Castroville: Countdown to Armageddon: Book 7 by Darrell Maloney Page A

message?”
         Randy shrugged.
         “Does the song have any significance to you?”
         “No. I’ve never heard it before.”
         “Then probably not. But if it is him, what could he possibly be warning us about? And how could he possibly know we were out here?”
         Now Sarah shrugged.
         She felt foolish.
         “Sorry. Just thinking out loud is all…”
         Then she changed the subject.
         “Now what? Are we going to sneak into the front door? What if the man inside is watching it?”
         “He wouldn’t be much of a sentry if he wasn’t. That’s why we’re going in another way.”
         He took her hand and led her around to the side of the barn, beneath the high door of the hayloft.
         He went to one knee, and she followed suit. She drew close enough to smell his breath, and it smelled of peppermint. She thought that very odd.
         Randy began to whisper in a conspiratorial tone.
         “We’re going to get you up in that loft. I want you to take off your boots and leave them down here. They’ll make much too much noise as you walk over their heads. Hopefully the loft is covered with hay and that’ll help cover your footsteps.”
         “What do you want me to do?”
         “Just look around. Stay in the shadows and creep to the edge of the loft. You won’t be able to see all of the barn below you, but you should be able to see a good portion of it. Hopefully you can see how many men are in there and where Tom is.”
         “Do you want me to shoot the men if I get a clear shot?”
         “Heck no, girl. That would bring reinforcements running, and not the good kind. We’ve got to finish this operation without letting anyone know we’re here.”
         “So what do I do after I case the joint?”
         “Case the joint? You watch too many old gangster movies.”
         “I thought that’s how cops talked.”
         “Hardly. After you get as much information as you can, come back and let me know what you found. We’ll decide our next move.”
         “Roger, ten-four, over and out.”
         He liked the way she was so relaxed now she could joke. But it also worried him a bit. She needed to have her game face on, and be ready for anything.
         “Can I take my rifle? Just in case I need it?”
         “Of course. But don’t use it unless you absolutely have to.”
         “One more question. How do I get up there?”
         “You can’t fly, Supergirl?”
         She smiled.
         “Sorry. It’s the one thing I can’t do.”
         “Then maybe that ladder over there on the ground will help.”
         Randy couldn’t see the ladder, laying on the ground twenty feet away. But he knew it was there. He’d seen it as they scouted out the barn the previous day.
         He went to retrieve it as Sara took off her boots.
         When he got back, he very quietly positioned the ladder as she watched.
         “What are you going to do while I’m up there?’
         “I’ll be just outside the barn door, gun drawn, ready to come rushing in if I hear trouble.”
         “Well, let’s hope you don’t hear any.”
         “Atta girl. That’ll be totally up to you and how careful you are.
         “Walk very slowly and listen to the floorboards as you go. If you get the sense one of them is going to creak, take your foot back off and step onto another one instead. We only have a little over an hour before the sky starts to lighten. Take a few deep breaths and go.”
         As Sara slowly made her way up the ladder, her socked feet making no sound at all, a lone rider on an Appaloosa pony was approaching the main gate.
         Things would soon turn ugly.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    -23-
     
         This seems as good day as any for dying. Might as