Finding such a compelling lead left me feeling energized as I got ready to catch the bus and head to the farm to finish tending the fields. I could nearly taste Preston's tears as I held the metaphorical guillotine over his head by threatening to report his fraudulent activities to the IRA. Knowing men like him, he would do anything to keep the government from seizing everything he owned. At that point, he would essentially be my puppet, one I would use a bit to fill my kicks before going ahead and throwing him to the dogs.
There would be no way out for Preston and his family. I had told him that his final moments of peace and joy were close, and it seemed like the universe was agreeing with me. At least that's what I thought until my phone started ringing, nearly vibrating itself off the counter.
Picking up my phone, I glanced at the number and saw it wasn't saved, but I picked up anyway and was immediately glad I did so as I heard Ashe's voice come through the phone, "Ramon, hello, Ramon, is that you?"
"Y-yeah, it's me, Ashe. What's going on, and how did you even get my number?" I asked, searching my memory, trying to recall whether I'd ever seen Ashe even use a cell phone.
"Megan gave it to me when you were out confronting that asshole. I almost regret not going myself after what he just did!" Ashe swore, and I could practically hear her teeth grinding together.
"Whoa, whoa, hold a minute, what's going on, what did Preston do? Are you hurt?"
"No, but he's going to be if that no good son of a bitch shows his face around me ever again!" Ashe cursed before letting out an aggravated sigh, and with it, I could feel some of her hope leave, "It's all ruined, all that work for nothing."
"Talk to me, Ashe, you're making it sound like they burned down your house with you still inside of it," I stressed while quickly getting dressed and covering the fact I didn't have my own personal vehicle, 'Definitely the next thing I'm going to fix.'
"No, the bastards did something much worse; they went medieval and salted the earth." Ashe got out through what sounded like clenched teeth, "Last night they dumped ten industrial barrels worth of road salt onto the field we spent all day clearing, and then flooded it."
"Okay, that sounds bad, but how do we fix it-"
"There's no fixing it!" Ashe growled, and I heard her fist slam down on what I hope was a table, "It's concentrated sodium chloride, it's gonna bind to the soil better than any fertilizer, meaning unless we want to dig out the top five feet of soil across the entire fiel,d nothing is ever going to grow here for the next five years."
Even as Ashe explained, I could feel my skill kick in, filling in the finer background on cation exchange and soil pH, which only made me realize how grave the situation was.
"Alright, then we'll just buy some more fertilizer, set up another field, and set up some security," I said quickly as I stomped down on my shoe, forcing my foot in.
Ashe let out a dark chuckle, "A bit late to that idea, already thought of that, and so did Northwest. I tried calling the compost company, but it turned out someone bought out their entire inventory last night. Now what are the odds of that?"
That news made me pause, and I felt my own teeth start to grind together, but I forced myself not to let anger overwhelm me. "I'm on my way over, Ashe. I'll be there within the hour."
"There's no need to hurry; it won't make any difference. We're fucked, plain and simple," Ashe muttered darkly before hanging up the phone.
"Shit," I cursed and shoved my phone into my pocket before throwing open the door and racing down the stairs, all while trying to think about how I was gonna find a way out of this mess.
---
"Ashe, you in there?!" I called out as I walked up to her house, only to hear no answer. "I'm coming inside, please do not shoot me, that would be the worst way to end today."
Again, no one responded as I stepped up onto the porch and tried the front door, which was thankfully unlocked. Still, I was a bit hesitant stepping inside, half expecting to end up staring down the barrel of a shotgun. It wasn't until I heard soft snoring from the living room that I lowered my guard.
Making my way over, I peered around the corner and found Ashe passed out in the leather recliner, with an empty bottle barely held in her hand dangling above the floor.
Walking over, I put a hand on Ashe's shoulder and tried to wake her up as gently as I could, "Hey, Ashe, it's me waking you up."
I shook the farmgirl once, and she jerked to life as her head snapped up and she stared at me for a moment before a look of recognition flashed across her face, "Oh, it's you."
Ashe then lifted the bottle to her lips, though it took her a long second to realize nothing was coming out. She then looked to me again, "Could you get me a bottle from the cellar? This one seems to be empty."
"You really went at it, huh?" I muttered with a sigh as I gingerly took the bottle from Ashe's hand and set it on the floor, all while taking in her unfocused eyes and the heavy blush spread across her cheeks.
"Everything else is going to shit, why can't I?" Ashe grunted as she tried to push herself upright in the seat, only to sag even further into the leather, "If you want, feel free to partake, you've earned a break, it more than I have at this point."
"I think it's a bit early for that," I sighed as I grabbed a nearby blanket and draped it over Ashe, "Are you gonna be okay if I leave you here to sober up for a bit?"
"I'll be fine, though I wouldn't bother going to check on the field. It's a depressing sight, everything's flooded, and the barrels are practically halfway into the marsh." Ashe slurred as she turned over, resting her head against the chair like a pillow.
"The barrels," I paused and muttered under my breath as a sudden idea struck me, "They left behind the barrels."
I stood up with a sudden urgency and rushed out of the house, grabbing Ashe's keys that were dangling on a hook by the door. Outside, I found her truck parked out behind the house, and a second later, I was shooting down the road towards the sabotaged field, praying that Preston and his goons had gotten sloppy in their hubris.
When I got close, I slammed on the brakes before throwing the car in park and jumping out.
Ashe had been right; the field was a depressing sight, with the once pristine field now a flooded marsh with large metal barrels bobbing in the dark brown slurry.
"Come on, you arrogant bastards, give me something," I swore while casting Hands of the Puppeteer and directing them to grab a hold of one of the barrels. But when I tried to pull the barrel out, it stayed firmly in place, its weight and the viscosity of the mud putting up too much of a fight. I ended up casting the weightless hex three times in a row, reducing the overall weight by thirty percent before the hands managed to free the barrel from the mud and levitate over to where I was standing on solid ground.
I dismissed my hexes, letting the barrel drop with a loud bang before I rushed over and started cleaning off the mud with my hands and inspecting it from top to bottom, "Come on, where is it, where is it?"
For a moment, a cold spike of fear and dread pierced my body before my fingers cleared away the very top of the barrel and uncovered a bright yellow barcode and serial number etched into the very metal of the container.
"Yes!" I pumped my fist before pulling out my phone and snapping several pictures of the tag, "I have him now that son of a bitch!"
I should have made the connection sooner when Ashe mentioned an exact number of barrels, but I was so caught up in the moment I wasn't thinking clearly. Only when she brought it up again did I remember that most shipments of potentially environmentally harmful chemicals and substances came with a tag identifying the consignment's owner, in case of regulatory violations, so that they could be charged appropriately.
'What are the chances that at some point, Northwest Corporation bought or invested in a road salt factory?' A victorious grin spread across my face as I stood up and started to collect video and photo evidence of the illegal dumping, I had found my nail now I just needed to hammer it home.