Ozark Retreat Read Free Page B

wackos?”
    “Preppers. That’s what I consider myself. Someone who prepares for the worst, but hopes for the best.”
    “Prepper, huh? That does sound better. I’ll give it some thought.” And he did. A lot of thought. When he wasn’t actively working on a case he continued the research he’d started doing during LaRhonda’s case. He found the more he learned, the more he wanted to learn. He was a good detective. He learned much.
    Brady began to watch the news with a different eye. He also looked for alternate sources of news. He began visiting several preparedness related websites and forums, including those that FEMA sponsored.
    Then one day one of the real estate agents he’d contacted in and around Branson called him. She had found a piece of property in which he might be interested. Brady didn’t tell her he was no longer in the market. He decided on the spur of the moment to go look at it.

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    The real estate agent rode with Brady. It was a hot, muggy day. Brady had the air conditioner full on. Julia directed Brady down the state road for just a short way, and then onto a county road. Soon Brady noted they were climbing in altitude. The road twisted and turned quite a bit. They’d gone almost twenty miles on the road. Brady figured it was less than fifteen as the crow flies back to Branson when Julia indicated a steep dirt track.
    He turned onto it and they climbed the sharp grade. The road finally leveled off and then quickly petered out. It was forest all around, except for the dirt road. Brady had to jockey the Suburban around some in the trees to get it turned around to head back down the track.
    Brady and Julia got out of the Suburban. Julia handed Brady a topographical map. “Here is the map you requested. We’re… right here.” She put her finger on a point on the map after Brady unfolded it.
    They couldn’t see more than twenty or thirty yards in any direction, except down the road, so Brady began walking along, map in hand. Julia stayed where she was. Brady had spotted key points on the map and checked each one out in person. He was trying not to grin when he returned to the Suburban and Julia. It was everything he’d asked for and Julia had told him about. Plus.
    All the real estate agents had said that properties with water sources were rare and costly. They did exist, but most of them had been bought up years before, by the earliest settlers, and seldom came onto the market.
    What Julia had missed on the map, if she had even looked at it, was a tiny blue mark. Barely more than a tic. It was a spring. A very small one, but a spring never-the-less. He’d been tempted to check how it tasted, but remembered in time that he’d read that even in remote areas the water was often contaminated. He’d have the water tested professionally before he tried to drink any of it.
    He didn’t mention the spring to Julia. He did ask, “How did this piece of property come to be on the market?”
    “A group of doctors had bought it, intending to put in a small spa resort. They bought the property three years ago, based on some very tentative county plans to extend and improve the roads up here. That project fell through. They decided to cut their losses while they could. They are quite eager to sell.” Julia quoted a price.
    “Doesn’t sound too eager to me.” He made a counter, and she re-countered. Brady made his do or die offer.
    “I… I’ll have to check with them,” Julia said. “I just don’t know. I’ve gone as low as they would let me.”
    Brady shrugged. “It’s a take it or leave it offer. And it will be cash. See if that makes any difference to them.
    Julia looked delighted. “Oh, I think it will. Can’t make promises, but I think they’ll take it. They were grumbling about having to finance it.”
    When Brady dropped Julia off at her office he said, “If they accept the offer, push the paperwork through as fast as you can. I’d like to take