Landing the Lawman (The Hills of Texas Book 5)

by Kadie Scott

  A heaviness settled over him. “If this works out, you wouldn’t get that back. Either of those things.”

  Carter raised a contemplative gaze to his, then gave the sweetest softest smile. Then she reached out and ran a fingertip along the edge of his jaw, the rasp of his five-o’clock shadow loud in the sudden silence. “No. But I would be getting more.”

  Before Carter, that would’ve scared the living daylights out of him. Instead, warmth spread out from his chest. Along with an absolute determination to live up to her faith that he wouldn’t balk anymore.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Morning sunlight streamed in through blinds Carter must’ve opened, because he never did. The coffee gurgled, the cozy smell of the brew rising around him. But he wasn’t aware of any of that. Logan put down his phone on the polished marble of his kitchen counter slowly. Then leaned both hands against the cool rock, not that that did anything to calm the anger boiling up inside him.

  “Who was that?” Carter asked from behind him.

  He turned to face her where she sat at his kitchen table, once again in his shirt, one cleanly muscled leg on display as she sat there casually eating a bowl of cereal. He leaned back against the countertop behind him and crossed his arms staring at her. A maelstrom of thoughts swirled behind his carefully schooled features.

  Carter’s eyebrows went up. “Why are you giving me your lawyer face?”

  “I don’t have a lawyer face.” Yes, he did.

  His lover gave a derisive snort. “Keep telling yourself that. But it’s looking at me right now.”

  “That was Mrs. Landingham. She heard from the lawyers on the other side of the Owenses’ case. They’re claiming that your well test negatively impacted their water supply. In fact, that you stole water from their side putting it into a pond that would not funnel back into their property.”

  He watched for any signs of discomfort, or guilt, or surprise. He got none of those. What he got instead was anger.

  Her brows snapped down over her eyes and a scowl rarely seen from Carter descended. “What are you asking me, exactly?”

  “You tell me? You’re the expert.”

  She cast her gaze down his person, no doubt taking in the crossed arms, and yes, the lawyer face. Rather than answer, she rose from the table and took her bowl to the sink where she rinsed it out before putting bowl and spoon into the dishwasher. Then she headed into his room without a backward glance.

  Irritation spiked, like walking through a field of stickers with bare feet. No doubt she did that to force him to follow her, to take the high ground in the argument. Women did that shit all the time, didn’t they? So he stayed where he was and waited to see what she did next.

  A good ten minutes later, she emerged dressed in the clothing she’d arrived in, her two overnight bags packed, one in each hand. “I’ll see you at the office, Monday morning.”

  He beat her to the door, putting a hand on it to stop her from opening it. “I need an answer, Carter.”

  He searched her face, but encountered a wall of blank, emotionless nothing. So far removed from her usual open personality that he wanted to shake her out of it.

  “You’ll get an answer, Counselor.” Only this time when she said the line, it wasn’t flirting. She practically bit the word off. “Monday morning at the office. Definitely not after you just spent the night fucking me.”

  Shit. “That’s not good enough.”

  “I’ll tell you what’s not good enough… Not good enough is you immediately questioning my integrity or my capability as your first response. Not when you’ve seen my work. Not when you know me.” Her throat worked as she swallowed. “Or at least I thought you knew me.”

  “That’s not what I—”

  “That’s exactly what you thought. That I either deliberately tried to get the Owenses some extra water to tide them over, especially after what they told us about possibly needing to sell. Or that I screwed up the test and now you’re going to have to factor that into your case.”

  Dammit. This wasn’t about him. Or her. Or them. This was about the case.

  “I’m a lawyer. This is my case. I have to make sure every I is dotted, and every T is crossed. Every contingency is thought through. That’s what I do.”

  Was this Angela all over again? Already?

  Carter lifted a hand and placed it against his cheek. He almost flinched at a sort of sad resignation in her gaze, her eyes darkening to navy.

  “I know. I would expect you to check every single detail. In fact, it’s one of the reasons why I respect you so much as a lawyer.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  She dropped her hand and stepped back, the wall of nothingness back up in her eyes. “I could forgive you asking about the test. Humans make mistakes. I’m not infallible. Although I would’ve preferred that you approach me in a professional, non-accusatory way. I can even overlook that, because that’s who you are.” She opened the door and paused. “The problem is that you thought, even for a second, that I would do something illegal. That I would jeopardize my career, a career you know I’ve already given up so much for. If you really cared for me, if you really knew me, you would know that no matter how much I would want to help the Owenses, it wouldn’t be by stealing water.”

  She walked out the door and Logan stared after her in a bit of a daze as her words penetrated the initial haze of anger.

  Shit. I really fucked up.

  The ding of the elevator pulled him out of his own stupor. “Wait.”

  She paused, her hand on the elevator door, holding it open. Though she didn’t look at him, he knew she was listening, at least. A hundred different things to say came to mind. An apology—he doubted a quick one right now would be enough. An explanation—he didn’t really have a defense. He needed more time to think about what just happened, if he could fix it, or if he should even try. Maybe he should just let this go. He should’ve stuck to his rules in the first place.

  Logan cleared his throat. “This can’t wait until Monday.”

  Even from down the hall, he could see her shoulders go back. “Then I suggest you call my office and arrange a meeting for some time this weekend.”

  “I usually contact you directly.”

  She slowly turned her head to pin him with a look full of venom, her lips almost white they were pinched so tightly. “A highly unprofessional way to treat your top consultant. I would prefer in the future you go through my firm and the appropriate channels.”

  On that statement, she walked into the elevator and stabbed a button, the doors closed, and she was gone.

  *

  Before she’d even made it off the elevator, Carter had her cell phone out, and was in touch with her boss. She quickly explained the conversation with Logan, leaving out the emotional details and concentrating only on what the lawyers were accusing her of. She shut her mind down to what had happened in his apartment, because if she thought about it too much, she was going to lose it. Maybe crawl under her blanket in her bedroom and cry for the next few months.

  This was so much worse than Brian.

  At least Brian had believed in her wholeheartedly. The situation with the case, and the test… She could deal with that. “I need their data. Can you get that while I get dressed? I’ll be in the office in about an hour. And if Mr. Cartez calls, let him know we’re looking into it. I’ll need at least a day to go over everything. So if he wants a meeting, tomorrow or Monday are better.”

  “Logan usually calls you,” Mitch commented.

  She heard the curiosity in his voice.

  “We’ve had a bit of a personal falling out. Nothing that should impact our professional relationship, but I would prefer he go through the usual channels from now on.”

  A pregnant pause greeted that statement. “Do I need to be worried about losing a valued customer?”

  “Let’s find out if I messed up this test first.” The knot of anxiety lodged in her stomach and writhed like a pit of snakes.


  What if this was her fault? She’d never got something like this wrong before, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have now. She would feel so awful if this jeopardized Logan’s case. The Owenses’ case.

  “I’m sure you didn’t. But even if you did, you’re the best hydrologist I’ve got. I’ll back you up all the way.”

  Carter stopped at her car and tipped her head back to blow out a long silent breath. At least somebody had faith in her. “Thanks, Mitch.”

  “See you in an hour.”

  “You don’t need to come in on the weekend, too,” she protested.

  “Two sets of eyes are always better than one when it comes to checking for mistakes that may or may not exist.”

  She jerked her car door open and threw her bags in the back seat. “Good point. I appreciate it.”

  An hour later, almost on the nose, she and Mitch had their noses buried in their computers, going through data, pictures, and other reports, as well as topographical maps and anything else that could give them a clue as to what they were being accused of, what had actually happened, and the impact thereof on the case.

  They both worked silently for about ten minutes when the phone rang on Carter’s desk. She glanced at the number, frowned, then looked to Mitch. “Can you get that? I’m on the track of something.”

  Not really, she just didn’t want to talk to Logan directly. She’d either break down in tears in front of her boss or would go into some kind of screaming-at-her-lover fit, also in front of her boss. Neither was a great option right now.

  Mitch grabbed the phone. “Water Works.” He paused, listening. “Carter is unavailable right now, but this is Mitch, Logan. She’s already told me about the situation. Were both looking over both sets of data right now.”

  He listened for a long moment and Carter could catch words here and there. Mostly just the familiar low rumble of Logan’s voice. Her hand trembled on the mouse as she scrolled down the document she was reviewing. She’d have to reread these pages again as soon as the phone call was over, but she wanted to look busy.

  “Not today,” Mitch replied to something Logan had said. “We need time to analyze this correctly. Tomorrow is probably tight, given the amount of data were both looking through.”

  Again, he listened to whatever Logan had to say.

  “Let’s set a tentative meeting for tomorrow at ten in the morning. We will call tonight if we need to extend that to later in the day or Monday.”

  The burr of Logan’s voice came across irritated. Just what Carter needed to fire up her own anger again. She needed to hold onto that and not let her personal loss inside—because she had lost something she thought was special, practically before she had it. That anger was a helpful emotion when it came to needing to get shit done.

  She just barely kept from rolling her eyes at Mitch, letting him handle it.

  Mitch frowned. “We can do this right, or we can do this fast. Given that a potential mistake needs to be either proved or disproved, I suggest you give us the time to do it right.”

  She could hug her boss right now. Carter restricted herself to a small smile of appreciation.

  “Right,” Mitch said. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  He put down the phone and looked at Carter. “I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you. Just tell me this isn’t gonna bite me in the ass.”

  Carter shook her head. “What’s going on between me and Logan won’t. I can be a professional, and so can he.”

  Mitch regarded her closely for a second, then nodded. And Carter blew out a breath. She had been doing that a lot today.

  “Okay,” he said. “Let’s prove you’re right then.”

  Carter sure as hell hoped so.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Mr. Cartez?” Mrs. Landingham’s voice came over the intercom.

  Logan turned away from the window he’d been staring out of for the last hour. He knew what she was about to say. This was the hour they’d set for the meeting with Carter and her boss Mitch, and they hadn’t called to reschedule.

  He hit the button for the intercom. “Yes?”

  “Ms. Hill and Mr. Barber have arrived.”

  “Thank you. Please escort them to the conference room. I’ll be right there.”

  Normally, he’d already be in there waiting impatiently. But today he needed the advantage of being the one to walk in the room, a little trick his first mentor had taught him. Though he never thought he’d have to use it on Carter. Less to throw her off, and more to attempt to keep some professional distance.

  Deliberately, he waited five minutes before gathering his computer and a notebook and heading to the conference room. The second he saw Carter though, the case left his mind. “Hi,” he said.

  Damn, she looked good. Apparently, she had bought the red suit she’d posted pictures of on social media, because she was wearing it now. The cut, with its slim skirt and the way the jacket flared out highlighting her small waist and the flare of her hips, only had him thinking of every curve he’d been able to touch. Hell, had that just been yesterday morning?

  She had pulled her hair back into some kind of twisty updo, the kind she usually wore to court. Professional Carter, not his Carter. Definitely not his, based on the way she presented a cool, indifferent face to him.

  “We have some interesting data to present, Mr. Cartez.”

  So she wasn’t going to let him go down the personal route right now, it seemed. Okay. They’d play this her way.

  “I hope you have some good news for me,” he said as he let the glass door swing shut behind him.

  “I think you will be pleased,” Mitch said as he held out a hand to shake.

  Logan was hardly aware of taking that hand, his entire focus on the woman standing to the side.

  When she didn’t speak or offer a hand to shake like Mitch, he cleared his throat. “Show me what you’ve got.”

  She nodded, and she and Mitch went around the other side of the table to sit across from where Logan sat. Apparently, Carter had already set up her computer to project on the screen at the end of the long table.

  “Their lawyers claim that during our pump test we stole ten thousand gallons of water,” Mitch said.

  Logan flicked Carter a glance, except she wasn’t looking at him, rather down her computer screen. So he looked at Mitch and nodded.

  “It’s less that we stole their water…” Mitch paused and glanced at Carter.

  She pulled her shoulders back and raised her gaze. “It’s more that we accidentally took the Owenses water back from them.”

  Logan’s eyes narrowed as he took that information in. For the moment, his problems with Carter disappeared in light of what they were telling him. Because, if they could prove what they were telling him, they just made his case.

  “Can you prove that?”

  A coldly satisfied smile tugged at her red lips. “Of course.”

  She punched a key on her keyboard and two images of topographical maps appeared. “These are the original surveys of both properties, focused on property boundaries. You’ve seen these before; they show elevations as well as locations of any large elements such as buildings, water elements on the surface, boulders, and so forth.”

  Logan nodded wordlessly.

  “These are the same maps, but with the addition of locations of wells, the flow of water, and anything else that would impact the hydrology of the land.” She got to her feet and pointed to a spot. “This is the primary well on the Owenses’ property that we used for the pump test. This is the pond we set up for the overflow, also on their property. As you see by these markings impacting that well, clearly on their property, should not have impacted any flow of water on the other ranch. In fact, just based on proximity and where the water should be flowing onto the big ranch property from the Owenses’ land, I would’ve had to pump from one of the other ranch’s wells, here or here, to take any of what is legally their water.”

  “This is where it gets f
un,” Mitch said.

  Carter flashed her boss a grin. The first genuine smile Logan had seen from her since the phone call he received yesterday. It disappeared as fast as it had appeared, like flying too close to the sun only to have his wings melt and falling back to earth.

  “I called in a favor, and had aerial pictures done from helicopter of both properties.” Carter nodded at Mitch who had a key on the keyboard.

  A new image came up. This one a color image—all greens and browns with the occasional flash of a roof or structure—popped up on the screen.

  Logan studied it for a moment and frowned. “What am I supposed to be seeing?”

  “It might be easier to tell if I overlay the original topographical map.” Carter nodded again and this time an image showed with the picture underneath the lines of topographical map.

  “Do you see it yet?” she asked.

  And for brief moment she was the woman who’d been his friend for years again. Like a kid at a birthday party waiting for somebody to open a present that they put a lot of thought into.

  Only he didn’t see it yet, so he studied the lines in the map systematically, going grid by grid. Then froze. “There are more ponds on the other property.”

  Triumph glittered in her eyes as Carter nodded. “Exactly. Not natural ponds, but man-made ponds. Strategically placed to redirect the flow of water off of the Owenses’ property.”

  Logan sat back in his chair with a thump as his mind processed through this new information. Not only were they not in trouble, she just tied up this case with a big red bow. “We’re going to need a new topographical survey of both properties with a flow of water study.”

  Carter nodded. “I imagine they’ll want to do their own survey as well.”

  “I’ll get the paperwork started to give you legal access to that property immediately.”

  This was an egregious violation of water rights laws in Texas. Not only would the Owenses win their case, but they now had cause to sue for stolen water. That would be harder to prove. They would need to know how long those new ponds had been there redirecting the flow. Hopefully, their neighbors had contracted out the construction of those ponds and there were records. But that would be his job to prove.