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  Ten days ago he’d had the blowup with Karin about his back-tracking and some of the deeds he’d felt compelled to commit to prevent some of the animals from being able to carry out their plans for mass killings. When he’d first revealed his ability to her this second time it seemed that he’d found an approach that might work. They’d spent the rest of that weekend together happily enough. Unfortunately, once she had time to think about the situation her sharp intelligence had found issues to pick at which had led to further discussions that Jake had hoped to avoid for a while.

  “Jake, have you ever back-tracked on me?” Karin had asked him a couple of days after he’d revealed his secret ability.

  Hesitating, Jake had replied. “Well, there was the time I gave you those pearls.”

  “Those were the perfect gift,” Karin had replied.

  “Yeah, but originally I gave you something else. It wasn’t until later I learned what you really had your eye on, and I went back and corrected my oversight.”

  “That’s cheating,” she complained.

  “I guess, but at the time we had only been dating for a short time, and I wanted to impress you.”

  “Hmmmm,” she replied. “But, forgetting things like that. Have you ever back-tracked on me for other reasons?”

  Hesitating, Jake had tried to dodge the question. “Why do you ask?”

  Her piercing blue eyes watched him carefully as he tried to avoid the matter.

  “I was thinking about earlier this summer. There were a couple of weeks when things were strained between us. I never could understand why. Did something happen, and you went back and undid whatever it was? As I understand how this works, I wouldn’t know anything about it anymore, but you would still retain the memories of that event. Is that why you were so distant for a while? What happened?”

  “Look Karin,” Jake stumbled, not ready to get into the matter at the moment.

  “You did, didn’t you?” Karin interrupted, her instincts on target. “What happened? Was it your back-tracking? I’ll bet it was. You told me about it, and there was something that caused a rift between us. You told me something that time that you have been avoiding this time around.”

  Realizing he was trapped, Jake relented. “Okay, you’re right. I handled it poorly and there was some tension. I wanted a chance to rethink the matter, so I went back and delayed bringing it up. It’s too important for it to become an issue between us.”

  “What could it be? From what you’ve told me you have been able to do lots of good. Why would I be upset with you over that?”

  Karin thought for a moment while Jake tried to think of a way out of the situation that was rapidly getting away from him.

  “Oh shit!” Karin said suddenly. “You have been making a point how you can’t let anyone know what you can do which makes it difficult sometimes to deal with certain situations. You took some kind of action on your own, didn’t you?”

  Well, one of the things Jake had always liked about Karin was her inherent intelligence and quick thinking. Unfortunately, at the moment it was working against him. There was little to do but admit it. Any other path would lead to a bunch of lies, and that was exactly what he didn’t want between them. Besides, lies had a nasty habit of growing beyond any kind of control.

  “Sometimes,” he admitted grudgingly.

  “What did you do?” she asked, but he could tell she already had an idea.

  “A couple of times I’ve had to kill someone to prevent them from carrying out a major massacre. There have been instances where a nut job killed a couple of dozen people. Usually they end up dead anyway, but not before destroying a number of innocent lives. By taking them out before they could act, I was able to prevent that.”

  “You’ve been killing people?”

  “People who were going to die anyway. I killed a few of them before they could do their damage.”

  “Jake!” Karin was clearly shocked. She wasn’t used to violence, and had been somewhat taken back when she’d first learned he’d been a combat veteran. “What right did you have to do that?”

  “Would it have been better if I let them kill a bunch of innocent people?” he asked defensively.

  “No, of course not. But you could have let the authorities handle it.”

  “We’ve talked about that. I’ve explained how it often doesn’t work and the complications of letting people know what I can do.”

  “All the same. To kill people. How can you justify that?”

  Karin shuddered and seemed to pull back.

  “Good people are still alive because of my actions,” Jake objected.

  “How many have you killed?” Karin had asked, not really wanting to know.

  Not wishing to pursue the matter, but annoyed at her reaction for the second time now, he’d told her. Even explaining several of the circumstances hadn’t helped. The idea of personally killing another human being wasn’t something she was ready to accept. As a result, they hadn’t been seeing each other. Jake had tried to call her on several occasions, but it was clear she was still uncomfortable, and the calls had been short with no resolution of the situation. He could have back-tracked and undone the whole thing, but had stubbornly refused to do so. Damn it, this was who he was, and he was now convinced that he was right in what he was doing. Seeing the little girl playing with Nate’s niece had given him all the justification he’d needed. If Karin couldn’t accept the good that came out of his actions, then maybe he was wrong to think they had a future together. He was disappointed she couldn’t see him as he felt he deserved to be seen.

  The rift had led to the trip he was planning. Zack and Cheryl had picked up on the split, and Cheryl had offered to run interference, but Jake had asked them not to. He wasn’t ready for more of his friends to know of his ability, and while Karin wasn’t the type to tell his secret, he knew Cheryl would be likely to pry it out of her in her current state if they were to spend very much time together. Best to let the matter heal and see where it ended up. By the time he returned there would be a resolution, one way or another.

  Jake stepped back and tried to think of anything he might have forgotten. He had placed his 9mm Glock in the hidden compartment in the forward bulkhead of the camper where he could easily get at it from inside the camper or from the cab of the pickup. From the cab he would have to reach through the missing rear window that connected the camper and the cab of the truck. It wasn’t readily at hand, but could be accessed if needed without going all the way outside and into the rear camper. With his CCW permit he was legal in carrying the weapon most of the places he would be going. California with its moronic laws wasn’t in his plans. The pistol was significantly modified from the way it had come from the factory. The slide and barrel were both custom Wolfe after-market parts purchased at one of the local gun shows some time back. The barrel was one of two Wolfe barrels Jake had for the Glock, both better quality than the factory original. The slide assembly was fitted with adjustable sights with tritium low light dots. He hadn’t equipped the Glock with the threaded barrel or brought along the suppressor for this trip. He had no mission in mind, but couldn’t envision traveling without personal protection. With that in mind, he would also carry the little Colt Mustang.

  He’d also brought along a couple of rifles. They were stored in a padded rifle compartment that locked and while not hidden, was unobtrusive and would take a bit of searching to find. He had his .22 Rimfire, a modified Ruger with a stainless steel fluted barrel professionally bedded with a full accuracy workup. It was scoped and would be good for close in work against varmints that would be plentiful where he was going. It would also be a great camp gun for meat when he was camping out, which he expected to be most of the time.

  He’d also brought along his LAR in .308. He wasn’t exactly sure why, but had felt an urge to do so. The decision had been complicated by which configuration and which rifle to bring. He could have brought the one in the upper safe which was registered to him, but if he needed
it for some reason, it would be harder to ditch. Bringing the unregistered one wasn’t really an issue, since there was nothing to tie it to any previous activities he’d used it for, and not being registered wasn’t a crime. Taking it did mean a certain chance it wouldn’t be coming back with him, which would mean replacement later. That could be handled through his friend in Florida, where such firearms were easily obtained without records, so he’d decided to bring it. He’d even affixed the factory upper rather than one of the extras he’d bought. If he had to show the rifle to anyone in authority, it would look better to be a factory complete unit.

  He wasn’t bringing along the suppressor, but wasn’t without means to silence the weapon. The factory barrel had come with a flash suppressor that could easily be unscrewed. That left a threaded barrel. He’d used his lathe to build an adapter that screwed onto those threads and provided a different set of threads on the exposed end. The exposed threads allowed a standard auto engine oil filter to be screwed onto the end. The resulting weapon looked odd and ungainly, but given the high mount for the scope, the filter didn’t block the point of view and the oil can suppressor worked surprisingly well. Experimentation had shown him that the shots were within a couple of inches of where the rifle was sighted in, with repeat shots closer than that to one another. At close enough ranges even the first shot could be counted on, and if the situation allowed for it, an initial test shot would allow him to know even closer how the specific rifle-filter combination would work.

  In the tool compartment he had three oil filters and a supply of oil. They were all for the Chevy, and since they were new in the factory box, they wouldn’t seem out of place. The only issue was the small interface that screwed onto the barrel. The ATF had declared the small part a silencer, and it was supposed to be registered just like the real thing. He, of course, hadn’t done so. That would only call attention to him. Some time ago he’d considered the potential need for something like this. The part was currently attached to his engine block. He’d drilled and tapped a hole in a spot that didn’t matter, and screwed the part in place. It had flats on the side to make the installation and removal easy. On the end sticking out, he’d attached a section of rubber engine hose, which snaked through the compartment and attached to another false plug on the far side of the engine. The hose did nothing, but other than a particularly observant mechanic who was searching specifically for something out of place, no one was likely to detect the unnecessary hose. Jake didn’t expect to need the unit, but it made him fell better to know it was there.

  He had already loaded clothes, food and a week’s supply of water and other drinks. He had a small laptop stowed away, and would be bringing his iPad with 4G which would provide him with Internet access any place a phone would work. He would be able to log into his home system and use the computers remotely. The iPad was also configured with a monitoring program that allowed him to access a special network of security cameras he had placed around his property and in the house. There were twenty cameras in all, and they stored their data on a RAID system that he would be able to access. Motion detectors and alarms would tell him immediately if the security had been breached and he could call up the relevant camera data.

  Nate had keys and had promised to make a weekly walk through of the place while he was gone. That would give him a human set of eyes and would also verify that the triggers on his security were working as they showed Nate’s walk through.

  Jake would be bringing his cell phone as well. He’d hesitated, because the damn things told people where you were and had been, but he wanted the ability to stay in touch. It would have been a bit difficult to explain not having his phone, and in truth he had nothing planned that would mean he needed to be hidden. There were a pair of un-activated throw away phones in the hidden storage he could use if something changed.

  With a final look into the rear of his truck, he closed the door to the camper and locked it. Then he turned and headed back inside for something to eat and sleep. He would be leaving at first light in the morning. He hadn’t decided if he would tell Karin he was leaving town for a while or not. It didn’t seem like she cared, so maybe it was best just to take off.

  Chapter 12

  Six weeks later Jake was tiring of his trip. It didn’t help that fall was setting in and this part of the country was being treated to frequent early and heavy rain. It was still too early to think in terms of snow, but the wet weather had taken the fun out of traveling and Jake had been slowly making his way west. He’d spent a couple of days in Rapid City, South Dakota after some sightseeing in the Black Hills, a place he’d wanted to visit for a long time. Now, he was in Laramie, Wyoming. Today was Sunday. He’d been in town since Friday, which was far longer than he’d ever intended, but events had stacked up against him, and only a bit of luck would get him out of town by tomorrow.

  He shook off the Stetson he was wearing to block the rain despite his dislike of headgear as well as his raincoat as he entered through the front door of the diner intent on getting some breakfast. The current storm had come in from the north yesterday morning and was colder than the stuff they had been getting. It would be passing through and continuing onward to soak the states to the south over the next couple of days, close on the tail of another major downpour that had drenched the area the previous week. The weatherman had promised that tomorrow would be clear, but Jake wasn’t sure he could believe the report. For the past couple of weeks it seemed the weather predictions had been wrong more frequently than they had been right. Hanging the wet garment on one of the hooks by the door where it could add to the puddle of water from other similarly soaked items placed on the rack by other patrons, he looked around to see if his usual spot was open. The place wasn’t overly busy, with less than a half dozen customers at the moment, and his spot by the side window where he could look out at the square blocky and somewhat colorful buildings of downtown Laramie was available.

  Jake’s right hand inadvertently stroked the fully grown beard as he looked around the room. He’d had it trimmed the day before since he had time on his hands, and the result was quite respectable. It was almost too bad that he would be cutting it off once he returned home in a few days. His boots, although waterproof, left wet footprints, as he walked across the linoleum floor to the benched booth he wanted.

  “Still here, I see,” Meg said moments after he sat down. She slid a cup of coffee across the table so it sat in front of him. “Menu?”

  Jake looked up at the waitress and shook his head. “Steak, eggs, hash browns, and a couple of slices of wheat toast,” he ordered. It was the same order as the day before. The food here was good, and that, plus the close proximity to his motel room had kept him coming back. Meg was a ratty haired, ancient looking, fifty year old who had spent that last thirty years of her life serving tables. She had picked up right away that Jake had something on his mind and had wormed the situation out of him during his first meal here.

  “When do you get your car back?” she asked.

  “The mechanic says he should be able to finish up later today,” Jake replied.

  “You got someone to work on Sunday?”

  “I offered him an incentive, and given the weather, he agreed he wouldn’t be able to do much of anything else today anyway. I’m going to take a taxi over there after breakfast and see how it’s going.”

  During the long drive from Rapid City the Silverado had started making unpleasant noises in the rear end. By the time he’d approached Laramie, he’d been concerned he wouldn’t make it into town and had stopped at a large auto repair shop on the east edge of town. It didn’t take the mechanic long to confirm what Jake had suspected. Something in the drive train. It had been late on Friday, too late to get parts, but the mechanic had promised to get right on it Saturday morning. Jake had grabbed a bag of clothes and some key items, and had taken a taxi to the small Holiday Inn a couple of miles west of the repair shop, where he was still located. When he had visited the shop the day before,
he could see that progress was being made, but the job would take longer than initially planned. That’s when he had made an appeal to the mechanic to try and complete it today.

  Meg shook her head and stuffed the ordering pad back into a pocket inside her apron. Then she smiled and walked away, making toward the kitchen where she clipped the single page from the pad to a small steel turnstile and smacked a small bell.

  Jake stared out the window at the puddles in the street, the surface of which were marred by constant splashes as the huge drops of rain continued to fall. The gutters were filled with rapidly flowing water rushing toward the drains, which were backed up by the onslaught forming large pools of standing water waiting for a chance to drain away. The wet buildings looked a bit worn and old from the water downpouring they had been getting, and the mostly empty streets looked a bit sad.

  For his own part, Jake felt pretty good. He was relaxed, and had gained some perspective over the past weeks, he had wandered through Idaho, parts of Montana, as well as North and South Dakota. He’d been in South Dakota and had been considering spending some time in Colorado before heading home when the weather had turned changing his mind. He was now following 80, which would take him through Salt Lake City and then on to Nevada and home. He wasn’t sure what waited for him when he returned, but was prepared for any outcome. He hadn’t contacted Karin since well before he’d left Sparks, which probably hadn’t been wise, but she had his email and cell phone number and could have tried him as well. She hadn’t done so, which told him something. Well, if it was over, so be it. He was who he was and if she had problems with that, there was nothing he felt he could do to change it.