CHAPTER FIVE
The fire was all anyone could talk about over the next few days. Addy had called to set a meeting with the mayor and the McGowans, but since Martha had been busy meeting with the fire chief and inspector, their conversation had been pushed off until later next week.
Addy attended the special town hall meeting on Friday night with her old friends from school. Two of them, Becki and Missy, were already married with kids in Haven, whereas Harmony was still single and working at the local elementary school as a teacher.
Addy felt relieved that she wasn’t the only one from her class who was currently unwed.
She wasn’t surprised to see Tyler sitting at the front next to the mayor. She’d heard that over the last few weeks, he’d filled Dennis Rodgers’s place on the city board as city controller. That man had influenced the city with nothing but corruption and deceit.
Addy had heard that Martha had placed Tyler in that position until an election could be had, but everyone in town was pleased with the move.
Now, as the meeting was called to order and the crowded room grew quiet, Addy shifted in her seat and felt the back of her neck tingle. Without looking, she knew Trent must be directly behind her.
Why did that man have so much control over her body? She shifted in her seat again as the mayor started talking.
For the next hour, she tried to listen to the findings on the fire. Really, she did. But it was just like sitting in classes. She’d heard what she wanted to hear—that the cause of the fire was still under investigation and that the authorities weren’t releasing any further information yet. After that, her mind drifted off and suddenly she found herself daydreaming about a pair of lips roaming over every inch of her body. Her body heated as her mind sank further into the vision.
She’d felt his hands on her now a few times, but she’d always been covered in layers. What would they feel like skin to skin?
She’d dreamed about him for years. So, as her mind dove deeper into the visions, she was surprised at the new images her mind conjured up. Images, flashbacks really, of how he’d looked standing in his mother’s kitchen in his tight boxer briefs. The play of muscles up his arms, over his broad shoulders, down his impressive chest and further down his stomach toward a very sexy, hard six-pack. Not even those half-dressed men on billboards in California or Vegas had come close to his perfection.
Her mind snapped from her dream as she realized every eye in the room was on her. The entire crowd was silently looking at her.
She wondered if she’d made any noises out loud. Her face turned a bright shade of red, and she coughed a few times to cover the fact that her throat had closed up.
“Um.” She glanced around. Suddenly a low voice from behind her whispered.
“Fill them in on how long you’ll be staying,” Trent said in her ear.
“Oh.” She took a deep breath, then stood up. “I’m sorry.” She coughed again. “I think I’m coming down with something.” She searched her mind for an answer as her coughs continued. Her eyes moved over everyone, then landed on the mayor, who waved an encouraging hand at her.
When the woman mouthed You have the floor, Addy’s shoulders straightened and her chin went up slightly.
“As many of you have heard, my group, FREE—Friends Respecting Everything Environmental—has set up camp on the north side of town at the state park. We’re here on a number of environmental concerns. The foremost being the rumor that fracking might be allowed just outside of Haven. Since we first arrived, we’ve been reassured that this rumor is false. However . . .” She paused as several people whispered amongst themselves. She began again and regained everyone’s attention. “However, we have yet to see the local city council take any further measures to ban this destructive process of pulling crude oil from our precious lands.” Her eyes met Martha’s. “The mayor has assured me of a meeting later next week with several of the local oil drilling companies and the city council themselves. My organization eagerly awaits this meeting and hopes that we can come to some agreements that will protect the land and people living in and near Haven. I would further like to address the purchase of land next to the Flathead Reservation, where I’m sure local businesses will be eager to work with the reservation officials on filling them in on exactly what this land will be used for.” She thought over her statement, then added, “Until these items are dealt with, my team will remain in Haven to save not only this beautiful land but to ensure the health and well-being of the people in it.”
There was a moment of silence as she sat, then the entire room burst into chaos. Most of the locals shouted at the main table, some of them at her. She heard the words global warming, fake news, oil haters, tree huggers, and worse.
Her shoulders remained solid and her chin rose. Even the friends she’d been sitting with looked at her as if she’d grown an extra head. One of them actually scooted her chair farther away from Addy.
“Now you’ve done it,” Trent said directly behind her.
Suddenly there was a loud whistle. The sound bounced around the large room and caused everyone to quiet down instantly.
Tyler stood next to the mayor, his fingers dropping from his lips as his whistle echoed in everyone’s ears.
Trent chuckled. “Knew that would come in handy someday.” He leaned closer until she felt his warm breath on her neck. “I taught him that.”
“Good for you,” she said, tapping her ears until they stopped ringing from the whistle.
“Thank you, Tyler,” Martha said. “Now I am fully aware of Ms. Collins’s group’s intentions and my office will fully cooperate.” She glanced down at her council. “We are very concerned about what happens in Haven. None of us wants to see our little town turned into a circus show.” She glared around the room and Addy watched as a few men shifted uncomfortably in their seats. “Or a wasteland that is environmentally unsafe and full of pollution and earth tremors. I understand Haven was built on gold and oil. But I think we can all come to an agreement that we would hate for our children or our families to start getting sick because we didn’t look at all our options and protect ourselves. None of us here want the water table to be flooded with chemicals. We all know about Flint, Michigan.” A low rumble filled the room as everyone quietly agreed. “Sure, that wasn’t due to fracking, but still, water quality is a high priority for all of us, wouldn’t you agree?”
It was amazing. Just a few moments ago, Addy believed the room was on the verge of rioting, but now, every head nodded in silent agreement.
“You can close your mouth now,” Trent said.
She realized her mouth was hanging open, so she quickly shut it.
“Impressive, isn’t she?” he added.
Addy just nodded in agreement.
The meeting finished up with several questions about the new school structure, and Addy was surprised to hear that Trent had filled the position of landscape project manager for the job. He stood up and waved to the room when the mayor pointed this out.
When the meeting ended, Addy tried to exit the room but was inundated with people asking her questions. Most were individuals who wanted to help; others just wanted to tell her things designed to make her feel small, like that she couldn’t get a “real” job.
She was thankful to see that Trent remained by her side during it all. When a few men approached her, she knew there was going to be trouble, but when Trent stepped closer to her and glared at the group, they moved off without a single word.
Finally a path to the door cleared, and she made her way out into the cool night air. She hadn’t realized how stuffy the giant room in the city hall had gotten, but after taking a few cleansing breaths, she was relieved to be out of there.
Trent took her arm as they walked toward her Jeep; she felt her body brush against his and tried not to focus on what it did to her own. She looked over at him, her eyebrows raising.
He smiled down at her. “Just making sure you get to your car safely.”
“I think I can manage . . .” Her voice dropped off as she noticed one of her tires was flat. She stopped in her tracks. “Damn it.” She rushed toward her Jeep. “These were brand-new. Less than two thousand miles on them.” She kicked the flat tire as Trent leaned down to get a better look.
When he stood up, she knew what he’d seen. “Slashed?”
“Yeah.” He glanced around, then waved to his friend. “Tom’s here.”
Addy watched as Tom and Rea walked slowly toward him. She hadn’t seen the two of them together before, and it kind of shocked her to see that Tom’s arm was around Rea’s shoulders. They looked good together. Everyone in town knew that Tom had lost his wife a few years back, and Rea’s husband . . . well, everyone in town knew that story as well.
“What seems to be the problem?” Tom dropped his arm and leaned down. “Slashed. Looks like someone didn’t care too much for what you had to say in there.” He sighed. “I’ll fill out the paperwork. You can have the vehicle towed in. I’m sure Larry and John can have a new tire put on in no time.” He pulled out his phone and started to punch a few numbers.
“I have a spare.” She headed to the rear of her Jeep to start the work herself.
“Let us,” Trent said, and he and Tom stepped in. She knew she could easily change her own tires, since she’d had to before, but because they were working so quickly, she let them continue.
Addy and Rea stood back as the men rotated her spare to the front. Rea looked just as Addy remembered her. Her golden-brown skin glowed in the dim light from the parking lot. She wore a dark-green and gold blouse with bright-red feathers running down the length of the material. Her thick jet-black hair fell softly over her shoulders in a style she’d worn for as long as Addy could remember.
“I wanted to thank you,” Rea said. “I know there are a lot of upset people.” She looked around the empty parking lot as if she worried some were still lingering. “And this may seem strange coming from me, someone who’s made a living off the oil business, but I’m first and foremost a Native American. I’m proud of my Kootenai heritage.” The older woman’s shoulders raised slightly. “I may not live on the reservation anymore, but I know how important land is.” She reached over and patted Addy’s arm. “If you need anything, count me in.”
“Thanks.” Addy grinned. She’d always liked Rea. There had been a time when the entire town had gossiped about the woman. How she’d married a white man and had a bastard son, then how she’d driven her husband to kill himself and how Brian had turned into a psychopath. Addy knew that her mother had taken part in most of that gossip. Still, Rea had been nothing but kind to Addy and everyone else. Addy had grown up knowing that most of what her mother gossiped about wasn’t true. After all, hadn’t her mother said as many terrible things about her?
Trent rubbed the dirt and grease from his hands and straightened up. “All done. But just to be safe, I’ll follow you back to your place.”
He heard a soft chuckle from Tom and glanced over in time to see the man turn away.
“That won’t be necessary,” Addy said, walking to her Jeep and getting in. “Thank you both.”
“If you’ll stop by the station tomorrow, you can fill out and sign the paperwork for your insurance claim,” Tom told her.
“Thank you,” she said again, then shut the door.
“You’ll have to work harder for that one,” Rea said, patting Trent’s shoulder lightly as Addy drove away. “You know I’ve always thought of you boys as my own.” Her brow crooked as she looked at him. “So I’ll be frank. She’ll be worth it. Women like that only come around once in a lifetime. If you’re lucky enough to catch her, never let go.” Rea had always been there in the office when they needed her. If their folks had been busy, Rea had always had time for them. She gave his face a soft pat before she walked away, holding Tom’s hand in her own.
Trent made his way to his truck and, on a whim, decided to follow Addy home anyway to make sure nothing was wrong at her trailer. If someone went to the trouble of puncturing her Jeep tires, a feat impressive on its own, he wondered just how far someone would go to prove to her that she wasn’t wanted.
When he arrived, her Jeep was parked next to her trailer and the lights were on inside her small home. He sat across from her spot for a few minutes until he noticed her lights go dark, then pulled away slowly, keeping an eye out for anything that seemed out of the ordinary.
As he drove back to his mother’s house, he thought about the private meeting he’d had the day before. It appeared that the case against Dennis Rodgers was halted, due to the fact that all the evidence was now lying in a pile of black ash in the NewField building.
He’d been told that there were only a handful of invoices left after the fire and that most of the proof against Dennis had gone up in smoke.
It appeared that NewField’s computer systems had been hacked about a month ago and most of their data for the past few years had been wiped clean. Even the corporate office was relying on paper copies at this point.
Rea had hard copies of the invoices that were due, but the proof that Dennis had embezzled money was gone. There was proof that Dennis was a partner in a business called R&R, which had made an offer for McGowan Enterprises. But that wasn’t enough to lock him up. After all, it wasn’t against the law to start a business and try to buy another.
They had the keys from Dennis’s key ring that matched the padlock which had been used to keep Kristen locked up in the cave. Mike had informed them that Dennis was claiming that they coerced a confession from him. He was recanting everything, claiming his confession was beaten from him.
The whole ordeal made Trent sick to his stomach. Kristen and Tyler were taking it better than he would have thought. Especially after they found out that Dennis could be out on bail in less than a month.
Trent parked his truck behind his mother’s sedan, making sure to leave plenty of room for his brother’s truck to leave.
Somehow, he had known that there would be a family powwow after the town hall meeting.
“Well?” Trey said the second Trent stepped inside.
“Well?” he responded, hanging his jacket up and placing his shoes on the rack he’d made in seventh-grade shop class. “What?” He turned to Trey.
His younger brother crossed his arms. “You’re not getting past me until you tell me . . .” The rest of his words were drowned out as Trent tried to push his way past his little brother.
Okay, so they were pretty equally matched now as far as size went, but the fact that he would always be the older brother gave him the upper hand. Once they wrestled their way into the living area, both of them felt the sting of having their ears pulled until they separated.
“Enough.” Their mother glared down at them as she held their ears in either hand. “If I remember correctly, I set a rule when Trey was eleven that there would be no more wrestling in this house ever again.”
She released their ears and they fell apart.
“Sorry,” they said in unison.
“Now, if you’re done pretending to be eleven, why don’t you both sit down so we can talk about our next move?” She narrowed her eyes at them.
“Move?” Tyler chuckled from his spot across the room. “Why do we have to . . .” His words dropped away with one look from their mother.
“Okay,” Gail said after she finally sat down. “Now I saw you change Addy’s tire tonight, Trent. Was it slashed?”
He glanced over at Trey and knew that’s what his brother had wanted to know before everyone else.
“Yes ma’am.” He leaned back in the chair. “Whoever did it didn’t have time to finish the job . . . they left her spare and the three other tires alone.” His voice trailed off and he sighed. “I made sure she got home okay.” His mother nodded with approval.
“I can ask Mike to add a few more drive-bys this week at the park where she’s staying.” Tyler leaned forward.
“Okay, now that that is handled, how did word get out about our deal with the Lenz land?” Gail looked around the room as if she were looking for the leaker.
“When I went to North Dakota to pick up Bessy, I overheard Addy’s boss, Beau, talking about it with her. Apparently he’d been approached by a few men here in Haven who passed the information on to him.”
The room was silent. Then their mother spoke again. “Did she mention who it was that told her boss?”
“No,” Trent sighed.
“Okay, who knew about the deal?” Gail asked.
For the next hour, they went through a list until they had it narrowed down to a handful of workers. Then they talked about the fire at NewField and speculated who could be behind it. Everything circled back to Dennis and his goons.
“It is important to our plans that this purchase fly under the radar as much as possible so nothing goes wrong. Thankfully Addy was enough distraction that no one focused too much on it. But you can guarantee that someone will put two and two together and start asking questions.”
“Until we know something further, maybe Trent should keep a better watch on what’s going on in the camp?” Trey rubbed a suspiciously smirking lip. “Besides, he doesn’t seem to mind too much hanging around Addy.”
This earned Trey an elbow in the ribs from his mother.
“Hush,” she scolded and turned to Trent. “As I was about to suggest, I know you’ve been doing your part to keep an eye out, but is there any way you can get some more information from Addy on who the leak would have come from? We need to know exactly how much they know and their source.”
A chance to hang out with Addy more? And all under the guise of doing his job? Hell yes.
“Sure,” Trent said, as if it were no big deal. “If we’re done, I have an early-morning meeting with a moose.” He stood up.
“What would it take for you to bring that beast over my way?” Tyler asked as Trent started for the door.
“A case of beer,” Trent called back. “And your firstborn named after me.”
As he left the room, he heard Tyler chuckle and Trey respond, “That price is too high.”