Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
O live sat down on her bed and grabbed her backpack.
She unlocked it and pulled out her computer. She needed to be in contact with Trick. Texting and emailing would be the best way to communicate with him since talking to each other in person might look suspicious.
She opened her laptop and scanned her emails. Tevin was looking into several things for her, including any possible mineral resources on this property. He would also send up a drone to look for anything suspicious happening on Reid’s land. The acreage was so large and so much of it was hard to access that additional footage could tell them a lot.
He’d come into town for this assignment, staying at the closest motel, which happened to be twenty minutes down the road. His cover was that he’d been hired by Reid to do a geological survey of Reid’s property.
Olive thought about calling him but decided not to. She could too easily envision Hannah lingering outside her door and listening for anything that might be said. Olive couldn’t risk that.
Instead, she began to put together a report on this case. Rex, her boss at Aegis, would want to stay updated on the situation as well, so this would make it easier.
“Possible suspects,” she typed. “Lucy Bondurant.”
She would get Tevin to check Lucy out.
Olive really wanted to see those legal documents Lucy had given Reid. She thought Reid would show her, but right now wasn’t the right time to ask.
There were also the four new employees who’d been recently hired. Once she had those names, she’d need to do a deep dive into their backgrounds. Then she’d move on to the employees who’d been here longer. No one could be ruled out.
She also planned to get a list of any competing ranchers who might want this property from Reid, people who might have tried to convince him to sell.
She stared at what she’d just written. This was a good start, but she and her team still had a lot to uncover.
She’d just started composing a message to Tevin when a shout sounded outside.
Closing her laptop and tossing it on the bed, Olive rushed to the window.
She glanced out in time to see someone running from one of the feed barns yelling, “Fire!”
Olive dashed downstairs.
As she reached the first floor, Hannah appeared from the back of the house, wringing her hands. “I already called 911.”
“Thank you,” Olive told her before rushing outside.
She sprinted across the lawn in time to see several men running into the barn. Smoke billowed out one side.
Olive searched the people around her, looking for any familiar faces. Reid and Trick must already be inside.
She started to dart inside also when arms encircled her, stopping her in her tracks.
Her first instinct was to elbow whoever had touched her.
But well-to-do Olive Abernathy would never do such a thing.
“Reid would have my neck if I let you go inside that building,” a deep, gruff voice said.
“Let me go.” She couldn’t see the man’s face, nor did she recognize his voice.
“Only if you promise not to run in there.”
Olive’s jaw tightened, and she reminded herself to stay in character. “I won’t.”
The man didn’t immediately loosen his grip on her. Instead, he slowly said, “I’m going to trust you. But if you break that promise, I’ll grab you again. Don’t make me do that. I don’t like manhandling my boss’s girlfriend.”
Irritation clenched her muscles, and she swallowed the snappy response that wanted to leave her lips. “Good to know. Now let me go!”
Finally, the man released her.
She turned and saw it was Cooper, the ranch foreman. The fortysomething man was thick with brawny muscles. He wore a black Stetson and appeared to be bald beneath the hat. A gold hoop earring graced one ear—not something Olive expected to see on a cowboy.
Cooper stared at her as if she were a wild, unpredictable animal that might cower—or might lash out.
Finally, his shoulders loosened, and he said, “I’m Cooper, Reid’s foreman.”
Olive gulped in a breath, using all her self-control not to run into that barn. “Olive.”
“I know.”
“What if someone is hurt in there?” She nodded toward the barn.
“They’re not. Reid and my guys are getting the fire under control.”
“How do you know? You’re out here, not inside with them!”
“Because I know those men. They’re competent. And the fire wasn’t as big as you might think.”
Questions raced through her mind. Who had set this fire? How much damage had been done?
“Are you sure Reid’s okay?” she asked, reminding herself to keep her cover.
“He’s fine. Reid would never ask his people to do anything he himself wouldn’t do.”
That attribute made Olive like the man even more.
As she stared at the barn, Cooper beside her, she realized that since the sun had dipped below the mountain range to the west, the temperature had probably dropped twenty degrees. She shivered and rubbed her arms.
Cooper took off his camel-colored Wrangler jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “You’ll get used to the cold after a while. Use this in the meantime.”
She pulled it closer, noting the scent of cattle and horses, and murmured thanks.
But Olive couldn’t let herself relax until she saw Reid and Trick with her own eyes. What was going on in there? Was the fire out, or was it spreading? She couldn’t let her client die!
Finally, a group of four men emerged. Their faces were covered with soot, and their clothes appeared damp.
But she saw no injuries otherwise.
She darted toward Reid, knowing she needed to make this believable. She stopped in front of him and reached for his chest. “Are you okay? I was so worried.”
“I’m fine, sweetie. But that was close.”
She glanced over Reid’s shoulder and saw Trick. The two of them exchanged a glance that said a million words.
There was definitely more to this.
She turned back to Reid. “What happened?”
“One of my guys was welding part of the wall that was damaged a couple of weeks ago. One of the sparks hit some hay and started the fire. It spread faster than he thought it would, and he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to contain it.”
“I’m glad you guys got to it when you did.”
“Me too,” Reid said. “I happened to be close, and we had both fire extinguishers and water hoses nearby.”
“That’s good.”
“Don’t you worry about this,” Reid told her. “I’ve got it covered. You just go inside and take it easy. It’s just another day of ranch life for us here.”
She inwardly balked at his words. She didn’t like sitting on the sidelines—though she knew she had to keep her cover, so she would.
She also wasn’t so sure this was just another day of ranch life. Everyday ranch life shouldn’t involve so many mishaps.
“Trick,” Reid called. “Will you walk Olive back to the house? I’m going to make sure things are cleaned up here.”
Trick tipped his hat at Reid. “Of course.”
Olive gave Cooper his coat back, and then Trick took her elbow as if he feared she might pass out. He escorted her away from the group.
“What happened?” she whispered once they were far enough away. “Was that fire really an accident?”
“I’m not sure. I need to ask more questions and listen to the scuttlebutt in the bunkhouse.”
“Let me know what you find out.”
“Anything new with you?” He slowed his steps as they approached the house.
“Reid’s former stepsister showed up here today. Lucy Bondurant. She apparently had some legal papers drawn up that makes it look like she should inherit part of this estate.”
Trick grimaced. “That sounds messy.”
“Yes, it does.” They reached the steps, and Olive paused. “I’m going to keep digging, and I’ll let you know what I find out.”
“You do that. And watch your back. I don’t know exactly who we can trust around here.”
The truth was, neither did Olive.
The extremes someone was willing to go through in order to either obtain this property or teach Reid a lesson were staggering. Until they caught the person behind this, no one was safe.