Read The McClane Apocalypse Book Five for Free Online Page B

near the town hall, Kelly
cuts the engine and they disembark. John helps her down. He really
just wants to pull her up against him, Reagan knows. She obliges by
kissing his bare neck.
    “Hm, you’re behaving awfully naughty beings we’re going into a meeting,”
he teases.
    “We could sneak off for a little bit before
we go in,” she suggests as she hooks her finger into the waistband
of his jeans.
    For a moment, John looks like he’s going to agree with
her plan, but then he just grins, as usual.
    “The good thing is that when we get back,
your sisters should already have Jacob put to bed,” he hints.
    Reagan stretches up onto her tiptoes and
presses another kiss to his mouth. “Let’s hope,” she says
haughtily.
    He shuts the car door, takes her hand in his
and pulls her along.
    “You’re a
bad influence, Mrs. Harrison,” he jokes as they climb
the stairs of the town
hall.
    “That’s your fault,” she gives it right
back.
    He laughs, “Nothing new there.”
    Her sexy as hell husband holds open the door
for her. Then he swats her derriere when she passes through.
    “Think this is gonna go well?” she asks
quietly.
    John frowns hard, “No, I don’t think so,
babe.”
    Reagan shoots him a cocky grin and
says, “Try to not shoot anybody,
Dr. Death.”
    He gives her a harder frown before
tugging her close and wrapping an arm around her waist. This is
where she feels safest, when John
is embracing her this way.
    Arguing in the meeting room at the end
of the second-floor hallway draws
her attention. Apparently this isn’t going to go well at all. They
take their seats in the room as men and women continue to complain
at one another. Reagan wishes she had a cup of coffee. This would
all go down so much easier with some caffeine. That well dried up
long ago, though, and she’s just left with a slow, oncoming
headache.
    Roy, a good man from town of whom she’d had the honor of sewing up this
summer after the Target raid, announces the official beginning of
the meeting. People are slightly subdued. She keeps her hand on
John’s thigh. She can never be too sure of how he’ll react. And she
likes his muscular thigh. That helps, too.
    It doesn’t take long to figure out why
the people are upset. Jay Hernandez and his small sector of
families in the new development part of town are seceding from the
rest of the town . They are
starting their own town and don’t
want anything more to do with Pleasant View.
    “Mr. Hernandez…” Grandpa starts but is
interrupted by Jay.
    “Sheriff Hernandez now, Mr. McClane,” Jay
corrects her grandfather.
    What the hell? This guy has already made
himself the sheriff of his small quadrant? This is progressing
decidedly fast. Interesting.
    Grandpa doesn’t miss a beat and says,
“Jay, look, I think you need to take some time and think about it.
That could be a dangerous decision. You won’t have the protection of the security force
we’re building.”
    “Right, man,” Roy says. “How you gonna
protect yourselves against an attack? You don’t have enough people
over there.”
    “We’ll get by,” Jay answers. “Don’t worry
about us, not that any of you did before.”
    “That’s not fair, Jay!” one of the women in
the crowd calls out.
    Another man says, “Yeah, we have to get the
wall around town built before we start out your way. You know that.
It wasn’t like we had a choice. We had to protect the assets here
in town like the medical clinic and the food pantry and the older
folks that can’t protect themselves.”
    “Well, now you can,” he answers dramatically.
“We’ve made a decision, took a vote and that’s the way it’s gonna
be.”
    “You didn’t include any of us in this vote
that you took, Mr. Hernandez,” Grandpa observes. “How can that be a
vote of the town?”
    “It wasn’t. It was a vote within our
community. They want me to be the sheriff, too. We don’t need your
help anymore,” he answers.
    Reagan watches her grandfather’s