Camouflage on the Highway

By Beverly Blackman

When does playful mischief cross the line into criminality? Dive into a world where the lines between virtual gaming and reality blur, leading to disastrous consequences.

While entrusted with overseeing his grandparents’ ranch, J.D. and his companion choose recklessness over responsibility. Surrounded by lush pastures and serene water bodies, they opt for chaos, using their gaming expertise to orchestrate real-world vendettas. With every choice, they edge closer to a life of crime, turning the idyllic ranch into their personal battleground.

Brad, his girlfriend, and his best friend – a diligent game warden – unexpectedly find themselves in the crosshairs. But what sparks this dangerous vendetta against them?

As the stakes rise, a critical question emerges: When confronted, can the nefarious duo redeem themselves, or will their digital obsessions lead to their ultimate downfall? Dive into this suspenseful tale where technology, nature, and human desires collide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Apr 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9781685624125

Book preview

About the Author

Beverly Blackman recently moved from a ranch in central Texas to a barndominium in the country, just outside of Austin, Texas. She has retired from two academic careers and enjoys researching human nature and the balance of good and evil.

Copyright Information ©

Beverly Blackman 2024

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Ordering Information

Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Blackman, Beverly

Camouflage on the Highway

ISBN 9781685624118 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781685624125 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023920834

First Published 2024

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 33rd Floor, Suite 3302

New York, NY 10005

USA

[e-mail]

[phone]

Acknowledgment

I thank my assistant Bethany Raz, for my desire to continue to write. I thank my many professors and teachers along the way for instilling the love of learning and writing.

Chapter 1

Getting Even

Driving down the country highway, Brad knew he shouldn’t pick up his phone to check on a text, but he grabbed the phone from the passenger seat. It fumbled out of his hand and as he reached down to the floor, he almost lost control of his truck. He successfully retrieved it and took a quick look to see if Beth had texted him yet. No sooner had he looked down then a horn blasted right next to him. What the…? he said out loud as he watched a dually pulling a trailer past him. The driver seemed in a really big hurry. Brad barely had time to notice that there was a hunter’s all-terrain vehicle on the trailer. That camouflage ATV was a dream of Brad’s.

Brad was a great hunter. He grew up on a Texas ranch and knew that venison was a staple food item for his family. His mom could make venison meatloaf, backstrap steaks, and venison burgers; and he and his dad made sausage, all kinds of sausage. Deer meat is very lean and healthy.

Brad took the classes required to get a hunter’s license as soon as he was old enough, and he boasted of getting a 12-pointer white tail deer when he was only 10 years old.

He also was the first one in his family to get an Axis deer. He was brought up to honor all the hunting laws as well as the animals associated with hunting. He was especially proud of being able to drop a deer with just one shot. There was no pain or confusion for the animal. There should be just one shot with a bow and arrow or one shot with a deer rifle. It was the most humane and actually thrilling way to obtain one’s meat. Slaughterhouses were not on Brad’s list of humane ways to treat wild or domestic animals.

As the awesome ATV disappeared out of sight, Brad heard a gunshot coming from the distance near where the dually probably was by then. He heard another shot and another. Brad slowed down a little not wanting to get in the middle of whatever was happening ahead of him. When he went over the next hill, he saw someone get out of the dually. They grabbed a lifeless deer that must have been shot from their truck. They threw it into the cargo bed, near where the all-terrain vehicle was tied down.

Brad immediately memorized the license plate and planned to turn it into his good friend who was a game warden. It was against the law to shoot a game from your vehicle on the road. Brad went to pass around the crime scene and stepped on the gas so he wouldn’t have to talk with anyone. There was the driver and another male passenger. Brad thought about taking a picture but decided to move on down the road. However, their eyes did meet as he passed them.

There was a roadside country restaurant about a half mile off the main road, and Brad decided to stop there, grab a bite to eat, and call his friend. Warden Cade, his best friend, said he wasn’t far from there and would give the shooters a citation and confiscate the deer.

Brad decided to get his food ‘to go’ because he didn’t want to stick around to find out how things went. The warden knew his job well and had a reputation in the county that he was not a warden to be messed with, no matter what. Brad did get a good look at the two criminals when he passed by and thought maybe it was a neighbor’s grandson who was the driver. The grandparents were ‘salt of the earth,’ but they were never home. They liked to travel in their retirement years, and due to the striking of oil on the next ranch over from them, they were in the allotted land that got a large monthly check. The payout had to include any land situated over the oil deposits even if