged it off. “I’m fine.”
They had made it maybe a hundred yards down the road when Colby caught sight of something ahead. It looked out of place. His pulse sped up. At first, he thought it was a blockade but there was no checkpoint in Redway, at least none that he’d seen on the way in. He slowed, bringing the horse over to the edge of the road and using the coverage of trees to his advantage.
“What is it?” Alicia asked.
He couldn’t answer because he couldn’t tell, as they were still a distance away. He placed the flare gun in his other hand while he reached for a pair of binoculars in the saddlebag. He brought them up and scanned. Redwood Drive curved with forest on both sides. He could hear and see portions of the South Fork River through the trees.
He adjusted the focus and that’s when the military truck snapped into view. It was angled, partially blocking the way for three riders on horses. Four men were surrounding them, rifles pointed.
He squinted and that’s when he noticed
