As they drove away from the station, Sands closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat, seeming to nap while Barb brought Danita up to date.
“Ramon Sanchez is at the medical center ready to start treatment in the morning. Julian is on retainer to run interference for us while we’re here. I decided I could be more useful on site, so I cast myself as an assistant to keep a low profile.”
“They were asking me who you were,” said Danita. “I think they got your name by listening in on my conversation with the Sanchezes. I slipped up once and said it. I’m sorry.”
“My full name?”
“Just your first. I’m really, really sorry.”
“It’s all right, dear,” said Barb. “This is all new for you.”
“But what if they pass it on to Jackery? Won’t he come after you?”
“We’ve only met in person once, and my name was never mentioned. Even if it had been, I doubt he’d have bothered to remember it. His other business with me was handled through minions—both human and AI. In Jackery’s universe, I count for less than the smallest moon of the smallest planet of the smallest star.”
“Like I said, the only way the sheriff’s department could have heard your name is if they have the Sanchez house bugged.”
“Not necessarily,” said Barb. “They have a telephone, right? A landline?”
“I’m pretty sure they do. Cell coverage can be spotty out here.”
“That’s your bug right there. Even when a landline phone is hung up, it can be activated remotely.”
“We need to unplug the phones?”
“Not at all,” said Barb. “We don’t want them to know that we know what they’re doing. There may come a time when we want to feed them false info. We’ll just have to watch what we say when we’re within earshot of a landline.”
“Since they know the name ‘Barb,’” said Danita, “what should I call you while we’re here?”
“Why don’t you call me Ellie?” said Barb.
“For Ellen?”
“Yelena.”
“Who’s that?”
“Someone brave who once paid the price for standing up to a powerful man.”
#
Barb drove them out the road past Danita’s parents’ place and onto the Sanchezes. As she turned up the driveway, Danita saw what looked like a bus beside the farmhouse. As they got closer, she realized the bus was actually a large diesel RV. Barb pulled up to the RV and parked the limo beside it.
“This is going to be our headquarters while we fight back at Jackery,” said Barb.
Sands opened his eyes and stretched. As Barb got out of the front, he climbed out of the back, holding the door for Danita. She scooted across the seat and out into the late afternoon air. She reached into the pocket of her jeans for her phone, then realized she didn’t have it.
“My phone is back at the sheriff’s station,” she said.
“Not to worry,” said Barb. “Come inside. I’ll get you a replacement.”
Danita followed Barb into the RV. The interior was luxurious, much more so than she was expecting. It was all wood and textiles with a gorgeous carpet and woven drapes. The furniture would’ve been at home in an upscale gallery, and the kitchenette looked restaurant quality.
“Is this yours?” she said.
“Heavens, no,” said Barb. “It’s Julian’s mobile office. Don’t let the wild west getup fool you. The man likes his luxury.”
“Talking about me again, woman?” Julian said, entering the RV behind them.
Danita stepped aside to let him pass.
“Just making sure you get credit for your exquisite taste.”
“That’s my Barbie. Can’t give a compliment unless it’s laced with sarcasm.” He walked past them and disappeared through a doorway into the rear of the RV.
“Barbie?” she said to Barb.
“Julian is an old friend,” Barb said. “We mesh professionally—and personally.”
Danita felt her face flush. Barb and Julian were her parents’ age. Picturing them together on that queen bed made her feel funny and vaguely embarrassed for them. Barb seemed to pick up on this. She laughed.
“Don’t let the gray hair fool you,” she said. “He’s a tiger between the sheets.”
“You have a new phone for me?” said Danita, desperately changing the subject.
“Here you go,” said Barb, reaching into a cabinet and coming out with a brand new iPhone in a sealed box. She also pointed to an open laptop on the kitchenette table.
“While I’m getting this ready,” she said, “you can log into your account and remotely wipe your old phone. There’s probably nothing on it they can use to hurt you, but you never know.”
Danita sat and went through the process to erase her phone. In the meantime, Barb unwrapped the new phone and inserted a SIM card. When Barb handed her the new phone, Danita went through the set-up process, linking it to her cloud account.
“You’ll have to give your new number to anyone you want to be able to contact you,” said Barb.
“I’ll give it to my parents,” said Danita. “Other than that, I don’t have any friends left to give it to. Dave made sure of that.”
“I suspect that if you reach out, most of those old friends will be glad to hear from you. Just tell them your controlling boyfriend is out of the picture, and they’ll be happy to welcome you back.”
Danita paused, letting Barb’s words sink in. Could it really be as easy as that? Could she really get a piece of her old life back just by calling her old friends? The thought was both intoxicating and somehow frightening. A flush of shame ran through her at the realization of how much she’d let Dave take from her—not only her friends but also a huge chunk of her identity. Would it actually be possible to reclaim that just be asking for it? At the thought, something deep inside her unclenched just a little, an emotional knot she hadn’t realized she’d been carrying. She felt the stirrings of something an awful lot like hope.
She glanced at Barb, who was studying her with a look that was almost maternal. Uncertain whether she was comfortable with this side of her employer, Danita looked away and slipped the new phone into her pocket of her jeans. As she did, something jogged her memory.
“I just remembered something,” said Danita. “When I was in the Sheriff’s station, one of the deputies I saw was my old high school boyfriend. He didn’t look happy to be there. I think he might be willing to give me inside information if I ask him.”
“Now, that’s interesting,” said Barb. “It could very well prove useful down the road.”
“Do you want me to try reaching out to him?”
“Not just yet. Why don’t we wait and see if he tries reaching out to you?”
Danita nodded and began tapping on her new phone.
“What are you doing now?” said Barb.
“He doesn’t have this number. I’m texting it to him.”
“Don’t blow his cover. They may be tracking everything that comes into the station.”
Danita rolled her eyes. “Given a little credit.” She clicked the send button.
DaniGrl is looking for you on Classmates.com. Text OK if you know this person. Text OUT to opt out.
His response came a few seconds later.
ok
“There,” she said. “What should I do now?”
“Why don’t you touch base with Maria Sanchez? I didn’t have time to say much to her before we were off to spring you from custody. Invite her to come out here where we can talk freely.”
Danita nodded and walked out of the RV. She crossed to the porch and climbed the stairs. She had her hand ready to knock when the door opened, revealing Maria. She stood in the open doorway, looking unsettled and anxious.
“Have you heard anything from Ramon?” said Danita.
“He made it to the hospital safely,” said Maria. “They’ll start the first treatment in the morning.”
“Wonderful.” Danita put her finger to her lips and gestured toward the RV behind her. “Say, would you mind coming with me? There’s something I want to show you.”
Maria nodded and stepped out onto the porch. They walked together to the RV, where Barb sat at the kitchenette table in front of the laptop. She looked up and smiled at Maria.
“This is Ellie. She’s Barb’s assistant,” said Danita. “Did you guys get a chance to meet?”
“Not really,” said Maria. “She said she needed to go rescue you.”
“Please have a seat,” said Barb. “Let’s get better acquainted.”
Maria sat on the sofa. Danita took a seat in the RV’s armchair. Barb closed her laptop.
“First,” said Barb, “you should know that anything you say in your house is likely to be picked up by the Sheriff and his cronies. That’s why we asked you to come out here.”
Maria nodded. “I thought that might be the case,” she said.
“We could stop them from listening, but it’s better to play dumb so we can feed them false information when we want.”
Maria nodded again. Barb went on to explain about Peter Jackery and his scheme. She described the “libertarian paradise” he hoped to create and how taking her farm was the first step in his plan.
“Please believe there’s nothing you did to bring this on,” said Barb, taking Maria’s hand. “He chose you more or less at random, although being Hispanic may have been a factor. He probably figured it would lead people to have less sympathy for you.”
“What I don’t understand,” said Maria, “is why he needs to steal our land. Bribing the sheriff’s department and the county agents and the bank can’t be cheap. Why didn’t he just offer us a fair price? I’m not saying we would have accepted it, but he didn’t even try.”
“You have to understand the mindset of a man like Jackery. He made his fortune through intimidation and manipulation. It’s all he knows. Domination is everything. For him to feel like he’s won, someone else has to lose. His greatest fear is being seen as weak, and he’ll keep throwing good money after bad rather than admit he made a mistake.”
“What a miserable way to go through life.”
“I’m sure it is,” said Barb. “But Silicon Valley rewards men like that. It builds them up until they believe they’re gods on earth. Then it gives them the power to act like one.”
“How can you hope to stand up to such a person?” said Maria.
“Believing you’re a god doesn’t make you one. Surrounding yourself with toadies and yes-men leaves you shortsighted and blind. The key thing to know about Jackery is that he’s become so used to everybody rolling over for him that he can’t imagine a world in which his chosen victim fights back.” Barb squeezed Maria’s hand. “Let’s just say he’s about to find out.”
#
Maria left the RV to go back to her house. Danita looked to Barb to see what was next. Barb smiled at her.
“That’s enough for one day,” she said. “Why don’t you head on home? I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?” said Danita.
Barb inclined her head towards the rear of the RV and gave her a frank look. It took Danita a few seconds to pick up on the innuendo, and again she felt her face flush.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” she said.
She left the RV and walked to her car. As she climbed inside, the picture came uninvited into her mind of Barb and Julian Sands together on the queen bed. She had two simultaneous reactions. The first one is, eww. The second was a hope that she could be as frankly sexual when she was that old.
On the short drive to her parents’ house, she replayed the events of the day, especially her time in the sheriff’s station. When she reached the highway, again she half expected to see a sheriff’s cruiser, but the road was empty in both directions. Danita drove up the driveway to her parents’ house. As she did, she remembered Barb’s promise to protect them, and she wondered what she would find. What kind of muscle had Barb hired? Professional bodyguards? Security personnel with rifles?
When she reached her parents’ house, she found a large van sitting out front. She parked and walked past the van, wondering who it belonged to and how it factored into protecting her parents. She walked in the front door to find her mother standing with a young woman clutching her arm and smiling. In front of them was a young guy holding a phone with a photographic lens attachment. They turned to look as she shut the door behind her.
“Hi, honey,” said her mother. “This is Stacy and Willem. They’re…” She turned to the young woman. “What do you call yourselves again?”
“We’re van life influencers,” said Stacy. “Our Instagram has over twelve million followers.”
“What brought you here?” said Danita.
“An anonymous follower offered to sponsor us in residence for two weeks,” said Willem. “We’re doing a special feature on country life.”
“Awesome,” said Danita.
She excused herself and went up to her room. On the way up the stairs, she texted Barb: Influencers?
She didn’t expect an immediate answer. Barb was no doubt distracted at the moment. But Barb and Julian must not have begun whatever they were going to do because she texted right back: I sent Jackery an anonymous link to their Instagram. He won’t risk anything to bring unwelcome attention to his scheme.
Danita sat on the bed. For the first time, she let herself consider their enemy’s immense power and willingness to use it ruthlessly. She hoped Barb was up to the challenge. If she wasn’t or if she miscalculated somewhere along the way, they were all fucked.