October 9, 2023 – 8:11 PM
The farmhouse had settled into its evening rhythm.
Helen sat in the living room reading through patient notes for tomorrow.
Richard and General Fang were on the back porch discussing where to stage traffic cones before the first delivery truck arrived.
Jake had finally worn himself out and gone upstairs after announcing for the sixth time that he was officially the "Assistant Logistics Manager."
Lin slipped quietly into the study.
She closed the door without latching it.
The desk lamp cast a warm pool of light across the old oak desktop.
Her laptop sat exactly where she'd left it that morning.
She opened it.
The familiar startup chime broke the silence.
She wasn't looking for gossip.
She wasn't looking for rumors.
Rumors had gotten plenty of people killed in her previous life.
Facts were more useful.
Public records.
Property records.
Court filings.
Building permits.
Things that could actually be verified.
She opened the county assessor's website.
The Carter property appeared after only a few searches.
Owner:
Michael Carter
Karen Carter
Purchase date was less than three weeks ago.
That matched what they'd told everyone.
Purchase price.
Reasonable.
No surprise there.
The acreage matched the listing she'd seen months earlier.
She clicked through the recorded deed.
Standard warranty deed.
Nothing unusual.
She searched the county building department.
An electrical permit.
Temporary construction power.
Final residential service inspection.
Approved.
A septic inspection had been completed shortly before closing.
Also approved.
Nothing unusual.
She leaned back slightly.
No code violations.
No stop-work orders.
No recorded disputes with adjoining landowners.
Everything looked ordinary.
She opened another public database.
Civil court filings.
Search:
Michael Carter
One result.
Small claims.
Five years earlier.
An unpaid invoice involving construction materials.
Status:
Dismissed after settlement.
Lin read the filing twice.
Then closed it.
It meant almost nothing.
Businesses disagreed.
Invoices got disputed.
People settled.
Life went on.
She searched Karen's name.
No results.
Professional licenses.
None.
Criminal records available through the public portal.
None.
She closed that tab.
The paperwork matched the family she'd met.
A couple moving from the city.
Three children.
Construction background.
Nothing suggested otherwise.
She reached for her notebook.
Under the heading:
Neighbors
She added a single line.
Public records consistent with what they have stated.
Then she closed the notebook.
That was enough.
She wasn't interested in inventing concerns where none existed.
Her cursor drifted toward the search bar again.
She hesitated.
Then smiled to herself.
One more search.
She typed:
Adam Walker
Several public records appeared almost immediately.
Property records.
One hundred and eighty-seven acres.
Owned for nearly eight years.
No mortgage listed on the current deed.
She raised an eyebrow.
Either it had been paid off.
Or he'd purchased it outright.
Impressive either way.
She opened the agricultural tax records.
Hay production.
Cattle.
A small orchard.
Everything qualified under the county's agricultural assessment program.
She remembered passing the orchard several times.
She'd never paid much attention to it.
Another search result appeared.
Volunteer organizations.
Adam Walker.
Maple Creek Volunteer Fire Department.
Volunteer member.
Years of service:
Six.
She smiled.
That explained why Owen Carter had greeted him like an old friend.
She clicked another result.
County Fair Livestock Committee.
Volunteer.
Three consecutive years.
Then another.
4-H youth auction donor.
Small annual contributions.
Nothing extravagant.
Just enough to support local kids.
She laughed quietly.
Mrs. Porter hadn't exaggerated.
Half the town really did know him.
One final record caught her attention.
Emergency Medical Response certification.
Current.
Renewed the previous spring.
Useful on a farm.
Useful anywhere, really.
She closed the browser.
That was enough.
Everything she'd found painted a remarkably consistent picture.
A hardworking farmer.
Financially responsible.
Active in the community.
A volunteer.
No obvious problems.
A man living exactly the life he appeared to be living.
Lin shut the laptop.
The study fell quiet again.
She gathered her notebook and switched off the desk lamp.
As she stepped into the hallway, she couldn't help smiling.
The Carter family had turned out to be exactly what the public records suggested.
Adam Walker had too.
October 9, 2023 – 8:47 PM
The hallway was quiet.
Jake's bedroom door had finally closed.
From downstairs came the faint murmur of the television.
Richard was probably watching the evening news.
General Fang would almost certainly be pretending not to watch while commenting on every story anyway.
Lin smiled to herself as she slipped into her bedroom.
She closed the door.
Her laptop sat on the small writing desk beneath the window.
Outside, the yard lights illuminated the driveway and the nearby barn.
Darkness settled over the surrounding fields.
She opened the laptop once more.
Not for public records this time.
For something much simpler.
Her finances.
The bank's login page appeared.
Username.
Password.
Two-factor authentication.
A six-digit code arrived on her phone.
Her accounts loaded.
She looked at the numbers without emotion.
Months ago, seeing this balance would have felt impossible.
Now, it simply represented time.
Time she could buy before the apocalypse.
Operating Account
Most of tomorrow's deliveries would be paid from here.
Current Balance:
$96,418.37
Enough to comfortably cover the scheduled invoices.
She clicked over to the transaction history.
Tomorrow's payments were already pending.
She mentally subtracted them.
Still healthy.
Good.
Lin opened her primary savings account.
The one funded almost entirely by her lottery winnings.
She looked at the figure for several quiet seconds.
Savings Balance
$413,684.91
She slowly leaned back in her chair.
Just over two hundred thirteen thousand dollars.
At the beginning that number had been larger.
Now, she had translated it into supplies.
Solar panels.
Medical equipment.
Fuel.
Grain.
Livestock feed.
Generators.
Water tanks.
Every dollar already had a purpose.
She opened the budgeting spreadsheet she'd maintained since buying the hotel.
Green cells.
Yellow notes.
Dozens of completed purchases.
Every major expense carefully documented.
Hotel purchase.
Renovation costs.
Farm equipment.
Veterinary supplies.
Warehouse shelving.
Security cameras.
Vehicles.
Fencing.
Feed.
Construction materials.
The list stretched for pages.
She scrolled to the bottom.
A final section remained highlighted.
Reserved Emergency Capital
$200,000.00
She had promised herself she wouldn't touch it unless absolutely necessary.
Unexpected opportunities would appear.
Unexpected problems would too.
Cash solved both.
Lin minimized the spreadsheet and looked once more at the account balance.
$413,684.91
Tomorrow's deliveries would reduce that number again.
She didn't mind.
The balance in her account would shrink.
The balance in her warehouse would grow.
Satisfied, she logged out of the bank, closed the laptop, and listened to the quiet farmhouse around her before heading downstairs to join the rest of the family for the remainder of the evening.