Chapter IV: The Chains Fall
The sheriff pulled heavy hydraulic bolt cutters from the back of his cruiser.
With a single sharp snap, the iron chain sheared apart, the heavy brass padlock falling into the mud. The steel gate swung wide open, clearing the path for the towering green combine harvester.
The sheriff turned to Veronica, pointing toward the tow truck pulling up behind his cruiser.
"Your vehicle is being impounded for obstructing an emergency right-of-way, and you are being cited for malicious commercial interference. Step away from the gate."
Veronica stood frozen in total defeat, clutching her useless phone as the massive tires of the John Deere combine rolled past into the fields, the roar of the engine drowning out her excuses while the rain began to fall over the protected Millbrook soil.