Danger on Dakota Ridge

by Cindi Myers

  “Did you tell him about what happened this morning? The other shooting?”

  “No. He doesn’t need to know.”

  “There’s such a thing as being too independent, you know,” Rob said.

  She stood. “Come on. Let’s get you checked in.”

  He could have pressed the issue, but what would be the point? Paige wasn’t going to change on his say-so. He reclaimed his roller bag from beside the door and followed her inside.

  The interior of the home was comfortably furnished with a mixture of antique and contemporary pieces. Art on the walls depicted local scenery. Rob saw none of the chintz and cutesiness he had feared when his admin had suggested a B and B for his stay. Instead, the decor was low-key and classy—like Paige herself.

  She moved to a small desk in what must have been the home’s front parlor or formal living room and unlocked an adjacent cabinet to reveal a computer. “What name is on the credit card you’ll be using?” she asked, typing.

  “Robert Allerton.”

  “Not Robert Allen?”

  “As I said before, I’m not here on business.” Not exactly. He had sworn his admin to secrecy. After he talked to his boss in the morning, he might be assigned to the case, but for now, he was on his own dime.

  She scanned the card he handed her, then returned it, along with a set of old-fashioned keys on a brass fob. “The round one is for the front door,” she said. “The other is for your room. You’re in the Grizzly Suite. Turn left at the top of the stairs and go all the way to the end of the hallway. Breakfast is from seven to nine each morning.”

  He replaced the card in his wallet. “Dwight was right,” he said. “You’d be safer if you moved to a location that was unknown to whoever is targeting you.”

  “I have a business to run and a life to live. I can’t stop everything to go hide out in a cave somewhere until you or Dwight or whoever decides it’s safe to come out. I’ll be smart and take precautions, but I won’t do what these men want.”

  “What do you think they want?” he asked.

  She shut the cabinet door and locked it. “For me to keep quiet about what I saw. That has to be the reason they want me dead. They think they can frighten me into shutting up. But all they’ve done is make me more determined to find out what is going on up there.”

  She started to move from behind the desk, but Rob blocked her, one hand on her arm, near enough that when she inhaled sharply, the tips of her breasts brushed his sleeve. He fought the urge to pull her close and kiss the protest from her lips. Did she have any idea how maddening and enticing he found her? “Don’t get any ideas about investigating this on your own,” he said. “That could be dangerous.”

  “I’ll be careful.”

  Careful might not be enough, but he wasn’t going to get anywhere arguing with her about it. He moved aside and started to turn toward the stairs, but she put out a hand to stop him, then grabbed hold of the sleeve of his jacket. “Rob?”

  He turned back, looking into her eyes, which were the color of storm clouds, fringed with thick brown lashes. Eyes that could make a man forget every angry word she had ever leveled at him. “Yes?”

  She swallowed, color rising in her cheeks. “Thank you.”

  “What are you thanking me for?”

  “For saving my life.”

  He could have dismissed this with a denial that he had done anything special. He had reacted on pure instinct, with no time to think about what he was doing or why. But he wouldn’t let her off the hook that easily. “You know that old superstition,” he said.

  Two shallow lines formed between her eyebrows. “What old superstition?”

  “When you save a person’s life, then you’re responsible for them.”

  She released her hold on him as if she had been scorched. “No man is responsible for me.”

  He smiled, a heated curve of his lips that had reduced more than one woman to breathlessness. “Have I ever told you I’m a very superstitious person? And I take my responsibilities very seriously.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek, feeling the heat of her skin and breathing in the herbal scent of her shampoo.

  When he stepped back, he half expected her to slap him. Maybe he even deserved it, but that kiss had been worth it. Instead, she only tried to wound him with her gaze. Still smiling, he picked up his bag and headed for the stairs, taking them two at a time to the second floor. His stay at the Bear’s Den was going to be very interesting, indeed.

  Chapter Six

  Paige lay awake for hours that night, reliving every moment of being shot at—the sound of the bullets, the fear that had threatened to choke her, the feel of Rob’s weight on her, crushing and frightening and yet so reassuring. The man was maddening, one moment so tender and protective, the next knowing exactly what to say to make her angry. All that nonsense about him being responsible for her—and then he’d had the nerve to kiss her.

  That the kiss hadn’t been on the lips unnerved her even more. If he had insisted on kissing her mouth, she could have told herself he had practically assaulted her, and that he’d taken liberties to which he wasn’t entitled. But that gentle brush of his lips against her cheek had been both tender and incredibly sensuous. She still trembled at the memory, at the intensity of her awareness of him—the scent of his aftershave, the soft cotton of his shirtsleeve, the incredible heat of his mouth.

  She shouldn’t have let him get away with it. She should have told him off then and there. But she couldn’t find the words to do it. When he had left her, still smiling that I’m-so-sexy grin, she had had to bite her lip to keep from calling him back. In that moment, if he had tried to kiss her mouth, she would have pulled him to her willingly.

  After that, it took a long time for her to drift into a restless sleep. She woke several hours later with a start and stared into the darkness, heart pounding. She held her breath and strained her ears to listen. Yes, that was definitely the sound of the back door opening. She turned her head to check the bedside clock. One thirty-two. She heard shuffling, then the sound of someone walking—no, tiptoeing—past her door.

  She sat up and switched on the lamp. “Parker, is that you?” she called.

  “Yes. Go back to sleep.”

  Instead, she got up and went to the bedroom door and opened it. Parker stood in the hallway, hair rumpled, shoulders slumped. Her first instinct was to demand to know where he had been, but she stifled the words. “You look tired,” she said instead.

  He shrugged. “I’m okay.” He turned away. “Good night.”

  “Wait,” she said. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  He stopped, but didn’t look back at her. “What is it?”

  “Rob Allerton is here,” she said.

  “Yeah. You already told me he’s in town. So what?”

  “No—he’s here.”

  He did turn this time, and craned his neck, trying to see past her into her room. “Here?”

  She flushed, even though the suggestion that Agent Rob Allerton would be in her bed was preposterous. “He’s upstairs. In the Grizzly Suite. He has a reservation for a week.”

  “Okay.”

  She leaned forward, studying her brother more closely. He needed a shave, and he had the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes. Was he really just tired, or was something more going on? She pushed the thought away. She had to trust him. “You’re okay with him being here?”

  “I guess his money is as good as anybody else’s. And it’s not like I’ll see him much, between work and school and stuff.”

  Stuff. What stuff? But she didn’t ask. “It’s probably a good idea if you stay out of his way as much as possible,” she said.

  “Don’t worry. I will.”

  “He didn’t make a reservation here because of you,” she said. “He didn’t even know I owned the place.”

/>   “Right.” He smirked.

  “He didn’t,” she protested.

  “You can believe that if you want. I think Agent Allerton knew exactly what he was doing.”

  She resented everything his words—and that smirk—implied. “I actually asked him to leave, but there’s another reason he needs to be here right now.”

  Parker leaned one shoulder against the wall, arms folded across his chest. “I’m really tired, sis. Can we make this quick?”

  She wet her lips. He was probably going to find out sooner or later. Better she tell him rather than have him hear the gossip from someone else. “Someone took a shot at me while I was hiking up by Eagle Mountain Resort yesterday,” she said.

  He straightened. “What?”

  “I saw two men on the resort property. One of them spotted me watching them and tried to shoot me. Later, a car—possibly with the same two men inside—drove by here and someone shot at me again. Rob pushed me out of the way. As it is, the front door is ruined and will have to be replaced.”

  “Sis! What have you done?”

  “What have I done? I haven’t done anything.”

  “You must have done something to tick off these guys enough to try to take you out.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” she said again. “But until the authorities can track down those men, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Rob to stay here. He does have some experience with situations like this.”

  “You mean he’s got a gun and he knows how to use it.” Parker shook his head, as if trying to clear it, then looked at her more closely. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine.” A little shaky still, but she was determined to get past that. And her little brother’s concern touched her. “I really think Rob scared them away yesterday,” she said. “And now the sheriff’s department and probably other law enforcement agencies are looking for them. I don’t think they’ll bother me again.”

  “I hope not.” He ran one hand through his hair. “You say you were up by Eagle Mountain Resort the first time? This morning?”

  “Yes. I was on the hiking trail that runs alongside the resort. You remember—we went up there right after you moved to town.”

  He nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me about it this morning?”

  “I didn’t want to worry you. And I certainly didn’t think they would track me down here.”

  “It’s not hard to find anybody in a town this small,” Parker said. “Maybe you should go away for a while, until this is all over.”

  “No!” The word came out louder than she intended. She lowered her voice. “I’ll be careful, but I won’t put my whole life on hold and hide.”

  “What were those guys doing up at the resort?” Parker asked.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I saw them carrying a big wooden box into a hole in the ground.”

  “That underground chamber where Gage and his girlfriend were trapped a couple months ago?” Parker asked.

  “Maybe. I don’t know. I’m going to try to find out.”

  “Don’t go up there again,” Parker said.

  “If I do go, I won’t go alone,” she said.

  “Get Rob to go with you. Or better yet, stay home.”

  “I don’t want Rob to go with me. Maybe Gage can come.”

  “Rob wants to be your bodyguard, why not let him?” Parker yawned.

  “Go to bed,” Paige said. “And don’t worry about me.”

  “I figure I probably owe you a little worrying.” He patted her shoulder, then turned and shuffled down the hall to his room. Paige returned to her room and bed, but didn’t go to sleep. She was going to end up back at the resort sooner or later, she knew. She wouldn’t go alone, but she wouldn’t sit here doing nothing and waiting for others to solve this mystery.

  * * *

  MAYA RENFRO WAS a petite dynamo whose shoulder-length black hair was streaked with blue. Even at seven thirty in the morning, she bounced into the Cake Walk Café with all the energy she displayed as coach of Eagle Mountain High’s girls’ basketball team. “Paige, it’s so good to see you,” she said. “And wow, doesn’t this place look great? I haven’t been here since they reopened. Gage told me a driver crashed into it this summer.”

  “Yes. The owner, Iris Desmet, decided as long as she was rebuilding, she would expand and add a coffee bar.” She ushered her friend to a table. “How are you? And how is Casey?” Casey was Maya’s five-year-old niece, who lived with Maya and Gage since her parents’ murders that summer.

  “She’s great. Last week she asked if, when Gage and I get married, she can change her name, too, so we all match.” Maya snatched a paper napkin from the dispenser on the table and dabbed at her eyes. “Sorry—I still get teary thinking about it.”

  “That’s terrific,” Paige said. “I guess she’s really taken to Gage?”

  “He’s amazing,” Maya said. “For a man who swore he was a confirmed bachelor, he’s turning out to be a really great father. We don’t want Casey to ever forget her real parents, but it’s nice to think the three of us can be a new family together.”

  She pulled out a chair and sank into it. “Now you’ve heard all about me—what did you want to see me about so early in the morning?”

  “I wanted to catch you before school.” And before Rob was up, watching her and questioning her. Paige sat across from Maya. “I hate to bring up a painful subject, but I wanted to ask about the underground chamber up at Eagle Mountain Resort where you and Gage and Casey were held prisoner.”

  Maya’s smile vanished and her shoulders slumped. “What about it?”

  “Where was it on the property, exactly?”

  “Paige, why would you want to know that?”

  She shifted in her chair. “It’s kind of a long story.”

  “Buy me a latte and I’ll give you all the time you need.”

  Two vanilla soy lattes later, Paige had spilled the whole story of seeing the two men disappear into a trapdoor in the forest floor with a mysterious crate, how they had later shot at her, and the drive-by shooting at her home.

  “Wow!” Maya said, when the story concluded. “It definitely sounds like you stumbled onto something big. But I don’t think the trapdoor you saw was over the chamber where Gage and I were.”

  “No?”

  “No.” Maya sipped her latte, then wiped foam from above her lips. “We weren’t near the fence at all. I’m surprised Travis didn’t tell you that already.”

  “I wanted to double-check.” After all, Maya was the one who had been held prisoner in that chamber.

  “What I don’t get is why bother going through a trapdoor when there was an exit right onto the resort’s main street?” Maya asked.

  “So, maybe there’s another chamber?” Paige said.

  “Maybe there are a bunch of them. There are a lot of mines in the mountains around here, and mine tunnels, right?”

  “I guess so.”

  “Have you talked to Gage about any of this?” Maya asked.

  “No. I thought it would be easier to talk to you. I mean, he can’t really tell me anything because he’s a cop.”

  “I might be a little prejudiced, but I think he’s a good one,” Maya said. “You should leave the investigating to him.”

  “I’m not investigating,” Paige said. “I’m just curious. After all, those bullets were aimed at me. You can’t blame me for wanting to know why. I wonder if I can get my hands on a map of the resort. Maybe the planning commission has something.” She frowned. “Of course, they won’t let me look at it.”

  “Why not?”

  “The mayor, Larry Rowe, was head of the planning commission before he ran for mayor. He still has a grudge against me because my environmental group kept the project from going forward.”

  “You need to be careful,” Maya s
aid. “A lot of bad things have happened that are associated with the resort property. You couldn’t pay me to go up there again.”

  “I understand why you feel that way,” Paige said. “But if everyone avoids the property, it allows whoever is up there to get away with whatever they want. Whatever they were hiding in that space was something they didn’t want me to see. I want to find out what it was and expose them.”

  “You need to let the sheriff’s department do that.”

  “I will let them handle anything that turns out to be illegal,” Paige said. “But that doesn’t mean that, as an ordinary citizen, I can’t ask questions and try to gather information. It’s what I’m trained to do, as an activist.”

  “So who are you going to question about all of this?” Maya asked.

  “I’ll start with the new owners of the property, CNG Development.”

  “I’m sure Travis and Gage have already thought of that.”

  “I’m sure they have,” Paige said. “But these corporate types won’t tell the cops anything. They’ll talk to me. How do you think I got the scoop on Eagle Mountain Resort? I made phone calls and asked questions. There’s nothing dangerous about that.”

  “It sounds safe enough.” Maya pushed aside her empty cup. “As long as you don’t ask the wrong person the wrong question.”

  “I’ll be careful.” Truth be told, she was excited about the prospect. Since they’d won the injunction against building Eagle Mountain Resort and the challenge over the gate blocking the Dakota Ridge Trail, life had felt a little stale. She looked forward to the challenge of finding out what was really happening on the former resort property. She would succeed where others had failed.

  * * *

  DEA SENIOR DETECTIVE Dale Foster was a busy man with no patience for time wasting, so when Rob placed his call to his supervisor the next morning, he got right to the point. “I’m here in Eagle Mountain,” he said. “Sheriff Walker has requested the DEA reopen our investigation of that underground laboratory we looked into up here last month.”

  “What are you doing in Eagle Mountain?” Foster asked. “And why did the sheriff contact you instead of contacting our office?”