UlteriorMotives (5 page)

“Maybe he’s not lookin’ to destroy it. Without a barn and
with a couple head of cattle missing, I’d reckon this ranch could be downright affordable.
If it became a headache and you decided to sell, that is.”

Was it possible? “No, surely not. He’d been angry at first
but he’s come to terms with my decision.”

The sheriff shook his head. “Maybe not as much as you think.
He’s still in at the tavern most nights, telling his tale of woe to any who
listen. I don’t know why Jake tolerates Mark harassing all his customers. Night
before last it got so bad that I had to break up a fight between him and
Clint.”

No huge surprise there. The two men were like brothers in
all ways. “Those two are always fighting.”

“But are they always fighting about you? Clint didn’t like
some of the names Mark was calling you.” The sheriff looked at the scene around
them again. “Couldn’t hurt to have a talk with him. If a man wants land bad
enough, he can find some pretty inventive ways to get it. And, by all accounts,
he wants this land pretty bad.”

Maybe Mark wouldn’t work with the person who filed the
complaint, but he wouldn’t have to if he were the one who’d filed it. “I think
you’re right. Can’t hurt to go have a chat with the man.”

“We’re just wrapping things up here. If you want to wait a
few minutes I’d be happy to go with you.”

She shook her head as she took the first step toward the
exit. “No need. Besides, I won’t get anything out of him if he thinks he’s
about to be arrested.”

“I’ll do his official interview tonight. Then we can compare
notes. If there are any holes in his story, we’ll find them.”

“Sounds good.”

“Be careful.”

She nodded as she stepped out of the barn but didn’t give
the warning much thought. Even if Mark were behind the complaint and the barn
fire, he wouldn’t hurt her. He wanted the ranch and that wouldn’t happen if he
were in prison for murder.

After talking to a couple of the other ranch hands, she
finally tracked Mark down to the back pasture. The trek was difficult and her
breathing had become labored by the time she made her way to him. Had she known
how far out he’d gone, she would’ve taken a horse.

“Hey, boss lady. What brings you out here?” He didn’t bother
looking up at her as he continued scanning the ground with a digital reader.
That gave her a chance to study him for a moment without him knowing. He wasn’t
bad-looking. After her father died, she actually considered dating him and seeing
where it went. It seemed like the easy thing to do. But they’d just had too
much history. Every time she looked at him she saw the young, brash cowboy
who’d lived to show her up anytime her father was near. She didn’t want to
always be in competition with her husband.

“I could ask you the same question. With all the work needed
to put the barn back together, I would’ve expected you closer to the homestead
today.”

“Too many people running around up there. There’s no way I
could get anything done. I thought I’d check up on some readings.”

“What are you looking for?” She tried to look over his
shoulder but he turned so she couldn’t see the readouts.

“One of the men said there’d been some seismic activity out
here. They were concerned about sinkholes.”

She felt a little guilty about her doubts. A single sinkhole
could take out an entire herd. Here he was looking after the ranch’s best
interests while she spent her day listening to gossip. “Found anything?”

“Nothing yet. It’ll take a while to clear the entire pasture
though. Might want to keep the livestock in the front pastures until I’m done.”

“I’ll let everyone know.”

“Thanks. Appreciate that. Now your turn, what brings you out
here?”

“I was actually looking for you. Wanted to make sure you
were okay. Heard you got a bit singed last night.”

The device pinged as he took a step. He pressed a couple
spots on the screen but then continued sweeping it over the ground. “No worse
than anyone else.”

“And the fight with Clint the night before? You mend fences
yet?”

That got his attention. He gaped at her for a second before
he shook his head and returned his focus to the device. “How did you hear about
that?”

“Small town. Gossip spreads.”

“Guess it does.” The device pinged again and he marked the
site on the screen. “Yeah, Clint and me are good.”

“What about us?” She’d never really been a
beat-around-the-bushes kind of girl. She wasn’t going to start today. “I know
we’ve had our issues. Are we good too?”

“We’re good.” His words were as stiff as his body. It wasn’t
a promising sign.

She looked around at the open expanse of sky and then sighed
shakily. “If that’s so, why the fight with Clint and why are you still giving
Jake’s customers an earful?”

He snorted and then kicked at a rock. “We’re good. It’s that
dandy you brought home I’ve got a problem with. He’s trouble.”

“He’s city, but he’s not trouble.”

“The night he shows up there’s a fire. That sounds like
trouble to me.”

“You got it wrong. Jasper Lee is a good man.” The need to
defend Jasper swept through her with speed and intensity. “He rushed into that
burning barn to save Blackie.” Not to mention coming back to check on her.

“He’s not who he says he is.”

Her heart stopped. “What does that mean?”

“It means you’re not the only one hearing things. He’s not
here to marry you. He’s here to take the ranch away.” He gave her a scathing
look. “When he does you’re going to look like a fool in front of the entire
town. Clint seems to think you know what you’re doing though. That’s what we
were fighting about.”

Her stomach knotted tight enough that she thought she was
going to be sick. People knew Jasper was there to investigate the ranch? How
had they found out? Jasper had told her they kept these investigations a
secret. And he hadn’t had time to tell anyone. She needed to get back to the
house. She had to talk to him. “I’m glad you two made up. If you find anything,
let me know right away.” She took a couple steps then faced him again. “And
come back by the barn in about an hour. The sheriff wants to question everyone.
Make sure no detail about the fire is lost.”

“Will do.” His attention was already on the scanner again.

She made a mental note to find out which scanner he had and
download the data later. For now, she had to get back to the house and talk to
Jasper. She walked as quickly as she dared over the rough terrain but it still
took forever before she got anywhere.

It didn’t help that the closer she got to the house, the
more on edge she felt. She’d never been a paranoid person but she would swear
someone was watching her. The hair on the nape of her neck bristled and she
couldn’t stop glancing around at her surroundings. By the time the house came
into view she was so relieved to see the comforting structure that she didn’t
notice the snapping of twigs as she took her next step. She didn’t know what’d
happened until the ground gave out under her. She tried to jump backward but it
was too late. Her stomach tingled under the weightless sensation of falling and
then blinding pain filled her head as she hit something hard on the wall of the
hole. Everything went black.

Jasper paced the length of Kat’s room as the doctor ran his
battery of scans on her. So far the man hadn’t found anything seriously wrong
with Kat but there had to be some reason she hadn’t woken up.

“Would you please sit down already? You’re making me
nervous.”

He wanted to tell the good doctor exactly where he could put
the damn chair but he refrained. He couldn’t blame the doctor for Kat’s
condition and he certainly couldn’t blame the man for his issues at work.
Still, today had been one of the worst days of his life and he had no idea how
to fix everything that’d gone wrong.

Sinking into the chair, he pulled out his digital reader and
started going through the correspondence with his boss. The man seemed
genuinely confused about how Jasper’s preliminary report had gone missing. And
the message read sympathetic enough in all the right places. But someone had
fed classified information to Representative Loase. The three messages Jasper
had gotten from the man were enough to tell him that. If not his boss, then
who?

He rubbed his temples as he studied his boss’s words again.
There had to be something he was missing. Desperate to find the answer, he
flipped over to Loase’s last note. The bastard had the nerve to threaten Jasper
with termination if he didn’t “resolve this matter quickly and return to the
job the people paid him to do.” It read as if Jasper were charging the people
for some vacation or pet project. It made his blood heat with anger and frustration.

He was doing his job, damn it. The Land Authority had been
created to protect the citizens’ right to own land. And even if he weren’t
doing his job, Loase didn’t have the authority to fire him. Yes, the
representative could lean on Jasper’s boss, but he couldn’t threaten to
terminate him. Unless he had Jasper’s boss under his thumb.

The headache intensified as the vicious loop continued to
circle in Jasper’s mind. He had to find some new avenue for his investigation
or risk going insane. He pulled up the original three land seizures one at a
time and scrolled through them, searching for anything he might have missed the
first three dozen times he’d read through them. But the only thing he hadn’t
seen was the information that hadn’t been included on them. He needed to find
out who’d bought the seized land from the government. Maybe that would give him
the break he needed.

He sent a message to one of his friends in the records
department requesting the information and then went back to pacing. The doctor
threw a nasty glare in his direction but then ignored Jasper as he started
packing up his tools.

“It’s a miracle she doesn’t have a concussion. But then, she
did always have a hard head. Don’t get me wrong, she’s got her fair share of
bumps and bruises, but the worst of it is a broken ankle. Which is a far sight
better than what I expected. I’ve set it and wrapped it to keep it temporarily
immobilized. I can seal the bone as soon as she wakes up, but she’ll still have
to take it easy until it’s completely healed.”

Jasper quirked an eyebrow at him. “So are you planning on
drugging her or tying her to the bed for the next three weeks?”

The doctor laughed heartily and then slapped his palm across
his knee. “I think I like you, son.” He picked up his bag before he started
walking toward the door. “Oh!” He turned toward Jasper as he pulled a bottle of
pills out of his jacket pocket. “When she wakes up she’ll need two of these
every four hours for the pain. She’s likely to be a bear but that’s nothing
new. Best get used to it now if you’re planning on sticking around.”

Jasper wanted to tell the man that he had no plans of going
anywhere but forced himself to stay silent. Of course he was leaving. Saying
otherwise would only make him a bigger liar. So instead he put on a stiff smile
and merely nodded. “Do you know how much longer it’s going to be before she
wakes up?”

“Could be a day, could be five minutes,” he said with a
shrug. “These things take what they take. I’ll be out here first thing in the
morning regardless.”

He thanked the doctor and walked him to the door before
returning to Kat’s bedside to keep watch over her. It was going to be a long
night, excruciatingly so if she didn’t wake up soon. Thankfully his reader
buzzed in his pocket, giving him a momentary distraction.

Lands sold to LMX-3 Energy. No auction. Hit a sensitive
info flag when I accessed files so can’t help any further.

He had assumed a large farm or ranch conglomerate had bought
the lands, not an energy company.
Thanks. We’re even.

The message had only been gone for a second before he got a
reply.
This blows back on me and you’re going to owe me. Big time!

You got it.
He sincerely hoped his friend didn’t face
any disciplinary action, but Jasper needed the information badly enough to risk
it. He leaned forward to run his hand over Kat’s forehead. She didn’t have a
fever but touching her made him feel better. And he needed to remind himself
why he was willing to risk everything before he sent his next message. Hell, he
wouldn’t turn down a shot of something strong either if it were offered. His
father had always been difficult to deal with under ideal circumstances and
these circumstances were far from ideal. But since he didn’t know where Kat
kept her alcohol, he’d just have to do this sober.

Still, even after he sent the message, he wished there were
another way. If the information had already been flagged, though, going through
the regular channels would only put everyone on alert. And if his father
excelled at one thing, it was circumventing the “regular channels”. Now he just
had to wait.

A soft moan shifted his entire focus onto the woman in the
bed in front of him. He’d never been so thankful to be playing nurse in his
entire life. Leaning forward, he swept his finger over her forehead again. “I’m
right here, Kat. The doctor’s checked you out. You took a nasty fall. Overall,
you’re in pretty good shape but probably in some pain. He gave me some pills to
help with that. Do you feel up to taking them?”

“Please. Everything hurts. And I’m thirsty.”

He ran his hand over the top of her head as he stood. “I’ll
get you some water. But don’t try to move while I’m gone. You managed to make
it out of your fall mostly unscathed, but you did break an ankle.”

He waited for her to nod before leaving her. When he
returned with the water, he helped her sit up enough to prevent her from
choking. He let her drink her fill before handing her the pills to swallow.
“You should feel better soon.”

She moved her leg under the cover and immediately hissed in
pain. “Yep. Feels broken.”

“Because you can tell better than medical imaging?”

“One of those things you have to feel to believe, I guess.”
Her smile was weak but it still made him feel better. “If the doctor has
already been here, why didn’t he just fix it then?”

“Apparently using a laser on an unmedicated patient is
frowned upon by the licensing board,” he said teasingly. “Go figure.”

She huffed at him as she rolled her eyes. “Okay, the
question might have been a stupid one, but you didn’t have to mock me. I’m in
pain here and just regained consciousness, after a rather terrifying fall, I
might add.”

“I wasn’t mocking you.” He laughed softly as he knelt next
to the bed. “I’m teasing a little. Sorry. I’m just relieved you’re awake.”

She smiled warmly and reached out to take his hand. “It’s
okay. I’m glad you’re here.” She allowed him a second to bask in the glow of
her compliment before she added, “I’m going to need someone to feed the
animals, gather the eggs, milk the cows, oh, and monitor the far pasture for
sinkholes.”

He was so overwhelmed that for a moment he just let her
words wash over him. He didn’t even know where to start. Stan or Mark could
probably show him where the feed and supplies were, but they had jobs of their
own. They couldn’t hold his hand while he learned what needed to be done. A
sudden burst of laughter from her brought him out of his mental spiral before
he’d found a reasonable solution. “I’m glad you find this amusing. But forgive
me if I don’t share your sense of humor.”

“The look on your face.” She laughed a little harder. “I
don’t think you could’ve looked more terrified had I told you I wanted to
introduce you to my parents.”

In a literal sense, that would be rather terrifying, seeing
as they were deceased. But he guessed she meant the statement more in a
metaphorical, relationship stage kind of way. “And you find that amusing?”

“No. I find it amusing that you actually think I’d dump all
that on you.” She was still smiling but the laughter had finally stopped. “I’ve
got ranch hands for a reason. They’ll be okay until I’m back up on my feet.”

“Okay, maybe it was a bit…much to digest all at once. But I
could help,” he argued. “Actually I’d like to help.” He wanted to help so much
that the desire worried him a little. She couldn’t be classified as a damsel in
distress—her strength and intelligence prohibited it—and he didn’t do the role
of knight in shining armor. And yet, here he was. “And it would help keep my
cover,” he added in explanation. “As long as I’m here, I might as well play the
part.”

“About that.” The humor died in her eyes. “I don’t think
people are as fooled by your story as you think they are.”

His stomach knotted as she told him about her conversation
with Mark. “The doctor didn’t say anything about me being here under false
pretenses. I’m your intended as far as he’s concerned.”

“Well, Mark’s heard something and he isn’t happy about it.”

“And that happened right before your accident?”

“Yeah.” She shifted under the covers but didn’t grimace this
time. He could only guess the pain pills were starting to take effect.

“Any chance he’s the one behind your fall?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so, but I guess anything
is possible at this point.”

“Why don’t you think it’s him?” he pressed.

“Just a hunch. It doesn’t add up. He couldn’t have possibly
known that I was coming to talk to him today. And even if he did, he couldn’t
have anticipated which path I’d take.” Her eyes fluttered as if she were
already fighting off exhaustion. “Anyone could’ve fallen down that hole.”

Just like anyone could’ve been hurt in the barn fire. The
saboteur apparently didn’t care who he hurt as long as Kat looked negligent as
the ranch’s owner. “I think that’s the point. You aren’t the target, your ranch
is.”

“Comforting.” Her eyes popped open suddenly. “Wait. If the
person wanted someone to fall down a hole to make my ranch look bad, what are
the odds they only dug one hole?”

He ran a hand through his hair as he cursed. “They’d have to
dig several to ensure someone got hurt.”

“There could still be more out there.” She tried to get out
of the bed, but Jasper put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “What? I’ve got
to warn my workers.”

“The only thing you’ve got to do is rest. I’ll give the
warning.”

She considered him for a moment before yawning loudly.
“Okay. But only because these damn pills are making me sleepy.”

“You’re welcome.” He stood and then walked to the door but
she stopped him before he could actually leave.

“On your way back, could you grab reader twenty-three from
my office? If I can figure out what Mark was scanning for in the back pasture
today, I might be able to determine if he’s behind the recent not-so-accidental
accidents.”

“You got it.”

“Thank you,” she said softly as he left.

He smiled at the token gratitude. Better late than never. He
passed the warning off to the others as quickly as possible and then grabbed
the requested reader before returning to Kat’s room. He hated leaving her alone
in her current condition. Yes, it wouldn’t be difficult for her to get one of
her workers to help her. But until he found out who’d set the fire in the barn
and dug that hole, he didn’t trust any of them. Plus, as silly as it might
sound, he wanted to be the one she leaned on.

“Looks like it’s been wiped clean,” he said as he handed her
the scanner. “But here it is.”

“Thanks.” She took the device from him and started to type
in commands quickly. “One of the perks of being the owner. I get to set up the
access codes. Nothing gets deleted from these things permanently unless I do
it.”

He watched her scroll through lines of data until his own
device vibrated in his pocket. He could easily guess who’d sent the message
but, still, when he saw his father’s name on the screen, his stomach tightened
with anxiety. That was nothing compared to the stomach cramps brought on by the
message itself though. He’d asked his dad to do a little digging and see if he
could find out how much LMX-3 had donated to Loase’s election fund. Turned out
his father had really come through, even finding several shell companies the
energy giant had funneled money through. The number on the screen was stunning.
“Any reason a major energy company would be interested in your land?”

She glanced up from her reader to ask, “Why?”

“Because they’ve invested enough in Representative Loase’s
election fund to buy a small planet. Wondered if they were looking to cash in.”

She typed in a couple more commands before saying, “It looks
as if Mark noted several concentrations of something called
inomoniam
.”
She scrolled through a couple more pages. “A lot of concentrations of the
stuff, actually.” She turned her reader so he could see the screen. “Do you
know what it is?”

“Sorry, didn’t take many geology classes in college.” He
typed the name into his reader and then froze when the results came back.
“Shit. This is bad.
Inomoniam
, when refined, is the main component in
H8.” He didn’t need a background in geology to recognize that chemical.