Thirty-Three
R elief shouldn’t have been the response to Lauren canceling their date.
Except it was.
Because that meant Scott wasn’t the bad guy and the one who had to cancel their date. Between her father and her need to fix the town, and her bakery, Scott had slipped far down her list of priorities at the same time his own work and the report from the investigators had slowly crept their way up his own list of priorities. He couldn’t say it bothered him that he wasn’t on the top or her list and she wasn’t on the top of his, but maybe it was a sign things, namely them, wouldn’t work the way they hoped.
He didn’t want to do what he was about to, but it was for the best. Or at least that’s what he told himself. He pulled a business card from the folder sitting on the empty seat next to him and dialed the number.
“Dave? Scott Brandonson. Listen, I need to head out of town for a bit, so let’s put the house hunt on hold for the time being.”
“Oh. OK, sure.” Dave did his best to hide his disappointment but failed.
“I don’t know when I’ll be back, and I don’t want you spending time on me when I won’t be here to make a decision. I’ll let you know when I’m back and we can pick up where we left off. Thanks, man.” Scott ended the call and immediately called Georgia. “Get me on the next flight out. Jarold needs to be reined in before he ruins his career and his future and then I’m firing him as a client. I’m not going to let him take down the agency too.”
“Scott, are you sure?”
“Don’t argue with me. Just do it.” But he wanted her to fight him. To tell him he was being stupid.
She didn’t. “All right. I’ll send you the flight details.”
Scott hung up, got out of the car, and headed for the hotel lobby. He needed to pack.
As he walked by the front desk, the woman behind the counter waved him over.
He just wanted to get back to his room and pack so he’d be ready to go as soon as Georgia got his flight arranged, but the clerk’s waving had become insistent, and he couldn’t ignore her.
“This was delivered for you.” She handed him a sealed envelope.
Scott frowned at the package. He wasn’t expecting anything from the investigators. Besides, there wasn’t a stamp on it. Only his name. Someone must have hand-delivered it and no one who would send him anything knew where he was staying much less that he was in Iron Creek.
He tucked the envelope under his arm and headed to his room. Packing would have to wait. As soon as the hotel room door closed behind him, he had his phone out and was calling Georgia.
“What’s wrong?”
“How do you know something’s wrong?”
“That seems to be the only reason you call me now, and you just hung up on me less than ten minutes ago.”
“Did you courier over a package?”
“No. What’s in it?”
“I haven’t opened it yet.”
“Why not?”
“Georgia…”
“Open it. Wait, don’t open it. Fill the bathtub and open it over the water. If something bad happens, you can drop it and run.
“You think it’s a bomb?”
“No, but your paranoia is rubbing off on me…”
Scott opened the envelope and stared at the words on the papers in his hand.
“What is it?”
“My clients’ names and a lengthy list of misdeeds next to each name.”
“True?”
“Enough to make the lies believable.”
“Who’s it from? Does it say?”
“Nope. No name.” Scott flipped through the pages. “But I have a pretty good idea.”
“Who?”
“The same company that appears to be buying up Iron Creek.”
“Why are they threatening you?”
“The investigators have traced all those smaller businesses back to one company. The same company that owns the mine.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Nothing right now. I’m going to pack and you’re going to get me on the next flight out.”
Thirty minutes later, Scott had his clothes packed and was collecting all the documents about his father when there was a knock at the door. He opened the door and both Melody and Elizabeth stared at him expectantly.
“Why are you at school?”
“It’s an emergency.” Elizabeth waved away his question.
“Is Lauren’s dad, OK?” His mind immediately jumped to the worst-case scenario.
“Worse.” Melody answered. “When you came back, we got a new and improved Lauren, and we liked her. She wasn’t so worried about everything and one. She’s slipping back into who she was before you showed up.”
“You need to fix it, Scott. Before it gets worse.”
“What? Why?”
“Bring our girl back to us, Scott. We don’t care how you do it.” The two women walked away, leaving Scott more confused than they found him.