Betrayal Ch. 05

The two cops that just got off duty ate with them on the patio; the new shift had each been given a half dozen doughnuts and doughnut holes to eat at their stations. Patti had fried up some ham to go with the sweet items, and brought a gallon of milk to the table, acknowledging with a nod to Tim, "Someone at this table can't eat breakfast without meat and milk." As it turned out, everyone at the table liked meat and milk with their sweets, and she had to add those to her grocery list.

After breakfast, Tim called Ranger Boyd to firm up the plans, and to get assurance Karen's phone was only tapped by law enforcement. At 9 pm, Karen and family were to be moved to a safehouse by Ranger Byrd, who was assigned to them, and Boyd would move everyone at the Haussmann's.

Joe, Jeanie and Tim would slip away and follow a circuitous route to San Antoni when it got dark, and would leave San Antonio for Tim's ranch precisely at 9 pm. That would give them a chance to lose any tail, change vehicles, and get clothes for Mr. Hildebrand before heading out.

Because both safehouses were also in the country, everyone was advised to wear jeans and boots. Unable to go to her house to get what she needed, Jeanie and family, plus Alan, were escorted to the nearest western store to buy what they might need, and Tim rode to his house with the other officer on duty to get everything else he needed.

After loading his clothes and gear, Tim had the officer drive him to a pay phone outside a convenience store/gas station, where he called Karen. The boys were thrilled to get to talk to him, and tried to catch him up on everything that had happed since they saw him in the hospital. Karen finally took the phone away, after their grandmother bribed them with a fruit snack, and Tim went over the plan with her. She seemed both frightened and reluctant, so he asked to speak to her dad. He was stoic about the need to hide, and said they would wait for the ranger to contact them.

Karen asked where he would be hiding; he told her he couldn't say, and then asked if there was ANYTHING she could remember that could help keep them safe. She thought about it, but couldn't come up with anything. Tim hung up, and was take back to the Haussmanns' home, where he immediately set about watching more of the videos.

As disgusting and disturbing as the videos were, he did learn which high school students were involved in the porn shoots, and why one babysitter wouldn't give a deposition. He also identified two elected officials they knew nothing about, including a state official, and two 'law enforcement officers' appeared in uniform to 'raid the party', but stayed to participate in the gangbang of Karen and a recent high school graduate Tim knew. He called Jim Boyd and asked him to come over ASAP.

The shoppers met back at the Haussmann's at 4 pm, where they discovered that Jimmie had a mess of catfish and hush puppies ready to fry, and Patti had all the trimmings ready. Tim and Jim Boyd remained in the study watching the videos until they were called at six to come eat. They looked troubled when they emerged; the three attorneys pulled them aside and Jeanie made her way over to them.

"What's wrong?" Alan asked. "You guys look...disturbed."

"Let's just say we have a much better idea where our leaks are, why the 'suspects' have been able to elude us, and a deeper understanding of the crimes they've committed," the ranger replied. Tim just shook his head with his eyes closed and said "I had no idea...I can't believe I worked alongside those guys! Hell, I can't believe some of them are professional educators! No, they are professional PREDATORS acting like educators!"

"Do you think we should put the food in the oven and talk, or go ahead and eat first?" Patti queried. "It sounds like we need to rethink our plans."

"Let's eat," Jim said with conviction, "and let us ruminate - haha, double meaning - on the new information a bit before we start changing plans. My first inclination is that we can proceed, but we have a much better idea of how and to whom we should feed information. Anyway, let's eat and then we can discuss."

Compartmentalizing, they enjoyed a great meal and even better companionship. "I can't believe it, but it seems like we're all old friends, not new acquaintances!" Kathy exclaimed after Alan's joke left them roaring with laughter.

"We will be by the time this is over, being trapped in a 'safe house' for days or weeks together!" Patti replied.

That put a damper on the relaxed, convivial conversations, bringing them back to the immediate danger in their real world. Ranger Boyd called a 'war council' in the living room, and they reconsidered their plans in light of the new information he shared. When he disclosed the names of the students, Jeanie blanched; when he disclosed the names and positions of the elected officials, her dad grew red-faced, cursed, and threatened ruination under his breath.

After Boyd's conversation with the ranger responsible for Tim's sons, Karen, and her family, they were pushing the evacuations back to mid-night, and both were going to different safehouses than planned. Tim, Jeanie, and Joe would slip out the back door, go over the fence and west down the alley, where a nondescript sedan would be waiting. They would drive that to Joe's dealership and trade vehicles, and then go by his home to get weapons and proper clothing for the brush country ranch, before heading south x southwest.

Tim called his in-laws home for the second time today; he lovingly spoke with his kids for twenty minutes, and then, reluctantly, with his wife. The more film he watched the more she disgusted him, but he wanted to give her one more chance to provide information that could keep them all safe.

"Have you thought of anything else you want to tell me, or your sheriff, or Ranger Byrd? Time is running out; we need to move soon because we are all in mortal danger. Any names, any other information to share."

Karen hesitated, but replied in the negative. "So, Karen, no other teachers, students, cops, elected officials you can remember that were involved? There has to be someone else with power, someone in law enforcement, someone who is alerting the criminals as to our plans! I know you don't want the kids and your family killed, so what are you holding back?"

The line was silent for almost a minute before she answered, "Let me talk to Ranger Byrd. I don't feel comfortable talking to you since I know these phone lines are tapped." 'Thank you!"

Tim replied. "Take good care of our sons, and do what you are told. I'll talk to you as soon as this is finished."

At 11:55 they were on I35 south in a 1978 Dodge Ramcharger 4x4 with the big-block 440 cu inch motor. It had 4" steel pipe bumpers on the front and back, and a winch mounted on the front bumper, was raised about 6", and rode on all-weather tires Joe said were practically puncture proof. It wasn't a quiet ride with the tires humming and the engine growling, but Joe handled it like he owned it, which he did.

They took several maneuvers to find out if they were being followed, but saw no sign of a tail. Joe topped the tank off at the last town before they turned onto the country roads that would take them to their destination. Everyone used the restrooms, and Tim bought 20 ounce cups of coffee because it was already after 1:30 am.

When they had gone about a mile on the county road they came to a long curve. There were piles of pavement for a resurfacing job on the wide right of way, and Tim had Joe pull in behind them and wait 10 minutes to check again for pursuit, but no one came along, so they proceeded to the ranch. They turned off the pavement and drove the last two miles on a sandy county road that needed grading.

The entrance to the ranch was near the midway point; they turned in and Tim opened and relocked the two gates barring the road to the ranch house. He then slipped off his athletic shoes and climbed on the hood of the Ramcharger in his socks to scan for the lights of anyone following them.

Satisfied they were not followed, they drove up the road toward the house. When they crested the first hill they could see the ranch house on the second, taller hill. The nightlight on the pole by the water tank was on, but no other lights. They stopped in the brush and approached the house from the dark side with rifles and pistols at the ready.

Joe jogged back to the SUV while Jeanie and Tim opened the house. They checked the food in the refrigerator and pantry, which were well stocked by Nate, Tim's brother. They also checked the sheets on the bed to make sure they were fresh, and peeled the sheets and blankets back to make sure no stinging scorpions were resting there..

Joe parked by the back door; they brought their clothes, weapons, and other equipment inside and set up sleeping arrangements. Jeanie would take the bedroom, which included a full bathroom and dressing area; Tim and Joe would sleep in the bunk beds along the south wall and share a small bathroom with a shower and single sink.

***

Exhausted, they slept well until eight the next morning. Tim awoke first, used the bathroom, and put on a pot of coffee, which woke Jeanie and her father. They enjoyed Tim's eggs, bacon, and biscuits from Pioneer mix and discussed their day. Tim had noticed that Jeanie's expression of her feelings toward him was muted in front of her father, but she still gave him little touches and looks when Dad wasn't watching.

They dressed for the outdoors with the intention of reconnoitering the area around the house first, and then carefully examine the ways the bad guys might use to access the ranch. Jeanie was intent on examining the house inside and out, and asked dozens of questions about the old furnishings, much of which he explained came from his grandparents and great-grandparents. Joe asked if the ranch was really his, or if it belonged to his grandparents or parents. To satisfy both Jeanie and her dad, Tim gave a thorough explanation.

This was his paternal grandparents' get away before they, and the maternal grandparents, decided to divide their estates among their heirs. That decision came based on personal experiences with the legal and taxation system when their parents died, and upon the advice of their common attorney. Both families were 'land poor', meaning they owned lots of pasture and farm land that produced modest to no income most years, but the government treated it like it held gold mines when appraising it. By giving the land to their heirs in smaller increments, they avoided the taxation that would force the heirs to sell their inheritances to pay the taxes. Only a money-hungry, out-of-control government could not see the irony in that, but his grandparents did, and started deeding property to their son and daughter, and their grandkids, before they reached 60.

The ranch was Tim's inheritance, deeded to him in 125-acre increments over a six-year period by his beloved paternal grandparents; they gifted him the maximum allowable each year, and he 'paid for' the rest out of revenue from cattle sales, even though most of the cattle belonged to them. The four grandparents had decided to keep the land in chunks large enough to raise cattle, so his brother and sister received similar bequests from the maternal grandparents, with the understanding that all inheritances for the grandkids were from both families. Brother Nathaniel (Nate) got the land closest to town. It was only 400 acres, but much of that was improved pasture and farmland, and it had a nice family house on it. He and his high school sweetheart and now wife, Linda, loved the rolling hills, the fertile farmland, and the big two-story four-bedroom house, and intended to fill with children.

Sister Janice (Jan) opted for a 500 acre ranch about 10 miles out of town on the Nueces River because it had irrigation rights, an irrigation system in place, and fertile fields. Her husband, Gary, already owned a large cattle and horse ranch in nearby Dimmitt County. They lived there, but raised irrigated and fertilized hay for his prize quarter horses on 'the river place'.

Tim, their youngest grandkid, wanted and received title to the most remote and least developed ranch while he was still in high school. He talked his friends into doing a lot of work on the 800 ranch in return for hunting, fishing, and camping privileges, and Tim spent much of his spare time making small improvements. He had taught himself to operate a front loader and backhoe, a small Caterpillar bulldozer, and how to plow, disk, and shred with the ranch tractor. The other equipment he was loaned by neighbors in exchange for work on their ranches, and all gave him lessons before he started using the equipment.

Tim and his friends were well liked by all the neighbors because they were always willing to help with roundups and ranch work for low wages and good food, but he was particularly close to the lonely and crippled-up old man who had the land to the east, across the county lane. Mr. Thurman had never married and had no close family, so he called on Tim quite frequently. The Caterpillar bulldozer was his, and he had Tim clear senderos, improve the tank dump, and push brush back off the roads on his land before he turned Tim loose on his own land without supervision.

Driving a Cat was an entirely new experience, alien even in comparison to his tractor work, what with it being a tracked vehicle with myriad levers, joysticks, and pedals for different purposes, but he mastered it quickly under Mr. Thurman's tutelage.

Land in this area had been in the families for generations, so it was hard to acquire more. Tim asked all his neighbors to give him the first chance if they wanted to sell adjacent land, and two years later Mr. Thurman took him up on the offer. He owned 320 acres with a great tank on a big creek, and a small one-bedroom house. He had cancer and knew he wasn't going to live much longer. He didn't want to die alone, so he decided he would go into a nursing home that had hospice for his last days.

His asking price was far too low, and Tim told him that. He refused Tim's more generous offer, saying he would just have to leave it for Tim in his will anyway. He asked instead that Tim and his friends act as his pallbearers, and say a few words over him before internment.

Tim bought the land with the 'college money' he did not need due to his football scholarship. He paid cash for the land, and got a nice discount for paying the legal services, fees, and title insurance in cash. The land cost Tim a little over 50 dollars per acre, plus service as a pallbearer and a testimonial speaker, but in the will he also received the caterpillar, a pickup, a tractor, and more money than he had actually paid for the land.

When his tale was told, they walked the edge of the cleared area to check for anything a stalker could use of cover in a firefight. The seven acre clearing included a well, a small pump shed, a concrete water storage trough, a small 'cattle trap' made with 2" pipe, and a cattle dipping vat, which was left over from the days in which screwworms killed so many cows, calves, and bulls. It was fenced off now, but water stood in it after rains, and Tim had seen to it that pesticide was periodically poured in it to kill mosquito larvae in the stagnant water.

They decided in case of an attack, one sharpshooter had to defend the open spaces around that cluster of protuberances so they couldn't be used for cover in order to fire on the house. Fortunately, the house was on the crest of the hill, and the foundation was poured so that the house stood a foot above the land. Anyone firing on it would be firing uphill and the trajectory of the bullets would be upward, more likely to hit the ceiling than someone hunkered lower in the house.

They walked back to the house, determining the fields of fire they could control from the limited number of window in the house should they be attacked while inside. Joe spent half an hour examining the walls and windows. The walls were concrete block, with 8" of stacked stone veneer, and Joe pronounced them impenetrable by 'commercially available ordnance'. He also praised the lack of windows on the west side, other than the small 2'x2'window in the bathroom, which jutted out from the main house. People in south Texas rarely put windows on the west side because the hot sun overheated the rooms if they did.

There were also 18"x4' horizontal sliding windows located high on the south wall that let light into the bedroom and en suite bath, but limited the heat of the sun warming the house. Shots fired through them would harmless hit the top of the interior walls, which were also concrete block. The north wall, which included the chimney for the fireplace, had only one window: it was a 3'x3' window over the sink. That posed some danger, but that window as at least 5' above the floor and they would be shooting from a lower position because the elevation on the hillside fell off quickly.

The one concern Joe had was the windows on the east side, where the screened porch was located. The 3'x3' windows on that side were only 3' above the floor, so shots fired through them would be deadly to anyone standing or sitting on something. Because the county road was to the east and both entrances to the ranch came from that road, they would need to ensure that direction was well controlled.

With defensive positions decided, they loaded into Joe's truck and drove down to the 'mesquite pens' where cattle were driven during branding and shipping; it was located on the southeast corner of the ranch.

The 'ranch hand' and his family lived in a wooden house near the well, just southeast of the pens and barns. Daniel and Dora had worked for the family for years, and their kids were friends of and went to school with Tim and his siblings. Their kids were grown and lived elsewhere now, but the Mendez were considered family.

Joe and Jeanie were fascinated by the stacked mesquite pens and shipping chutes, and by the 'palm arbor' beside the pens that provided shade for the large table and benches. There were two barbeque pits nearby, and an old chuck wagon was kept under a tin roof beside the bigger barn. Tim gave them a quick tour and history, and led them to the barn.

After examining the chuck wagon and hearing how food was served from it during spring roundup and branding, Tim pulled the 10'x10' barn doors open, to reveal a vehicle under a tarp. With a flourish, Tim removed the tarp to reveal his pride and joy - a well-maintained 1948 Dodge Power Wagon WDX Quad Cab! The color of the paint was Battleship Gray, and the interior was likewise gray.

Raised 6 inches and mounted on all-terrain tires for the four-wheel drive, powered by a 3.9 liter Cummings diesel engine, the classic Power Wagon looked fierce and ready for battle. Tim invited them to open the four doors and look at the impeccable condition of the upholstery and the interior, which he could afford to have done after he acquired Mr. Thurman's land at such little cost.

Jeanie was all but speechless; her dad, on the other hand, couldn't stop talking about what he deemed 'this amazing truck!' as he pointed out feature after feature. He told Tim he wouldn't even know how to price this vehicles if he were to try to sell, reckoning it to be 'priceless'. When Tim pointed out that it had less than 20,000 miles, he shook his head and said, "Priceless! This is a one-of-a kind! You take good care of it, and never sell it, because someday it will be worth more than a three-bedroom brick house!"

Jeanie, still in a state of wonder, put her arm around Tim's waist, looked up at him, and said "Honey, can we take if for a ride?" Tim quickly looked at her dad, who was eyeballing him coolly at her use of "Honey".