The Payback Man Read Online Free Page B

from twenty years ago when the penal farm shut down. The first day I’ll stick with the guys. Then, until they’re finished, I’ll delegate that to the CO in charge and check on their progress as often and for as long as I can. That way I can still work at the clinic part-time. Once the cows arrive, I may need space to do classroom instruction, as well as the hands-on stuff. Is that possible?”
    “Yes, if you don’t think the office in the barn is largeenough. I’ve assigned a CO to you. He should be able to keep the men working.”
    “But not drive them into the ground?”
    “That’s entirely up to you. The guards take orders from you, and it’ll be up to you to monitor them.”
    “Fine.”
    “J. K. Sanders going to help you pick out the cows?”
    “Monday. We should have our first cows in our pasture that afternoon.”
    “Good luck. Keep me abreast of your progress.”
    “Thanks, Ernest, I will.” She hesitated. “I need one more thing. I don’t know how many changes of uniform the men have, but each man needs a spare set from underwear out that will be kept in the office at the barn.”
    “Why? They normally have three. One dirty, one clean and one they’re wearing. You want a fourth?”
    “I’m afraid so. There are going to be times when they’ll be in the barn all night without being able to leave. If someone falls in the pond, say, or we have to mend a fence in a driving rainstorm, they’ve got to have a change of clothes available. I, personally, carry two sets in my truck, along with a spare pair of boots and a set of surgical greens for emergencies.”
    Ernest rubbed his chin. “I don’t know. That’s an extra expense that’s not in the budget.”
    “It’s a very minor expense when you put it against the hospital costs of caring for a prisoner with pneumonia.”
    “I’ll see what I can do.”
    “Thanks.”
    “In exchange, we get all that rotted manure for our hydroponics.” He grinned. “Unless you have a better use for it.”
    She smiled back “Agreed. We’ll pile it, you move it out.”
    She left him working through a stack of paperwork inches high. She nodded cheerfully at his secretary,Yvonne Linden, as she went by. If they knew how terrified she was, they’d fire her before she even got started.
     
    D R . R ICK H AZARD CAUGHT E LEANOR on her way into the large-animal area of the clinic late that afternoon and pulled her into his office for one of his “chats.” Eleanor hoped this one wouldn’t take long.
    “I’ve heard prisoners can scent fear,” Rick said. “You sure you want to take this job? I’m having second thoughts about recommending you.”
    “Not you, too?”
    “Come on, Eleanor. You’re finally completely back to top-notch form professionally. I’d hate to see you get too stressed-out.”
    “Don’t worry, I’ll still be available to take up the slack here at the clinic. And as to scenting fear, well, so can an angry terrier.”
    “The terrier can do a real number on your ankles. A 250-pound man can do a number on your life, just like a lion or tiger. Better make sure you carry your whip and chair.”
    As managing partner and the man whose wife and father-in-law had invested a large part of the money to open Creature Comfort, Rick Hazard’s priorities were his clinic first and the remainder of the world a distant second. “I worry that you won’t have time to spend here once your program at the farm gets into gear.”
    “I should have guessed that was the real problem. Come on, Rick, how much time can a small herd take once it’s up and going? I’ve never let you or Sarah down yet, have I? I owe you, Rick. If it weren’t for you, I’d never have gotten my nerve back after Jerry died. A year ago I couldn’t have faced all the responsibility alone. I couldn’t decide what shirt to wear.”
    Rick slumped in his desk chair and propped his knee on his desk. “You were just worn out.”
    “I was exhausted all right. I just didn’t know how