Chapter 12 #3
“You too, huh?” I ran a hand down Ziggy’s back, feeling his muscles tense.
“Good to know I’m not losing my mind.” He leaned forward, then shot to his feet, yapping madly.
I grabbed him before he fell off my lap and quickly scanned the opposite bank.
At first, I saw nothing, but as my eyes adjusted, I thought I could make out a pair of eyes staring back at me from the shadows.
“Hey!” I yelled, hoping the animal might startle and show itself, but nothing moved. The eyes I thought I’d seen became obvious as nothing more than lighter patches in the gloomy shadows, leaving me wondering if I’d seen anything at all.
Except that Ziggy was still staring intently in the same direction.
I lifted him up and kissed his warm face. “Thank God for you. I fucking knew I wasn’t imagining it. I’m going to get to the bottom of—” I stopped, my head jerking toward the sound of a large truck heading up the road toward the cottage. “Oh, shit.”
Ziggy immediately started barking and wormed free of my grip. He scooted effortlessly down the rock and raced for the track.
“Ziggy, wait. Shit!” I half slid, half fell off the rock, scrambling to catch up, but before I even reached the track up the hill, Ziggy was gone.
“They’re here! The council!” I shouted into the phone as I raced to where a large flatbed truck was busy trying to edge into Ryder’s driveway, a tiny miniature dachshund going bananas alongside the driver’s door and way too close to the vehicle’s huge tyres.
Ryder cursed. “How many and what sort?”
“Just one truck, and how in the hell do I know what sort?” I grumbled.
“It has a grader thingy on the back. What do you want me to do?” I slowed as I arrived at the truck parked at the end of Ryder’s driveway, my lungs burning.
I hadn’t run like that since I was a teenager.
I scooped Ziggy into my arms and stepped away, glaring at the driver.
“I’m on my way,” Ryder said. “Delay him. Keep him busy. I’ll get hold of Tim.”
“Delay him?” I scoffed. “How do you propose I do that? And if you say Tiananmen Square, I might have to kill you.”
Ryder snorted. “I know it’s asking a lot, but just do what you can. We don’t have much to work with.”
“Shit. Okay, I’ll try, but you’d better be quick.
” I ended the call and held the phone out to film while simultaneously balancing a wriggling Ziggy under my arm.
I moved closer to the driver’s door, my chest still heaving.
“This driveway is private property and you’re trespassing. You need to leave.”
The middle-aged driver looked me up and down and shook his head.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?
” His reddish-blond hair fell over a pair of angry eyes, his thin, pale face wrapped in a sneer.
“Turn that bloody thing off.” He made a grab for my phone through the open window, but I jumped back just in time, his rough fingertips sliding off mine.
“Not a chance,” I shot back, my heart hammering in my chest. Here we go again. Bloody Ryder. The man had a knack for dropping me in it. “Not until you get your truck off Ryder’s premises and get the hell out of here.”
“And why would I do that?” Hard hazel eyes drilled into mine.
“I was warned about you lot. Well, guess what? This ain’t your land, and you can’t stop me for shit.
It took two hours to lug this grader up here from the city depot, and I’m not taking it back until I’m done.
This here is a paper road. The council has every right to use it for whatever they want. You have no right to stop them, or me.”
“Oh, absolutely,” I agreed affably. “But this driveway isn’t part of that paper road. The road runs through there.” I pointed beyond the pile of landscaping rocks blocking the truck’s advance. “You can’t set one wheel on this property, not even to turn around.”
The driver’s jaw clenched. “Then I guess you’ll be moving those rocks, won’t you?”
I glanced over my shoulder and shrugged. “I’d like to help you out, of course, but they aren’t my property, so I can’t make that decision. Besides, have you seen the size of those things? I doubt even you could move them.”
“They’re on council land,” he ground out. “You need to move them, now.”
I released an overly dramatic sigh. “As I said, I’d love to help, but after sixty years of leasing out the property, you’d think the council would provide some warning if they needed anything . . . prepared.”
The man all but growled, “The council was here two days ago, and I’m pretty goddammed sure that pile of crap wasn’t there. I was told you’d been warned about the paper road.”
I shrugged. “Maybe so, but as I said, I’m not the property owner, and I’m pretty sure no one notified Ryder of exactly when you were coming.
” I wiped a sweaty palm down the front of my jeans and steadied my voice as blackness picked at the edge of my vision.
No. Dammit. Get a grip, Thaddeus. Get a fucking grip.
Ryder needs you. I almost baulked at the thought.
The fact that anybody needed me for more than my computer skills was a fucking miracle in itself.
The driver’s angry gaze flicked between the rock pile and me. “That’s not my problem. You need to move those rocks or I’ll move them for you.”
“You can’t,” I managed in something more than a squeak, which was pretty damn phenomenal, all things considered.
“Not unless you use Ryder’s driveway to offload your machine, and that’s not allowed.
Of course, now that you’ve brought matters to Ryder’s attention, I’m sure he’ll get on to it as soon as he can once he’s consulted with his lawyer.
” I tilted my head toward the sky, like I was considering the probability.
“Possibly next week, if the weather holds up.”
“Jesus Christ.” The driver’s mottled face blew red.
He threw open his door, heaved his ample body to the ground, and for the first time I caught sight of his name badge.
Eric. I made sure to capture it on camera before he stomped angrily toward the pile of rocks and gave one of the larger ones a shove with his boot.
It didn’t budge, of course. He scowled and put his hands on his hips.
“If this was deliberate, then that’s illegal obstruction.
” He eyeballed me. “Which means you’re in big trouble, whoever you are. ”
“Not the owner.” I returned his glare and somehow managed to keep my voice steady as I replied. “Besides, why would we do something like that?”
The driver’s jaw tensed and he looked ready to pop a gasket. “You people think you’re so fucking clever with your fancy words and expensive lawyers. But when it comes down to it, you or your mates don’t own this land. The council does.”
You people. I considered his words and the spiteful anger behind them.
I’d run into more than my fair share of Eric’s in my life.
Angry men with small lives and a loathing for even the whiff of education.
“No,” I answered, slowly and deliberately.
“I don’t think I’m clever. I fucking know I am.
Which is how I know that the council might own the paper road, but they can’t touch an inch of dirt on Ryder’s property until a legal decision is made regarding his lease.
Now, you can try to move those rocks on your own.
I won’t stop you. What I will do is stand here and make sure that you don’t break the law by setting even one toe on Ryder’s land.
Currently, your truck is in breach of that injunction.
” I pointed to where his front tyres sat over Ryder’s driveway.
I suggest that you move it before I call the police. ”
The driver’s complexion turned an ugly shade of beetroot, his hands clenching at his sides. “You think you’re helping him, but you’re not. You’re just delaying the inevitable. We’ll be back.”
“I’m sure,” I replied evenly. “But next time, how about you call first and we’ll be sure to get those rocks moved in time. Have a nice day.” I intended to make a dramatic exit, but a heavy hand landed on my shoulder, pinning me in place.
“Oh no, you don’t.” The man’s lip curled as he tightened his grip, his fingers digging into my collarbone. “You’re gonna stay right there while I call my boss.”
Sensing my panic, Ziggy barked in the man’s face, startling him enough that I could yank myself free and push him away. “Get your hands off me.” I spun on my heels to get as far away from this crazy fucker as quickly as I could.
But the driver wasn’t done. He gave me a hard shove, sending me stumbling backwards onto my arse on the gravel. I somehow kept hold of my phone, but Ziggy wriggled free. He hit the ground running, snarling as he lunged at the driver’s leg, sinking his needle teeth deep into the leather of his boot.
“Get off me, you little shit.” The driver threw out his leg and Ziggy went flying. He landed on the driveway with a yelp and I saw fucking red.
“You leave him alone!” I scrambled to my feet and ran at the driver with no plan other than to barrel into him.
But he threw up his arm and caught me under the jaw, snapping my head back so hard that I saw stars.
I fell to my knees, spitting blood from God knew where, along with a crown I’d only had fitted a few months before, dammit.
I had just enough time to regret not adding dental coverage to my insurance policy before the roar of an engine broke through my brain fog, and I opened my eyes to see Ryder’s ute screaming to a halt, gravel spewing from its back tyres.
Ryder was out of the ute and kneeling at my side in seconds, his eyes blowing wide at the sight of blood on my shirt. “Jesus, Thaddeus. What the hell happ—”