***The Next Morning***
Jennifer and Jonathan had quietly made love when they went to bed the night before, and both of them found it exhilarating.
Jonathan woke up first and he and Freeway went to the kitchen and started making pancakes for everyone.
Jennifer smelled the coffee and woke up a few minutes later and joined him.
"Morning".
"Morning".
She gave Jonathan a few kisses and then started on the bacon.
"What are you three doing today?"
"Finishing the cameras. We only have a couple more to do. And then I want to go check on the river and make sure it's flowing. Bill said he had some ideas about how we can run some PVC pipes from our end to their end to keep the water flowing if they decide to block it again".
"That's not a bad idea. Maybe we should put up some motion detector lights, just in case".
"We can do that. What are you going to do?"
"I think I'm going to take one of the horses for a long horseback ride. Get the creative juices flowing again for my next article".
"Great idea".
After breakfast, Jennifer went to take a shower while the men cleaned the kitchen, and then got ready.
She headed out on the golf cart to the stables.
She selected a dark brown horse called Cocoa, and saddled her right up. She had a nice relaxing ride along the back of the property, and stopped to look at the river. She could tell the water was flowing rather rapidly, more rapidly than she remembered ever seeing it flow before.
She rode back to the pen and did some pen work with Cocoa before she took her on some trails. If Jennifer had her way, she would ride horses on trails every single day, all day long.
After about 3 hours, she decided that she wanted to take a break, so she began to ride back to the house.
She decided to just ride across the empty field towards the house.
Jonathan was hanging a camera on the back of the house when he saw her coming. Freeway was lying down next to the ladder.
He smiled as soon as he saw her.
'I am such a lucky man to be married to the most beautiful woman in the entire world'.
He dropped his screw driver, so he climbed down off the ladder to get it.
As soon as he was off the ladder, he heard the unmistakable sound of gun shots. He climbed on top of Freeway and held him tight as he shielded him with his body.
She felt like they were coming from all over, but couldn't see who was shooting at her or from what direction they were coming from. She felt Cocoa start to buck and panic, so she reigned her in a little tighter, and got her to go faster.
Jennifer ducked her head down and rode as fast as she could towards the only shelter in sight, the house.
Jonathan hid behind a bush and watched as several people pointed a gun towards their house, and then rode away back towards the woods.
"Jennifer! Jennifer!"
Bill and Jack jumped down off their ladders as well and scrambled to get inside.
Jennifer made it into the garage just in time to see one of her potted plants on the porch take a bullet.
She climbed down off Cocoa, and Jack took the reins from her while Jonathan grabbed her.
"You alright?"
"I think so".
He wrapped his arms around her. She was holding onto him so tight.
"Come on, let's get inside".
Jack tied the horse to a post on the stair rail, and they shut the garage door.
Everyone went inside, and Jonathan immediately picked up Freeway and handed him to Jennifer. He pulled up the footage from the tree camera on the computer.
They all stood and watched the gunfight on the monitor. Jennifer buried her head on Jonathan's shoulder.
"By my count, there were at least 12 people on your property, with one of them specifically shooting at Jennifer. I don't know that she was the target, but rather if any of us had been out in the open like that, we would have been targeted as well".
"I agree. This was definitely a cold, calculated, planned out ambush".
"What do you want to do, Valentine?"
"It's time for plan B".
***A few hours later***
Jennifer had taken a long, hot bubble bath and tried to calm down. She was still shaky, and was having thoughts about returning to Los Angeles. However, she really didn't want to leave Jonathan, either.
Bill and Jack and Jonathan had devised a plan, and Bill said he needed a few hours. He and Jack had driven into town.
Jonathan was obsessed with watching the camera footage and had gone outside and combed through the field and found several bullets. He photographed everything, spray painted where they were located, and was documenting everything in preparation of filing another police report.
Jennifer came out of the bedroom and sat on the couch, with Freeway.
"Hey, can I get you anything?"
"Not right now. I'm ok".
"I went outside and found several bullets that were fired at you. I'm trying to figure out the timeline, but since we didn't have the cameras up, I don't think we'll ever be able to fill in the missing pieces".
Jennifer wanted to suggest that they just pack up and go back to Los Angeles. However, she knew that Jonathan wouldn't go for it, and she didn't want to argue. She knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't want to leave without seeing this through.
Jennifer got up and went to make herself some hot tea.
He followed her to the kitchen.
"Hey, why don't you let me call Susan, or Laura, and have them come up? I'll be happy to send Jack to pick them up and bring them back here".
She shook her head.
"We don't have anywhere for them to stay. And it's not really fair to bring anyone else into this mess".
"I could kill them for shooting at you".
"Darling..."
"I know, I know."
He wrapped his arms around her and held her.
Jack and Bill came back inside then, carrying a big box.
"Ok, time for Plan B to officially begin".
Jennifer looked up at Jonathan.
"Do I want to know what Plan B is?"
"Probably not".
"Jonathan!"
"Just being honest, darling. I promise you, this is the easy, non-dangerous part".
"What are you three planning?"
"Well, first, we are going to go put some 'No Trespassing' signs up on the fences and trees along the edge of the property. If they come back, they will be in violation of those. And then we are going to scout out what their property is like-buildings, employees, things like that".
"Remember what the Sheriff said about trespassing?"
"We aren't leaving our property at all".
"That's right. We are using this. State of the art technology can sometimes be a good thing".
Bill pulled this large contraption out of a box and set it on the table and began fiddling with the wiring.
"What on earth is that?"
"This is the Techtron 2000. My company makes these."
"What does it do?"
"Well, let's say you want an aerial view of something. Instead of paying thousands of dollars to get a plane to fly overhead and take pictures of something, instead you fly this overhead with some simple controls, and take all the pictures you want. All you have to do is make sure the battery is charged".
"And what happens when they see this thing flying over their land and shoot it down?"
"They won't. We are going to have multiple Techtrons flying in the air at the same time".
"I see".
Jennifer was not exactly convinced.
Jack and Jonathan went to put the signs up along the property line, while Bill set up the techtrons. Jennifer sat down and tried to work on her article, but couldn't focus, so she turned on a movie instead.
Jonathan and Jack were back within the hour, and had several of the ranch hands with them.
Bill gave a demonstration about how to use the Techtrons.
"Ok, you three-take your Techtrons up around the bend to the field beside the power lines. Pretend to race them or something, for about an hour, and then come back. You two-go to the field down the street with the park benches-do the same thing. Every now and then, wave at the Techtron like your taking your own picture, just in case someone is watching. Remember the basic controls-x means stop, circle means go."
"We will start at exactly 2:30 p.m., for an hour".
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Jennifer walked over to Jonathan.
"Darling, where are you going to be?"
"Right here with you, watching the camera".
Jennifer tried to focus on the movie, but it was no use. She was a bundle of nerves. She eventually went to the back porch, climbed into the hammock with Freeway and took a nap.
About an hour and a half later, the guys were back.
Jonathan met them in the garage.
"Hey, Jennifer is sleeping on the back porch. So we need to be quiet".
They went into the living room, and began discussing what they saw.
"So, from the footage that Bill's Techtron loaded, it appears as though they have a large barn on the very back of the property, where the ranch hands stay. And it also appears that they have a large pond in the middle of the property. I noticed a few cameras on the house, as well as gates and fences around the property but not along the back property line where the woods are. So, if we can figure out how to get into those woods undetected, that's our in".
"Oh, that's easy, Mr. Hart. You drive down the street, turn on Appleview lane, and drive it north till you come to Summers Mill Road. Turn left. Now you are on the north side of the property. Go about 4 miles down the road, and there's an abandoned school house there, with a park at the back and a nice sized but abandoned parking lot. Walk through those woods and you will end up on Holt Gregory's property. Those woods aren't thicker than the size of this house. There's even a trail. Follow the one with the yellow markers and you can't miss it".
"Ok, sounds good. I tell you what. Let's do this tonight, around 11:30, midnight. Everyone will be paid overtime. Wear all black and bring flashlights with you. Everyone will need one pistol plus a couple packs of ammunition. I don't expect us to shoot anyone, but I do expect us to defend ourselves if we need to. But I want to be clear, I want everyone to be careful".
They all nodded.
"Does anyone know their habits over there? Anything we should be aware of?"
"Yes, I do. They typically work till about 9 at night, and they stagger getting ready for bed, but the tell-tale sign that everyone is in bed is when the front porch light goes off, usually around 11:45".
"Ok, so that will be our signal".
"Where are we going to meet?"
"At the park behind the school, at 11:30".
Everyone headed out, and then Bill, Jack and Jonathan sat down in the living room.
"Jack, can you do me a favor?"
"Sure".
"I respect your skills, and I respect your intelligence. And it's not that I don't want you to go with us or that I don't trust you to go with us. But, would you mind staying here with Jennifer? I don't want her to be involved in this, and I don't want to leave her alone".
"Absolutely".
"Thank you. There's a bonus in your future, I promise".
Jennifer woke up and came inside.
"Hey. Why did you let me sleep that long?"
"You were sleeping so soundly, I didn't have the heart to wake you".
"Well, to show my appreciation, I'm going to make you three the best dinner you've eaten in ages. How does spaghetti, salad, and fresh bread sound?"
"That sounds amazing".
"Play your cards right and I might even make a fresh apple pie for dessert".
Jonathan could tell she was trying to distract herself from thinking about the shooting.
"Whatever you want to make is fine, darling. We aren't hard to please".
She set about in the kitchen, while they kept talking in the living room.
"What are you going to tell her?"
"Nothing. She'll be asleep by then and I'll sneak out. You stay here on the couch, and if she wakes up, tell her you couldn't sleep in the loft, so you moved down here. If she asks where I am, tell her I went to check the property and I'll be back soon".
"Got it".
After a dinner the guys raved about over and over, Jennifer settled onto the couch and read a magazine while the men played poker.
Around 10, Bill and Jack made a big deal about going to bed.
"See you two in the morning."
"We're headed to bed too. See you in the morning".
"Goodnight".
"Goodnight".
Jonathan took Jennifer's hand and they headed to the bedroom. They both changed into their pajamas and then climbed into bed.
Jennifer snuggled up to his chest.
"Darling, if they ask you about selling-can we at least think about it?"
"We can think about it".
"Do you ever think about us moving away?"
"Moving away to where?"
"Oh, I don't know. Sometimes I miss the hustle and bustle of New York. I think it would be so romantic for you and I to live in the Penthouse in New York".
"Yeah, but think about the winters, darling. Cold, and dreary".
"Yeah, that's the drawback. We could also move to Hawaii. Ocean, sunshine, relaxation all the time".
"Yeah, but we would get bored, darling. Every time we've vacationed there, we've cut our trip short".
They chatted till she fell asleep.
Jonathan laid there, staring at the clock till it was time to get ready.
He eased out from under Jennifer's arms, and gently laid her on the bed.
He took Freeway to the back porch and gave him a few treats and then went back to the bedroom.
He quickly dressed and then quietly grabbed a few weapons from the safe, and tiptoed out. Jack and Bill were waiting for him in the kitchen.
He turned to Jack.
"If something happens, put her in the truck and drive her to wherever you have to. I'd rather her be safe with you elsewhere than unsafe here".
"Got it".
He turned back to Bill.
"Ok, let's do this".