Iâve called around. Nobody admits to it, but what with everything else thatâs going on, I wouldnât be surprised if itâs some of our own people raising hell.â
âNo, canât be.â The chief lowered himself into a kitchen chair. âWe agreed nobody would go off on their own.â
âI wouldnât be too sure. People are pissed off. What with that shooting, the state cops are going to be here, blaming us. And the press. Thereâll be fucking TV cameras and lights, and the gas company, the pipeline company â theyâre all going to be here. Plus the woods are already crawling with weekenders. Josh is hopping mad.â
âTell Josh to sit on it. He needs to stop parading aroundââ
âItâs not just Josh. Mavis and her people swear they wonât put up with more outsiders â sheâs insisting that this is it, the invasion, and sheâs telling everyone to gather up armsââ
âShit,â the chief said again. He rubbed his eyes. âNot again. Mavis and her pigtail vigilantesââ
âI know. But sheâs just saying what the others are thinking.â
âIâll talk to her. You think she set off a bomb out there?â
âMavis? No. Sheâd have said.â For a moment, Hiram didnât go on. The chief heard him breathing. Hiram had a way of hesitating, as if he had to be a damned politician. Practicing tact.
âWhat? Tell me,â the chief growled. He leaned on his kitchen table, messed with the salt shaker. Knocked it over. Spilled some salt. Damn. Wasnât that bad luck? Werenât you supposed to toss salt over your shoulder when you spilled it? But which shoulder? The chief had no idea. It was bullshit anyway. What was the deal with Hiram? What was he hiding? âDid you call a meeting like I told you?â
âI did.â Hiramâs voice was edgy. Tentative. âBut what Iâm trying to tell you is that some of our people are fed up. Theyâre going off on their ownââ
âSetting off explosions.â The chief tossed salt over his left shoulder, then his right. âWhat else?â
âLots of things. Theyâre launching a full-out campaign to clear the area.â
âWho are you talking about, Hiram? What kind of campaign?â The chief simmered, felt his face heat up.
âYou already know some of it.â
âOur deal is we all work togetherââ
âBut you havenât been around â no one could reach you. Meantime, people are running out of patience. They donât want to wait for committees and discussions. They want the area clearedââ
âI donât give a flying fuck what they want.â The chiefâs voice was soft, but his fist slammed onto the table. âChrist, Hiram. We all want the same thing. But weâre powerless unless we coordinate and work together. We have to think before we go off half-cocked â¦â He stopped himself, took a breath. Scolding Hiram wouldnât help. Besides, as a leader, he needed to remain calm and controlled.
âI agree. But youâre sector chief. You need to step up and remind them. Because they wonât listen to me.â
Right. He needed to do that. But how could he if they were all splintering off, conducting their own little mini-wars?
âTell me. Besides the explosion, whoâs done what?â He stood and went to the kitchen window, watching the trees, their red and golden leaves.
âYou already know about Joshâs campaignââ
âIdiocyââ
âListen. He was out this morning, doing his thing. And he found a guy.â
âWhat do you mean âhe found a guyâ?â
âI mean he took him.â
What? Oh God. The chief sat again. âHe took a guy?â So it was Josh? Josh had shot that guy from the gas company? Damn. The chief closed his eyes, reminded himself that he
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