Rosalee laughed out loud. “Good people who make our world a better place to live. I’ll explain later when things are a little more calm.” Amalie nodded, and the look of relief on her face was a joy to see.

“Ma’am, can we leave a note for Stacey?” Rosalee asked.

“I’m sorry, no, you can’t. We’ll get word to both Stacey and Jason that you’re safe. It’s for their own safety in case anyone is watching them. Please, just trust us.” Once again, the women’s heads bobbed up and down.

“I can see the headlights in the driveway. Come along, ladies. Let’s get into the car quickly,” Annie said.

“What about the back door?” Myra asked. “At the very least, we have to leave some money for the repairs. Get the women in the car, and I’ll see what I can do.”

Myra inspected the damage to the back door and winced. All she could do was push the kitchen table and chairs up against the door. She looked up to see Dennis watching her.

“Let me do that, Myra. Annie said to give you this,” he said, as he handed her five crisp hundred-dollar bills. “She thinks that will cover the damage.” Within five minutes, the back door was as secure as he could make it.

Myra fanned out the bills on the kitchen counter and set a cup on them so they wouldn’t move.

“The front door is self-locking. By the way, it’s pouring rain outside, and I did not see a soul on the roads driving here,” Dennis said. “I think we’re going to get out of here clean as a whistle. After you drop me off at the gas station, do you want me to follow you out to the farm, or should I go home?”

“You’ve had a very stressful day, young man. Go home, take a good hot shower, and fall into bed. Come out to the farm tomorrow unless you’re needed at the paper. It goes without saying, Dennis, Annie and I are proud of you. You came through for us and saved these women. I don’t know why I say this, but my feeling is we were just one small step ahead of someone and got to those women in the nick of time. All thanks to you.”

Dennis felt a ring of heat around his neck. He wasn’t good at accepting compliments. “I just ran with it, Myra. Any one of you would have done the same thing. Time to go,” he said, looking around.

“I think our fingerprints are all over the place,” Myra said.

Dennis laughed. “With that gold shield in your back pocket, fingerprints are the least of your problems. Besides, Abner told me he was going to make sure he erased all of our prints on Aphis. Never sweat the small stuff is what he says.”