Deep Shadows (26 page)

Shelby wasn't interested in going through that particular type of heartache again.

Their church had also provided help—prayer, meals when she had her appendix removed, and guidance when she didn't know how to navigate the waters of single parenthood.

But now they were all floundering, trying to get their feet back beneath them.

“We transferred the patients who had died over to the morgue, but we have no way to contact their families. Food is limited, and there aren't many people there to fix meals anyway. Although they have a big generator to power the medical equipment, they're going to run out of medication. Everyone there is doing the best they can, but I'm not sure it will be enough.”

“Do they need more volunteers?”

Shelby shrugged. “Employees are beginning to trickle back to work. At least three showed up while I was there today—a nurse and two aides. They could only stay a few hours, as they had their own emergencies to tend to. But they cared enough to stop by.”

“What did you do all day?”

“Cleaned bedpans, offered sips of water, and occasionally took a temperature with the fancy thermometer that you wave over their forehead.”

“At least bedpans, cups, and thermometers still work.”

“Some of the residents understand what has happened, and others don't. One old guy kept calling us to his room because he couldn't get his television to come on. When we explained that the power is out, he seemed to understand, but twenty minutes later he'd call for help with it again.”

“
Papá
is a little bit like that, and maybe it's a blessing. Maybe if he completely understood the scope of the mess we're in, it would frighten him too much.”

“I think of your dad as a very capable man.”

“He was. However, this illness has left him more childlike. Now he looks to
Mamá
for everything.”

“How's she holding up?”

“Are you kidding? My mother is tougher than a solar flare. She's in supercharged mode, which is why I'm here. She basically insisted that I leave for an hour.”

“Well, I'm glad she did. It's nice to be able to decompress with someone.”

Shelby slipped inside to find them both a bottle of water. Max had purchased a case somewhere and left it in her kitchen. Did she take him for granted? Soon he'd be gone, and then she would be searching for her own water. But she could handle it. She and Carter weren't helpless. She was turning to go back outside when she saw movement on her front porch. Her heart rate accelerated and she almost screamed, but suddenly she recognized Danny Vail, the city manager.

Opening the front door, she motioned him inside. Once he entered she locked the door behind them.

“Just stopping by to see how you're doing.”

Shelby somehow doubted that. How long had it been since he'd been to her house? Before and after Alex died, but certainly not since Carter started school—so 12 years at least. There was no way this was a casual visit. But she played along, nodded, and said, “Bianca and I are sitting on the back porch. There's actually a breeze. Would you like a bottle of water?”

“No, but thank you.”

Bianca looked surprised when they both walked outside. Shelby's mind flashed back to a month ago, when Bianca had suggested that Danny might be interested in pursuing a relationship with her. He had invited her out to eat after church, but that had been… well, that had been Danny being polite and nothing more. In fact, she didn't think he'd been at church lately, or perhaps she just hadn't seen him.

“How are things at city hall?” Bianca asked.

“About what you'd expect.”

“I don't think anyone knows what to expect.”

“Confusion at first, followed by people dividing into camps.” He grimaced at the last word as he sat down on the porch floor and leaned back against a corner post.

It was funny that he seemed at attention even as he sat on her porch. Perhaps that was something military men never lost—a sense of alertness. She'd noticed it in Patrick as well.

“What kind of camps?” Shelby asked.

“Yeah, I don't like the sound of that.” Bianca glanced over at Shelby.

“I'm not surprised, though.” She shrugged. “There are factions within every group.”

“I suppose there usually are.” Danny reached a hand up and rubbed the muscles along the back of his neck. “When this thing first hit I thought it would split into young and old—the old having trouble accepting the scope of the problem, and the young going into disaster recovery mode.”

“But it hasn't worked out that way.” Suddenly her throat was dry, and she wasn't sure she wanted to hear what Danny was about to say. Shelby uncapped her bottle and took a long drink. Why was Danny here? Why was he sharing this information with them?

“Nope. We have people who refuse to react, those who overreact, and then a precious few who are reacting thoughtfully.”

“Sounds like a mess.
Como siempre
.”

“It does seem to develop that way. It's worse than I expected, though. Eugene Stone is making moves to force Mayor Perkins's resignation.”

“She wouldn't do that.” Shelby crossed her arms tightly.

“She wouldn't want to, but it might depend on how much pressure Stone can add to the situation.”

“He wants the job,” Bianca said.

“He does. In the event of a vacancy, the mayor pro tem immediately assumes office.”

“Eugene Stone.” Shelby felt sick to her stomach.

“The process to remove her from office is lengthy and difficult, as it should be. Stone wants to be in charge now, and he's not beyond stooping to underhanded, even illegal means to achieve that.”

“Like what?” Shelby glanced again at Max's house. Perhaps she should go and get him. He needed to hear this.

“Stealing supplies from Croghan, requisitioning what little the shop owners have, intimidating people to hand over their supplies for the general good—we've had all sorts of complaints. Of course Stone denies it all, and it comes down to their word against his.”

The three fell silent as they digested the possible collapse of their local government.

“Why are you here, Danny?” The words popped out before Shelby
could corral her thoughts. “I doubt you came by to catch us up on current events. It's nice to see you, but…”

“But I haven't been here in a long time, and you're wondering why I bothered to visit tonight.” Danny placed his palm against the smooth boards of the porch. “After Alex died, I made a vow to myself that I would do what I could to help.”

“We're fine.”

Danny grinned ruefully.

“So you have assured me, every time I've tried.” He held up a hand to stop her argument. “I'm not criticizing you. I admire what you've done, and Carter… well, he seems to be an upstanding young man.”

“Thank you, but even if we weren't okay, you're not responsible—”

“I know I'm not, in one sense. In another, maybe I could have done more to intervene before Alex sped past the point of no return.”

“Because you were deployed with him? Were you supposed to anticipate and intervene in his crisis?” Shelby shook her head, suddenly too tired to argue. “Even I didn't fully understand the scope of Alex's problems, and I was living with him. Besides, that's the past.”

“The distant past,” Bianca agreed.

“And I'd rather leave it there.”

“It is, and you're both probably right.” He stood, paced the length of the porch, and stared out at the night. When he turned to face them, he said, “We've had contact with Fort Hood.”

F
ORTY
-O
NE

Y
ou've been in touch with the base?” Somewhere in Shelby's mind bloomed the bright thought of communication restored, which too quickly wilted with Danny's next words.

“Not directly. A few soldiers returned late last night from maneuvers. Took a little detour and just happened to contact one of our patrols.”

“Took a detour?” Shelby stared at him in disbelief. “Sounds like they were AWOL.”

“No. Not yet. They returned before anyone noticed and claimed it was a mechanical problem.” Danny stared out into the evening sky, which was just beginning to darken. “According to them, and these are men I know and trust, there's a power struggle going on between state and federal entities.”

“What type of power struggle?” Bianca sat up straighter and appeared more interested in the conversation.

“Texas has an abundance of resources, and the feds want access to them. Every military installation is comprised of troops from all over the country, but a fair number of those stationed at Fort Hood are locals. The powers that be are not going to send those troops into their hometowns with commands to take supplies away from Mom and Pop and the neighbors.”

“So there's nothing to worry about.” Shelby twisted the bottle cap on and off, on and off. “The soldiers would refuse their orders.”

“It isn't that easy. Enlisted men—and women—can't just ignore orders, but they can work to sabotage them, if they're not caught. Anyway, the word going around is that at the moment the military is attempting to
deploy troops domestically, and re-forming regiments so that soldiers are sent away from their hometowns.”

“And they think that will work?” Bianca asked.

Danny shrugged. “At the same time, state troops are gearing up for a confrontation. There could be trouble.”

Shelby stood now, anxiety surging through her. How would she protect Carter from civil anarchy? Did it have to be one emergency after another? How long would things continue to get worse? “What does this have to do with us?”

“I'm not sure it does or will. There's not much in Abney for the feds to requisition, except for our water. At this point there's plenty of that, and there's no need to limit anyone's access. My guess is the military will be more interested in fuel supplies, and assets such as ammunition, grocery warehouses, pharmaceutical supplies, et cetera.”

“This is
loco
.” Bianca's accent grew stronger as she wound herself up. “Domestic supplies are not under the jurisdiction of the US military. People are barely making it as things stand, and the government should be helping us, not plundering our supplies.”

“I agree, but in their minds a strong military will help to defend our country.” He cleared his throat, and then he got to the point of his visit. “I have a few friends who own places outside of town. If either of you would rather wait this thing out in a more remote location, I could make it happen.”

“And move
Papá
? Again? No. I won't put him or
Mamá
through it. And I won't be intimidated by someone who thinks they are”—she made quotation marks in the air—“protecting us.”

“Max has already offered to take us to his parents' place,” Shelby admitted. “But we're staying. Thank you just the same, Danny.”

As she spoke, Shelby saw Max and Dr. Bhatti stepping out on his back porch. Max waved and Dr. Bhatti nodded. They both looked around a few moments before going back inside.

“What do you know about him?” Bianca asked, nodding after the doctor. “How can we trust him to provide medical care when we can't confirm where he's from? Who knows what kind of work he actually did, or even whether he was a good doctor or a bad one?”

“I'm afraid I don't have an answer for that.” Danny stared at Max's
empty porch for a moment, and then he turned his attention back to Shelby. “Did I hear you're working at Green Acres?”

“A few hours a day. Dr. Bhatti showed up to help there. He seems like a nice enough guy, if a bit reserved.”

“I don't like it,” Bianca said. “I'm glad that
Papá
is home, where he's surrounded by people he knows—not doctors who had to be bribed to pitch in a helping hand.”

Danny didn't appear to know how to respond to that, so instead he said, “Guess I should be going. If either of you change your mind, you can find me at city hall whenever I'm not sleeping.”

Shelby walked him through the house and thanked him for stopping by. When she'd returned to the back porch, Bianca was preparing to leave.

“That was a little strange,” Shelby said.

“I told you he was interested in you, and you know it's true. It's just that you don't want to believe it. You're afraid of relationships, my friend. But now might be a good time for you to change that attitude.”

“How did I ever get by without your advice?”

“Badly.”

Shelby hooked an arm through Bianca's as they walked to the front porch. The woman was like a sister to her. And whether or not Shelby liked it, Bianca would always describe things exactly as she saw them.