Unexpected Love (White Oak-Mafia #2)

by Liza O'Connor

He wished she’d look at him, but her focus seemed to be her lap. Damn it! He shouldn’t have blurted that out…but he had no idea how to ease into this topic.

  “Tess, talk to me,” he pleaded.

  “You are certainly welcomed to try. I would offer to put my education off a year, but I’m pretty sure if I leave, they won’t let me return.”

  “For God’s sake, why not?”

  “They don’t like me. I keep correcting them.”

  He covered his face with his hands. She could have very well muddied that pool beyond repair. “Would you consider a different school?”

  “Wisconsin was the only one who would accept me into their program.” Her voice sounded both ashamed and angry.

  “But you lacked connections then. Now the head of the Iowa State Parks and the forest manager of the largest park in Iowa both believe you walk on water. I know Tom’s got friends at the University of Minnesota.”

  “That was my first choice,” she muttered and sniffled.

  “What courses have you completed thus far?”

  She listed them from memory, and Steel wrote them down, frustrated by the year she wasted. “And what do you have planned for this year?”

  “Mostly general classes. My advisor evidently thought if I took real classes last year, I’d discover I couldn’t do forestry and switch to another major. So this year I only have one forestry class. Everything else is general stuff—biology, communications, economics, math…”

  Finally, she looked up. “If I can’t get everything planned out so you can reasonably do this by yourself, then I’ll drop out and try Minnesota later on. You’re right. Maybe they’ll want me now that I have real credentials and people recognized in the field to recommend me.”

  He pulled her out of her chair and wrapped his arms around her. “I need you here. You’ve no idea how valuable you are. But I’m not giving up on you doing both, the right way. If you are willing to go to Minnesota—

  “More than willing.”

  “Then I’m sure we can work this out in a manner that does not require you to drop out of school.”

  Just then a disapproving voice spoke from the palm tree. “Platonic and professional, huh?”

  Tess tried to push out of his arms, but Steel refused to let her go. He glared at Dan, causing the man to shut up. He then kissed her temple. “We’ll do this. Trust me.”

  When he released her, she smiled at him with pure adoration. A lot of women had given him such smiles, but Tess’s was the only one that meant anything to him.

  Tess turned to Dan. “He was cheering me up. I’m sure if you get in the dumps, he’ll give you a hug, too.”

  Dan’s look of horror made Steel burst into laughter. “Grab a chair from behind the screen. We’re going to be planning for the next few hours. Securing all the archeological sites is our first priority.”

  Tess added, “Followed immediately by securing the whole park. Some kids tried to set fire to the place today.” She paused and looked at Steel. “This has to be the longest day ever.”

  “It’s been a full day,” he admitted. They’d help Helen die, then brought her home, saw her body off, put out a fire, rescued Helen’s ashes, and now they were on a fake beach ready to work on their security issues.

  “I’m going to need to see maps with terrain markings,” Dan insisted.

  “I can pull those up. I sent them to Tom a few weeks ago.” She glanced at Steel. “Any chance they have wireless printers?”

  “I can almost guarantee it. Try it.”

  “It says it’s printing,” she replied. “Can you ask the wall to bring it to us?”

  Steel chuckled, not just because she was funny, but because Dan was utterly baffled by her statement. He walked to the wall and requested the items printed be brought at once.

  Tess grinned at him. “I’m guessing the butler is muttering this wouldn’t be necessary if we’d just go to the library.”

  Steel ruffled her hair as he walked by. “No doubt about it.” When she continued to type rather than fix her hair, he finger-combed it down.

  Dan had managed to acquire a smile until he fixed her hair. Then he sobered.

  “What?” he snapped at Dan.

  Tess placed her laptop on the table. “He’s probably thinking you shouldn’t fix my hair, even though I appreciated it since you’re the one who messed it up.”

  Dan nailed him with a glare. “Saying matters are platonic is insufficient. If I worked for Don Benito, I’d be reporting there’s a thing between you two.”

  Tess turned towards him. “That would probably turn out bad for you. My father expects accurate information.”

  “Oh, there is definitely something going on between you,” Dan insisted.

  “Yes, but it’s not the ‘thing’ you’re implying, and my father wouldn’t like you misleading him. Fortunately, he’s very clear about that when recruiting new thugs. So I don’t expect they will make the same mistake. As you will discover, I get my hair ruffled a lot. For some reason, guys love to mess me up.” She then turned to Steel. “But you are the first guy to clean up his mess…so maybe you shouldn’t do that.”

  God, he loved her.

  “Okay, that look right there,” Dan challenged.

  “Looks don’t count,” Tess declared. “Father will tear anyone’s head off who mentions them as evidence of anything. Evidently, everyone in the mafia attempts to deceive their true intentions by portraying false expressions.”

  Dan’s head tilted. “You probably have something there.”

  “This is my father’s theory. With normal people, I tend to believe their expressions.” She then leaned forward. “So why don’t you want to work with us?”

  Her question clearly shocked Dan. Steel had expected him to lie and insist she had misread him, but after a sigh, he replied, “Because I think there’s a good chance Dr. Castile is going to die, and my career will be destroyed, through no fault of mine.”

  “You can stop there,” Steel snapped. “Trying to get Tess on your side, just so this becomes an easy assignment, isn’t going to work.”

  Tess nodded. “I agree. But thanks for letting me know your career is on the line. It gives me greater confidence that you’ll work with us to keep Steel alive and the project successful.”

  Steel chuckled. Leave it to Tess to find a positive thread in that grim reaper weaving.

  The butler arrived with a pile of paper, pens, pencils, and tape.

  “Thank you,” Tess said as she latched onto the tape. “I needed this. You are a very good butler.”

  Steel was glad she was preoccupied with her tape dispenser. It meant she missed the outraged glare. Still, he cleared his throat, catching the man’s attention. The lifting of a single eyebrow sent the man scurrying from the room.

  After a moment of confusion, Steel realized why the tape had made her so happy. She had printed out the terrain map in twenty pages which now needed to be taped together. He was about to challenge why they needed such a large map but silenced his voice as he realized that with this magnitude of detail they could actually plan the exact placement of cameras and fences.

  Since the pages had to be laid in proper order, the only help he could offer was to place the next page and hold the seams while Tess taped.

  Once done, she placed the archeological sites on the center of the table, allowing the forest ends to drape down like a table cloth.

  Dan leaned over, fully engaged, as Tess gave him an overview of the woods. When discussing the cabin, she raised one corner and pointed out its location, drawing a small box there.

  “From here, we have a decent view of seventy-five percent of the forest. Steel, can you lift up your side so he can see the Mississippi river.”

  Steel did as requested, then pointed to the location of the village site. “When the Paleo-Indians lived here, this river was their source of water, small game, and fish. But it was unprotected, so they built a narrow path up this ridge.” He then ran his hand over the area o
n the table. “The terrain is steep and rough, giving them a significant advantage against any tribe who attacked. It’s also why these sites haven’t previously been discovered.” He glanced at Tess to see if she was really okay with him taking the credit for finding the mounds.

  Her eyes sparkled with admiration, so he continued. “We will need this entire hill secured before roads are cut into these woods.”

  Dan frowned. “How do you plan to get the equipment and fencing in without roads?” He ran his hand through his short stubs of hair. “We have to have fencing. You mentioned steep rocky ridges. That is guaranteed to tempt hikers. So not only do we need twenty-foot fencing with angled barbed wired tops, but cameras within the protected area to alert us when these guys”—he glanced at Tess—“and women decide to defy all warnings and try to clip the fence so they can climb.”

  Tess nodded. “I can put the trail for regular hikers far enough away they won’t see the tantalizing rocks. That should reduce innocent traffic to the area.”

  “Good differentiator, Tess,” Steel said. “My main concern is once these sites become public knowledge, people will try to slip in and scavenge stuff to sell on eBay. They can do tremendous damage.”

  Dan rubbed his face. “And it’s this area you plan to spend most of your time in?”

  “Yes.”

  “But he’ll walk from here” —Tess pointed to the cabin— “to there via this trail.” She drew a wiggly line connecting the cabin to the area.

  Steel would bet money that all those wiggles could be found on the real trail.

  Dan grimaced. “What’s my budget?”

  Tess smiled at him. “That’s what we’re here to figure out.”

  “Yeah, but what’s the ballpark?”

  Tess looked to Steel. “Let’s plan for the best. I’ve been assured anything within reason will be covered.”

  “But who is deciding this?” Dan persisted.

  “The person who donated the land put aside money to develop this land and to pay its employees. She was very generous with both.”

  Dan glanced at Tess.

  “Not me. Grams sold her woods to a Mega Times winner named Meg.”

  “Seriously?” he challenged.

  “Yes. My father tried his hardest to kill her, but he failed. So you see, he can be beaten.”

  “Let’s focus on our plan,” Steel insisted, certain Dan was going to argue her positive observation.

  Tess pointed out the three known sites. “We were thinking about having a platform that people could stand on and watch the site work while audio devices tell them about what’s going on.”

  “Great.” Dan snorted. “An assassin will love that.” He then glanced at Steel. “No platforms.”

  “Hold on,” Steel insisted. “What if the path up to the site had detection equipment?”

  “Do you know how much electrical power that would require?”

  “Well, if we have power, we could probably use less ugly fences, but electrify them,” Tess muttered.

  “That’s a good point,” Steel said. “We are going to have new power lines brought to this place anyway. We can plan for a bigger drain. That’ll no doubt make the electrical company happier about stringing the wires.”

  “Power lines can be cut,” Dan stated.

  “So we’ll have a backup generator for the fences, and if power is off, we’ll close down the site platforms.”

  Dan sighed.

  Steel leaned over the table. “Look, I’m willing to go halfway on this, but at the end of the day I still need to build the best state park in the country. If you want me to wear a bulletproof vest under my normal gear, I’ll do that. I’ve done it before in hotter weather than Iowa. If you want to only open the platforms for the sites I won’t be working on, I can make out a schedule doing that. But I need you to stop just being a problem finder and become a problem solver as well. If you can’t, then you’ll be spending the next four years in Dubuque worrying about your career.”

  Dan closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Those were two really good solutions to my objections. I’ll sign on to the platforms if you aren’t below, just waiting to be picked off. I’ll also want to check this state’s gun laws because I really don’t want people running about with guns. There is no valid reason for a hiker to need a gun. That is just insane.”

  Tess opened her mouth, then shut it, then suggested something more constructive. “While the State Parks say no guns are allowed, there’s a whole bunch of exceptions to the law. See if we can close any of those loop holes.”

  Steel was certain she was about to mention Grumpy, the lethal six-hundred-pound bear, but he was gone now. Dan didn’t need to know about him. Instead, he focused on the problem at hand. “If you can get rid of the guns, I agree it will be safer for all involved. We are expecting this park to be successful, which means shooting a gun anywhere will put other people in harm’s way. I would push that angle. Tom Barkman should be able to help us there.”

  When the last of the green tea disappeared, Steel called it quits for the night. “We’ll resume this tomorrow after breakfast.” He patted them on their backs. “Good job, both of you. Tess, if you would, please send a copy, marked as a draft, to Tom. Just so he knows how hard we’re working.”

  “Okay, but only because he won’t know how to convert it into the software that we are required to use. Otherwise, this is good enough that he’d show it to the governor.”

  “We aren’t there yet,” Dan warned.

  “I know.” She then smiled. “But we made great progress tonight. You guys can go on. Wait. Is the butler still awake to lead me to my room?”

  “He’s supposed to be, but I doubt it. I’ll show you.”

  “I’ll go along, too,” Dan said.

  Steel suspected Dan had added chaperone duties to his job to keep them platonic. While he found the presumption annoying as hell, it was probably for the best because Tess was incredibly enticing.

  Chapter 16

  Early the next morning, Tess dressed and hurried down to the beach. Dan was already there staring at the map, which now had small red dots all over it.

  “The map has the measles,” she said with pretend-sadness.

  He glanced at her and grinned. “Those are where I want cameras. See any problem with that?”

  She grabbed her pencil and circled a few. “These will probably need to be moved to better sites. The white oaks are thick in these sections.”

  “Any possibility of thinning them out?” he asked.

  She gasped at his question.

  “If we start moving the cameras, we’ll end up with blind spots. While I recognize someone might use a tree to approach a camera, as long as they are positioned within three feet of these marks, a person won’t be able to cross without detection, unless, as you observed, the trees are so thick that they would always be behind a tree, safe from either camera.”

  She sighed. “With blind spots, it pretty much makes the whole camera system useless against professional thieves.”

  “And assassins.”

  “Yes, but to justify why we are doing this, Steel will need some reason other than his safety.”

  “Well then, the cameras will pick up thieves determined to steal whatever these Indians left up there, and we can send out security before they can penetrate the fence.”

  “They are called Paleo-Indians, the first human beings to walk this land,” she said. “While mounds have been found at Harper’s Ferry, they are much younger and less interesting than ours. And this village is the first ever found. It’s priceless and will change what we know about these first humans in this area. There will be cretins who wish to destroy and steal this magnificent find.” She sighed heavily. “So if we need to remove a few trees to protect it, I will do it.”

  Dan studied her. “I see why Dr. Castile has fallen for you.”

  She frowned at him.

  “I meant that as a compliment.”

  “Yes, but it
’s one that could get him killed and, just so you know, that weighs on me heavily. If I could wish my father and brothers to hell, they’d already be there.”

  “So back to our plans,” Dan said. “I’ve found another problem that I can’t think of a solution for.”

  “What?”

  “We need the road to bring in the fencing, but it will take months to build the road, leaving Dr. Castile and the sites unprotected during that time.”

  “I have a guy who helicopters out trees and returns us the lumber. I’m sure he’ll bring us fencing, too, if he can make a profit on the carry.”

  “Sounds pricey.”

  “But it solves our problem. I’m pretty sure Tom will approve it. Otherwise, the sites could be stripped and Steel could die before the road gets done. That alternative is unacceptable.”

  “Still, this is a state park…”

  “But the funding is from Meg, and it can’t be spent on anything but this park.”

  “Really? That was smart of her.”

  Tess nodded. “She’s a very smart woman. She once had a good life. Then a friend teased her into buying a Mega-Times ticket. She turned out to be the sole winner of half a billion dollars. Only it came with a lottery curse and a serial killer. Grams offered to sell her the woods if she promised not to cut down the trees. She did Grams one better. She bought the land and donated it to the state, plus she created several trust funds to cover all the costs of running it properly.”

  “That’s incredible. Who gives up that much money?” Dan asked.

  “Someone who understands how rare and wonderful this forest is.”

  Tess ran her hand over the circled red dots. “Some of the trees I’ll have to take out are over three hundred years old and six feet wide.” Tears welled in her eyes at the thought of cutting them.

  “Wow…six feet, really? You could hide a freaking army behind that. We definitely need to get rid of those.”

  These trees were majestic beauties, not obstacles to be removed. She had to leave before she did something that would get her arrested, like kicking Dan in the leg. With her head down to hide her distress, she rushed to the door and plowed into a broad hard chest.