“Sure you don’t want to sleep in the bed with me?” she asks Kieren for the hundredth time.
“No Mom. I’ll be fine here.”
My cabin has three bedrooms, but I use one of them as my home gym. Lauren is in the spare room with the double bed, but if I have my way, she’ll be in my bed soon enough. Although I respect that with her son around, it’s not as easy as throwing her over my shoulder and tying her to the bedpost until she screams my name, which is what I’d like to do.
Instead, I’ve made up the spare room for Lauren, and Kieren has an air mattress on the floor of the gym.
Kieren’s bag is dumped next to the bed, and I’ve pushed my equipment to one side of the room.
“I work out at six tomorrow morning. You want to join me?”
“Yeah.” His eyes flash with enthusiasm. “I’m up for it.”
“Good. Get some sleep. I’ll see you early.”
I leave him and Lauren to settle in while I head back to the living room. Lauren wants to speak to him about what’s going on, so I leave them to it.
Besides, I have some phone calls to make.
Owen picks up on the first call. He’s a fellow veteran and also the town’s acting sheriff.
“Dean, what’s up?”
I explain the situation with Lauren, and he assures me he’ll be on the lookout for Mark.
“Do you think this has anything to do with the land grab?”
He’s referring to the suspicious activity on the Reilly property. Lexi turned up a few weeks ago to claim her father’s land, but someone wants to buy it from her and they’re using aggressive tactics. It’s since come to light that other property owners in the area have been approached.
“I don’t think so. By the sounds of it, Mark is a run of the mill thug. I doubt he has the resources or the patience for what we’re seeing at the Reilly’s place; expensive lawyers and playing a long game don’t sound like the man Lauren described. He has connections, but he’s still a thug.”
“Just be careful. It may be that whoever’s behind the land grab is more aggressive than we thought.”
“What do you mean?” I glance down the hallway. Lauren’s soft voice can be heard from Kieren’s room. “Aiden mentioned something about suspicious circumstances around Lexi’s father’s accident.”
“I’m trying to track the junkyard Vaughan’s car went to after the accident. It didn’t go to the local yard, which is unusual.”
“You think there was foul play?”
“Maybe. I want to inspect the car to be sure. But I have to do it on the down low. I don’t want word to get out that I’m reopening the case. If the person behind the land grab did tamper with his car, then they’re more dangerous than we first realized.”
“You need anything, you let me know,” I tell him.
“Same goes for you. I’ll keep a look out for Mark and will call if I see or hear anything.”
The next call I make is to Aiden. He runs security at Jake’s Retreat but has been kind of distracted lately, ever since Lexi rolled into town and claimed the Reilly inheritance. Then Aiden claimed Lexi.
I fill him in on the situation and ask him to get the guys on alert. There’s the official way to do things, through Owen and the law. Then there’s the unofficial network of veterans on the mountain who are well-trained and ready to act if needed. I may need both before this is over.
I finish the call just as Lauren comes into the living room, closing the door behind her.
“Is he settled?” I ask.
“He’ll be on his phone for a while, but he seems fine. Taking it in his stride.”
She seems tired, and I flick on the kettle. “You want an herbal tea?”
She joins me in the kitchen. “Let me get it. You’ve done so much.”
