Every one of the owner reps she and Dan had questioned, either separately or together, had been polite and anxious to resolve the matter but there was something about their attitude. It seemed to be the same with everyone and she couldn’t for the life of her figure out what it was that bothered her. They did everything right. Maybe too right, she thought.
Funny, she thought, how some of the best pieces of information dropped into your life by the oddest set of circumstances. Luck certainly played a big part in life, she thought. After Dan dropped her back at the firehouse she left to do a couple of quick errands and stopped at a convenience store for gas and coffee. The man in front of her at the cash register looked familiar and it drove her nuts that she couldn’t remember who he was. Back in her car, driving on the Interstate, it finally clicked into place. She didn’t know his name but she recalled he was a city engineer.
A month ago she’d been at city hall, waiting for an elevator and he’d been standing there talking in low tones to another man. She was blessed with unusually acute hearing so pieces of their conversation had d rifted to her. He was telling the man he was with about a major redevelopment project already three years in the planning, and cautioning that person not to mention anything. It was all still ultra secret, until it was time for the initial announcement. Not, the man, said, until all the land had been acquired.
When she saw him today it had triggered the incident hidden deep in her memory bank until she was able to pull it out. She immediately hustled over to city hall and spent a couple of hours digging through information. Each fact she uncovered only angered and shocked her even more. She was appalled at how callous some people could be, and how totally devious. When she had as many of the facts together as she could she went back to her car and sat in the parking lot while she texted Noah. She wanted to run this past him before she tried to follow the trail. It was kind of lick one of his stories, and he’d have a better analysis of it than she would.
“Can u tlk?”
“Yes. What’s up?”
“I have new info on fires. Urgent. Meet?”
Instead of another text, her phone rang and his name came up on the screen.
“You could have just texted me,” she said, grinning, “I wanted to tell you—“
“Where are you right now?” When she told him he said, “Go home. I’ll meet you there.”
“But I have to—“
“Now,” he snapped, and disconnected the call.
Well, alrighty then, Mr. High Handed. It appeared Noah Cutler hadn’t changed that much at all. She cursed him steadily and colorfully as she headed toward her house. She debated telling Dan she’d be away from her office for a while. They had planned to meet there shortly. But Noah just sounded so, so, what? Well, whatever it was, she’d give him a damn piece of her mind.
He was waiting for her in his rental car when she pulled into her driveway and hit the garage door opener. She was barely out of her own car and heading toward the door to the house when he as right next to her, his hand at her elbow.
“Inside,” he said, his voice still gruff and sharp.
“Noah, what the hell?” She opened the door and then they were inside.
He urged her over to the couch. “Sit. We have to talk. I want you tell me whatever it is you found out and don’t leave out one single detail.”
She sat because it was easier than fighting with him ad stared at him. Tension lined his face, more than she’d ever seen before. “Noah, what is this all about? And why are you ordering me around? And why did we have to meet here? We could have gone for coffee and talked.”
“Because I don’t want to be overheard.”
He began pacing back and forth in front of her, rubbing his neck, a muscle twitching in his jawline.
“Tell me everything,” he said. “And just this once, please do not give me a hard time.”
Now she was getting nervous. “Will you please tell me what the fuck is going on?”
“Okay, okay. Geez.” She took a deep breath and told him her story, including what had led her to it to begin with. “So that’s it,” she finished. “I know you do all these complicated exposure stories, so I thought I could bounce it off of you. Then you could tell me if I’m crazy or I should pursue it.”
“Do not pursue it. Period.” He blew out a long breath. “Do. Not.”
“Okay.” Now she was getting madder. “Are you going to tell me what’s got that bug up your ass and why you think you can dictate to me? This is my case. I only wanted to know if you think my idea is crazy or far out or whatever.”
“Fine. Okay.” He pulled himself together with obvious effort. “Let me have it.”
Irritated as she was, she still kept it together while she
