Chapter Seventeen

 

Cut off. The town was cut off. Stoeffel tapped the steering wheel of his cruiser as he threw the useless cell phone aside. The cell net was down and he guessed that local boosters had been blown as well as electricity supply, telephone and cable. The station had a backup generator as standard procedure but someone had seen to it that it would never work again. Probably the same person who had let Brian Links out of his cell. They had satellite as well but none of it worked without the juice.

Ayleen had been pissed but Stoeffel had put her in a car immediately and sent her over to Minerstown to get help pronto.

That left the rail track as a means of communication but with all the signals out the trains were not going to be running. It was an efficient job and convinced Stoeffel again that he was up against a trained and determined team; just what their purpose was though he could only guess at.

He put the car in drive and headed up Main Street to Bubba Rose´s storage warehouse. The town was quiet it still being early yet. Most folks had not gotten out of their beds and did not realize that the electricity was down. When it came to it there would be one hell of a hullabaloo, what with freezers defrosting and life support devices malfunctioning. He would need to call the doc and make sure he was ready for it. Then there was the bank. Stoeffel was pretty sure that the Lodrun bank hardly held enough to make it worthwhile closing a whole town down for. But you never knew.

Bubba Rose looked like he had been making a night of it. Baggy eyed he sat at his paper strewn desk and had obviously not slept.

“How´re you doing?” asked Stoeffel as he entered.

Bubba stretched his large frame and leaned back in the big red chair.

“Not a hell of a lot good, Chief. What’s happened to the power?”

“Net´s down all around. We have a serious problem on our hands, Bubba. And right now I need to see those boys you hired.”

“Uhuh,” Bubba rubbed his eyes with finger and thumb. “Me too. They lit out and left me holding things together here. Hell of a note. We have a really big shipment in progress an´ I´ve been at it all night.”

“That so, well me too. Where´d you get those people anyway?”

Bubba swiveled his chair and reached out behind himself for the whisky decanter. He proffered it to Stoeffel who shook a negative, then poured himself a glass.

“Recommendation, Chief. Business partners I got down Chicago way said they was the best and I took that as a go. They certainly do their work well enough, an´ that’s a fact. Why, you have a problem with them?”

“Sure do. They have sheets as long as your arm.”

Bubba frowned. “You don´t say. Well, I ain´t seen `em since yesterday morning. Might be, of course, they´s just on a bender. I know they´re kinda rough, didn´t think they was that bad though.”

“Bubba, can you get some sort of support thing going here in the town? Someone, and it might be these boys of yours, has cut the power and communications. I´ve got a car heading out for Minerstown but as of this moment we´re on our own. Townsfolk are going to need help when they get on up and realize what’s happening.”

Bubba took a slug of his drink and leaned forward on his desk, tiredness slipping from his face.

“Of course, Chief. I´ll talk to the Town Council. We have emergency plans in place. Do you know what these guys are up to?”

“We think....” he was interrupted by Joline passing by along the corridor outside the office, a bundle of envelopes in her hand.

“Hey, honey,” called Bubba. “Where you off to?”

She looked a little dark eyed and distraught to Stoeffel but he reckoned she had probably been working late into the night as well.

“Jist taking these hyah invoice letters to the post, Bubba.”

“Let me see those will you, sweet thing?”

She eased past Stoeffel. “Mornin´ Chief.”

Stoeffel nodded a greeting as she handed the letters to Bubba, who leafed through them quickly.

“Okay, honey,” he said, handing them back to her. “But you hurry right back, you hear. We got an awful lot to do an´ now the Chief tells me the town is cut off so we have a might of organizing to arrange.”

“Be right back.” She flashed a quick little grim smile in Stoeffel´s direction and hurried off.

Bubba turned back to Stoeffel.

“I´ll call up the Town Council, Chief. We´ll start the ball rolling.” He reached for the phone then remembered. “Shit! No line, this will have to be legwork then. You get on, Chief. I´ll handle it somehow.”

Stoeffel nodded. “Thanks, Bubba. I´ll talk with you later, see how things are going.”