Invasion USA by William W. Johnstone

as she paused beside the door of her Chevy Blazer, which was parked next to her husband’s F-150. Their long marriage was a testament to the idea that a Ford person and a Chevy person could get along, if they had a strong enough incentive to do so.
    Tom shook his head in reply to her question. “No, I’ve already given my statement and signed it. I’ll have to testify when Mendez’s case comes up before the grand jury, but that’s probably the next thing I have to do. And it won’t be for a while, since he’s in the hospital, too.”
    â€œI hope Mrs. Montgomery recovers all right,” Bonnie said with a worried frown. “It can be pretty bad to break a hip at her age.”
    â€œShe’ll be fine,” Tom said confidently. “There’s nobody tougher than that old lady.”
    Bonnie unlocked and opened the door of her SUV. “Are you going to the store?”
    â€œReckon I’d better. Louly’s probably heard lots of wild stories by now about what happened. I’ll go by and put her mind at ease, see if she can handle things for the rest of the day. Then I’ll come on home.”
    â€œDon’t neglect the store on my account. I’ll be fine. You don’t have to come home and babysit me.”
    That was just like her, still touchy about certain things, even after all these years. She didn’t want anybody thinking she couldn’t take care of herself. That fierce, stubborn independence could be annoying at times—but it was also one of the reasons Tom Brannon had fallen in love with her and still loved her with a depth and intensity that could take his breath away.
    â€œBabysitting you wasn’t what I had in mind,” he told her. “I’m just a mite tired after capturing some Guatemalan gang member and rescuing a fair damsel.”
    â€œDon’t joke about it, Tom,” Bonnie said quickly. “You can’t begin to know what Carla May has gone through, that poor girl.”
    He ran his hand over his head and nodded. “Yeah, I reckon you’re right about that. I didn’t mean anything by what I said.”
    Bonnie stepped closer to him and lifted a hand to rest it on his cheek. “I know you didn’t.” She came up on her toes to kiss him, although she didn’t have to raise herself much. She was almost as tall as he was. “I think I’ll go by her house and see how she’s doing. You think that would be all right?”
    â€œI don’t see why not. See you at home later?”
    â€œSure.”
    They got in their respective vehicles and drove off, Tom hanging back so that Bonnie could pull out of the parking lot first. Then they turned in different directions, Bonnie toward the edge of town where Carla lived, Tom toward the business district.
    As he drove, he felt worry gnawing lightly at his guts. He could have gone with Bonnie and called Louly at the store. That way he would have known that Bonnie was safe.
    On the other hand, they couldn’t stay together 24/7. They would have to be apart some of the time. He couldn’t dump all the responsibility for the business on Louly, and there were his parents to think about, too. He couldn’t neglect them.
    That brought up a fresh worry. His folks lived several miles out of town, and Buddy Gorman had said that M-15 liked to strike back at their enemies through family. Was it safe for his mom and dad to be out there by themselves? Tom wondered if they should come and stay with him and Bonnie for awhile. They would put up an argument, of course, especially his dad. Herb Brannon had lived in that ranch house all his life. Getting him to budge from it might require dynamite. Tom smiled at the thought.
    The Explorer that had driven through the front of the accountant’s office was gone now—along with the body of the dead gang member inside it—but there was still plenty of evidence of the destruction that had taken