Bug Out! Part 8: RV Park Terror (14 page)

“Oh, crap,” Gabe said. Trish looked up at Terry, horrified, and held onto his arm.

“Those guys aren’t coming back, are they?” Trish asked.

“Well, we know for sure that the original guy is dead,” Charlie said. “It was Chet. He’s been dead for years. It’s pretty obvious that he had help late in his career, though. We’re thinking it’s the son, and rumor has it that he died in the New York Harbor bombing, as we told you guys yesterday. So chances are good that both of these men are gone.”

“That info about the son came from Howard over at the truck stop, right?” Dobie asked.

“Yeah,” Charlie said.

“Any reason not to believe him?” Dobie asked.

“Not that I know of,” Charlie said. “Hey, Kurt and Hilda, what do you two think? You’ve known him longer than any of us.”

“I don’t really know him that well,” Hilda said. “I didn’t go on hunting trips with Ger. I only saw him a couple of times a year, at meetings for the RV Park Association.”

“I know him pretty well,” Kurt said. “My gut is that he’s honest, but that means nothing. I was also friends with Chet…I’m still having a hard time believing that he would be involved with this sort of thing.”

“I know, Kurt, me too,” Charlie said. “So I guess we have a big fat
we don’t know
for that question, Trish. Sorry.”

“We aren’t thinking of telling the cops about this right away, I hope,” Jake said.

“That’s the main reason for this meeting,” Charlie said. “We discussed it yesterday afternoon while we were in the lounge, and we have a proposal.”

“Go on,” Dobie said.

“We know the most important thing right now is to allow Frank to finish his work, before the wide distribution of the apps kicks itself off. We need to get a bead on the enemy leadership and either kill them or expose them to the good guys.”

“Agreed,” Gabe said. Several other people shook their heads yes.

“Our proposal is to keep this secret for the few weeks that we’ll be active doing that job. Afterwards, we tell the local authorities. If we’ve been successful with the apps, the war should start winding down quickly. That will allow us to move to a safer location before the media circus starts up here.”

“We need to get our trailers ready to roll sooner rather than later, then,” Gabe said.

“Yep, if you want to take them, that’s what I’d suggest,” Charlie said. “We’re going to need one more tow vehicle, too. We’ve got one for Dobie’s 5
^th
wheel, and one for Gabe’s trailer, and one for Jake’s trailer, but none for Terry and Trish’s trailer.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Jeb said. “Most of our toads are capable of towing Jake’s little trailer. Then we can use Jake’s bobtail to tow Terry and Trish’s love nest.” He chuckled. Trish looked embarrassed. Terry just grinned and shook his head.

“Okay, anybody have a problem with this?” Charlie asked. “If so, please speak up now.”

“We should keep quiet about this with Howard,” Kurt said. “Just in case. Everybody agree?”

There was silence. Most people nodded yes. Nobody objected.

“Alright, I think we have consensus. That’s all I had, folks.”

The group started to chat quietly, and some started heading for the door. Trish made eye contact with her dad, and motioned him over.

“What?” Jake asked as he got next to her and Terry.

“We want you to marry us,” Terry said. “So I guess I’m asking for your daughter’s hand.”

A wide smile came over his face. “Why sure, I can do that. When?”

“Today, daddy,” Trish said, a shy smile on her face. “If that’s okay.”

“Hold it, everybody!” Jake said. The people who were leaving stopped in their tracks, and turned around, looking at him.

“What’s up?” Earl asked.

“We need you to stick around for just a few minutes. I’m going to marry Terry and Trish.”

The group started clapping. Trish looked over at Terry, embarrassed. Terry grinned, and pulled her close.

“I’ll just go get my book and stuff,” Jake said. He trotted outside.

“Congratulations, you two!” Hilda said, beaming. Others repeated that. Jake came back with a black book, wearing a white robe with a rope tie around the waist, which hung down almost to his feet.

There was an old podium off to the side of the stage area. Jake pulled it over, and put his book on top. Then he motioned for Terry and Trish to join him.

“Gather around, everybody,” Jake said.

People walked over, forming a semi-circle around the young couple and the podium.

Jake cleared his throat.

“Love and togetherness is the glue that binds the physical and the metaphysical, and makes human kind one with the universe…”

Trish rolled her eyes. “C’mon, dad, just do the traditional one, okay?”

Dobie and Gabe looked at each other and snickered.

“Okay, sweetie,” Jake said. He closed the book and looked out at everybody.

“We are gathered here today to join two people in Holy Matrimony. Trish Carlson and Terry.
Shoot.
Hey Terry, what is your last name, anyway?”

Several people in the group started to chuckle.

“Brown,” Terry said.

“Thanks, son. Trish Carlson and Terry Brown.”

Trish looked up at her dad, then over at Terry, misty eyed. Jake continued.

“Do you, Terry Brown, take Trish Carlson to be your wife, to have and to hold, in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” Terry said, smiling.

“Do you, Trish Carlson, take Terry Brown to be your husband, to have and to hold, in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” Trish said, smiling through tears.

“Then by the power vested in me by the Church of the Metaphysical Realm, I now pronounce you man and wife.”

Dobie and Gabe snickered again.

“Dad!” Trish said.

“Oh yeah, you may kiss your bride, Terry,” Jake said.

The couple embraced and kissed. The group broke into applause.

“I now introduce Mr. and Mrs. Terry Brown!” Jake said, smiling, eyes teary.

Jane leaned up against Frank, then looked up at his face and kissed his cheek. He looked down at her, seeing the tears welling up.

“You okay, sweetie?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said. “I’m happy. Life goes on. The good parts of life. It’s making me feel like this is all worth it.”

Jerry and Jasmine walked up.

“So, Jasmine said you two are gonna check out that tow truck,” Jerry said. “Maybe we should invite the Sheriff and Charlie. They know a lot about handling evidence. They might just keep you out of trouble.”

Dobie overhead that.

“I’m trained in criminal investigation too,” he said. “Never used it, because I got sucked into the K-9 thing, but I’d love to be in on this.”

“Okay, then we’ll meet in the barn in a few minutes,” Jane said. “Let’s go catch the Sheriff and Charlie. They’re in the kitchen.” Jane and Jasmine walked over there. Jerry sat down next to Frank.

“How’s it coming with the encryption?”

“Slow, but it’s going. There’s labels in the payload with numbers. Some of them I can figure out. Others are a little tough. There aren’t names, though.”

“Shoot, so you’ll have to supplement with some hacking, won’t you?”

“If we want names, that’s the only way I’ll get them,” Frank said. “There’s a label for rank. That one was interesting. Looks like it goes from 1 down to 15.”

“So I’m guessing 1 is the highest rank,” Jerry said.

“Probably. Simon Orr was a 3. The lead pajama boy was a 10. The militia guys were 13s, and the foreign pajama boys were 15s.”

“Interesting. Any other codes you understand?”

“Country,” Frank said. “All of the people that were from this country had number 1 in that slot. Most of the Islamists had number 8.”

“Well, the rank number might be enough, if there’s only a few with number 1.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Frank said. “I’d like better info than that.”

“Here come the girls with the Sheriff and Charlie,” Jerry said, looking over.

“You two coming along on this?” Charlie asked.

“Sure, I’ll go,” Jerry said.

“I think I’d better keep working,” Frank said. “I’m sure I’ll hear all about it from Nancy Drew there.” He looked at Jane and grinned. She smiled and shook her head. They walked towards the door.

Dobie joined them as they were walking up to the tow truck. It looked really ominous to Jane now…like a wheeled monster. Kurt was walking past the barn on the way to the clubhouse, and saw the group gathered around. He walked over.

“What’re you guys doing?” he asked.

“We thought we’d check around for evidence…just curious,” Jane said.

“Take a look at the registration,” Kurt said. “I’d like to know what name is on there.”

“Good idea,” the Sheriff said. He walked over to the passenger side door, opened it, and climbed up.

“Check the glove box,” Jasmine said. The Sheriff nodded and opened it. The registration was in there. He held it up, and climbed out of the cab. The group walked over to the workbench, next to where the laptop was, and Jane turned on the light.

“What’s the name on there?” Kurt asked.

“Earl Wilson,” he said.

Kurt got a shocked look on his face.

“That’s not Chet’s son, is it?” Charlie asked.

“No, it’s not,” Kurt said. Jane took a picture of the registration with her iPhone.

“Earl Wilson,” Jasmine said.
“That name rings a bell, but I can’t quite place it.”

“I know, me too,” Jane said. “I’ll search on it, but let’s take a look in the cab now, so the Sheriff and Charlie can get back to what they were doing.”

The group walked back over to the tow truck, and Jane stood in the open door, pulling on rubber gloves, and looking in. She turned on the iPhone flashlight and started looking on the floor in front of the seat. It was dirty…twigs and dried mud, but nothing else. She shined the light under the passenger seat. Something shined back at her. She pulled the phone to her face, started the camera app, and took a picture. Then she reached for the shiny object, barely able to get her hands in deep enough. She brought it out.

“An earring,” she said, holding it up. The Sheriff put on rubber gloves, opened his palm, and she dropped it in. Then she went back to looking, this time in the crack between the seat and the door. Something else shiny was down there. She took a picture again, but couldn’t get her hand deep enough to grab it.

“Maybe there’re some tweezers in with the other tools at the workbench,” Charlie said. He trotted over there as Jane showed the picture to the others huddled around her.

“That’s a ring,” Jasmine said. “It looks kinda messed up.”

Charlie was back with a big pair of tweezers. He used them to grab the ring. The Sheriff held out his hand again, and Charlie dropped it into his palm. Jane and Jasmine both looked at it closely, and Jane snapped another picture.

“That’s a high school promise ring,” Jasmine said, in hushed tone. “With blood on it.”

“Aren’t those usually worn on the ring finger?” Dobie asked. “Left hand?”

“Most of the time,” Jasmine said.

“That means that she took it off and dropped it there on purpose, more than likely,” Dobie said. “It should have been on her left side, not her right.”

“Yeah, I’d agree,” the Sheriff said. “I need to bag these and label them.”

“There’s some Ziploc bags over on the workbench,” Charlie said. “I’ll bring a few over.”

“Thanks, Charlie,” the Sheriff said. Jane climbed further into the cab now, and started looking around between the back rest and the seat.

“Is that dried blood?” Jasmine asked, pointing to the seat where it met the back, in the middle of the passenger side.

“Could just be mud,” the Sheriff said. “We need a black light. I didn’t think to bring mine. It’s still at my office back in Utah.”

“Maybe we could find one in town,” Jasmine said.

“Well, whatever you do, don’t ask Howard where to find one,” Charlie said. “He might know about this. He might even be in on it.”

“I can’t image either of them being into this,” Kurt said, “but Howard and Chet
were
really close.”

“I wouldn’t say anything to him, but I doubt that he knows about this,” Dobie said.

“Why?” asked Jasmine.

“Because if he was in on it, no way would he have sent us here. He’d have known that we’d stumble on that trap door sooner or later.”

Everybody was quiet for a moment, thinking.

“Dobie’s right,” Kurt said. “I don’t think he knows. Chet hid this from me. Why should we doubt that he could hide it from Howard?”

“I suggest we see if Walmart carries black light bulbs,” Dobie said. “That place is pretty anonymous.”

“Good idea,” Charlie said. “We’ll need to be going into town pretty soon anyway. We need trailer tires, towing hardware, and other stuff like that. I say we lock this cab up for now.”

“Agreed, and I’ll put this evidence somewhere safe,” The Sheriff said.

“What if we need to tow something?” asked Kurt. “It’s got a good battery now.”

“Jerry already sat in the driver’s seat and got his hands all over the steering wheel,” Jasmine said. “As long as nobody sits in the passenger side, what difference does it make?”

“Yeah, she’s got a point, I guess,” Charlie said.

“What would we need it for?” the Sheriff asked.

“We might need it to break those trailers loose,” Charlie replied. “Too bad this is evidence. It would have made a good tow vehicle. The agreement we made with the city includes the contents of the park, so
it is
ours.”

Malcolm was checking the air in the tires of his big Diesel Pusher. He heard a rumble coming towards him, and looked over just in time to see George and Heidi’s Tiffin motorhome roll up.

“When are you going to upgrade?” Malcolm said, walking up to George and Heidi as they came around the front of their rig.

“Pretty soon, hopefully,” George said, extending his hand to Malcolm. They shook. “This baby is still in pretty good shape, though. Had her over five years already. Hard to believe.”