Tipping Point (19 page)

“You want me to try for an authorization to carry for you? I might be able to swing it.” Mac smiled. It was good to have friends.

“Not sure if it would do much good. They don’t give a lot of those out, but maybe. Up to you.” Mac knew it wasn’t likely she would get it, but Gilles probably felt he should try to do something to help protect her, or help her protect herself. She gave him her licensing information so he could get the process started, just in case there was time to put it through. She did prefer to do things legally when possible, though she wasn’t above an illegal maneuver or two.

As soon as she got off the phone with Gilles, she called in the other three and explained the situation to them.

“He’s fucking insane!” This was Kirk’s unbridled opinion, which Mac happened to agree with to some extent, though it wasn’t something that would fall under the legal definition of insanity. He was lucid enough to understand the difference between right and wrong. He knew the rules, but he was obviously of the opinion he should be exempt from them.

That feeling of entitlement was endemic to the last few generations. In her case, Gerry felt entitled to a body that belonged to her, and she’d be damned if she gave him even a shred of it.

The other three continued to chat amongst themselves. It wasn’t until she heard Cameron say something about hunting the guy down and making sure he wasn’t a problem, that Mac stepped into the fray.

“No. That’s not an option at this point. Gilles is going to try to get me authorization to carry, because there’s a threat to my life that’s on record. His statement that the cops can’t provide adequate protection, seeing as we live way out in the middle of nowhere, might do the trick. That’s assuming the ATC can be obtained before the shit hits the fan. I doubt it. I intend to have my Glock with me at all times anyway, legal or not. If it happens that I get the permit, it’ll just make things cleaner.

“The last thing we want is to go after him when he and I have a known conflict. If he turns up dead, this is the first place they’ll come looking. I know you’re a little bloodthirsty, and I appreciate the sentiment, but it will bring down trouble on us in more ways than I can count. I’m trying to keep the police away from this place, along with everyone else. Gilles and Chuck are the only ones I would trust, and I won’t even let
them
come here right now.

“Later, when things get bad I’ll be happy to have them here, along with their families, but until then forget it. Their loyalties need to be to their jobs for the time being.”

Her phone beeped, indicating a text.

“Okay, Neil’s going to be at the gate in a minute. Before I forget, from this point forward you don’t go anywhere without your knives. Whether it’s on the property or not. We’re on the verge of instability now, and...people are assholes,” she said, nodding at Kirk to acknowledge his favourite expression.

“I’ll be back in a bit.”

14

A
CCESS
G
RANTED

Mac ran down to the gate, anxious to get to Neil. Despite the surface composure she’d shown in front of Cameron, Kirk and Leigh, she wasn’t feeling the least bit calm. She knew she should be worried about her sudden need for a shoulder to lean on, but couldn’t bring herself to care. When the world was falling apart, and an ass-wipe psycho wanted to rape and kill you, a person was entitled to momentary weaknesses.

She thumbed the plate and then climbed in his truck once he’d pulled through the gate. He’d needed to bring the truck to take home his horse trailer, but it would be useful if he agreed to go with her to the hardware store later to get some sheds.

They were flat-packed if she remembered right, but even then she wasn’t sure if she could fit more than one or two in the truck bed. She’d have to remove the cargo container as it was. She did have the supply trailer, though. The horse trailer could hold a few, too.

She remained silent until Billy had gone into the house to join the others. Neil seemed to be feeling the same thing, because he didn’t say a word either. When they got out of the truck, Mac grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the river and out of sight of the house. Of one mind they stepped into each other’s arms and just held on tight for a long time. Finally she leaned back a little to look at him.

“You just don’t know. I can’t even begin to tell you what it’s like for me to have someone do what you’ve done.”

“Hold you?” She shook her head.

“No. Well, sort of. It was that you offered to come running when I needed you. I haven’t needed people too many times in my life, because I learned pretty early on that they couldn’t be counted on to be there. My marriages were
not
a team effort. More like a competition, with both people trying to satisfy their own needs first. Never backing one another up. I couldn’t trust them,” she said simply.

“Ah. Well then. You know better with me.”

“I do, yes.”

“Not only
will
I be there, honey, but I
want
to be. I never want you to feel alone like that again. I’d rather you came to me than be hurt or scared, because knowing you felt that way would be painful for me. You matter to me, Mac. You’re important to me, to my life, my future.”

“I can see that. Obviously you’ve become important to me, too, because I never, ever turn to anyone the way I have with you. I just don’t open myself up like that.” She let out a deep sigh and leaned back into him.

“I’ve got other news, too. Ran into Gerry again, and it was a really nasty situation this time. If you’ll look at the side of my truck and trailer you’ll see that he tried to run me off the road. Good thing I didn’t have your trailer with the goats inside it. Not only would the goats have been hurt, but your trailer would have been damaged.”

“Like I would give a fuck about a trailer. That pissant, fuck-face son of a bitch!” She put her fingers over his mouth.

“Let me tell you the rest of it. He’s going to be in serious trouble, I think, seeing as he had a jammer in his car. I made a recording of him threatening to kill me. His car is totalled, which is what happens when you put a Honda Civic against a big ol’ four-by-four where the owner is happy to run you off the road in return. Truck wins, car meets tree.”

She filled him in on the rest of the details. He still looked like he wanted to annihilate the guy, but he calmed down a little bit when he found out how well she’d taken care of the problem on her own. She knew he appreciated her self-reliance, despite the fact that his protective instincts were lit up like a Christmas tree. Then she filled him in on Gilles’ offer to try and obtain an ATC.

“I doubt he’ll get it in time.” Mac nodded her agreement.

“Not likely, no, but if the application is in process, if I’m caught with a handgun it might be forgiven. I’ll just try hard not to get caught with one. I lied to him, though. I couldn’t put that on him where he would have to decide between his job and his friend. Well, also to protect myself, because I wouldn’t blame him for throwing me in jail. It wouldn’t be easy for him, but he might do it. I’ll tell him later, when he no longer has his badge on. I hate lying to my friends.”

“Well, I’d say you’re justified under these circumstances. You’re trying to protect yourself in the best possible way.

“So, you had a pretty shitty trip this afternoon then. First Cam’s dad says he’s not interested in coming here, and then Gerry. Any serious damage to your truck and trailer?”

“No. Dumbass cucumber-fucker.” Neil laughed at her cursing.

“That’s a new one.”

“I doubt it. Plenty of cucumber fuckers out there. Women and men who don’t have the courage to go to a sex shop for a dildo, usually.” Neil raised his eyebrow at her in question. She snorted.

“Don’t look at me. I don’t bother trying to hide the fact that I enjoy orgasms on a regular basis. The most uptight people are the ones who have something to hide. Like male politicians who are anti-gay, and they’re found with another man weeks after they’ve shot down civil rights legislation. I always suspect the most vocal anti-whatevers to actually be doing in deep, dark secret whatever they’re campaigning against.

“The upshot of today’s most recent entanglement is that I’m going to Parry Sound on Monday to make a statement. I don’t need that shit. I need to be doing shit around
here
. Maybe I can slip in some body work to fix the damage. If not, I can hammer it out and paint it myself, but it’ll look like shit. I don’t want it rusting, though.”

Neil suddenly started laughing, which Mac figured was a strange reaction, so she looked around. There was a goat standing about five feet away. She joined in laughing.

“If she thinks I’m sharing you, she’s going to be very disappointed.”

“I don’t know, Mac. She’s pretty attractive. Ouch!” She’d pinched his ass in response to his remark.

“Sadly it looks as though our little bit of privacy comes to a close. Goats have needs. And far too much curiosity for their own good I think. Time to finish getting them settled. I didn’t have a chance to find a way to lock them up properly. It looks like the rope I’d wrapped and criss-crossed around the opening didn’t cut it. Hopefully this is the only one that’s wandered out.”

“I doubt it. They tend to follow each other once one of them demonstrates a successful escape.”

They had to round up three others and convince them to go back through the opening in the enclosure.

“Why don’t you finish building the gate, and I’ll stand guard here?” Mac snorted.

“I’m not sure if I should trust you alone with such attractive specimens. God knows what I’ll find when I get back.” Neil laughed and shooed her away.

“Go on. I’ll behave.”

“Uh-huh.” She flashed a smile over her shoulder and went inside to grab what she needed.

“Alright, you guys. We had some escapees, so we need to deal with the gates. Neil’s making sure no more slip out for the time being. Once we get them all properly housed, we’ll go get some sheds.”

Mac was pleased to see Billy heading out with them. He seemed like a good kid. Having Neil for a father had done him a lot of good, whatever influence his mother might have had. When she got back outside, Billy was ready to work right alongside the others, not even questioning it.

Leigh and Cameron were building feed troughs for the goat pens, while Mac finished the gate for the first one, showing Billy and Kirk what to do for the second. Neil helped her install hers when it was done. Doing manual labour beside him was an interesting feeling, she realized. They were working as a team, and there was none of the bitching she was used to.

There was, however, the distraction of standing so close to him. Every once in a while their eyes would lock, and she wanted to jump on him. The proximity of the younger generation was the only thing that kept her in check. She was pretty sure it was the same for him, because the expression on his face was making her heart pound.

“You guys don’t need to help us, you know. It’s not really your problem or responsibility. Billy’s obviously a good kid, though. He never even hesitated. He just expected to help, and jumped right up to do so. That’s not typical for that age.”

“He is a good kid. He’s always been helpful. Any time he was around me, whenever I was doing something he always wanted to be doing it with me. If I’d allowed him to, he’d have been working in the store a long time ago, but I wanted him to have time for fun.

“His little bit of rebellion ended once he moved in with me, really. I think he just wanted his mother to pay attention to him. He worked with me to set up our cabin and all that stuff. We’ve been working on it for years, a bit at a time, until we had enough to get us through anything.”

“You must be sick of all the set-up, though. You’ve earned a break and the time to enjoy what you have. I don’t want you to feel like you have to do it all again.”

“Mac,” he warned, the flash in his eyes backing it up. “What did I tell you not half an hour ago?” For some reason everything in her softened to mush at his anger. She stroked his face, her thumb brushing his bottom lip.

“Okay, cowboy. My lack of experience with people who are truly interested in helping someone else is my issue to deal with. Sorry. I’ll try not to be an asshole again. In that way at least. I can’t guarantee anything otherwise.”

Mac had no idea how it happened, but she was suddenly sitting on the top rail of the goat pen with Neil’s mouth on hers, their tongues tangling. Instinctively her legs wrapped around his waist.

“Oh, Gawd. Stahhpp! My eyes. I cannot un-see this.” Mac just waved a vague hand at her daughter, not giving a damn. Cameron snorted in disgust.

“How do you expect us to get any work done while we’re gagging over here? I doubt the goats will want puke on their gate. Hell, the
goats
will probably throw up.” The other three were laughing.

So much for romance
, she thought, as Neil slowly pulled away from her, panting.

“I am not turning around right now to look, for what’s probably a far-too-obvious reason, but has our audience gone back to work now?” Mac nodded and tried not to laugh.

“You’re mighty purty when you’re angry, though, cowboy.” He snorted in her ear.

“John Wayne you are not. A fact for which I’ll be eternally grateful.” He picked her up off the rail and set her on her feet, deliberately at a bit of a distance from him.

“Now, let me clarify this for you. The world is about to go to shit. Are we agreed on that?” Mac nodded hesitantly.

“Alright, so follow me here. You paying attention, Mac?” She nodded again, abruptly, her own anger starting to rise.

“You’re not ready, and that means you’re vulnerable. Things can still go wrong for you. Your garden’s a bit sickly because you weren’t here to look after it, and you need this crop to survive if you want to have enough food to get through winter, as well as the seeds you’ll need to re-plant your garden in the spring. You need your livestock to make it through the winter. You need a proper roof over your head, seeing as your current building has no insulation.” Her shoulders sagged. He was right.