Against the Grain (22 page)

“Subtle type of guy aren’t you?” RJ quipped. “You still want to get off this main road once we’re out of sight?”

“What I want to do is break into someone’s garage and find their rally car with a full tank of gas to drive back to meet up with the others. But as it is, yes, let's head out, circle back on our own trail a few times to make sure no one is dumb enough to try following us, then light a fire and drink some tequila.”

My neck cracked with stress as I shrugged to adjust the weight of the pack on my shoulders.

It took us three days of slow travel to get back to the vicinity of the Harris’s houses. Finally, early in the morning of the third day, we heard the cluck and scratches of a flock of turkeys. We had been ready to shoot just about anything from a moose to a mouse, and until then, we hadn’t seen a thing on our entire journey back here. I was slightly thankful of it though as I never did have a good plan of how we would have carried anything bigger than a small deer over the miles of roadless forest we had traveled through to that point.
 

The afternoon sun was halfway to setting when we were close enough for me to raise anyone on the radio. It was Paul’s wife Michelle that answered. She told us how most everyone else was out at the other houses, helping to get the new residents settled in.

If I hadn’t known any better, even over the CB I would have thought she almost sounded relieved to hear from us. She may have been a timid gal when Paul was around, but Michelle was always very nice to everyone… if only her husband wasn’t such a douche.

Nick must have been hanging around at their place with Michelle because it was him that met RJ and I at the gate when we finally arrived.

“What is it with you?” Nick immediately asked, looking at me with a mix of scorn and bewilderment.

“What now?!” I feigned much more innocence than I probably deserved.

“You go off for days on end and then show up with
another
hot girl? I mean honestly, how does this keep happening to you?” he finally smiled.

I thought about that for a second then shrugged, “it’s what I do. By the way, this is that hot girl’s fiancé, RJ.”

Nick looked him up and down, exaggerating the visual vetting process, then stuck out his hand and smiled broadly again. “Oh… well then…aw hell, good for you! I’m Nick.” The joking and laughing was starting early with these guys, which in my mind boded well for the future.

Discover the events that led to, and follow this story in the prequel and sequel, to be released in 2013.

Connect with me online and read sample chapters of the unreleased books through: http://idwritingworks.wordpress.com/

And as always, please leave feedback and reviews at any and all places this book is talked about, distributed, or slandered.  - Ian Daniels