Chapter 15
fifteen
Sloane
Before Gage came into my room, I was fully determined to live out of my suitcase until a deal came through, so I could leave before the ink dried, but then he showed up.
He told me how he finally believed me, and I should have been excited—happy that after months of pushing for him to see the truth, he finally did.
But I didn’t.
All I felt was irritation. Hearing about how my father helped this place is what resonated with him, not me, and it’s like being back to square one.
How can someone go from hating your guts to being unable to keep their hands off you? He’s either up or he’s down, and I’m the one left dealing with the fallout.
It was a start, though, and I did stop packing.
The first step was getting him to see that something was wrong. The second was making sure it got fixed—whether he stood beside me or not. So, for now, I’m going to keep a distance between us and get to work dealing with these developers.
We are not helpful to the ranch with our emotions all over the place. Besides, I don’t truly know where his head is at, and I’d rather not get into it right now.
I drove into town as soon as the sun rose with all the paperwork I had left for Gage on the table the other night. I open the folder and make sure everything is still there, noticing the little note on the map of the ranch I printed.
Tell Sloane her organization is impressive.
I smile softly but immediately school my face again. I can’t be smiling like an idiot when I step into town hall, and I sure as hell am not going to smile simply because Gage indirectly complimented me.
I’m still angry with him, and he won’t be let off the hook so easily.
I step out of my car and walk into town hall for what feels like the tenth time since I’ve been here, seeing as I’ve tried relentlessly to go by the book on every discrepancy I’ve found.
It’s how I was taught to do things because my father always believed that doing good for good people would prevail over shady practices.
Call it optimism, but I still believe, even after all the runaround I’ve been through, his logic isn’t misplaced. I think it helps now that I finally have all the evidence I need to file a report on the issues and also have Gage’s support.
Should I have left it alone and trusted Gage to handle it? Maybe. That lingering thought—that my purpose on this ranch is bigger—fueled me more than my anger with him.
He isn’t privy to all the paperwork and legalities of everything that makes the ranch function, and that’s completely fine, but that divide-and-conquer mindset should have been in place from the very beginning.
When I step inside the town hall, I immediately seek out the property assessor, making sure to emphasize to the front desk that this is an urgent legal matter.
The uneasiness that settled over her face was as if she were responsible for the very thing I’m standing there to complain about. I know she isn’t, but Bell River doesn’t seem like a place that has too many legal matters.
If anything, it is so far removed from society that it may as well be a town off the grid. They keep to themselves for the most part, aside from their close-knit community, but even then, legal matters don’t stoke the fire often.
He comes out and holds his hand out to me, stopping short to point.
“Haven’t we met before? You were looking at land for your office,” he says, and I mentally kick myself.
Of course, this town is so small that he’d remember my face so easily, but it isn’t like I did anything wrong when I told him that lie.
I was distrustful of the system back then, especially after my last meeting with the county commissioner, who may as well have blown me off.
It felt like the entire county was against Hollis Ranch and wouldn’t take anything seriously due to the corporate greed that’s quickly infecting this peaceful place.
I never got that feeling from him, though. He seemed open to speaking with me, but hesitant to provide much about the land.
“Yes, I can explain everything while I get to the root of why I’m here,” I reason with him, and despite his caution, he seems interested in hearing what I have to say.
He guides me down the hall and into his office, shutting the door behind him.
He takes a seat at his desk and allows me the floor.
This is it. After this, the ranch can move toward a prosperous future once again.
Hopefully, now there will be no more skeletons, and Gage can finally move on with the ranch.
Without me.
That was always the plan, wasn’t it? To leave once my time was up and sell my piece off to Gage… then we’d go our separate ways and never cross paths again.
Back on that first day, it seemed like the only possible option, but now I’m sitting in the land assessor’s office, here for this ranch, not just for my father and a man I never met, but for Gage, who, despite all his flaws, I know deep down is a good man.
It’s just a shame that getting beaten down so much makes searching for that nearly impossible.
I hand him all my evidence, including the map. “I was named part owner of Hollis Ranch after the passing of its predecessor, Samuel Hollis. While staying on the ranch, I began to notice some discrepancies and decided to investigate.
The reasoning for my discretion with you when we met initially was due to my less-than-helpful meeting with the county commissioner,” I explain honestly, and he grimaces at the mention of the commissioner.
Something tells me there is a pattern here. For someone who gets voted in, he sure isn’t favorable.
“I completely understand, and it’s no hard feelings,” he replies with a warm smile, much like the warmth I get from everyone else around Bell River. “How can I help?”
I scoot closer, pointing to the map and the water main.
“There is a water main behind the main house here, but there is also a water main in this forest patch,” I say. “Based on the aging of the one in the forest, it appears to be the initial hub.”
“Gage Hollis mentioned that the line behind the house was added and serviced within the last couple of years, which made me wonder why the equipment wasn’t updated along the original pathway instead,” I continue, detailing my findings, my theories, and how I tested them.
“I also noted how Gage followed the pipe all the way to the construction site.”
By the time I’m done, he’s flipping through everything quietly, methodically reviewing the documentation. It is a lot of information, so I don’t blame him for taking his time.
The silence does leave me a bit nervous, though. Did I do enough? Did I miss anything?
He nods quietly, then meets my gaze. “Sounds to me like you got a lawsuit on your hands, Miss Carter,” he says, and I finally let out the breath I’ve been holding.
He reaches around his filing cabinet and pulls out the initial paperwork.
“We can get started on filing the report, and I’ll have it sent over to Sheriff Riggins,” he says, and I happily provide all the information he needs, even allowing him to take the documentation knowing I have copies back at the ranch.
When I leave the office, I feel lighter and relieved that things are finally going in the right direction. Hopefully, Sheriff Riggins doesn’t take too long to review the complaint.
I stopped the developer from taking any more water from the ranch’s line under emergency mitigation, which also cut off their supply. No one is living in the condos yet, so no innocent families were affected.
When I step down from the final step, I collide with a body. It's harder than mine, and the hands that reach out to my arms to steady me are firm. “I am so sorry,” the man says, dropping his hands at his side.
He’s dressed in a well-tailored suit, and the blood drains from my body. It isn’t that I’m afraid, but the consequences of my placing the liened land on the market rest on my shoulders.
I did it as a backup plan, spurred by my emotions—but now that things have begun to settle, I feel almost regretful for my decision.
“Oh, you’re fine. Have a nice day,” I reply, moving around him toward my car, but he calls out, rushing over to me.
“I couldn’t help but notice your license plate reads Hill County. I’m looking for Sloane Carter—would that happen to be you?”
The conversation I’d been dreading a moment ago is officially underway. I don’t answer, and he doesn’t need me to.
“Listen, I won’t take too much of your time. My name is Roger West, I am a Development Representative with Horizon Group, and we’re looking to bring prosperity to this lovely county, and we’re extending our work out here to Bell River.
“I noticed you placed a piece of property near Hollis Ranch on the market, and if you take it off the market now, Horizon is willing to double the market value,” he explains, his smile as slimy as the pitch itself, gel cracked stiff in his hair.
The last name, West, resonates with me because it’s the same name that pulled the county commissioner away from our meeting.
This guy could very well be the reason why I’ve been stonewalled at every turn—and who’s to say he isn’t directly responsible for the illegal piping?
I still want my escape plan if I need it, but saying yes to this man feels wrong. Quietly selling this land would undo everything I just did to bring the ranch back into compliance and restore its water.
Horizon wouldn’t stop at just this piece of land; they will do everything possible to push Gage to sell the entire ranch, and that is something I am unwilling to do.
“I’ll think about it,” I reply, and he blinks, taken aback. I guess he assumed if he gave me a price that seemed too good to be true, he’d be able to secure our deal right on these stairs. Sounds like he’s never done a deal with someone like me, and I don’t bend so easily.