by Karen Harper
“You mean the Green Tree people are back? I didn’t see them.”
Jen looked up over her reading glasses. “They’ve made a whole new group of signs and moved to picket the big fracking site on Valley View Road. Before Matt closed his door, she was shouting. I heard her tell him that one sign says ‘Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Royce Flemming, Pollution and Corruption.’ Sooo,” she drawled that word and rolled her eyes, “without Royce here to defend himself and handle things, I’m sure Matt’s doing it for him.”
Char sighed, thanked Jen and went out into the lobby to wait. With the holiday weekend and the weather, not much was going on today. Her stomach rumbled with hunger. That’s what happened when she ate a gargantuan meal one day. The next she felt starved, but she’d wait for Matt’s visitor to leave before getting some lunch. At least Green Tree was taking a stand against the dangerous parts of fracking, though she wasn’t sure about their tactics. Her mother had always said you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, but who wanted to catch flies?
She dug her phone out of her purse, noting she had an email from the garage that her truck was ready.
Just then, her phone rang.
“Char, it’s Gabe.”
Her stomach tightened. He hadn’t called her with good news lately.
“Is Tess okay?”
“Yes, and don’t ask about Grace. She hasn’t gone into labor yet, and I haven’t heard from her since we all talked to her yesterday. Just wanted you and Matt to know that dead beaver I ordered the necropsy on had toxins in its blood. Of course, it was killed by the arrow, not pollutants.”
“Bad news for EEC, though.”
“We’ll wait, at least, until Matt’s friend tests new samples. Listen, I tried to call him first, but his secretary said he’s with someone. Just checking to see if it’s you.”
“No, but he’s having a bad day at the office—and it’s only a little after noon. He’s been yelled at by Ginger, so I hear, and now Lacey from Green Tree is in there, telling him she and her crew are going to picket the big fracking site with posters that attack Royce, and he’s not back yet to take her on. But I’m sure Matt’s holding his own with her.”
“How was the trip up to McKitricks’ this morning?”
“It went okay. I think Sam’s wife is going to move back, but I can tell she’s wavering. Oh—Gabe. Lacey’s storming out right now. I’m going to go see Matt. I’ll tell him about the dead beaver. And, by the way, I found out Sam either chewed or still chews Red Man tobacco. Saw it there.”
“Him and about thirty others in the area Deputy Miller checked on this week. Char, I don’t think Sam has any way to get around, and he’s too busy hunting the enemy in his own area to be hanging around elsewhere, so I doubt that Red Man you two found in the tree stand was his. Listen, I’ve got a call. You gonna stay with Kate and Grant again tonight?”
“I don’t know. I really have the feeling Bright Star’s taken off. Call it women’s intuition or just an answer to prayer.”
“Tess agrees. Later, then.”
Char went down the hall to where Jen was already standing at Matt’s open door, seeing if he needed anything.
“What I don’t need is another angry woman!” he told her.
Char edged her way next to Jen. “How about a kind and hungry one?” she asked.
“Hey, glad you’re back. Come on in and calm me down,” he told Char. “Thanks, Jen. Don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Or you—in a different way,” he whispered to Char as she walked in and he closed the door behind her.
She put her arms around his waist. He pulled her to him. “I’ll fill you in on my visitor’s histrionics,” he told her. “But how did it go up on Pinecrest?”
“Gabe just asked me the same thing on the phone because he couldn’t get you.”
“Okay, since I see you’re in one piece, what’s up with him?”
“Matt, that dead beaver did have toxins in its body, but, of course, it died from the arrow.”
“Yeah. Which I don’t want to admit could have been shot by our own Robin Hood, Ginger Green.”
“Jen said Ginger threatened to resign.”
“I told her not to if she wanted a good recommendation when all this is over. But I also told her not to target any more human bodies with her charms, to keep it totally professional, not personal, around here.”
“One more thing. From where I was sitting in the McKitrick cabin, I could see into the bedroom Sam kept pacing to. According to Mandy Lee on the way back, he used to chew Red Man tobacco, but gave it up because it left a trail of spit for the Taliban to follow—but I saw he has a packet of it in that room.”
“Gabe said lots of guys in the area use it, and there’s no way to trace who’s purchased it. I was tempted to ask Lacey Fencer what her new husband chews, but I didn’t need to rile her up more or let her know I’ve read about the fact they could have tampered with that water in Pennsylvania.
“And,” he went on, tipping her back in his arms, which pressed their hips tighter together, “I think you said you’re hungry. For me, I hope, as well as a good lunch?”
He didn’t wait for an answer, but kissed her so hard and thoroughly, she thought he’d devour her. She gave as good as she got, running her hands over him, too, mussing his hair as he ran hot kisses down her throat and his tongue darted into the little hollow at the base of her throat while one hand cupped her breast.
“Let’s go get lunch before I just lock the door and clear my desk to put you on it,” he told her, breathing hard.
“You’d better comb your hair.”
“Promise me you’ll mess it up again tonight?” He held her at arm’s length and studied her. She was flushed and felt his touch and look clear down to her belly.
“But that is a huge commitment for me.”
“I understand. Anything in life worthwhile needs to be a big commitment. We’ll talk about that first, then. If Grant Mason’s grandparents can know each other for a week before they make a lifelong commitment, so can we.” He went on before she could even gather her senses to nod. “Char, as hard as all this has been on me—on both of us—at least we found each other.”
“I know. It carries me through all this, makes anything possible.”
“Here’s the other thing, something I agonized about last night. I’ve decided as soon as Royce and Orlando get back, I’m going to tell them what we’ve found so far, even before the definitive water test results. I can judge where they stand by their reactions to that. Royce has a right to know up front, so he can be proactive, prepare a plan to take care of all this.”
“You’re the one who knows him best—if that’s the best way to go. I think you’re right. He should know.”
“And it’s been worrying me that I’m the one who told Lacey earlier she should move her storm troopers to the big fracking site or to even Royce’s corporate Columbus office, just to get her away from Lake Azure. Now that’s just what she’s threatening to do and to tell Royce and Orlando I suggested it. As things are, I don’t want them to take that fact the wrong way. They’ve got to know I’m on their side, even though, odds are, the fracking site’s poisoning Cold Creek and maybe the entire local aquifer. But I’m only on their side if they step up and take care of this mess.”
“You’ve been loyal to Royce, tried to protect his interests. But when one individual, however powerful, threatens the well-being of others, you have no choice.”
“Orlando says I do, that he’s made his choice to be loyal. He also told me I’m Royce’s heir, which he never told me himself.”
“What? Which means—millions someday in the future?”
“Probably potential billions, though I don’t know how much he’s investing in his other community properties and the fracking. But even if Royce turns against me,
even turns me out of Lake Azure, since he’s the controlling, senior partner, I’ve got to tell him what I know. I keep thinking I need more proof but I’ve been burying my head in the sand—the toxic sand of Cold Creek.”
She hugged him tight. “I’m with you. I have a lot to lose, too. Do you think he’ll take the school van away, stop paying Henry?”
“I don’t know, but it wouldn’t hurt to tell Henry—and Joe Fencer, since he knows about the possible pollution—that a big storm may be coming, and I don’t mean more snow. Come on, sweetheart, let’s do lunch before my next appointment hits. It’s a banker from Cincinnati, who, I hope, will give us a loan to build the stables and buy some horses. At least it’s not another dangerous woman. But then, since you’re with me today, the third one’s the charm.”
“In that case, I’m very glad I came along on the mountain when you were on the edge. Brad Mason says everyone’s living on the edge, close to the edge. But I think, if we hang on to each other, like before, we won’t go over.”
He kissed her again, and she remembered to smooth back his hair—and the worry wrinkles on his forehead—before they went out to the lodge dining room together.
* * *
After lunch with Matt, Char called for the gas station courtesy van to pick her up so she could get her truck. Luckily, she hadn’t canceled her insurance on the old thing, so she’d be reimbursed for the four new tires and installment fee. It amused her to think of the differences in the two gas stations in town. The new one near the Lake Azure community used email and had a van as well as a small deli on the premises. The old one at the other end of town she recalled from her girlhood days was a good old boys hangout, though the prices were much cheaper.
She was glad to get her truck back and pleased to see it now had four new snow tires, when hers had been balding. Matt must have ordered those, or was that standard for the winter around here? A blessing in disguise to get rid of those old ones, she thought, trying to buck herself up. It would be a good test run on how they were balanced when she made a quick trip to talk to Mandy Lee again. And it wasn’t up on the mountain or even in the hills, so surely Matt couldn’t argue.
Don’t look back, only ahead, she told herself as she paid her bill and headed out to the truck.
She was surprised to see Henry Hanson outside, putting gas in the new Pinecrest school van.
“Oh, afternoon, Miss Charlene,” he called to her. He lowered his voice. “I swear, I’d never pay these prices, but Mr. Flemming had his right-hand man, Mr. Orlando, get us a credit card for fill-ups here.”
“I didn’t know that. He’s very kind and thoughtful.”
Again, she felt guilty that she and Matt might be hurting their generous donor, but if he was doing wrong with the fracking, he had to be stopped. And then, would this wonderful service to the mountain kids be over, and poor Jemmie’s new world—his escape and his future—be crushed again? What should she counsel Mandy Lee, if she asked for advice?
“I’m going over to ‘set a spell,’ as they say, with Mandy Lee McKitrick,” she told Henry.
“What’s she say about Sam lately?”
“I saw him yesterday with a wrench in his hand. Jemmie says he has an old pickup—he thinks it’s a tank—to work on.”
Henry pulled the gas nozzle out of the van and shook his head. “He sure comes up with ’em, don’t he? A truck’s a tank. Well, maybe he just said that for his boy’s benefit if he was there, like make-believe. Or to make the adults think he’s off, but I still say he’s sane as they come.”
“Good luck with the drive on Monday,” she called to him. “I’ll be visiting a few homes to see if we can get a couple more students. I’m glad it’s working out well for your family.”
“Real good,” he told her, and snatched off his cap as if he were being introduced to her for the first time. “Miss Charlene, you been a blessing.”
* * *
Char was deeply touched by Henry’s words, but she only hoped she could be a blessing to poor Mandy Lee. At least things were looking up for her. She’d fled from a mess she’d made out West, but with finding Matt, getting more mountain kids in school and being with her sisters again, maybe coming here had been for the best.
She drove along Valley View Road, at least the part of it where she’d lived her early years. It made her sad, to see the place Tess had been taken as a child. At least the big tanker trucks for the fracking site didn’t come down this far toward town.
As Char pulled into the Fencer place, sadness sat heavy on her heart. It looked so forlorn, and Matt had told her it was scheduled to be torn down. So much for the old house, the barn and a few other outbuildings, not to mention the well-tended yard and fields. At least her childhood home down the road had been sold and would be preserved—unless the tentacles of the fracking monster reached out farther.
Mandy Lee had tea for her again, but the packing boxes were gone and they sat on the floor with their backs to the wall. “I done decided what I’m gonna do,” she told Char. “For my boy, I’ll go on home through Christmas and New Years, but I’m gonna use that time to get me a job in Cold Creek. Earn me some money, then move down to town, get Sam to agree I can have Jemmie at least half time. When I get all settled, I’ll ask Adela if she don’t want to come down with me, leave Sam to fight his enemies alone. Cold gets her arthritis goin’ somethin’ awful up on Pinecrest, anyway.”
“I’m glad you’ve made a decision, Mandy Lee, and I’ll help you any way I can, including looking for a job for you. If there’s room in the school van, Henry Hanson could get you down the mountain for work until you can move to town, but we’re hoping to get more kids to ride, so that probably won’t last long. But I will see if there’s something for you at Lake Azure. A few of the employees there live on-site.”
“Oh, Miss Charlene, that would be so good. Then all I got to worry about is Sam.”
They hugged, and Char went out to her truck. It was spitting ice flakes, very pretty but they could make the driving worse. At least, because of the tanker truck traffic and the noise at the fracking site, not many used this road to get into town anymore, so she didn’t have to worry about sliding into other cars. Besides, she had new tires that gripped the road. She tried to buck herself up. If a girl who had been mostly raised in Michigan couldn’t drive on slippery roads just because she’d lived in the desert for a while, there was something wrong. And, she noted, at least the bad weather had evidently kept the Green Tree protestors from picketing the fracking site, since she didn’t see them along the road.
She drove carefully and thought over her plans and her route. She was going to head back to Lake Azure, move back into the Mannings’ house, though she knew Matt wanted her to spend the night at his place. She’d feel safer there with him—but at risk, too, since she knew they were combustible together. And that—that would mean, at least to her, they couldn’t go back, could only go forward...
The road was icing a bit. She saw a shiny, new-looking black truck was coming at her on the two-lane road, coming too fast. It had huge tires that made the chassis sit higher than usual. Thank heavens, it wasn’t the old rattletrap Matt had described that hit him.
She slowed and got way over on the narrow berm, near the forest side of the road about a mile past Fencers’ and a half mile before her family’s old land.
The truck came at her, slowing, but too far over. With those big tires, couldn’t he control his vehicle? She braced herself as it hit, not too hard into her front driver’s side, pushing her, pinning her back bumper against a big tree.
Damn! She’d just gone through the pain of making an insurance claim. Just when she’d gotten her independence back, just when things were going better, now an accident. Or was it? Had the truck actually slid on the road? At least she wasn’t on the edge of a cliff, though there was a drop-off to the valley on the other side of the roa
d.
She started to get out until she saw the driver of the truck was really covered up for the weather. She could see through his windshield that he wore a ski mask, leaving only his eyes visible. He climbed down and started toward her truck, holding up his hands as if to apologize.
Could this be the man who nearly ran Matt off the cliff?
She turned the ignition back on, put the truck in Reverse, yanked the steering wheel and tried to back up to get some maneuvering room, but she was held tight by the tree, and her wheels spun. She laid on her horn, but saw no other vehicle on the road.
The man went back to his truck and returned, holding a metal carjack, the kind needed to change a flat tire. He walked now with swift, strong strides. She knew he was going to use it to smash her window. Was this guy desperate or crazy? They were on a public road in broad daylight.
She waited until he came close and raised the car jack. He hit the glass of the driver’s-side window, which only cracked on the first blow. She had to do the unexpected and fast, run for help. She’d seen a car parked at her childhood home if she could make it there. She dug in her big purse for her phone. Too much in here—couldn’t feel it. She had to go now or he’d have her!
In an instant, she unlocked her doors, tried to grab her heavy purse, but he reached for it, too, yanked it and tipped her toward him. She slid away from the steering wheel and clambered out the other side, forced to leave the purse, the phone. She had no illusions he just wanted the purse. She slipped to her knees in the ice-crusted snow, then clawed her way up and raced toward the trees.
27
Char’s thoughts ran as fast as she did. She knew this woodlot, this land. She had to head for her girlhood home, the closest house. She’d seen a car there.
