Hard Favored Rage by Don Shift

Author:Don Shift [Shift, Don]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-09T22:00:00+00:00

Soldier of Fortune

Usually on a Monday afternoon, the widened intersection of Lewis Road and Los Angeles Avenue, a convergence of two-lane highways used daily by commuters, was a congested mess. No one in their right mind would go that way if they could avoid it. Church found the small corner of Somis to be a ghost town. Christmas Day traffic was heavier. He continued a few more miles and turned down an agricultural road. He was looking for a mailbox with 4914 stenciled on it. A hundred feet past the mailbox, Sam turned right and drove over a bridge that crossed the culvert. A gravel road descended downhill until it was about ten feet below grade.

He was surrounded by lemon orchards. On his right was a row of windbreak eucalyptus trees and a chainlink fence topped with barbed wire. A large “No Trespassing” sign warned him off. Sam parked in front of the gate and got out of his Jeep. Next to the gate on a post was a metal box with an old military field phone inside. A sticker with “UDT Lemon & Avocado Company” was stuck to it. Sam gave the phone several cranks and waited for an answer. I hope I don’t get shot.

“Speak,” answered a gruff male voice.

“Yeah hi Mr. Sibley. It’s Sam Church. Can I come in?”

“Oh yeah, sure.” The line disconnected.

Sam got back in the Jeep and was surprised when the gate opened itself, instead of someone walking down to open it. He expected the ranch to be without power as well. He drove through and followed the road back uphill for a couple hundred yards through more lemon and avocado trees and parked just shy of the cobblestone driveway up to the house complex.

“Sam! I was in the shop. Why’d you park in the gravel? Park in the driveway like normal people.” Mr. Sibley yelled. The tall and fit, but graying man walked across the courtyard with his arms wide open and smiled widely. Sam always thought he looked a bit like John Malkovich.

“You heard me from inside the shop?” Tires on gravel was loud, but not loud enough to be heard inside.

“Aye. Got a wireless vehicle sensor rigged up.” They hugged. “Man, we were worried about you. Thought you’d re-up over this. Sean was saying you were out at Twentynine Palms when this went down?”

“Close, Fort Irwin. And you know I bleed blue.”

“Teaching your dirka dirka stuff to those trench monkeys, still?”

“At least a couple of them were Rangers.” Sam, being a Marine, and Sibley former Navy, naturally made fun of the Army. “One of them was from Westlake, actually.”

“Interesting. Did they give you a SITREP?”

“Sort of.” Sam recounted his experience at Fort Irwin, the journey home, and the gossip from the Navy at headquarters. Sibley was quiet for at least a minute while he worked everything out in his head. “So where are Sean and Tyler?”

Sibley snorted. “Work. Can you believe that? My sons playing goody two-shoes risking their asses out there.

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