“It’s all good,” Mad Dog reassured her.
“Really?”
He smiled. “We talked.”
Her lips quirked. “Talked, huh?”
“Yep.” He leaned in for a kiss as he pressed the keys into her hand. “Remember what I said. Anything. Anytime. I’m here, got it?”
“Got it.”
“Call me later.”
“I will. And, Chris? Thanks.”
Mad Dog went back to his truck and slid in. Duke stared across the street at Handelmann’s and growled low in his throat.
“I don’t like it either,” Mad Dog told him. “But Kate probably wouldn’t be happy with us if we turned him into dog food.”
Mad Dog still wasn’t happy about leaving Kate, but there was little he could do about it, short of parking his ass in the store with her. If Renninger were smart, he’d take Mad Dog’s message to heart. If he wasn’t, well, the next time, Mad Dog wouldn’t be as forgiving.
Once he was back at Sanctuary, it didn’t take long to get the dogs situated. Mad Dog snapped a picture and sent it to Kate, knowing she was worried.
Kate: Thanks. *smiley face* They look happy.
Mad Dog: They’re in good hands. Stop worrying. Any word on your dad?
Kate: Nothing yet. Still waiting. Super busy today. Everyone’s coming in to ask about Dad. Call you later?
Mad Dog: You got it, baby.
Kate: *smiley face blowing a kiss*
“How’s Kate’s dad?” Sam asked, bringing in a fresh bowl of water for the dogs.
“Still waiting to hear.”
She nodded. “It’s nerve-racking. They do the tests, but no one will tell you anything until the doctor decides to show.”
“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”
She shrugged. “My grandparents had their share of health issues, so I can relate.”
“You okay here?”
“Yeah, got it covered. Sandy’s here. Plus, Steve and Heff are just down the hall if we need them. Go on. Doc’s waiting for you.”
“Thanks, Sam.”
Mad Dog set a course for the war room. He and Doc had plans to do some underground exploration, which would be a welcome distraction. After loading up on tech, they headed out, taking the snowmobiles since most of the locations on their list were off-road.
Rather than go to the Paxton entrance, where he’d been with Kate, they scouted out other possible entry/exit points, using the maps and software Cage had created with his digital wizardry. After four hours, they were able to cross two possible access locations from their list. One looked as if it had been deliberately closed with the use of explosives; the debris pattern hadn’t been made by anything natural. The other held initial promise, but that changed when they discovered a cave-in that prevented them from going any farther after a few hundred yards.
Cage and Church were out, too, but they were working from the inside out, using Paxton as their starting point and mapping the way. Progress was slow. The mines were a labyrinth with tunnels branching off every couple hundred feet, frozen in time. They discovered more evidence that someone had been using the tunnels recently as well as a possible entry/exit point that was conveniently located in the general vicinity of the weekend-warrior compound.
“Some sections have been shored up recently with pressure-treated lumber and I-beams,” Church reported.
“Not to mention, crates of supplies,” Cage added, “as well as generators and enough fuel to power them for months.”
“Preppers?” Smoke guessed.
“Who else?” said Heff. “I guess that explains why we haven’t seen a lot of activity above ground lately.”
“Has Kate said anything to you?” Church asked, looking Mad Dog’s way.
“About the preppers? No. Why?”
“Because, along with the crates, we found shipping slips. At least some of those shipments are being ordered through Handelmann’s business account.”
“So? I told you I saw Jerry Petraski picking up big orders the two times I was there. It makes sense that Eric Handelmann would place the order and pass the discount on to a longtime customer.”
“Maybe,” Church said, but he didn’t look convinced. “In any case, I want you to go into those shored-up sections with Cage tomorrow and take a look around. You know more about creating an underground hidey-hole than any of us.”
Mad Dog nodded. “Will do.”
Chapter Twenty
Kate
“The tests revealed a blockage in one of his coronary arteries,” Kate told Chris over the hands-free connection in her Jeep. “The cardiac specialist assigned to my dad’s case recommended a balloon angioplasty to widen the vessel. He said it was a minimally invasive procedure and didn’t seem overly concerned.”
The doctor might not have been concerned, but Kate, her mother, and her sister were. The visual that accompanied his textbook description of creating an incision in the groin and basically shoving a wire wrapped in a balloon up into her dad’s heart—or near enough—sounded pretty invasive to her.
“It could be worse though, right?”
“It definitely could be worse,” she agreed, choosing to look on the bright side. “I was worried they were going to tell us he needed open-heart surgery or something.”
“How is your mom handling it?”
“Not well. It’s really shaken her. My father is her rock, you know?”
Her mother’s whole life revolved around being a stay-at-home wife and mother. She didn’t have a college education. Hadn’t held a job outside the home from the moment Kate’s older sister was born thirty-three years ago. If something happened to Kate’s father, Beth Handelmann would be utterly devastated.
“The doctor prescribed some sedatives for her,” she continued, “and Kylie’s been taking care of things around the house, making sure she eats and trying to keep her calm.”
It was a real eye-opener for Kylie; she’d never had to take care of anyone but herself. To Kate’s pleasant surprise, she appeared to be stepping up.
“They’ve scheduled the procedure for tomorrow morning. If all goes well, they’ll keep him overnight for observation and then release him the next day. He’ll have to take it easy for a couple weeks though, which means I’m going to have to hold the fort for a while longer. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Take as much time as you need, Kate.”
“I miss them. And you.” She craved the feel of Chris’s strong arms wrapping around her like a warm, protective blanket, blocking out the world so she could lose herself for a while. How quickly she’d come to think of him as her sanctuary.
“We miss you, too,” he said kindly. “It’s only temporary.”
She exhaled. “I know. I feel bad about dumping them on you though.”
“Don’t. Everyone loves them, and they’re being taken care of. Is Renninger behaving himself?”
Kate smiled, thinking how Luther had been scarce for the rest of the day, staying in the back. “He is. What did you say to him anyway?”
“Guy stuff.”
“Uh-huh.”