That was Doc’s thought, too. “Whatever they’re up to, this is further proof that Tina’s not in on it.”
“Agreed,” Church said.
“The question is, what are we going to do about it?”
“There’s not much we can do.”
Doc frowned. “You don’t think we should warn Tina?”
Church shook his head. “We can’t, not without divulging what we know and how we know it. There’s too much at stake. If they suspect someone knows what they’re up to, it could blow the entire DOJ op.”
Doc understood what Church was saying, but he didn’t like it. Tina could lose everything. If she had some warning, she might be able to minimize the damage.
“We don’t have to tell her anything specific. Kate could casually bring up Renninger and what he did to Handelmann’s, just enough to get Tina thinking and connecting the dots.”
“That might work,” Church said thoughtfully. “But it might already be too late. That hole they’re digging is getting deeper, and it’s going to suck in everything around it when it eventually caves in on itself. We’ll mention something to Kate tomorrow, but I think the best we can do is be there with a lifeline for Tina when it does. Based on the latest intel, that’s going to be sooner rather than later.”
“You’d do that for her?” Doc asked doubtfully.
Church nodded. “We take care of our own.”
“Tina’s not one of us.”
“Not yet,” Church said with a hint of a smirk. “But something tells me she will be.”
Doc wasn’t about to argue with that. “There’s still one thing I don’t get though.”
“What’s that?”
“Why did Rick refer to Tina as Bert?”
Church laughed. “Because that’s her name.” At Doc’s confused look, Church explained, “Tina’s real name is Bertina. Her brothers call her that just to piss her off.”
Chapter Nineteen
Tina
For Tina, there was no such thing as a sick day or paid time off, especially not for something as trivial as the flu. It didn’t matter how crappy she felt. As long as she was physically capable, there were things that had to be done.
That said, if she’d had a field supervisor she could trust and depend on, she would have stayed in bed. Her head was pounding, and her entire body felt as if it’d been run over by one of Rick’s combines.
With the help of tried-and-true homeopathic remedies and the maximum dosage of several over-the-counter meds, Tina somehow managed to get up, get dressed, and get out the door.
One thing she wouldn’t do was put other people at risk, so going to The Mill was out of the question. She called in, let them know she wouldn’t be in for the day, and headed right for the orchards. With proper distance and one of the N95 masks they used while spraying, there was little chance she’d get anyone else sick in the open air.
Also fueling her need to get out there was a concern about what she might find, given what had happened with Eddie the day before. She hadn’t fired him in front of the others; she’d called him over to one of the sheds and quietly let him go, not wanting to humiliate him. But chances were, they’d figured out what had happened when Eddie stomped out, gotten into his truck, and proceeded to tear along the access roads like a pissed off bat out of hell.
Hopefully, by eliminating Eddie, she’d also eliminated the primary source of the issues plaguing the orchards lately. If not, she was prepared to tell any other malcontents to follow him right out the gate, though summoning the energy to do so when she felt so lousy could be a challenge.
She found her crew right where they should be, which was a good sign. A quick head count revealed that everyone who was supposed to be there was.
“Hey, boss,” one of the younger guys said, approaching her truck.
“Hey, Billy.”
Tina liked the guy; he had a good head on his shoulders and didn’t mind hard work. Barely out of high school, he was picking up some classes at the county community college, trying to figure out what he wanted to do. Like Tina, he had a knack for science, so she encouraged him whenever she could.
“You okay? You don’t look so good.”
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “Just don’t stand too close.”
“If it’s the flu that’s going around, I already had it. Have you tried star anise tea with honey? It helps. My mom swears by it.”
Tina’s grandmother did, too. In fact, she was pretty sure Billy’s mom