Bootlegger

By Taylor Johnson

From the outside Donnington is a typical small town, quaint and a great place to raise a family and go to church on Sunday. But there is more to this small town than meets the eye. There is a secret, a secret that's been kept for almost 100 years. A secret, that if unearthed, will shatter lives of trusted friends and colleagues, risk millions of dollars and surely lead to murder. Reed Wattson and his friends are about to unknowingly turn the town of Donnington upside down and put their lives in danger but who can be trusted to help save them or will they save themselves? Read Bootleg and find out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Taylor Johnson
• Release date: Dec 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781507096727

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

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Driving down a series of winding roads, Reed crossed the Percy and Owens Railroad tracks before arriving at the cliffs, which were about five miles from Donnington.  There were no crossings lights this far out, and the train never blew its horn until it got closer to town.

The Land Rover slowly climbed the weather-beaten road leading to the top of the cliffs.  With the differential lock engaged, it crawled over boulders that caused the vehicle to lean precariously from side to side.  Jess and Nick gripped the door handles tightly to brace themselves in the event the Rover flipped and tumbled down the hillside.

The road switched from washboard to smooth, based on the amount of rain and landslides early spring had seen.  But Reed confidently guided the vehicle to the top, where they parked at the campsite situated at the edge of a thinning forest.

He turned off the engine, exited the Rover, and walked to the edge of the cliff to gaze at the beauty of the valley below. Late afternoon clouds were lazily floating on the horizon, and a swath of golden sunlight was creeping across the vast marsh on the other side of the Catumen River.

Holy cow, Reed said, we timed this just right.  It’s going to be a gorgeous sunset.

Nick and Jess walked up next to him and studied the expansive view.  That’s awesome, Nick said.  Don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it.

Enough lolly-gagging.  Got to get camp set up before night hits, Jess said, as he walked back to the Rover and opened the rear hatch.  The girls are supposed to show up around seven, so we have just enough light to get everything done.

Once the tents were set up, Reed worked on building the fire pit while Jess and Nick gathered wood and prepared the rest of the camp.  When everything was in place to their satisfaction, they popped cold beers and said cheers for their hard work. 

CHAPTER TWO

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The land was untouched and pristine, with a history deeply rooted to the Catumen Indians who still lived on the reservation further upriver. Standing on the edge of the cliff to watch the final bits of sunlight licking the river below, Reed got a taste of what a Catumen brave might have felt standing on the same spot.

The cliffs were about 150 feet high at their tallest point.  Providing a commanding view of the winding river and the vast marshes clinging to its banks, they faced due west and provided observers a perfect sunset every night. To the east he could see Donnington, a small town built as a result of the paper industry. When the wind blew in the right direction, visitors could see the smoke billowing from the mill’s tall smoke stacks. 

The land was part of wealthy industrialist Pete Grimm’s vast 3,000-acre estate located just out of Donnington, and had always been a popular place for a romantic rendezvous. The road leading to the cliffs branched off from a fire trail running through his property.  Unless they had a four-wheel drive vehicle, visitors would have to park at the base and climb to the top.  Apparently people thought the seclusion, stellar view and privacy were well worth the effort. 

It wasn’t exactly legal to park there, because it was private property.  But Grimm either tolerated people treading on his land, didn’t know about its popularity, or didn’t care. People wondered that since it was far enough from his home, that maybe it was out of sight and out of mind which was fine by them.

The local sheriff and his deputies periodically patrolled the road leading to the cliffs, and if they saw a parked car they’d come looking for the owner. Of course, this had the potential to be embarrassing to couples squirming behind steamed windows.

Equally impressive was the tectonic outcroppings that brought Reed and Jess there most weekends during the summer. Donnington Cliffs were approximately 17 million years old, and had been part of the ocean floor during the Miocene Epoch. The boys had been fossil hunting and exploring the formations loaded with relics like shark teeth, porpoise and whales bones, and fossilized shells since they were kids.

Primarily clay and sand, some places in the cliffs were sloped enough to ski down on foot, and other areas had thirty foot and higher drops onto sandy slopes. The landscape consisted mostly of thickets of laurel shrubs and piles of driftwood.  The soil didn’t hold much moisture, so the cliff sides were littered with dead trees on the brink of falling, or lying in solemn repose on the river’s bank.

The cutting current had etched the walls of the cliffs over the centuries, forming of the deepest and widest parts of the river. Maps showed a sandbar, and then the depth suddenly dropped to more than seventy feet. The other side of the river was shallower, and wetlands teeming with wildlife lined the western-most banks. 

It was the end of their senior year, and they had planned the outing with their girlfriends to celebrate.  The limited access deterred other campers from coming to the cliffs, so they knew they’d have privacy over the long weekend before they started work for the summer. 

Since they always camped at the same place, the circle of river rocks that formed the fire pit was still intact. They decided to eat something