it all shut down right now, and about a thousand people are without gas for cooking or heating. The engineers and city are scrambling to set up portable tanks for those who are the most vulnerable.”
Cin walked over to the fireplace mantle and pulled something from the top. Moving back to the counter, Cin sat back down beside Lanie and handed it to Robbie.
“What’s this?” the Sheriff’s brow furrowed, and he turned the key over in his hand.
“It’s the key to the warehouse holding the new valves I bought a week ago when I found out the others were substandard and dangerous. I was going to tell you about the bad valves when the new ones came in, but things went sideways. Besides, I wanted to make sure when you were ready to replace them that they’d be available.” Cin shrugged and took a sip of wine.
“Are you serious?” Robbie choked out in gratitude before a thought occurred to him. “It’ll still take our city crews until next year to replace them all, but this is beyond generous, Cindrac. Thank you so much.”
“I have hired crews on standby to help and made an anonymous donation to the city to cover any overtime for the city crews.” Cin manifested a business card in his hand and gave it to Robbie. “Call them when you’re ready to start.”
“Damn it, Cin!” Robbie snapped, squeezing the card in his fist. “I hate it when you do this shit! You make me rip my fucking hair out for days! Sweating blood and bourbon until the feds leave, and swearing I’m gonna kill you myself this time. Then you do something like this for the town. I hate you, man. But I love you more.”
Blinking away the tears in his eyes, the burly sheriff popped a few snacks in his mouth and walked out the front door with the wine bottle gripped in his hand. When it slammed shut behind him, Cin turned to Lanie with a smile.
“So, what were we talking about?”
Lanie just stared at Cin in surprise. “That was a wonderful thing you did for the town. What are the odds that I came here, where the valves were being used, and brought the people responsible with me? Life is crazy.”
Cin shrugged. “People scoff at it, but there is a higher being that does work behind the scenes in our lives. But to answer your question, the odds were pretty good that you and the valves would eventually land in the same town. You spent a decade running to the smaller places to blend in better and avoid the proliferation of CCTV and facial recognition software. The valves were being marketed nearly exclusively for smaller towns with tighter budgets so that the cheaper valves would be more attractive to them.”
“That’s what I get for being fanciful,” Lanie said with a snort. “I’m still thankful that I ended up in your town.”
Cin reached over and squeezed her hand. “I am too.”
Lanie stood and stretched before taking her empty wineglass to the sink and rinsing it.
“The Sheriff killed your desire to get your drunk on?” Cin joked.
“Yeah, he did.” Lanie turned and leaned against the sink. “The way the Sheriff was thinking really is part of the problem. It’s one thing to stay out of your neighbor’s business and another to let their business burn down because you’re either afraid to get involved. Or choose not to because you think they deserve it because the elite told you they did. That’s why we’re in this mess, and the elite keep pushing us against each other. We can’t win if we’re divided, and I don’t just mean here in America either.”
Cin sighed, wishing he had some magic words to make Lanie feel better, but he wouldn’t lie to her either.
“I’m sorry, Lanie,” Cin said. “I swear I’m doing all I can to prevent my future from happening. This problem isn’t something that can just be fixed and handed back to the people. If they don’t fight for themselves now, there is no future for anyone. The elite will keep trying until it finally works if the people don’t see it and stop it for good.”
Lanie shook her head and came over to where he was sitting at the bar. “I know that, Cin. You’re a one-man hero this world doesn’t deserve. But the people desperately need a million more of you to fight for us. Good night, my hero, and thank you for everything. I’m going to