“I really wish I could answer that, but I can’t. What I have discovered is that the toxins in the water are often found when toxic waste has been stored underground. Especially if there is no containment system in use.” Donovan said, gesturing to the mess in his office.
“Are you trying to tell me that someone has been storing toxic waste on your property without your knowledge?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you. I have no knowledge of anything on our land that would produce these kinds of results. Whether you believe it or not, I would never allow such a thing. I’ve worked too hard trying to clean up the land to just fill it with something worse.”
Donovan’s frustration with the whole situation had him up and pacing around the room. Elizabeth watched in fascination as he crossed from one side of the room to the other, then turned and crossed the room again. As he moved he reminded her of a lion trapped in the zoo, his muscles tense and rippling. The amount of frustration contained in those muscles was clear.
“Mr. Terrell, I don’t understand how this could be happening on your land and you didn’t know it was happening. That is what you’re trying to make me believe, am I correct?” She said, waiting for his reply.
“It’s the only solution I can think of. Otherwise it just doesn’t make sense.” He said, throwing his hands up in the air. “Come look at the maps.”
She reluctantly got up from the couch and followed him into the other room. He was standing in front of a map that was full of brightly colored pins. “These are the sources we use to run our water tests, as you can see they are located all around the town and the ski resort. What I’d like to know is the source of your samples, it’s not in the report and I think that might be the key to finding out what’s going on in Pleasant Valley.”
“You want me to help you?” She said, shocked.
“You’re the only person I can turn to. I have no idea who is behind this, and I can’t risk anyone else finding out that I know. We’ll never catch them if it gets out. I need to know where this is coming from and who would dare to pollute Terrell land.” He said, both desperation and anger in his voice.
Elizabeth looked at the map, considering her choices. She could file the lawsuit, which would get the waste cleaned up, but might not lead to the capture of the person responsible. The other option was to help Donovan Terrell. She was a good judge of character and she was sure that he was being truthful, that coupled with everything she’d read about him forced her to make a decision she wasn’t crazy about.
“What do you need from me?” She finally asked.
“I need to know where you took those samples and I’d like to run them again.”
“You don’t trust my results, yet you’re asking for my help.”
“I need to start from the beginning, plus those tests were done almost a month ago, I’d like to see how bad the water is now. You must understand that I can’t just go walking into town and start taking random water samples. This has to be done under the radar and you can help me make that happen.”
“How?” This was beginning to feel like a spy novel.
“I want to go undercover, get the water samples with you, then take them to an independent lab myself.” He said.
“What do you expect to find, different results?” She said, still feeling insulted that he felt the need to question her results. But on the other hand, if she had been in his shoes she would have done the same thing.
“Honestly, no I don’t. But I’m the kind of guy who follows the old saying, seeing is believing. Before you say no, let me show you what I’ve figured out.” He gestured to one of the maps on the wall that showed what she assumed were water flow patterns from the high peaks of the mountains above the town.
“Okay, I’ll listen. Convince me.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest. She was beginning to actually like this man. That had not been part of the plan. “But I have to warn you, I don’t know that much about water systems or runoff patterns, my expertise lies more in rainforest ecology.”
“You’re an intelligent woman with enough education to understand this.” He said, beginning to explain the map in front of them. “Snow melt can be traced several ways, but what I’ve done here is use different colors to mark the drainage from the high peaks above the resort down to the plains.” He said, tracing the red lines on the map.
What had once looked like a mess of colored lines, suddenly began to make sense. “So, that means that the pollutants could be coming from anywhere above the town. That’s a lot of space to hide something in. But it’s not very accessible, is it?” She asked, suddenly conscious of how much taller Donovan was then her.
“I think they’re using fire roads to transport the waste, it’s a perfect way to get up into the high mountains. No one uses those roads but there’s a certain amount of upkeep done on them to keep them passable. It would be easy to get farther into the back country then, with four wheelers.”
“Well Mr. Donovan, I’m afraid you’ve convinced me. I’ll help you, but let me be very clear, if I find that you’re involved in this in any way, I won’t hesitate to not only file the law suit but bring in the authorities.” She said, meeting his eyes for the first time.
“Ms. Mathews you won’t be sorry. I want to fix this as much as you do.” He said, his blue eyes making her heart flutter at the intense look in them, a part of her wishing that look was for her and not a piece of land.
As they were standing in front of the maps trying to figure out the most likely place someone would store toxic waste, there was a knock on the door. Before Donovan could answer a man came through a door in the back of the office.
“Have you convinced her of our innocence.” He asked, challenge in his words.
“Yes, she’s agreed to help, but I hope you’re not involved because she’s also threatened to sick the law on us if we are.” Donovan said, to the man.
“Well, then I’m glad I’m not the culprit here. We do appreciate your help though. Don’t mind me, I’m just a bit upset that we’ve let someone pollute the land we’ve worked so hard to clean up.
“Ms. Mathews this is Charles Bradshaw, one of the few people around here I trust explicitly. He’s going to be our inside contact and our eyes and ears here. He’s already been looking at the financials of anyone in the company who could be involved in this.”
“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Bradshaw. Have you discovered anything?” She asked.
Charles looked at Donovan first, then said. “I’ve got a couple of people who’ve made some large deposits in their bank accounts, but nothing concrete yet. These could be lots of reason for the sudden wealth, so I’ll have to do some more digging.”
“Well, it’s a start, but I don’t want any names until you’re sure of your findings. I want to keep an open mind, but as soon as you have something concrete let me know. Ms. Mathews there is one more person I want you to meet, but we can’t have him seen coming here. I’ve arranged for him to meet us at a restaurant across town for lunch.”
Elizabeth considered this for a moment, then said. “Okay, but I hope this is someone you’re sure about because this is a dangerous situation for me.”
“Don’t worry we won’t let anyone hurt you.” Donovan said quickly.
“I wasn’t worried about violence, just my reputation. You really think there could be physical harm?” She asked, not having considered the possibility.
“Well, if what we think is happening then yes, there could be some physical danger. I can only imagine how much money someone might be paying to dispose of whatever it is we’re dealing with.”
“Guess I better get my gun out of my safety deposit box then.” She said, picking up her purse and heading to the door. “Let’s go, I’m hungry.”
Both men watched her walk over to the elevator and push the button. “You have a gun?” Donovan finally asked, joining her at the elevator.
“Do you know how to use it?” Charles chimed in, standing on her other side.<
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“Gentlemen, you don’t spend as much time as I have in the Amazon without learning how to shoot a gun. I’m also fairly accurate with a blow gun as well, if you have one.” She said with a smile.
Chapter 3
There was absolute silence as they rode the elevator down to the parking garage. They’d used Donovan’s private entrance, hoping not to be seen. Once they were in the car and on their way to the restaurant, Donovan began to tell Elizabeth about Dustin.
“I’ve known him since I was a kid, his mother and mine were best friends. When he graduated with his degree in ecology, it only seemed natural to put him in charge of the mines and the cleanup. He loves the land as much as we do, he’s proven to be quite an asset as well as a friend. We can trust him, there is no way he’s involved in anything like this.”
“I’m going to have to trust you on this, but I would like to know how many other people you’re going to bring into this.”
“Other than my family, this is it. We’re on our own.” Donovan said as they pulled up to the restaurant.
When they walked into the restaurant, Donovan walked straight to a table in the back. Seated there was a big man dressed as if he worked outside. She assumed it was the man they were supposed to meet when he gave Donovan a big hug. As she got closer the man turned to her, a huge smile on his face.
“I’ve been so excited ever since I heard I was going to get to meet you. You’re a bit of a hero to those of us who work so hard to protect the planet. I’m Dustin McIntosh, it’s a pleasure to meet you and may I say, you’re just as pretty as your pictures.” He finished, pulling out her chair and helping her get seated.
Elizabeth was a little speechless, she wasn’t used to people recognizing her, it was a bit unnerving. “It’s nice to meet you. I don’t know how much of a superstar I am, I just care about our planet.” She said, blushing at the attention.
“You’ve done more to save the Amazon than anyone else, stood up to some very scary people. If we have you on our side we’re sure to figure this out.” He said, beaming at her.
“I certainly hope so, this is a very bad situation. There are people sick up there and more to come if we don’t do anything.”
They made small talk until their food was served, Elizabeth and Dustin hitting it off immediately. Donovan let them talk, a scowl appearing on his face every time Dustin made her laugh. Once the food was on the table, Donovan immediately brought the conversation around to the topic they were all most concerned with.
“Ms. Mathews is going to help me get a new set of water samples which I plan to send to a lab on the east coast. I’ve used them before, they are very discrete and they will have the results to me quickly.” Donovan said.
“If we can find a pattern of contamination in the wells it might give us an idea where the waste has been dumped. It’s our best hope, it would take the whole summer to search the entire area, and by then the contamination will be much worse.” Michael said.
“I’m going to start doing some searching close to the resort, I’ll come up with some excuse to be going into back country.” Dustin said.
“Good, that’s a good place to start. The road behind the resort goes all the way to the Pretty Girl mine, the most remote and polluted of the mines. There won’t be much evidence of the waste itself, it’s going to be buried in the ground. But if someone’s been using that road, it should be obvious.” Donovan said.
“How do we know when the waste was put there? It could have been years ago, there’s no way to know for sure.” Elizabeth said.
“Well, even if it’s been a few years, these forests don’t recover that quickly from something like this. I think we can all agree that we’re talking about a substantial amount of waste. Small amounts wouldn’t cause the kind of wide spread pollution that you’ve found.”
“Okay I can see your point and you all know the land better than I do. How are you going to run around town getting water samples? Mr. Terrell, I assume that your face is familiar to the people who work for you and live in town.”
“That part might be a little tricky, but with the right clothes and a new haircut, most people won’t realize it’s me. I came up with a cover story but I’m afraid it involves you Ms. Mathews.”
Elizabeth wasn’t sure she like the way he said that. “And what would that be?”
“If I pose as your boyfriend, there will be fewer questions and I can go where you do. We can tell people that I’ve come to visit from New York and am helping you collect samples. It’s the perfect cover, no one will question why I’m following you around town. I’ll just have to avoid the mayor and town council, they’d recognize me immediately.”
“Now you not only want my help, but you want to come stay in my home?” She asked, wondering what she’d just gotten herself into.
“It seems like the best solution to me.” Dustin chimed in. “I guess we should have asked if you were already involved with someone.”
“I’m not, but I’m not sure about this. If someone I know discovers what I'm doing by deciding to work with you instead of bringing it to the public’s attention my reputation will be shot.”
“We’re not going to let that happen, if this gets out we’ll take full responsibility. We have to catch the person who’s responsible, if not they could just continue doing it, spreading the pollution even farther.” Donovan said, appealing to the one fact he knew would hook her.
“All right, but you sleep in the guest bedroom.” She said, knowing that she was probably making a mistake. Donovan Terrell was much too good looking and she couldn’t deny how much she was attracted to him, and now he was going to be by her side twenty four hours a day for the near future. At least the attraction was one sided, she’d never be able to resist if it was mutual.
Over desert, which Elizabeth decided she deserved, they discussed the first step of their plan. The first step was to set up Donovan’s cover, if the idea that Donovan was her boyfriend was planted firmly in people’s minds, they’d be less likely to recognize him.
“I think we should tell people that we met in South America. That you were one of my research assistants. You should show up in an old car and old clothes. Don’t come up there in your designer jeans and polo shirts, you’ll sick out like a sore thumb.”
“You probably know the town better than I do. It will take me a few hours to get everything ready. Why don’t you go on home and wait for me. It wouldn’t hurt to get the story out there, then there will be fewer questions.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll choose a few of the better known gossips in town and plant a few ideas in their minds. It will only take a matter of hours for the whole town to know that my boyfriend is on his way.”
“Perfect. I’ll take you back to the office. We need to have the maps and other information with us in Pleasant Valley, maybe you should take that stuff with you. I don’t want to show up with it when I come.” Donovan said, then turned to Dustin. “I want you to keep your eyes open around the ski area and venture out of bounds as much as you can, you know what to look for.”
“I really think that whatever is up there is going to be high up, away from the resort. But, I’ll keep my eyes open and I’ll try to come up with some excuse to go up to the mines. There’s going to be quite a bit of snow, but I might still be able to find something.” Dustin said.
“Good idea. Charles you know what you need to do, if we need anything else, we’ll let you know.” Donovan said, getting up from the table. “We better all get moving, there’s a lot of work to get done. Thanks for the help you guys, I hope we can get to the bottom of this soon.”
Dustin headed home immediately, ready to put his part of the plan into action. The rest headed back to Donovan’s office, Elizabeth packed up the research materials and headed back to Pleasant Valley. She left Donovan and Michael discussing which thrift store might have the best selection of clothes and how they could get a beat up car.
As she got into her car, she realized that h
er meeting with Mr. Terrell had gone much differently than she ever could have imagined. She ought to get used to calling him Donovan, but still couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that he was going to be posing as her boyfriend. Not only that but he would be staying at her house. Luckily she had an extra bedroom, Donovan sleeping on the couch would be way too uncomfortable.
She’d have to go home and change the guest bed, get some groceries, and make sure the house was ready for company. As silly as it was, her heart kept doing flip flops every time she thought of Donovan in her home, sleeping in the next bedroom. It was silly to be acting this way, but it had been a long time since she’d been so attracted to a man.
The fact that he was genuinely concerned about the pollution and was willing to go to all this trouble to find the truth only made it worse. Now not only was she physically attracted to him, she liked him as a person. With a sigh, she pushed those thoughts aside to come up with a plan to spread the word about her “boyfriend”. She knew exactly who to give the information to and in fact it might be fun to plant a few ideas in the woman’s head.
There was little traffic on the way to the mountains which was a relief, she’d been warned that ski season would make the mountain highways difficult to travel due to traffic volume. When she pulled into her garage, she shut the door before unpacking the maps and papers she’d brought home with her. People were used to seeing her hauling files and boxes around but she still thought caution was best.
As she unpacked, she considered hanging up the maps, but if she had a visitor they might ask questions that she didn’t want to answer. Instead, she put it all into the guest room closet since it was empty. They could accesses it from there without spreading it all over the house. She changed the bed, put up clean towels, then went to the kitchen to make a grocery list.
To sow the seeds of gossip, she’d have to visit both of the grocery stores in town. One to plant gossip and one to get the food she needed and to assess how successful she’d been at spreading the story. List in hand, she got back in the car and drove the short distance to the first grocery store she planned to visit. Once there she grabbed one of the lists she’d made and walked through the door of Grandma’s Pantry, relieved to see the owner sitting on a stool right where she always was.
Make Me Whole (Brothers From Money #3) Page 3
