Hidden Threat

by Connie Mann

  Cole looked closer at the chocolate-brown eyes, the rich mocha-colored skin, the big puff of hair, and recognition dawned. When her eyes darted to his right arm and she bit her lip as she looked away, a twinge of pain shot through his once-shattered elbow. Along with a sharp prick of remembered anger. Who knew what his relationship with his father would have been if she hadn’t singlehandedly ruined his chances for a football scholarship with her crazy, do-gooder ways? He deliberately thickened his drawl. “Well, I’ll be. If it isn’t little Evie the Crusader. What are you doing back in town? Last I heard you were off in DC saving the world.”

  Eve shook her head, and for an insane moment he was tempted to see if that cloud of hair was as soft as it looked. “Maybe not saving the world, but trying to keep the drinking water safe.” Her glance skimmed his arm. “How are things with you?”

  He shrugged, kept his eyes focused on her face as he straightened his arm, then bent it again. “I’m fine, thanks.”

  She winced. “How long have you, um, been back in Safe Harbor?”

  He did not want to get into a discussion of that long-ago day his father kicked him out, so he said, “Since just after my father passed away two months ago.”

  “I’m sorry. Truly.” She looked past his shoulder, the silence stretching uncomfortably. Finally she said, “My shoes are still in the mud.”

  Cole turned to look, breathing in her scent as he did, annoyed with himself for noticing. “Yep. Looks like.”

  She huffed out a breath and tried to cross her arms, but almost lost her balance, so she scowled instead. “Could you get them for me?”

  He raised a brow. She’d always been so passionate and serious about her causes, he’d never been able to resist teasing her. “Oh, so the most militant feminist from Safe Harbor High wants me to fetch for her? Isn’t that against some code or something?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Those are Kate Spade.” At his blank look, she clarified. “Shoes. Designer. Expensive.”

  He waited, enjoying the simmer in her dark eyes.

  “Please. Could you get them for me?” She practically spit the words from between clenched teeth.

  He laughed and tipped his hat. “But of course. Since you asked so nicely.”

  For some insane reason, he’d always been drawn to Eve, to the fire inside her that fueled all her environmental passion, even though he knew it could burn him, badly—as it already had. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t blame her for all that had gone wrong between him and his father, though her crazy stunt certainly hadn’t helped. But that didn’t mean he would let her get close enough to hurt him again.

  He walked over, pulled the flimsy sandals out of the mud, and gave them a shake to get rid of the worst of the sludge. He held them out by the straps, and she snatched them from his grasp. “So what brings you out this way, Eve? Didn’t know you were back in Safe Harbor.”

  “I came home because Mama is in the hospital again. Dehydration.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes as she shook more mud off the sandals, so he figured there was a truckload she wasn’t saying.

  “I heard she’s fighting cancer. I’m sorry.”

  “Thanks. She’s tough, though. If anyone can beat this thing, she can.”

  “That’s why you’re in Safe Harbor. Why are you at Sutton Ranch, Eve?”

  “Oh, ah, that. Well, I got lost.” A flush crept up her cheeks. “I was on my way to Celia Daughtry’s place. I’m terrible with directions, and my phone’s GPS got a little confused, and well . . .” She shrugged and fiddled with her shoes.

  He turned and pointed to a patch of woods off in the distance, wondering about her behavior. “You missed the turnoff to her road by about a quarter mile. When Miss Althea passed last year, she left the property to IdaMae and Leon, her two kids, but she left the little cottage over yonder to Celia.” He turned back. “I didn’t know you knew Celia. She’s quite a bit younger than we are. She came back home a couple of months ago. Has a little girl, Glory. Cute as a bug, but I heard she’s sick.”

  Eve nodded, and he could almost feel the fury radiating under her skin and out her clenched fists. He just didn’t know where it came from.

  “I just came from the hospital. Glory is in the ICU. Critical. They’re thinking blue baby syndrome.”

  “I’m very sorry to hear that.” He’d have to go by the hospital, see if Celia needed anything. He tried to remember what he knew about blue baby, but came up empty.

  Eve leaned forward and poked him in the chest, the air crackling around her. “You should be. That baby got sick drinking contaminated water.”

  A warning shimmered down his back, but he kept his voice calm. “What does that have to do with me?”

  She narrowed her eyes, and Cole thought flames would shoot out of them at any moment. She scanned the ranch, then brought her eyes back to his. “I don’t know yet. But I will. Blue baby usually comes from nitrates in the water, especially near agricultural operations.”

  Cole studied the determined tilt of her chin. He’d seen that look before. When he suddenly realized what she was thinking, he ground out, “Wait just a minute. Don’t you go making unfounded accusations, Eve. That kind of thing can hurt folks.”

  She stiffened as though he’d slapped her. “When I need you to tell me what to do, Cole Sutton, I’ll be sure and let you know.”

  She made to slide off the rail, but he caught her just in time and swung her back into his arms as he strode toward the barn. He clamped his jaw shut, knowing anything he said right now would just make her more determined.

  “Will you stop carting me around? I need to get back to my car.”

  “And until I get my truck to pull your little car out of the mud, you won’t be going anywhere.”

  She harrumphed, but stopped squirming. Every step brought her closer against his chest and reminded him uncomfortably just how long it had been since he’d been this close to a woman. He couldn’t remember his last date, and he hadn’t had anything resembling a relationship in too many years to count. It was pathetic, really. And having Evie the Crusader with her perfectly curved little body reminding him of it just irritated him more.

  He walked over to his truck and plopped her in the passenger side without fanfare. Then he walked around, climbed in, and headed back to her car.

  Eve didn’t say a word while he attached a chain to her car and used his truck to pull it free. Once it was clear, he scooped her up once more—dang she smelled good—and deposited her back in her car. He handed her ruined shoes through the open window.

  She frowned at him. “I suppose I should thank you.”

  He grinned despite himself and tipped his hat. “I suppose you should.”

  But she didn’t. She drove until she hit the main road, without once looking back. Cole shook his head. Every instinct he possessed wanted to grab her and force her to abandon whatever plan she was hatching in that clever, misguided brain of hers. But he knew Eve, remembered more than he wanted to. He would bet the ranch that when she was pushed, she pushed back harder, just like before.

  Back in high school, when he’d tried to convince her the football team was perfectly fine drinking from a garden hose out by the practice field, not only had she ignored him, but her campaign to get them “clean” water had intensified.

  Never mind that fateful night she’d set their calves free to make sure they weren’t sold for veal. And inadvertently ended his chances for a football scholarship.

  He sighed and rubbed his elbow. Whatever she was up to, he had no doubt he hadn’t seen the last of her. While his body really liked the idea, his brain warned she would cause him no end of trouble. And that he couldn’t afford. Not now, while he was doing everything in his power to keep the ranch afloat and a roof over his mama’s head.

  Especially since he still wasn’t sure how many corners his father had cut over the years, and how many regulations he’d bent, environmentally speaking.

  While he tried to figure out what was going
on with his calves, he’d also have to keep an eye on Eve.

  And make sure there wasn’t a nitrate problem on Sutton land.

  Ruined shoes in hand and Cole’s smug sarcasm ringing in her ears, Eve drove back to the two-lane road. She tried to focus on that stand of trees in the distance, she really did, but all she could see was Cole, with those piercing gray eyes that saw too much, the chiseled jaw that begged to be touched, and that lean, hard body that somehow had always made her feel safe.

  She felt a flush steal over her skin that made every nerve ending tingle. If he ever found out what a crush she’d had on him in high school, his good-ole-boy act would get even worse, just to irritate her. He’d always liked teasing her, while she’d never been able to manage more than a stammer and some inane comments. But her attraction ran much deeper, back to that terrifying night when she’d snuck onto Sutton Ranch and let all the calves out so they wouldn’t get shipped off to become veal. When she almost got trampled by the terrified animals, Cole slid off his horse and rescued her without hesitation—and got his elbow shattered in the process. She’d never be able to make up for costing him that football scholarship.

  She hadn’t known he’d come back to Safe Harbor. When his father kicked him out years ago, she’d heard he joined the Marine Corps and then had gone somewhere out west. Colorado, maybe. Everyone thought he’d never come back. Yet here he was, looking better than ever. She sighed, then brought her thoughts sharply back to little Glory. Focused, she had to stay focused. Because of the proximity of their properties, Cole’s ranch might very well be the cause of that baby’s illness.

  Had she taken another wrong turn? Eve kept inching along, worried Cole had deliberately sent her in the wrong direction, when the trees suddenly opened up and the cottage appeared in a small clearing. Grass in need of mowing and weed-choked flower beds gave the place an abandoned air. Like many local homes, the little house had a tin roof and covered porch across the front. The white clapboard siding could use a coat of paint, and the whole 1930s-era cottage listed slightly to the left. Off in the trees, a single-wide mobile home that had seen better days stood in the shade.

  Eve climbed out of her car and carefully made her way to the porch steps, avoiding the grass. She didn’t want an encounter with a snake if she could help it. She stood on the sagging porch and looked around, trying to find the well. There had to be one. The only section of Safe Harbor with town water was the downtown area, and that had been converted in only the last ten years. Everyone else had their own well. And Eve was betting that was the cause of baby Glory’s illness: contaminated well water.

  From her vantage point she saw the aging mobile home nearby and could make out the roofs of the barns on Cole Sutton’s ranch. A quick turn in the other direction and the buildings of Blackwell Farms, an agribusiness, were also visible. From what the paper said, Richard Blackwell had started buying up neighboring properties after he took over the farm when his father passed away ten years ago. Richard Blackwell’s daughter, Candy, a popular cheerleader, had died in a car accident when Eve was in high school. She’d wondered how you recovered from something like that. Or maybe you didn’t. The paper said Candy’s mother died two years after her daughter. Very sad.

  Eve gauged the distance. She’d have to check out his operation. Big agribusinesses were logical suspects for contamination.

  Right now, though, she had to find Celia’s well. Eve couldn’t see it from her spot on the porch, so it must be out back. But before she headed there, she tried the front door, surprised when it opened. Then she grinned. What would be the height of stupidity in DC was commonplace in Safe Harbor. People rarely locked their doors here.

  Even though Celia had given her permission, Eve felt like a criminal as she eased the door open and stepped into the tidy living room. The aging sofa sagged in the middle, but the wood floor gleamed and family photos dotted every available surface. Eve picked one up and smiled at Miss Althea with her arm around a then-teenage Celia. They were obviously happy to be together.

  Eve walked into the kitchen and looked around. Though the cupboards were almost bare, every square inch gleamed. Which told Eve the contamination hadn’t been caused by carelessness. There was no rotting food sitting around, and the ancient curved-front refrigerator was plenty cold.

  She reached over and turned on the kitchen faucet. No nasty, stinky water spewed out. Eve grimaced. You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?

  A peek out the kitchen window showed nothing but more weedy grass. She looked for a doghouse-shaped structure, which locals often used to protect their wells and well pumps, but found nothing. She ventured out the back door but didn’t see a well house there, either. Of course, even if she found it, it wouldn’t really tell her anything. The proof of contamination had to come from a lab, after the water was tested.

  She pulled out her smartphone and did a search for local water-testing companies. Not surprisingly, there was only one.

  “Pure Water, Incorporated, how may I help you?” a cheerful female voice chirped.

  “Good afternoon, this is Eve Jackson, and I’d like to schedule a water test.”

  A long silence followed, and Eve wished she’d never said her name. “Eve Jackson? The same Eve Jackson who cost the Safe Harbor Panthers the 1999 district championship?”

  Eve fought the urge to bang her head on the counter. “Unfortunately, that would be me. But it was a long time ago.”

  “Not that long,” the woman muttered; then she cleared her throat. “Unfortunately, Ms. Jackson, it’s going to be a couple of weeks before we can send someone out. But if you give me the address, and a phone number where we can reach you, we’ll call you the minute we have an opening in our schedule.”

  Eve narrowed her eyes. “You’re not going to ask why I need a water test? No curiosity about water safety?”

  “Clean, safe drinking water is always our primary concern. Now, if you’d give me your phone number, we can get your request into the system.”

  Eve rattled off the information, irritated with herself as much as with the woman on the phone. People had long memories in Safe Harbor. The fact that the Panthers hadn’t won a championship since losing Cole as their star quarterback didn’t help, either.

  “Thank you for choosing Pure Water, Inc., Ms. Jackson, where clean water is always our first priority. We’ll be in touch.” Click.

  Eve smacked the table in frustration, then pocketed her phone, thinking through her next move. Suddenly a car door slammed, and a man’s raised voice caught her attention. She turned and saw a white pickup parked sideways in front of the nearby mobile home, as though the driver had slid to a stop. A big black man stood below the tiny porch, shouting.

  “Are you crazy, IdaMae? You can’t just sell the place! You don’t own it! Mama left it to both of us!”

  Eve recognized Leon, Celia’s uncle, and eased into the shadows of the porch so they wouldn’t see her.

  IdaMae opened the door of the mobile home and fisted her hands on her ample hips. “I didn’t say I sold it. I said I got another offer. And it’s a good one.”

  Leon stormed up onto the porch and got right in her face. “Over my dead body.” He shoved past IdaMae and disappeared inside.

  “Don’t you come barging into my house, Leon Daughtry.” IdaMae followed him inside and slammed the door.

  They kept shouting, but Eve couldn’t make out what they were saying. A few minutes later, Leon burst out the door.

  “This isn’t over, IdaMae. Not by a long shot,” he shouted over his shoulder. He stood for a moment, fists clenched, then climbed back in his truck and roared away.

  As Eve stood on Celia’s back porch, an uneasy chill slid down her spine, despite the heat and humidity. Could the water contamination be about a fight for the property? She could easily see a big company involved in some kind of underhanded corporate maneuver, but what about IdaMae or Leon? Would they do such a thing, especially since it had affected little Glory? Or was this
an unfortunate accident?

  She dialed her private investigator.

  “Mark, I need your help,” she said.

  “Of course you do, but I’m not sure I can get what you need.”

  “What are you talking about? You always do. Listen, I need you to find me a lab I can get a water sample to quick—”

  He interrupted before she could finish. “Your boss called a little while ago, said if I wanted any more work from Braddock, I need to go through him only. Not you.”

  Eve pulled the phone from her ear and looked at it a moment, not sure she’d heard correctly. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously. And I need my paycheck, love, so I can’t help you. Sorry.”

  It took a moment for Eve to realize he’d hung up on her. She knew Mr. Braddock was angry, but she hadn’t realized it was quite that bad. She’d have to smooth things over with him later.

  She folded her arms, eyes narrowed as she looked around. That twitchy feeling of being watched slithered down her spine again, but she didn’t care. She had a sick baby in trouble, and she wouldn’t rest until she found out what was going on.

  Eve’s little car hadn’t been gone five minutes when another vehicle turned down the dirt road leading to the ranch. Cole pulled his hat brim lower and squinted into the sun to see who it was. When he recognized his uncle Duane’s dusty black pickup, he stifled a groan. He did not have the energy for another round with him today.

  Still, family demanded respect, so he walked over and greeted his mother’s brother with an outstretched hand, glad when his uncle climbed out of the truck and shook it. “Howdy, Duane. If you came to see Ma, she’s inside, just back from some meeting or other at church.”

  A whiff of alcohol floated on the breeze. “I didn’t come to talk to her. I came to talk to you.”

  Cole braced himself for another round of a conversation he hadn’t wanted to have the last six times, either. “How can I help you?”