Fifty Years of Peace (Abrupt Dissent Series) by Charlotte Andrews

Linden lowered his hand toward his pistol holster. Mayor Trestle shouldn’t have said that, but he was upset at Richard’s stubbornness and his leg was hurting. It was time to poke this bear himself.
     
    “Mr. Mayor, you’ve obviously been under a lot of strain these past two days,” Linden said. “Go home and get some rest. I’ll be happy to have a full discussion with you in the morning.”
     
    With that, the smirking captain pushed passed him into the jail, and Linden followed. Jacob closed the door behind them, and the mayor stared at their heads through the security glass for a long moment. Then he rushed out into the evening, excited. Maybe the assemblyman wasn’t as good at keeping his secrets as he thought, and maybe Richard wasn’t as stubborn.
     
    The moonlight glistened over the town as the mayor crutched along the road until he reached his old house at the north end of town. It was the same large brick house that he’d grown up in, better kept when his wife had been alive. Now he cursed himself for his sloppiness as he drug his bad leg up the stairs and over piles of boxes. He finally reached the third story, sneezing in the dust, and reached for the attic’s pull chain. The stairway descended, and he hopped up each narrow step until he could feel around the darkness for what he was looking for.
     
    After a moment of searching, he found the dusty plastic box and unopened package of batteries. He held onto them both, balancing as carefully as he could, and took each step back down with both feet. His wounded leg protested, but he didn’t have much choice. Reaching the floor, he hurried to the window at the end of the hall where he’d have some light. He unsealed the batteries, then opened the hatch on the back of the old radio and slotted them inside. For a moment, nothing happened after he pressed the power button. Then the radio’s dirty face lit with an orange glow.
     
    I know you’re out there somewhere Linden , he thought as he searched the dial, and I’m going to find out exactly what you’re up to .

Chapter Twe lve
     
    The next morning, exhausted from his night shift, Jacob went to check on Richard one last time before the Texans arrived for their watch. Jenny’s grandfather was staring out the small window in his cell, watching the sunrise. The assemblyman had left early in the morning, and Richard likely hadn’t slept at all.
     
    “Mr. Williams?” Jacob asked. He didn’t know if Richard would answer, didn’t really know what he wanted to ask. But more and more, he felt like something needed to be said and that he was the only one who could do it.
     
    “What is it Jake?”
     
    “Are you…are you ok?”
     
    Richard faced Jacob. Bags hung under his eyes and he seemed sad. It hurt Jacob to watch what was happening to a man he’d respected. When he’d stopped by the ranch for Jenny’s tutoring, Richard had seemed so massively good-hearted. Why wasn’t he cooperating?
     
    “I’ve seen a lot worse son, but thank you for asking. Now Jacob, I’ve got a question for you. What did Linden tell you that put you on his side instead of your own neighbors?”
     
    “It’s not like that,” Jacob said. “It wasn’t like that at all.”
     
    “Then what is it?”
     
    Jacob stood there thinking, but before he could reply, the Texans entered. When he left the station, he drug his feet to Mack Henney’s diner on the corner of Peace Avenue and found the mayor sitting with some policemen and a few store clerks. He left to walk the streets alone, and try to calm his mind. He wasn’t turning on anyone, he was trying to help; why couldn’t they see that?
     
    ***
     
    Jenny arrived with Doc Stinson, just as dawn broke over the mountains. Seeing how pale and unresponsive George’s mother was, the doctor went right to work in spite of his exhaustion. He set George to boiling water as he laid out a set of shining metal instruments on a clean cloth. When the water was ready, he