and extracted a deli sandwich, handing it to Mandy.
“You’re a saint.” Mandy sighed, accepting the offer.
“You’re amazing,” Danielle returned. “How on earth can you work this hard?”
“Practice.” Mandy took a big bite of the thick sandwich.
“Well.” Danielle smoothed her slacks, setting her handbag down in her lap. She gave a delicate, self- deprecating laugh. “I’ve been dialing my fingers to the bone.”
Mandy smiled at the joke. “Nobody expects you to do manual labor. Anymore than they’d expect me to compose a legal brief.”
“That’s very kind of you to say.”
“Don’t even worry about it. Thanks for the sandwich.”
They sat in silence for a moment, the sound of chain saws, truck engines and shouts surrounding them. Bainbridge Street was a hive of activity.
“I’ve been working with your brother Seth.”
Mandy swallowed. “On what?”
“Caleb’s having him coordinate a donation from Active Equipment to the town of Lyndon, loaders, backhoes, etc. He’ll be on Channel Ten to make the announcement in a few minutes.”
Mandy’s tone went thoughtful. “Really?” Her gaze went to where Caleb was bucking up trees. “I assume it’s a political stunt?”
“Move,” said Danielle. “A political move. And a smart one. Everybody wins.”
“I suppose they do.” Though it seemed a little slick to Mandy, she couldn’t say she saw any serious flaws.
“Speaking of everybody wins…” Danielle looked straight at Mandy. “I have an idea.”
“For Seth’s campaign?” Mandy hoped it didn’t involve her. She was planning to stay firmly on the ranch and out of sight throughout the mayor race.
“For finding Reed.”
Mandy swallowed, her attention perking up. “I’m listening.”
“I don’t know how long it normally takes to sell a thirty-million-dollar ranch. But, I’m assuming it’s a while.” She brushed some imaginary lint from the front of her slacks. “So, I’ve been thinking, and I’ve come to the conclusion that my best interests may be the same as your best interests.”
Her gaze drifted to Caleb. “He’s having a little too much fun out here. I need him back on the job, and the shortest route to that end would appear to be finding Reed.”
“You think he’s having fun?” Mandy couldn’t help interjecting. “He hates it here. He can’t wait to leave.”
“So he says.”
“He doesn’t want to be in Colorado,” Mandy insisted. And he sure didn’t want to be in the Lyndon Valley, on his own ranch, surrounded by painful memories.
Danielle smiled patiently, and a wealth of wisdom seemed to simmer in her dark brown eyes. “I’m not going to take that chance.” Then she became all business. “Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to give me your cell phone, and I’m going to dial a number, and you’re going to talk to a man named Enrico. Tell him everything you know about Reed’s disappearance.”
Mandy hesitated. She couldn’t help remembering Danielle’s suggestion that they track Reed’s credit-card use. She wanted to find him, but this felt a little too off the beaten path for her. “Is Enrico a code name?”
Danielle’s laughter tinkled. “His name is Enrico Rossi. He’s a private investigator.”
“Would I be breaking the law?”
“You? No?”
Mandy felt her eyes go wide, and her blood pressure slipped up a notch. “But Enrico will?”
Danielle cocked her head. “I haven’t the first clue what Enrico might or might not do. But he will find Reed.”
Mandy was tempted. Frightened, but tempted. “Will I go to jail for this?”
“None of his clients have so far.”
Mandy tried to figure out if Danielle was joking. “You’re scary, you know that?”
“I’m practical.” Danielle waved a dismissive hand. “There’s an off chance he’ll hack a password or two, but he’s not going to steal anything, and he’s certainly not going to harm anyone. And, since you won’t be paying him, there’s absolutely no legal trail that leads back to you.”
“I won’t be paying him?” This was sounding stranger and stranger all the time.
“He owes me a favor.”
Mandy felt her shoulder slump. “Good grief.”
“It’s nothing clandestine or mysterious. I was his defense attorney. Pro bono. When I was first out of law school.”
“So, he’s a criminal.” A criminal who could find Reed and stop Caleb from making a colossal mistake that would reverberate for generations. Where was the moral balance on that?
“He had a misspent youth.”
“What did he do?” Mandy was absolutely not getting caught up with thieves and murderers, not even to find Reed.
“He was a big bad street kid, who got into a fight with another big bad street kid, who it turned out, was trying to recruit Enrico’s little brother into a gang. Enrico won. He was charged with assault. I got him off.”
That didn’t sound so bad. In fact, it sounded kind of noble. “What happened to his brother?”
“He just won a scholarship to UIC. He wants to go into law.”
“So, Enrico’s a good guy?”
“Enrico’s a great guy. Eat your sandwich, and we’ll make the call.”
It turned out that Enrico didn’t sound remotely like a tough, streetwise criminal. He was articulate and seemed intelligent, and he said he was confident he would find Reed. When Mandy saw Caleb and Travis approaching the pickup truck, she quickly finished the call and disconnected.
“Thanks,” she whispered to Danielle as the two men approached.
“You look unexpectedly cheerful,” Travis said to Danielle.
While Caleb focused on Mandy. “You holding up okay?”
“I’m feeling optimistic,” Danielle responded, sending a brief glance to Mandy.
“I’m just fine,” Mandy answered Caleb. She drew a breath, both nervous and excited after her call with Enrico.
“Pretty hard work,” Caleb observed.
“Piece of cake,” Mandy responded with a shrug. She was tired, and she’d definitely be sore in the morning, but she still had a good few hours left in her.
Danielle retrieved two more sandwiches from her purse and passed them to the men. Both smiled and voiced their thanks, digging right in.
“Any news from the outside world?” Caleb asked Danielle between bites.
“Seth should have made the announcement on air by now. Equipment will be on a flatbed truck coming out of Northridge this afternoon. They’re hoping to have the airport up and running by tomorrow. And I was able to book a couple of rooms at the Sunburst Hotel.” She looked to Travis. “I guessed you might want to stay over?”
“You guessed right,” he responded, glancing around at the destruction. “They’ll need me another day at least.”
“Mandy and I can keep our cottages at the Rose,” Caleb put in. “Apparently, they’re structurally sound. Though they can’t guarantee we’ll have electricity. But they did offer us a discount.”
“I’ll take the cottage at the Rose,” Travis put in. “Mandy can stay at the Sunburst with Danielle. She’ll be more comfortable there.”
Caleb’s jaw tightened, and his eyes narrowed in what was obvious annoyance at Travis’s unilateral decree.
“Sure,” Mandy quickly agreed. She didn’t care where she slept. It wasn’t as if she and Caleb had plans for a clandestine meeting.
She might have been swept off her feet in his bed this morning. But she’d had plenty of time to reframe her mind-set. Caleb had been right to suggest some sober second thought on the matter. Making love with him would have been a colossal mistake. One she had no intention of making.
