by Chandra Ryan
Her head began to ache as she chased the thought around in circles. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she forced herself to take a deep breath and focus on solutions. What could she do either way? She sighed as she realized how limited her options were. It wasn’t as if she could grab a gun and chase him off her land. Pulling a weapon on a government official would be the quickest way for her to lose her ranch. No. The only thing she could do was hope for the best and prepare for the worst. She needed to focus on proving her business was above the board. Everything else would fall into place after she did that. She hoped.
“After what I’ve seen, I’m inclined to believe you. But there was a complaint and it’s going to take more than a guided tour to clear it up.” His voice and demeanor were both friendly but she didn’t trust him.
“This doesn’t even make sense. I’m a little ranch on an unimportant colony planet. Even if there is mismanagement—and I’m not saying there is—why would you give a damn?”
“Your ranch may be small compared to some, but it’s managed to capture political interest. I don’t know all the specifics. I’m a lawyer, not a politician. Not much of a distinction, I know, but I still like to point it out.” His smile was just self-deprecating enough to lighten some of the stress in the room. “But I do know that when a politician gets a call from a very important constituent, he investigates.”
“This constituent, he filed the complaint?”
“No. Representative Loase filed it on his behalf.”
“Why would Representative Loase do that? I’ve never met him. He’s never visited my ranch. Why would he believe the worst about me?” She put her hands down on the table, hoping to draw some comfort from its strength.
“He’s being a politician. Don’t worry though. A couple of the more egregious complaints can be dismissed by what I witnessed today. I’m going to file a positive preliminary report tonight and then go over your books with you tomorrow. Barring any unforeseen issues, we should have this cleared up in a matter of days.”
“Egregious? What did they say I’m doing out here?”
“There was some speculation as to the level of animal care maintained on the ranch and some concerns about the overall health of the livestock.”
Anger and nausea warred within her at the idea. How could someone accuse her of abusing her animals? “I take good care of my livestock.”
“I know. I saw how well they’re being treated firsthand. And I’ll make sure that’s the highlight of my preliminary report. This isn’t a witch-hunt, Kat. I have to do an investigation, but I’ll be fair about it. I promise.”
The rush of relief nearly made her dizzy. And the warmth of his hand closing around hers didn’t help the sensation much. He seemed as if he honestly wanted to be fair. Then again, just two hours ago, she’d thought he honestly wanted to be a rancher. “Why the pretense? Why answer my ad?” She had to know why he hadn’t been upfront with her from the start.
“Believe it or not, I did that to protect you. We try to keep these investigations as quiet as possible. Showing up on a settler planet can stir up all kinds of rumors. We don’t want any nearby land sharks to smell blood and come running.” He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Sometimes all it takes is a convincing lie to run a perfectly good business into the ground. With that in mind, you might want to continue with the pretense for the length of the investigation. After I’m done you can tell everyone I couldn’t hack it and I went back to my cushy inner world life. No one will ever be the wiser and your ranch’s reputation will still be sterling.”
She nodded but took her hand away from his. She still didn’t trust him, not completely, but he’d given her a lot to think about. “I’ll put your stuff in the guestroom.”
“Thank you.”
She stood slowly, mindful of her wobbly legs. Someone had filed a complaint against her ranch—one that could’ve potentially cost her the land. She never cut corners, kept everything above the board though. There was no way the person’s complaint could have any real merit. That thought should’ve made her feel better. She would pass this investigation with flying colors. But it didn’t. It made her feel infinitely worse because now she knew someone wanted her land badly enough to lie to the government for it. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he had a politician in his corner. If this went to court, it would be her word against two very powerful people—regardless of what the lawyer said. With her luck, one of them probably signed Mr. Lee’s paycheck. Things were not looking good for her.
“Breakfast is at sunrise. I’m pretty busy first thing but I’ll have some time in the afternoon to go over the accounting statements with you.”
“Thank you, I appreciate your cooperation.”
She nodded but didn’t reply as she walked away from him. She needed to get out of this room and as far away from him as possible. There had to be some way to figure out who had done this to her. She just needed to clear her head and it would come to her. The answers always did. No way in hell was she letting some crony take her life away from her. Not after everything she’d put into it. She’d paid for this land with her own blood, sweat and tears. It was going to stay hers.
Chapter Two
Jasper stayed at the table long after Kat had left. He needed to fill out the preliminary report and make sure it was submitted before he could do anything else. His gut hurt at the anger and fear he’d seen in her eyes, but doing something to help her eased the pain. She shouldn’t have to be going through this. Someone had set her up. He’d had his suspicions about the system when three ranch seizures had come across his desk in one month. When her plot of land had come up the next month, he decided to do a little investigating.
He’d started by checking with his colleagues. He hadn’t been working for the government for very long. Maybe seizures were more common than he thought. But, as it turned out, his hunch had been right. They were a rarity. There might be three in a year. Three in a month, however, was unheard of. So he’d dug a little deeper.
At first he’d dug quietly. He didn’t want anyone to find out and question his loyalties. Unlike his father, Jasper believed in working from inside a system to bring about change. He wouldn’t be able to do that if the Land Authority fired him. But when it became impossible to keep things quiet and make progress, he decided to go to his boss with his suspicions. Jasper had expected the man to throw more bureaucratic roadblocks at him but he’d actually been sympathetic to Jasper’s investigation. If Jasper could come up with a cover story, his boss would even let him travel to the ranch to do a more conclusive inquiry.
Jasper had just decided on presenting himself as a farmer in the market for a partner in the ranching business when Kat’s ad for a husband fell into his lap. It’d been fate. Or, at least, that’s how it’d felt at the time. Now he felt like a heel for taking advantage of her. He would give her back the money she’d given him for travel expenses, of course, but he couldn’t refund her time as easily. Judging from his research, she wouldn’t have a hard time finding a husband. She seemed genuine, hardworking and ran a successful business. But still, he hated that he’d manipulated her that way.
A door clicked softly in the distance and Jasper almost got up to investigate but the soft patter of shower water a few minutes later made it unnecessary. A self-reliant woman like Kat wouldn’t appreciate him checking up on her. Especially not while she was in the shower.
He checked his device one last time to ensure that the report had gone through and was uploaded properly in the database before he stood to stretch. He needed to get to bed. Tomorrow brought with it a whole new batch of challenges and he’d need a good night’s sleep to face them.
When he opened the door to the guestroom, though, the blaring of an alarm stopped him from going any farther. At first he thought he’d somehow triggered the noise but as soon as he smelled the first wisps of smoke, understanding filled him. Something was on fire. He wanted to rush out into the safety of the open grounds but he fought against the
instinct. He had to make sure Kat got out as well.
He raced back to the bathroom to find her standing in the hallway, wrapped in nothing but a towel, with her dark hair flung over one shoulder in a curly mess. There were no tears or hysterical rants despite the fear clearly reflected in her expression.
His job required him to make quick assessments of situations and he excelled at it. But sometimes that left him blind to the more subtle aspects of life. He’d seen a competent businesswoman when he’d first laid eyes on Katarina Maxim. She’d been nothing but efficient and practical from the moment she held her hand out to him. But now, as she shivered in front of him with alarms going off in the background, he realized how much he’d missed in that original assessment. He’d seen her as a businesswoman but the person standing in front of him now possessed so much more. The vulnerability of the moment and her calm resolve in meeting it added to her strength and touched him.
“I came to find you as soon as I heard the alarm.”
“Most men would’ve gone to battle the blaze first.”
His heart sank at her words. She saw him as a coward. Not that it mattered how she saw him. He wasn’t really trying out for the role of her husband. As soon as he finished his report, he’d be on his way back to his real life. But her words still stung. He’d like to be the hero at least once. To be the one who rushed in and saved the day.
“Don’t look at me like I just kicked your damn puppy. I meant that as a compliment. Most men stupidly let their hormones control them and they tend to get in the way,” she added as she walked past him. “I’ve never been impressed with the gender as a whole.”
He felt fairly certain they did not share the same understanding of the word “compliment” but didn’t dare ask for a clarification as she bustled down the hallway all businesslike. When she turned into her bedroom, though, he thought it’d be best for him to say something. “Shouldn’t we be getting out of here before the house burns down around us?”
“Don’t be so melodramatic. Two long bursts followed by one short means the fire is in the barn.” A flash of her naked body teased him as she threw the towel down to the floor. He looked away as quickly as possible, but he’d still seen her long enough for her lean lines to be burned into his brain.
He breathed out a deep sigh as he tried to banish the image. His body wasn’t as interested in forgetting her, however, and keeping his eyes closed only made the memory that much sharper. He needed to focus on anything else and the fire would do. “Good. We’re safe in the house then.”
“The house is safe. We’re going to the barn though.” Her voice was muffled for a second, which he prayed meant she’d put on a shirt. “Around here, fires are an all hands on deck kind of thing.”
She expected him to do what? Fight a fire? He stopped at the thought and shook his head. What did he know about firefighting? The systems were all automated where he lived. “Don’t you have a suppression system?” That was the extent of his firefighting knowledge. Everyone needed to have a suppression system installed in his or her house—and barn, he added.
“Yep.”
He looked over at her just as she wiggled into a pair of pants. She didn’t seem concerned in the least that he was standing right there talking to her as she got dressed. “Then won’t it take care of everything?”
“Animals don’t always listen to computerized evacuation orders,” she answered simply. After sliding her feet into heavy boots, she started down the hallway again. “And the system won’t seal off the fire until either all life forms are clear or someone hits the safety bypass.”
So the longer they talked, the more time the barn had to burn. He took a deep breath before following her into the back of the house. She handed him a mask, jacket and a heavy pair of gloves before grabbing gear of her own and then disappearing out the door into the night. He had to admit, this had the feel of a well-rehearsed event.
He had to jog to keep up with her, which made putting the mask on difficult. He’d just managed to adjust the straps when they made it to the barn. There were no flames visible but a thick, ominous smoke poured out of every opening.
“Status?” Even muffled by the mask, her voice still managed to have an edge of authority.
A large man dressed in a mask, coat and gloves identical to theirs turned to answer her. “Two bulls and one calf are still trapped. They’re in stalls four, three and one. We’ve cleared the rest but the fire has spread all the way from stall fifteen to eight. Mark and Stan had to take a break after the last batch. They got a little singed in there.”
“Good to know.” She slipped on her jacket and gloves efficiently before continuing, “Okay, I’ve got stall four. Bob, you’ve got three. Mr. Lee, you’ve got one. It’ll be the first door on the right and is about twenty yards in. Best bet is to chase the animal through the door at the back of the stall. That leads into the pasture. If the animal is too far gone or if the fire has spread and it’s too dangerous to rescue the animal, press the bypass button to the left of the stall door. That will trigger the fail-safe.”
That sounded more than a little ominous. He donned the coat and gloves before asking, “By fail-safe you mean what, exactly?”
“It’ll seal the stall with the animal inside.”
His stomach turned at her announcement.
“We’ll do everything we can to save them, but we don’t know what we’re walking into. The ranch is more important than any single animal. You understand, Lee?”
He nodded but his throat was too dry to actually speak. He’d never had to leave an animal to die before and he wasn’t exactly comfortable with the possibility.
“Good.” She reached up to turn on the flashlight in his mask before nodding. “Follow me.” She turned on her own flashlight and then walked into the barn.
He followed her into the building even as every self-preservation instinct he had screamed for him to turn back. The mask filtered the smoke before it could reach his lungs but it didn’t make seeing through the stuff any easier. And the drops of water raining down from the sprinkler system didn’t help either. They splattered against the plastic screen of the mask, leaving a sludgy mess in their wake. He quickly decided not to trust his eyes alone and began running his hand along the right wall as he counted his steps. Just as he took his twenty-first step, his fingers brushed against the indentation of the stall door. It only took a moment for him to locate the latch and open the door. Inside, the stall was dark but the smoke wasn’t as heavy as it had been in the hallway. He could even make out the form of an animal lying on the straw floor.
“Hey, Mr. Cow. I’m here to get you out.” He shut the door behind him to keep as much smoke out as possible and then knelt next to the animal. After taking off his glove, he reached out and stroked the cow gently to get its attention. He hadn’t been around many cows in his life, but he immediately noted the small size of the animal. “You’re a tiny thing, aren’t you?” He shook his head as understanding filled him. “She sent me after the calf, didn’t she?” He patted the animal again to confirm its size. “Of course she did.”
Waves of heat rolled through the air. They pressed against him and made him sweat under the mask and jacket. He had to get the calf out of the barn now. But first he had to determine if it still lived. He hated to think about the alternative, but even he could see it would be a waste of time and effort to try to save an animal if it had already succumbed to the smoke. And it hadn’t moved since Jasper had come into its stall.
He moved a hand down the animal’s head until he found its soft nose. He had to wait for a moment but soon he felt the trickle of air leaving the animal. The calf still breathed. That meant there was still time. Jasper tried to shake the calf to get it to stand, but that didn’t work. With the clock ticking loudly in his head, he finally decided to scoop the animal up in his arms. He carried the calf out the back door and got them as far from the barn as possible before sitting it down on the grass near a group of cattle. It only took a mome
nt for one of the cows to waddle up to the calf and start licking it. Jasper waited until the calf coughed and then watched the animal as it nuzzled the cow before he turned back to the barn. The other man had already guided a lethargic-looking bull out of the barn and into a neighboring pasture, but he didn’t see Kat anywhere. A ball of fear quickly grew in the pit of his stomach.
If she’d sent him after the calf, that meant she’d been freeing a bull in stall four. And the fire had already made it from stall fifteen to stall eight when they entered the barn. How long would it take to spread just four more stalls?
He ran back to the barn and then went through the doorway into stall three. Because of the odd-even numbering, he’d have to cross the hallway to get to stall four. Glowing embers and small flames danced in the open space between the stalls, but they were still small and he had no choice but to risk them. He needed to make sure Kat had made it to safety.
He raced across the corridor, slowing only to open the door to the stall before running into the small room. It wasn’t hard to spot the bull lying on the floor or the outline of a woman burying her face in its neck. “The fire is going to spread to this stall any second. You have to get out of here, Kat.”
She looked up at him but the thick smoke made it impossible for him to make out her expression. “Says the man who just ran back into the burning building?” She trailed her hand over the animal’s head as she sighed heavily. “He’s still alive but I can’t get the stubborn bull to move. No matter how loud I yell or how hard I pull and shove at him, he just lies there.” She tugged on the bull as if to prove her words. “I even tried using the cattle prod and I hate using that thing. But he won’t move.” She looked down at the animal as she petted him again. “I can’t just leave him here to die. My parents bought him just a month after we moved out here.” Weary pain echoed in each word. “They always said he brought the ranch luck.”