Sheriff Ketch was an obese, ill-shaven and ill-mannered man. He was little liked other than by those with equally unpleasant character traits. Ketch was arrogant to a fault and just not a likable man. However, he was also a political animal and he knew how to get along with others just enough to get his way so guys like Dink Roberts worked for him too. He found his way into county politics years back and never let go as he climbed the ladder.

Little was known about him prior to getting work in the department. Rumor had it he washed out of a military branch as a young adult and carried the chip ever sense. He started as a deputy and within a few years was running for Sheriff. When pictures of his opponent, another deputy who was the favorite of the retiring Sheriff, in bed with a known prostitute found their way to the internet it didn't take a fan of detective movies to figure out who was behind them. Nonetheless, it was just the margin Ketch needed to get elected.

Somewhere along the way he and Miles Donovan met. While Ketch was still bit player in Donovan's plans he recognized Ketch's utility right away. Through the years money and favors seemed to show up from the state Capital just in the nick of time to help Ketch. For his part, Ketch had survived by keeping just enough people in his camp and hoping a large number of other folks just didn't pay attention. So far, they hadn't.

But this was different. Now he was having people brought in on the filmiest of pretenses. Despite the problems in the North and Donovan's actions with the military, Ketch knew he had to be careful. If he started playing local dictator people would resist. If, however, he could keep riding Donovan's coattails under the guise of "safety" and not being overt he may be able to tighten his grasp on the county without drawing undue attention. That is, until it was too late.

So far nobody in town had complained. A couple of the trouble makers and deputies he didn't trust had already been rounded up and sent off with the contractors to lord knows where. They were few enough in number that people didn't notice them missing. It was early enough in the situation that he was able to placate people with the "we're following the advice given too us by the State Capitol" line.

His trump card was Donovan's contractors. While they looked the part in their crisply creased BDU pants and polo shirts the fact was they were a bunch of rogues and thugs spoiling to take advantage of the situation. There were many good military contractors organizations in the country staffed with honorable men. Donovan's wasn't one of them.

Ketch was smart enough to sweat the details. One of those details was Dink Roberts. He had been sent out to Fred Thompsons place several hours back. Dink and Thompson both subsequently vanished. A car load of contractors swept John Millers place and he was also nowhere to be found. It didn't take a rocket scientist to add it all up since Roberts and Miller were good friends. He played the safe bet and put out a BOLO for Dink's vehicle and otherwise sat back. Dink Roberts was too well liked for Ketch to make an overt move just yet. For good measure he dispatched some contractors to Millers place although, recognizing the situation, he had them wait for nightfall before heading out.

Ketch sat back in his chair and studied the situation. Roberts and Miller were but several issues on his mind in a county full of issues. But they were the problems that kept pushing into his train of thought.

"Deputy!" Ketch bellowed out to the desk Sargent.

"Yes Sheriff" came the reply from Ketch's man.

"Tell those contractors to swing by Fred Thompson's place again for good measure before going to Millers place"

"Yes sir"

********

It took several hours to drive back up from the coast taking a circuitous route on back roads. They found a wooded spot outside of town and pulled deep into the brush.They all dozed lightly and then Patsy and Christy tended to Ava while Miller and Dink discussed another in a string of the days hastily conceived plans.

Dink, changed out of his uniform, ate a power bar he retrieved from his bag as they leaned across the hood of the Suburban. "Skip, you sure you need to go back to your place?" he asked his friend.

Miller glanced back. "We're going to have to cover a lot of ground before morning to have any hope of getting out of here. Then after that we'll have to drive for lord knows how long since the situation in the North is unresolved. While I appreciate your granola bars, I think we might want to add a few more supplies to the mix. That, and I don't think you want to be changing Ava when we start using roadmaps as diapers".

A smile flashed across Dink's face. "Well, you do make a good point. What do you have in mind for getting into your place without having to dance with the devil?"

John took a bite his own granola bar as he laid his plan. "We drive the back way into Fred Thompson's place. We park and leave the girls. There's a foot trail that starts out near his house and goes several miles through the woods to my place. Most people don't know about it, and it can't been seen by air. We make our way to my place to see if we've got visitors. If we do we'll deal with them. If we don't, you run back for the truck and pull it around quick as you can. We load up all our gear in our truck and hit the road".

"Why do I have to run back for the truck?" protested Dink jokingly.

"Because even you, my friend, don't know where all the toys are hidden in my place" shot back Miller.

****

Night had fallen and they made their way to the back part of Fred Thompson's land. They pulled the truck into the brush and instructed the girls to not make a sound. Thankfully, Ava had fallen asleep making their chore that much easier.

They left Dink's suppressed AR15, the semiautomatic commercial version of the military 16" barreled M16, with Christy in the event they were discovered. Christy had shot it before on various occasions. Patsy had eyed the weapon as Dink reminded Christy about the location of the safety and magazine release but didn't say a word. She seemed more interested in tending to Ava.

It only took 10 or so minutes to make their way across the wooded lot towards Fred Thompsons house. The beginning of the trail to Millers place started near the house. They swiftly and quietly negotiated the wooded area by moonlight and did so without words. This was a world both men were comfortable in so they soon neared the beginning of the trail.

Dink saw it first. The lights were on inside Fred's house. That wasn't good.

"John" Dink whispered motioning towards the house. "The lights were off when I left there this morning".

Miller didn't need to respond for Dink to take the lead and start carefully making his way towards the house. After ten minutes of maneuvering around the edge of the wooded lot it became clear they were alone. Miller maneuvered around the front of the house to ensure it was clear while Dink moved up to the house and peered into a window, eyes adjusting to the bright light.

He caught himself from gasping out loud when he saw Fred's body. He was sprawled out across the floor, gunshots clearly viable in his back. The carpet was stained with blood that had already darkened.

"Dammit Fred, you were supposed to listen to me better than I ever listened to you" he thought sadly.