Rain Dogs by Baron Birtcher

Author:Baron Birtcher
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781579623180
Publisher: The Permanent Press
Published: 2013-07-03T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

An early morning rain shower left the trail slippery and cratered with treacherous pools of dead water. I pressed my way into town with greater care than usual, denying myself the pleasure of the periodic glimpses down through the cuts in the heavy foliage and into the silver gulch of the Mad River as I strained to keep the Yamaha upright. My eyes were fixed on the muddy trail, but my mind was locked on the call I was expecting from my contact down south informing me that everything had gone as planned.

I left Colt back at the camp to salvage what he could of our harvest and begin to break down the tents. With any luck, we’d be out of here for good—at least for this season—in less than three days. By that time, Rick Montrose would have returned with the El Camino so we could reload it and blow town with at least a little bit of cash and stash to show for our labors.

The cloud cover was beginning to break, but the wind that blew against my bare face and hands was brittle and cold. Small patches of bright blue sky behind the high mist gave me hope that we might have seen the last of the rain before we split.

The shops in town were just beginning to open their doors, storekeepers waving to one another across the park at the center of town as sidewalks were swept clean of fallen leaves. It was a scene from another time, and it never failed to bring a smile to my face. I always thought of it as Mayberry comes to California. With tie-dye.

As usual, the parking stalls in front of the diner were already filled, so I pulled the bike into a space in front of the hardware store about a block away and killed the engine. I liked to use the payphone adjacent to the statue near the center of the park. That way I could see if anyone tried to approach me from a full 360 degrees. In general, the people in town chose to remain blissfully detached from the realities of what made their local economy hum—though they certainly weren’t stupid—and everyone seemed to get along in a live-and-let-live manner no matter what side of the proverbial hill one’s income came from. Unfortunately, the influx of violence from rippers, not to mention elements of Organized Crime from certain countries south of the border, was beginning to manifest here, and the stress cracks were beginning to show. We were all a little more on edge than years past, more wary than we used to be. It was sad. It was unfortunate. But it was reality. So, like I said before, I like to use the phone in the middle of the park. I hadn’t heard of anyone yet who did time for being cautious.

I looked at my watch and saw that I was a good half an hour early. I had expected the dirt trail would be a mess, but I still overestimated the time it would take me to get here.

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