Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Remi
My phone had been buzzing in my scrubs’ pocket for a while, but I had my hands full with a particularly grumpy Himalayan named Pickle.
The cat’s long silky fur was everywhere, big tuffs of it on my clothes and on the exam table.
He slipped under my hands as I tried to complete the wellness check.
His eyes narrowed accusingly as he hissed warnings my way.
The owner, Mrs. Higgins, halfheartedly tried to keep her cat still.
Instead, she startled away every time Pickle growled—which was pretty much constantly.
Between the buzzing in my pocket, the angry cat and the jingling of the long dangling earrings Mrs. Higgins wore, I was feeling a bit overstimulated.
Finally, I was able to put Pickle back into his carrier while trying to explain my assessment of his health—he was a bit overweight and could use regular grooming visits. I kept having to start and restart my sentences as most of my attention went into not getting bitten.
My grip automatically tightened at a tap on the door, but Nora must have known that the cat would bolt and spoke through the door instead of opening it. “Rem, Alicia is on the phone. Will you be able to speak to her in a few minutes?”
Jerking my head, I forced my voice to not betray the rush of concern that had rushed to the base of my throat. “Yes, we’re almost done. Is everything okay?”
“She said she’s not in danger, but that it is an urgent matter.”
“Is she on hold or should I call her back?”
“She’s holding.”
A few minutes later, I directed Mrs. Higgins, carrying a growling carrier, to the lobby where Nora took over. In quick, long strides, I closed the distance between me and the blinking phone line where Alicia waited.
I pressed the phone to my ear. “Leese?”
“Rem, I’m so sorry to do this, but I’m desperate.”
“What’s up?”
“The road commissioner approved a delivery of an excavator to the marsh.”
“What the fu—” I cut myself off just in time remembering that there was a client in hearing distance. “How? The sale hasn’t even gone through.”
“I know. Apparently, the senator was able to push through special permits to allow excavation. Jamison is looking into the legality of all of this, but without a judge stopping everything, I’m kinda fucked.”
Something cold and heavy lay on my sternum. The plastic of the handset creaked under the pressure of my grip. “So, that’s it? They win?”
Nora and Mrs. Higgins weren’t even pretending not to eavesdrop. They hardly broke their eye contact with my profile to blink. Hazel chatting with her client grew nearer, and I must have looked as concerned as I felt because she came to a halt in the office doorway.
“No,” Alicia said with certainty. “They’re trying to force us to back down.
And it’s not gonna happen. I handed in the petition this morning.
They’re scrambling—but so are we. Frost laws haven’t been lifted.
They don’t even own the land yet. I think they’re hoping to excavate enough that we don’t have anything to fight for, but we are not done. It’s bleak, though.”
The combination of realism and persistence was enough to make my love for her fill my chest.
Through the receiver, I heard the click of her turn signal as she explained, “Jamison is on his way with contracts, but it’s a two-hour drive from Lansing to here. He’s trying to get a local judge to place a cease and desist or something, but he doesn’t have connections here. I just need time.”
“Okay, what do I do?”
“I’m heading there now.”
“Is that safe?”
Hazel touched Nora’s shoulder whispering, “What’s going on?”
“Something to do with the wetlands,” Nora answered with an air of someone not wanting to be distracted.
“I’ll be live streaming, and I doubt they’ll hurt me. I’ll probably just be arrested,” Alicia answered me.
I snorted a humorless laugh. “Just.”
“It’ll be fine,” she was speaking fast. “I just need you to be prepared to bail me out if Jamison isn’t here yet.”
I snapped my gaze to meet Nora’s and then Hazel’s. “You just need to buy some time?”
“That’s it,” Alicia answered.
“And it’s just you against an excavator.”
She groaned. “When you say it like that, it sounds incredibly futile. Rem, I will not stop. If I lose”—her voice shook on the word “lose”—“I will know that I did everything in my power to stop this. Do not ask me to give up.”
“I would never,” I promised. “But I’m coming with you.”
“You can’t come! I need someone to bail me out!” Her voice rose; the stress of the situation had shortened her patience.
“I’ll get that fixed too.”
“Rem.”
“Leese.”
“What are you gonna do?”
My mouth hung open for a moment, not sure exactly what to say until the words formed, “Get arrested with you, I guess.”
“That’s so . . . foolish.”
“I have to hang up. I’ll be right there. I love you.”
“You shouldn’t come. But I love you too.”
The click of plastic on plastic broke the otherwise total silence of the room. On the other side of the desk, a couple of clients waited with their pets. Everyone stared directly at me. Waiting.
Rubbing my hand on the back of my neck, I told Hazel, “I have to go.”
“What’s going on?” Nora asked.
“They’re coming to dig up the wetlands.”
Someone gasped, but I didn’t look to see who.
“They haven’t bought it—” Hazel started, but I interrupted her.
“It’s sketchy as hell. Alicia’s going to try and stop them—I’m gonna go be with her.”
“Just the two of you?”
“That’s not gonna work.” Nora typed furiously on her phone.
I shrugged.
Hazel nodded a couple of times, then pointed down the hall. “Grab some blankets and . . . there’s some high vis gear in there. Grab whatever you need.”
“Thanks.” I pointed to both of Nora and Hazel. “You two be ready to bail us out if we get arrested. I’ll pay you back.”
Nora only grunted in agreement.
“Okay.” Hazel pulled me into a hug. “Be careful.”
I turned and started jogging down the hallway, Mrs. Higgins’ voice carried behind me. “Ginny, they’re goin’ after them wetlands . . . I know! No, I just heard about it here at the vet . . .”
I was almost to the marsh when I passed Creger stables and came to a skidding halt before throwing my car into reverse. Stopping just outside of the arena, I texted Brooks.
It didn’t take very long to find Everett in his office on the second story of the big barn.
He looked up, his eyebrows raised, as I knocked. “Remi?”
“Hey, I’m sorry to interrupt.”