“You going to sell?”
“We haven’t decided yet.”
“Well, if you decide not to, send them my way. I could handle retiring right about now.”
He chuckled. “Will do. Talk to you later.” He hung up. “She hasn’t been approached, but she’s interested in selling.”
“Should we direct Stonefish to her?” Amy asked.
Darcy sat. He didn’t want to divert Stonefish’s violence on a friend. “No. If they wanted her land, they would have already given her an offer.” There were a lot of variables in his suggestion, but he was tired of sitting around waiting for the next thing to go wrong. “We should set up a meeting with them.”
“To what end?” Brandon asked. “They won’t admit they’re behind the damage.”
“No, but right now they’re an anonymous business. Tan hasn’t been seen since before the accident. We need names and faces.”
Brandon leaned back and smiled. “I like your thinking.”
“Why would they believe you’re willing to sell now?” Faith asked. “You’ve been adamant about it.”
He glanced at his brother. “The station has been moved into Brandon’s name. He’s spent the past month playing farmer—” He held up a hand to stop Brandon’s protest, “and has decided it’s too hard. He wants to get rid of it, but he knows I won’t agree, so he needs to meet with them in town in secret.”
“Then we’ll have someone we can follow,” Brandon said. “It might work.”
“Will they send someone important?” Matt asked. “They were using Taylor before, and the guy who had a petty thief rap sheet.”
Faith spoke. “If you imply you’re ready to sign the contract, they’ll send someone who can countersign it and get it witnessed immediately. They wouldn’t want to lose the opportunity.”
“We should bring Dot in on this,” Amy said. “She deserves to know what we’re planning.”
Darcy could already hear Dot’s pissed off tone in his head, but Amy was right. “Let’s set up the meeting first. They might not agree to it. Then we can tell her.”
“Let me get the laptop,” Brandon said. “I’ll write the email now. It’s the perfect timing with the haystack fire. The straw that broke the farmer’s back.”
For Darcy, it was the straw that made him determined to fight fire with fire.
It took over an hour for them to agree to the wording of the email. Faith pointed out a few things to change, so the wording was vaguer, less like a promise to sign. “If you’re not careful, they could use the email as an unofficial contract and take you to court. You’d have nothing left by the time they were done.”
Darcy wanted to be sick. He wasn’t cut out for contracts and legalese, but having Faith there gave him a measure of comfort. She’d steer them right.
Finally Brandon was ready to press send.
“Do you want to wait a couple of days first to see if they respond to my email?” Faith asked.
He was ready to take action, but if they could settle this in a civilised way, there would be less danger to those around him.
“We could wait until Friday,” Brandon said.
Darcy sighed. “All right. You’ll call me as soon as you hear something?” he asked Faith.
“Us,” Brandon corrected.
Faith smiled. “Of course.”
He stood. “I’m heading to bed.” He held out his hand to Faith, and she took it. “Night everyone.”
As they walked down the corridor, Faith asked, “Will Lara be upset if she finds me sharing your bed?”
He hesitated. “I don’t know. She doesn’t normally wake before me, but we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it,” he said. “I need you in my bed tonight.”
