Renewal 9 - Delay Tactics Read Free Page B

story, I made a big mistake. I reckon I don’t deserve any special consideration. No money is worth what I did.” Jared’s chin dropped to his chest. Bill watched silently as tears began to mingle with the sweat on Jared’s face.
    Bill looked at his wife, then his brother. Some kind of silent accord was reached. “Ok, Mr. Cooper. I’ve made my decision.”
    Jared looked up and tried to wipe his tears on the shoulder of his shirt.
    “I think you’ve learned your lesson. I’m letting you go. There’s two conditions...” Bill said.
    Jared nodded and watched expectantly.
    “One. You are not welcome here. If you come within a mile, my order still stands. Maybe someday we’ll invite you back, but until then, stay away.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Two. If you tell this story, you tell the whole story. I don’t need people thinking that we go around burning places for no good reason. I’ll need your word on it,” Bill said.
    “You have my word, sir,” Jared replied.
    “Fine. Somebody will give you a ride back at sunup. Until then, you may as well relax. I don’t want you out where someone might take a shot at you.”
    Jared was still nodding gratefully as Bill hobbled away.
    The small group followed Bill out the double doors of the clinic. Terry stopped along the way to lend his arm to Sally. She got to her feet, picked up her rifle, and leaned heavily on his shoulder as they walked out. Only the faintest hint of light broke the eastern horizon as they gathered in the gravel lane.
    “You two all right?” Bill asked Terry and his daughter.
    “I’m fine, Bill. Not so sure about Sally,” Terry said.
    “Sally?” Bill asked the implicit question once again.
    “I’m ok, Daddy. It’s just... Well, it’s different than I thought it would be,” Sally said with a sigh.
    “It always is, sweetheart. It’s always hard and it never gets easier. If you think about it, that’s a good thing,” Bill said with a sad expression. He was thinking how nice it would be if his precious little girl never had to kill another human being, and how unlikely that had always been.
    Aggie leaned over and hugged her daughter hard enough to squeeze air from Sally’s lungs. “I love you, Miss Sally.”
    “I love you too, Mama.”
    “Sally, why don’t you head home and get some sleep. It’ll help,” Bill said.
    She brightened a bit and said, “Can I take Terry with me?”
    Bill looked shocked for a second and replied, “Uh, no...”
    Even Kirk laughed at his uncomfortable reply. Terry gave Sally a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek under the watchful eyes of her parents. Then Sally and Aggie walked slowly towards their home.
    Bill returned to business. “Kirk, set John up for another raid. The Talleys and the Coxes need a visit. It occurs to me that I went off half-cocked on the Jenkins. We’ll do it differently this time...” Bill filled him in on the details, and Kirk went off to find John.
    “Terry, if you’re up to it, I’d like you and Seth to take Mr. Cooper home. Be friendly. I’m hoping that letting him go is a good idea. Anyone who knows what he was doing will see us bringing him home, and maybe with a little luck, Dusty can still help us out from the great beyond.”
    Chapter 9 - 3
    Twenty minutes later, Terry was caught in the state between post-adrenalin exhaustion and brain-humming wakefulness. Most of the townspeople had wandered back to their beds as the guard organized a cleanup detail for the sad remains of the late night defense action. Terry considered trying to grab an hour of sleep for about the fifteenth time when he wandered into the town square and saw Bill sitting on the front steps of the church. Bill’s wooden crutches were leaning against the wall behind him. Terry angled in that direction.
    Bill appeared to be deep in thought, but he looked up as Terry approached and patted the step beside him. Terry stepped up, spun around and sat in one smooth motion. It seemed to be a quiet time for Bill and