Organically Yours: Sanctuary, Book Five by Abbie Zanders (classic books for 11 year olds .TXT) 📗

rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of her face in the process. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear she saw the beginnings of a glow.

Chapter Sixteen

Doc

Once Tina’s vehicle was out of view, Doc went inside the main building to return the takeout containers and hopefully find something to keep him occupied for the next several hours.

The afternoon had gone extremely well, in his opinion. Much better than it had started. Tina was a strong, capable woman as well as smart and funny and down-to-earth. She said what was on her mind, and he found that as attractive as he did refreshing.

They shared similar tastes as well. She liked eating healthy and staying active, which were two things he felt fairly strongly about. In fact, everything about the last several hours had confirmed that his initial interest was warranted and that, extraneous influences aside, there was definite potential for something more. He was already imagining long hikes and summer swims and rediscovering simple pleasures.

Some complicated ones, too. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was as confident and adventurous in all aspects of her life. Just the thought of what they might explore together filled his mind with possibilities.

After returning the containers to the kitchen, he found the women in the decompression chamber. Some of the dogs were there, too, but none of the guys, which was unusual for a Sunday evening. Either couples tended to head back to their cabins or they gathered to watch a movie or play cards or something after dinner.

Kate was the first to spot him. She sat up and muted the TV. “Well? How’d it go? Did you guys talk?”

“It went well,” he answered honestly. “And, yes, we did.”

“So, no more hiding on Sundays?” Sam asked with a grin.

“I wasn’t hiding,” he protested.

He’d simply been avoiding a potentially awkward situation and making things easier on everyone involved. That had been the plan anyway. As it turned out, it hadn’t worked, not for him and not for Tina. He was much happier with their new plan.

Sam’s grin widened. “Right. You were just keeping a low profile.”

“Something like that. Where are your better halves?”

“Better halves?” Bree exclaimed in mock outrage and tossed a throw pillow his way, which he caught easily.

He did enjoy teasing the ladies. They reminded him a lot of his sisters.

“In the war room,” Sandy answered. “One of the Callaghans called and said they had some new information. They’re on the secure line. Church said to send you over after Tina left.”

“Thanks.”

Doc made his way down the corridor, his mind wondering what new intel the Callaghans had managed to discover. He didn’t know how they got half the information they did, but it smacked of high-level security and black ops.

He knew the brothers had a family tradition of serving in the teams, but like him and the rest of the Sanctuary partners, they were officially out. Doc believed, as did the others, that either the Callaghans were still active or they were awfully tight with those who were. Either way, he was glad they were on the same side.

When he walked into the war room, Ian and Jake were on the flat screen. Church was leaning against one of the desks, arms crossed, and glanced his way. Doc offered a nod and quietly took a seat among the others.

“They tried doing something similar with Maggie’s land years ago,” Ian said. “Suffice it to say, Dumas was not happy when we got involved. He lost millions.”

“All right. Thanks for the heads-up,” Church said. “We’ll keep you posted.”

“Do that,” said Jake. “We’ll flip a few rocks on our end, too, see what crawls out. If it’s legit, there’ll be plenty of ripples in the pond.”

“Will do. Thanks,” Church said and disconnected the call.

“What did I miss?” Doc asked once the screen blinked off.

It was Cage who answered first. “You know those offshore accounts Luther Renninger has been using to funnel funds? Well, Ian’s DOJ contact says one of them has been pretty active lately, and they’ve linked it back to one local business in particular.”

If the bad feeling in his gut hadn’t tipped him off, the look in Church’s eyes would have. “Let me guess. Obermacher Farms.”

Church nodded.

Luther Renninger was a local who’d stepped into his father’s respectable and established accounting business but didn’t have the same sense of integrity his father had had. He was currently under investigation by the IRS, among other agencies, including the Department of Justice. That intel, however, was not public knowledge.

Closer to home, Renninger was on Sanctuary’s radar, too. They’d already established that he was using legitimate local business accounts to launder money and siphon funds into international cartels. To complicate matters, one of those cartels was supplying the local prepper group, led by none other than Daryl Freed, with the cache of weapons and ammunition they’d been stockpiling in the abandoned mines. Whether Freed knew where the stuff was coming from was unclear, but it seemed doubtful. Doc and the others believed—and the Callaghans agreed—that Freed thought he was operating within a network of other preppers.

“No surprise there,” Doc replied evenly, but inside, his gut was churning. “We already know Renninger has his greedy little fingers in most local business pies and that the Obermacher brothers are members of Freed’s inner circle.”

“Yes,” agreed Cage, “but did you also know that Obermacher Farms is on the verge of bankruptcy?”

The knot in his gut tightened. “No, that I didn’t know.”

Cage nodded. “They’ve been operating in the red for nearly five years now. The liens on the property alone are staggering, and the buildings are double-mortgaged.”

“How is that possible? They do a phenomenal amount of business.”

“On the surface, they do,” Mad Dog agreed. “In addition to their outlet, they supply several restaurants as well as contract with locals to provide all the feed and grain for local livestock farmers.”

“But Renninger’s been cooking the books for them just like he has with every other account pulling a profit,” Cage said. “We think