After fifteen minutes of being jostled and splattered with mud, Estelle and her colleagues demanded to be taken back to their chauffeured SUVs. Preston’s father called him an embarrassment. Teddy turned to face me, and my heart began to pound. If looks could kill, I would have been dead on arrival. I swallowed a giant lump in my throat as I silently willed him to not do what I knew he was planning to do.
“Fine,” he called to the rest of the occupants of the trailer. “This was a disaster. The truth is, I was trying do this town a service because while I was here, I uncovered something sinister that, as an officer of the court, I can’t turn a blind eye to.”
“Theo, what is your boy talking about?” One of the older suited men addressed Teddy’s father.
“I’ll be damned if I know,” he spluttered. “Teddy, sit your ass down and let’s get the hell out of this dump. Your poor mother has probably fainted from dehydration by now.”
“No, Daddy.” He tore his arm out of his father’s grasp. “We’re making one last stop.” He turned to look at me. “At the greenhouse.”
I felt the blood drain from my face and my stomach began to roil. Ernesto, upon hearing the wordgreenhouse, stopped the tractor short and turned to look at me. We locked eyes and I shot him the tiniest helpless shrug.
“I, for one, am not interested in seeing anything else except the highway out of this town,” Estelle protested.
“Well, you might change your tune if you knew that that greenhouse was filled with illegal marijuana plants.” Teddy nodded with a smug grin. “Emma’s grandparents have been running an illegal marijuana operation for years, and the whole town’s in on it, including the mayor and the sheriff.”
“How dare you malign the reputation of my deceased parents?” my mother shouted, scandalized. She was so convincing that, if I didn’t know any better, I would have thought she was actually hurt. I eyed her curiously.
“If you’re gonna accuse an elected official and a member of law enforcement of such an egregious offense, you’d better be able to back it up.” Derek narrowed his eyes at Teddy.
“This is preposterous,” Mayor Cole interjected. “This was a bit of a harrowing day, and we’re all a little wound up. Let’s have Ernesto take us back to the farmhouse and we’ll end this visit on a high note.” He raised his eyebrows, looking around the tractor. Again, I silently willed Teddy to concede and not call our bluffs, but I underestimated his determination.
“If you don’t have anything to hide, then it wouldn’t hurt to take a look, would it?” He raised an eyebrow and the entire tractor got quiet. The energy had shifted, and it gave me an uneasy feeling. “And if we don’t look at it today, maybe I’ll come back with my friends in the FBI.”
“Did you know anything about this?” Estelle hissed to Preston, who simply shook his head in disbelief, staring at Teddy.
The silence continued for a few moments that felt like they could have been hours, but were possibly only a few seconds.
“Well, it doesn’t seem like Mr. Baker will be satisfied until hetakes a look at the greenhouse.” Derek shrugged. “Ernesto.” He tilted his head toward the greenhouse. Ernesto met my eye. I hoped my expression didn’t betray the terror mounting in every cell of my body. I struggled to find words.
“I… I don’t think… that’s necessary,” I stammered. My mother gripped my hand to keep it from shaking.
“Why not?” Teddy sneered, and I fell silent. After giving Ernesto a nod, the tractor chugged and bumped along the property until we came to the thicket of trees that nestled Dan’s beloved greenhouse and the key to all of our destruction.
Derek had to help me out of the tractor and almost support my weight as I half walked, half stumbled toward the greenhouse. The door was unlocked as usual, and we were greeted by the sweet, verdant smell of Dan’s roses. The fragrance hit me like a punch in the stomach, and I wished to God that Dan were here so he could hold me in his arms one last time before our worlds collapsed.
“Looks like a regular greenhouse to me.” Teddy’s father narrowed his eyes at his son.
“No,” Teddy said, casting his eyes around and scanning the rows and rows of plants before he took off running toward the rear of the greenhouse. My knees threatened to buckle when I heard him shout, “It’s here. What’s this? Open this door.”
I knew exactly what door he was referring to. When the rest of us reached the steel door, Teddy was standing in front of it with his arms crossed, wearing a self-important smirk.
“You don’t want to open that door, Señor,” Ernesto said sardonically.
“Actually, I do,” Teddy replied. “Is there a reason you don’t wantto open this door? And while we’re talking, why the hell would a farm in a Podunk town in the middle of Georgia need a military-grade security door?” He nodded and looked around the small gathered crowd, still grinning.
“Well, sir. That room contains expensive farm equipment and tons of fertilizer. Even farms in Podunk towns in Georgia have thieves.” Ernesto told Teddy the same lie that Dan had told me when I’d asked about the door, and I was willing to bet that it would work as well on Teddy as it had on me three months ago. “And none of us are wearing protective gear. If I open that door, we’re all gonna get hit with a cloud of gas that you won’t be able to wash off for days. Probably shouldn’t breathe it in, either.” He shrugged.
I looked at Teddy, hoping Ernesto’s words were enough to make him see sense.
“Look.” Teddy glared at Ernesto. “You either open this door now, or open it when the FBI gets here.” He pulled his cell phone out of his suit pocket and raised an eyebrow.
“Better open it, Ernesto,” Mayor Cole said.
“Okay.” Ernesto shrugged. “I’d stand back if I were you.” Everyone except for Teddy listened. We took several large steps backward while Teddy only crept closer to Ernesto. We watched as Ernesto slowly typed in the code. My heart was thumping so loudly in my chest, I would have been shocked if everybody couldn’t hear it.
After a series of short beeps, the door hissed and slid into the wall. Before the door could fully retract, Teddy ran inside. A couple of tense moments passed before we heard the scream, then we were hit with the smell.
A second later, bedlam ensued. The noxious cloud that emanatedfrom the door was thick and cloying. I pulled the lapel of my cardigan over my nose, clasped my mother’s hand, and pulled her through the rows of vegetables, flowers, and fruits until we inhaled the crisp sting of fresh air. We were followed by Belinda, the mayor, Derek, and the rest of the group. Estelle coughed out the words, “You’re fired” to Preston as she climbed into the trailer of the tractor. I wasn’t sure if Preston heard her because he was bent over with his head between his knees, vomiting at the base of a large tree. Teddy’s father and his colleagues staggered out of the greenhouse, clutching handkerchiefs over their mouths and coughing. I looked around and saw no sign of Teddy or Ernesto. Before I could react, the entrance to the greenhouse burst open with Ernesto, supporting Teddy’s weight, filling the doorway. Somehow, the photographer never stopped clicking the shutter, and I could see the journalist scribbling in her notepad between coughs.
