“Who’s asking?”
Her eyes narrowed.“Me, and my scientific colleagues who don’t want to see our research station demolished so you can get even richer putting up a half-billion dollar luxury hotel to decorate your personal Monopoly board.”
Quite an accusation.He held her furious stare, staying calm.“It’s not a hotel, it’s?—”
“I don’t give a fuckwhatit is,” she fired back.If looks could kill he would be on the floor right now, twitching like a dying bug.“That research station is on land donated to our foundation by a local patron more than thirty years ago.You can’t just come in and take it out from under us because you’re obscenely rich and want to make even more disgusting amounts of money off our oceanfront property.”
Wow, she definitely wasn’t a fan of his.“What’s your name?”
She lifted her chin.“Xanthe.”
“Xanthe.I can see you’re really upset about this.Would you like to discuss this in private at my office?I can show you the paperwork.It’s all legal.”
Her jaw worked for a moment, and the flash of pain in her eyes was all too real.Telling him this was incredibly personal for her.Emotional.Something he preferred to avoid, in business and in intelligence work.“Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right.”
Maybe not, but the deal was done.And completely above board.The trust had approached him about selling the property.He didn’t bother telling her because he doubted she would care.“I’m sorry you feel that way.”
Her eyes chilled to chips of ice at his answer.“No, you’re not.But this isn’t over.”She raked the others with a scathing glare before focusing on him again.And now her eyes were like frozen steel.“If I have to fight you every single day for the rest of my life to keep this from happening, so be it.See you in court.”She spun on her heel and marched away, leaving them all staring after her in silence.
He raised his eyebrows and slid into his seat to join the others.“Who is she?”
“I dunno, some tree-hugger fanatic losing her mind over the land being sold,” one of the men said.
“Dr.Xanthe Lazos is a marine biologist with a PhD from the University of Washington, actually.Very highly respected in her field,” the local councilman in their group said, censure in his tone.“She’s been living here for about six years now, doing research on whales.”
“Oh, of course, gotta prioritize the whales over prime oceanfront real estate and leave it sitting there unused forever because of a dilapidated research station on it.”The mid-sixtyish investor across the table rolled his eyes.“Does this mean we’re gonna have to worry about a bunch of out-of-work environmental freaks chaining themselves to the rocks and trees to stop the construction equipment when it rolls in?Why don’t they move the damned thing then!”
The councilman looked uncomfortable.“It’s not just scientists like Xanthe who will be upset about the project.A lot of locals won’t like it either.Including the militia...”
The mid-sixtyish guy snorted.“Please, don’t insult actual militias by calling that bunch of uneducated, paranoid redneck freaks that name.It’s all just talk anyway.”
Blaine frowned.“What militia?”That was completely illegal.
The others looked at him.“It’s supposedly an underground movement that started here on the island a long time ago,” the councilman said, his expression troubled.“But the rumor is, it gained traction the past couple years, and it’s spread to some of the other islands.There’s talk that they’re linked to a wider network on the mainland.”
“Stop it,” the older man said, voice full of disdain.“They’re nothing but a gang of gun-toting, wannabe tough guys with delusions of secretly running the island.”
The ammo cache.And Tripp’s comment about whoever was using the code being paranoid of using tech.That lined up way too well with this homegrown militia, and Blaine had been around long enough not to believe in coincidence.
He stood.“You’ll have to excuse me.I need to take care of something.”
He was halfway to his Audi when his phone buzzed in his pocket.Maddy.“Hi, Mads.All good?”
“Better than good,” she said smugly.“I already cracked it.”
