Behind The Curve-The Farm | Book 3 | The Farm Craven Boyd (the reading list book .txt) 📖

“I know, but it happened, and it turned out ok. I’m ok. What Rob did, it helped. He was right; you can’t control the dreams, but you can control everything else.”

“I know,” Steven said, leaning in to hug Anna, both of them creaking and clinking as their equipment made noise.

“Once I get home from the farm and feed, you and I are going to—”

“Oh yeah, about that… Rob parked his truck outside the fence before everyone set up. I think Angel and him are going to make the run. Actually, I know they are. Goldie is going to watch Harry, so that means you and I…” he whispered his plans in her ear.

She grinned, rubbing the goosebumps on her arms into submission, nodding. “You better not be joking,” she teased.

Andrea was working at the market stall. The eggs had sold fast. They knew they were already getting a premium price for eggs, but the entrepreneur in her wondered what the eggs' actual worth was right now, in a world where food was hard to find. Then she mentally shrugged the thought away. None of them were poor, and the money from the eggs probably amounted to four or five hundred dollars a week. When they grew their own feed and hatched out their own replacements, their costs were very little. The community needed this more than they did. She was only too happy to help.

Her leg was sore, but it was mostly from the strengthening. It had atrophied a bit from being in the cast for so long. Her new freedom of movement now allowed her to use her muscles properly and she was careful not to overdo it, but wanted to do a little extra, to push the limits and reduce her recovery time. She was a doctor and thought she knew what she was doing.

“Deputy Daniels,” she greeted Kerry’s new boyfriend as he walked up. “How is the policing business?”

“Pretty good. Lord, I thought the fallout from those Homeland and USDA goons was going to be ugly, but all I got was a verbal warning. So that makes me one of the happiest state policemen ever.”

“See, when you put up a united front, the bureaucrats have to decide if they want to take on all of you at once. If you had only stood as individuals, they’d have knocked you over like dominos. One by one, until you all fell.”

“That’s true. I was surprised to see the sheriff’s department show up like they did. I hear they didn’t get off as easy as we did. They suspended a few guys.”

“Is it because of the new sheriff?” Andrea asked him.

Daniels nodded. “I hear he’s a real political animal. It surprised me that he wasn’t interested in running for the spot permanently. I guess he’s got his eyes on a bigger seat somewhere.”

“That’s probably true. I hear he was appointed by the governor as some sort of favor to somebody else. By the way, did you hear about him?”

“The governor? No? What happened?”

“There’s rumors going around that he killed himself. Something to do with child porn, and he killed somebody?”

“No way,” Daniels stated flatly. “I know Governor Christian. There is no way he was into kiddies.”

“Just repeating what I heard, sorry. I just worry, because the sheriff dies mysteriously, and your guys come here to question Leah - and now the governor who appoints him commits suicide.”

“That’s the thing, I don’t think he’d kill himself either. He was a Catholic. When I say I know him, I mean we went to Catholic school together from kindergarten through middle school. There is just no way, the rumors have to be wrong.”

“Do you think he’d kill somebody? That’s the other rumor I heard. That he committed suicide because of stuff on his computer and killing some government agent guy.”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m going to find out,” Daniels told her.

Dante and Leah snuck away. Leah had been feeling crampy, and he wanted to get an ultrasound done. Leah had gone along with it to humor him. She wasn’t as old as her husband, but he was making her feel ancient with how he had been babying her. Telling her the pregnancy was high risk because of her age and…

“There,” Dante said.

The electronic feedback from the machine settled and they could not only see their little one inside of Leah’s body, they could hear the heartbeat. Dante moved the wand to the right, smearing more goo on her abdomen for a clearer picture.

“Wait a minute,” Dante said, hitting a button, then moving the wand back faster than Leah could follow the screen.

“What is it? You sounded worried?”

“This isn’t… I don’t…” The printer started spitting out an image, then he moved the probe again, hitting the button.

“What’s going on, don’t make me get off this damn table and do it myself!” Leah was spitting mad.

“I uh… sit back,” he said pushing her gently back into the bed.

“What is--”

“Look,” he said, moving the probe half an inch. “This is our baby.” His voice had gone very soft.

“So, what’s the problem?” Leah asked.

“...and I move the wand over here,” he said and then tapped the screen.

“Is our baby healthy?” she asked. “I can’t see anything wrong.”

“You don’t understand,” Dante said, ripping the sheets out of the machine. “Both our babies are fine.”

“Both?” Leah stuttered, looking at the sheets. “Twins?”

Dante nodded. “No wonder you were feeling crampy.”

“Twins?” She squealed in excitement.

Dante was wiping her stomach down with a towel, smiling. He’d clean the equipment up next.

“Twins,” he agreed.

“Twins?!” She screamed.

“Well, I’m like 99.9735 percent—”

She tackled him to the ground, kissing him hard. Dante only resisted for half a second.

“Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you glad to see me, Doctor Weaver?” Leah asked, straddling him.

“Actually, that’s a Glock 43,” he said, grinning.

“Asshole,” she said, playfully slapping his cheek.

Ten

Rob had surprised Angelica with the news that he was taking her to