“Fuck me,” said Danita, looking up from her laptop.
“What is it?” said Barb.
“I just noticed that the VPN isn’t active. I could have sworn it was on before I did all my posting. But what if it wasn’t, and I just gave away our location? We’re fucked.”
“Not at all,” said Barb.
“What do you mean?”
“The business with the fake posts was never meant to fool Jackery for long. It was merely a temporary diversion to keep him off balance. So, let’s say Jackery does get access to the location data and realizes, to his shock, that his enemy is right here under his nose. What does he do?”
“He starts looking for him.”
“Exactly. And that works as a diversion, too. The energy he expends on a search is energy not going towards stealing the Sanchez farm.”
“Are you really this easy-going?” said Danita.
“What do you mean, dear?”
“I screwed up something simple, and you’d have every right to chew me out about it.”
“What good would that do?” said Barb.
The girl looked at her and shook her head. Barb smiled. Young people took everything so seriously. She’d been through enough ups and downs to know most things worked themselves out—with a little help. The key was to maintain a good grasp on the situation and look for inflection points where a minor act on her part could nudge the flow of events in a better direction.
Barb closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. She allowed herself a moment of self-congratulation. So far, she’d succeeded in disrupting Jackery’s plan on multiple fronts. He must be seething, and it couldn’t happen to a more deserving person.
But she didn’t fool herself. The man was a fighter, and a dirty one, with substantial resources at his fingertips. She tried to envision his next move, like a chess master gaming out an opponent. The difference was—in this game there were no agreed-upon rules. An opponent was equally likely to move a pawn or set the chessboard on fire. The only constraints were the limits of her opponent’s imagination. It was a worthy challenge and exactly what she’d been looking for when she decided to pursue her little projects. She opened her eyes and turned to Danita.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what?” said Danita.
“For bringing me such an interesting problem.”
#
Barb saw the first sign of Jackery’s next move just before dinnertime that night. She was sitting enjoying a little before-dinner drink when a rumble came from the direction of the highway. They looked down the length of the driveway as a black pickup camper flying a Confederate flag drove by, heading into town. It was followed not long after by another pickup, this one blaring a country anthem from giant speakers in the back. As Barb and Maria watched, more and more vehicles passed by—a redneck parade of pickups, RVs, and the occasional Hummer.
Danita and Julian stepped out of the RV.
“What’s going on?” said Danita.
“I considered Jackery might reach for outside help, but not this quickly,” said Barb. “He’s significantly escalated the situation.”
Julian shook his head and spat into the dirt.
“Those clowns and wannabe stormtroopers? They’d never make it through basic training in any real army.”
“They can still cause trouble for us,” said Barb.
“Why are they here?” said Maria.
“To serve as Jackery’s foot soldiers. He’s already got the Sheriff’s Department in his back pocket, but their usefulness to him is limited by their numbers.”
“Did you see this coming?” said Julian to Barb.
“Yes and no,” she said. “I figured that once he succeeded in establishing his little potentate, he’d recruit a private security force. But bringing them in at this stage only serves to complicate things for him. He’ll have his hands full keeping them under control.”
“That’s putting it lightly,” he said. “They’re a bunch of loose cannons.”
“He must feel his immediate objective is worth the risk.”
“Smoking you out,” he said.
“Bingo.”
#
“What do you want me to do?” said Danita.
“Actually, the best thing would be for you to hurry over to your parents’ house. There’s every chance these yahoos will put the county on lockdown, and no one will be able to travel. Not even next door.”
“Don’t you need me here?” said Danita.
“I need you safe. Things are about to heat up. Go hunker down with your family. We can still stay in touch. And there’s always the possibility you’ll get access to information I won’t have. Spreading out offers us more opportunities to do a little spying. I’m not telling you to compromise yourself in any way, but if you could cozy up to the yahoo assigned to your house…”
“Do you think they’ll put someone at every house?”
“It’s the obvious move,” said Barb. “Be sure to tell your parents not to resist in any way. These guys may look like clowns, but they’re arrogant, armed, and stupid, and that’s a dangerous combination.”
Barb watched as Danita reluctantly gathered her things and climbed into her car. For the first time, she felt fear. She’d managed to put on a confident front for the others, but she was more alarmed at this latest turn of events than she’d let on. She wasn’t beaten. Not by any means. In fact, as she’d said to the others, the recklessness of Jackery’s move actually opened up potential avenues of attack. She briefly considered making a call to The New York Times. She could probably interest a reporter in the story, but the first thing the reporter would do was to conduct an investigation of their own. They’d want to call a different source to see if they could get confirmation. And who was the most likely source? The local authorities.
If Barb tried to explain that the sheriff was in on the plot, she’d come across as a member of the tinfoil hat brigade. Besides, Jackery could easily conjure up a cover story to explain the influx of outsiders. He’d label it a “Patriotic Festival” or a “Christian Conference.”
For now at least, Barb would hold off contacting the media. But what should she do instead?
“So, what’s your plan now?” said Julian as if reading her mind.
“I don’t know,” she reluctantly admitted. “At the moment, I just don’t see an obvious countermove.”
“That’s because there isn’t one. Sooner or later in every trial, I hit a point like this. It used to throw me, but I’ve learned that when I don’t have a play, then that’s my play.”
“What’s that? A new Zen koan?”
“If you’re got no move, don’t move. Let the other side take their shot. Save your strength for the moment when they slip up and leave you an opening. That’s when you bring the hammer down.”
“You’re sexy when you talk strategy,” she said, hooking her arm in his.
“Are you trying to kill me, woman?” he said, as she led him to the bedroom. “I’m an old man.”
“Hush, old man,” she said. “Save your strength.”