Desolation Point

by Lisa Phillips

  “Like you said, if she gets hurt that’ll be on you.”

  “Ellie?” Drew waited. When the sheriff nodded, he said, “I’m going to make sure she’s safe while she does her job and investigates this murder.” He folded his arms. “What are you going to do?”

  “My job.”

  Drew didn’t want to ask what exactly that was. He didn’t think that would get him a helpful answer. It occurred to him that if Ellie’s father knew who was behind all the land being purchased, it stood to reason this man did as well. But how did you go about accusing a sheriff of being on the take? And the previous sheriff, Ellie’s father and a man he’d respected? Drew would need conclusive evidence if he was going to make an accusation like that.

  Threats of repercussions, if the accusations were true, weren’t going to be much better than accusing him outright, so Drew didn’t do that either.

  “You find Simon Mills,” Drew said, “and get word to me first.”

  “Now why would I go and do that?”

  “Because you don’t want to be associated with this.” He waved at the cabin, meaning the dead body. But also Ellie and all that was happening with her. “We wouldn’t want the wrong people getting word that you are digging up something that should stay under the surface.”

  The sheriff worked his jaw back and forth. “Okay. You get that, but it’s a short leash.”

  “Ellie isn’t going to let me go off half-cocked and put her job, or anyone else, in jeopardy.” And why was he suddenly acting like Drew would be a help in this situation? Had he finally come around?

  “Murder changed it.” The man’s dark look said more than his words. This was life and death now.

  Drew nodded. The receptionist’s death meant there was less margin for error now. This was serious. “Someone is willing to kill to protect their secret. You don’t want to put your job in jeopardy, and I get that.” Drew had more leeway and with a whole lot more autonomy given, there were less regulations. Just the law. Comparatively, the sheriff’s hands were tied.

  Drew said, “But I want anything and everything you can give me on these people. And what they’re up to.”

  “Sometimes cancer is so deeply imbedded, the only way to get it out is to destroy everything.”

  Drew had no idea if that analogy actually made medical sense, but he got the idea. “I do this, there’s no fallback on you.” He paused. “Question is, do you want it done?”

  “I want my deputy safe.”

  “And whoever’s buying the land, forcing people out of their homes?”

  The skin around the sheriff’s eyes contracted. As though he hated even hearing the words spoken aloud. “How do you know they didn’t want to leave?”

  “Ellie mentioned Sheila and Brad. There have to be others, but we haven’t found anyone to even talk to. Coincidence?” He let that hang. “And they weren’t just given payment for their property, they were given bribe money. Who knows if that amount was even fair market value?”

  “Find the cancer, and get it out of my town.” He walked away, leaving Drew standing by himself. He then moved to the cabin and went inside.

  A minute later Ellie walked out, pulling off her gloves. “What was that about? It looked pretty heated.”

  “He’s worried, that’s all. Doesn’t like murder.”

  “Does anyone?”

  Drew seized the opportunity and cracked a smile. “Maybe a psycho. But that’s probably it.”

  “Short list.” She returned his smile. “So what now? He told me to clock out and get some rest. Which is really weird…”

  Before she could go on, prolonging the conversation about her boss’s behavior, he said, “How about dinner first?”

  She blinked at him.

  He shrugged. “I’m hungry.”

  “I have some of my dad’s pot roast in the freezer,” she said. “It’s probably still good.” She was inviting him over? “We can lay out what we have and see if we missed anything.”

  Ah. Keeping things professional. Drew said, “Sounds good. We do need a plan.”

  They walked to their vehicles. Ellie glanced over before she rounded the hood of her car. “I’d be able to think better if I didn’t have this itchy feeling on the back of my neck.” Drew glanced around but didn’t see anyone watching them.

  “Exactly.” She frowned. “Feels like someone is spying on us.”

  Like whoever had killed that young woman lying dead in the cabin. Drew wanted to get out of there and somewhere safe as soon as possible. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 8

  “It’s in here somewhere.” Ellie shoved aside a Ziploc bag of pizza slices she should have tossed out a few days ago and found it. “Ah-ha.”

  She turned to find Drew across the other side of her kitchen. Yes, he was close enough in the tiny space she could reach out and touch him. If he reached out as well.

  He shook his head. “What?”

  “Nothing.” She turned her back to him, because the microwave was above the stove. Not for any other reason…like the fact that he was here and making her antsy. Aside from her father, she’d never had a man in her kitchen. And she’d lived here for years.

  Ellie didn’t know if that was noble, or incredibly sad. She probably wouldn’t like the answer.

  She typed on the microwave keypad, jabbing buttons so hard she was going to break them one of these days. “My dad is an awesome cook. You’re gonna love this.”

  “I know he is.”

  She spun around. “What do you mean, you know?”

  Drew looked entirely too smug for her liking. Or, maybe it wasn’t that he looked smug. Maybe just pleased with himself. Because she was uncomfortable? What kind of guy got satisfaction from throwing a woman off kilter?

  She folded her arms. She was starting to think dinner had been a bad idea. “Explain.”

  He shot her a look, lips curled up. Like he thought she was cute. “A few years back I spent Thanksgiving with your dad. You were off at college, I think. Somewhere. I didn’t have plans and I was between contracts. When he found out, he swung by my house and invited me.” Drew paused. “So, yes. I know he’s a good cook.”

  “Oh.” The microwave beeped. Ellie swung the door open and grabbed the dish.

  It was hot.

  She hissed, clutching the ceramic bowl. For a second, her brain stuttered. She didn’t know what to do with the dish and the fact it was burning her hands.

  “Here.” Drew pulled the towel from the rail and grabbed the dish with the protection of the dish towel between his skin and the stoneware.

  Ellie took a breath. “Ouch.”

  “Run your hands under the faucet. But only lukewarm. Not cold.”

  Oh-kay. Was he Mr. Come to the Rescue or what? Ellie did as he’d instructed, watching him out the corner of her eye. When he opened the wrong cupboard, she said, “This side,” and tipped her head back.

  He scooted between her and the refrigerator on the far wall, moving to the cupboard she’d indicated. He took down two bowls with those strong hands of his, his forearms flexing.

  She blinked. Forearms?

  It was official. She was losing it.

  This dinner seriously needed to get back to business territory, and fast. Otherwise she was going to have a nervous breakdown over the notion that she might be attracted to Drew.

  Okay, so she was. But was that the point? Hardly. There was nothing that was going to happen between them. Her head knew that. It was logical. Correct. She needed to fall back on the conclusions she’d arrived at.

  Relationships, bad.

  Solitude, good.

  Work, good.

  Tell that to her feelings, though. They didn’t seem to want to listen to reason at all, no matter how much she tried to remind herself that Drew was a man. She wasn’t threatened. But her heart couldn’t take another beating. Not after what had happened when she’d been away at college.

  Evidently Drew had been eating Thanksgiving dinner with her father. />
  The one Thanksgiving break she hadn’t come home was because she was too busy dealing with her life and how it had suddenly turned upside down.

  What happened next had destroyed any plans she’d made for Christmas. Her dad had ended up spending that one with her.

  In the hospital.

  “You okay?”

  She glanced over, frowning at the gentle voice he used. The soft look on his face wasn’t helpful either.

  “Are you worried because he hasn’t called you back yet?”

  Ellie nodded. Yes, she was worried and needed to hear from him, before she lost control of everything else. She moved to her phone and looked at the screen. Not that she’d have missed a call.

  They sat at her tiny table with its two chairs. If she wanted to eat with both Laney and her father, then they went to his house.

  Ellie took the first bite as she realized for the first time how narrow her life was. Not that it was an especially bad thing. She actually quite liked the controlled way she lived. Work, her family—which included her best friend. Now Drew, and this case.

  When it was over, he would retreat back to his corner of town. And his contracts with the feds. They would go back to not seeing each other.

  Ellie would go back to her life.

  “You were right. It is good.”

  She tried to smile at Drew, but she couldn’t quite make her heart do that right now.

  “Tell me.” There was something in his eyes.

  She wanted to just say it. Everything. Tell him all of it.

  His phone rang.

  The look on his face was noteworthy. Enough that she almost smiled then. He swiped it up, glaring daggers at the device. “What?”

  The voice on the other side had a low tone, but she couldn’t make out the words.

  “Fine. You can tell Ellie too. I’ll put it on speaker.”

  He jabbed at the button. The voice kept talking. It came through with, “…seriously.” Then he paused. “Hello?”

  “Mark, this is Ellie.” Drew scooped up a chunk of potato with his fork. “Ellie, meet FBI Assistant Director Welvern.” He stuck the potato in his mouth.

  “Hi, Mark.”

  “Hello, Ellie.” It almost sounded like he was trying not to laugh.

  “You have something?” She could have left the silence, but she preferred to put people out of their misery. Mostly because she would want someone to do that for her.

  “Uh—” He cleared his throat. “—yes. I ran the dead receptionist’s full name and her driver’s license number. Local girl, as of a year ago. Moved, after she got fired from her office job in the city. The job she has now, at the real estate office, was advertised through a recruitment website.”

  “The job she had.”

  Drew shot her a dark look.

  . . .

  Ellie tipped her head to the side.

  He shook his. “So it wasn’t advertised locally, but cast with a wider net instead?” In this small town everyone posted jobs in the classified section of the newspaper. Or on that bulletin board at the grocery store.

  “Seems like it,” Mark said.

  “That doesn’t mean it wasn’t in the paper here in town. Easy enough to find out.” Ellie let go of her spoon and sat back in her chair. She’d looked so cute and flustered earlier. Enough he’d gone against his better judgment and actually mentioned it. That could’ve been a catastrophe.

  She said, “That’s where most jobs around here are advertised.”

  Drew read the paper every morning. “But if Simon Mills was looking all over, could be he wanted someone from out of town. Someone who wouldn’t know that things in town weren’t as they should be.”

  Ellie lifted her chin. “Someone who wouldn’t care when locals were turned out on their ear because someone wanted to buy their land.”

  And they still didn’t know why Northcorp Inland Holdings was purchasing property around town. Drew said, “Did you get the information on what exactly they own?”

  “It’s all concentrated to the north and west.”

  Ellie said, “Maybe a highway, or new bypass? They’re trying to cash in on the government needing to buy up land for a new road? Or some kind of vacation resort.”

  “That’s a serious long game.” One that had been years in the making so far. And how long would it take for the government to decide where to put a road? “Once word is passed down about the plan in place, then the right person hears it. They buy up what’s going to be purchased first and then cash in big time. Isn’t that how it goes?”

  Ellie shrugged.

  Mark said, “I’ll send you what I have so you can check a map. Just looks like trees from what I’m seeing.”

  Only he and Ellie were close enough to the land to understand what possible significance it might have. From his office in Denver, Mark had a limited understanding.

  “Thanks for your help.”

  “Guess you can scratch two off now.”

  Ellie frowned.

  Drew said, “From the list of a million favors he owes me.”

  “Probably more like a hundred.” Mark’s voice, even through the phone, had a tone. One that made Drew laugh.

  “Hundreds is more like it.” Drew spoke around the smile he gave Ellie, and she returned it.

  Mark hung up.

  Drew wanted to ask her what she did to bleed off bad days on the job. Days like this, when she’d been put through the wringer. Maybe she didn’t have many, so she didn’t know how to deal with it.

  Her father cooked to de-stress, and he was really really good at it. Which probably meant he’d had many bad days—enough to build those skills. What about Ellie? The initial curiosity was only deepening. He wanted to know everything about her.

  Sitting at her tiny kitchen table in her little house one time wasn’t going to be enough. He wanted more. He was drawn to her, and not just to fulfill the promise he’d made to the sheriff that he was going to keep her safe.

  It was more.

  To the point that it was seriously testing his resolve to stay separate from the people in this town. After the life he’d had growing up, he never thought he’d actually come back and discover something more here.

  Maybe that made him judgmental, but it seemed Ellie was going to be the one who changed his mind.

  Eric and Alma didn’t live here anymore. That only left two others in town. Her father hadn’t managed it, despite the impact the old sheriff had had on his life. Ellie’s best friend hadn’t, either. Though, that was only a business relationship.

  And despite them all, Drew still held himself back. Neither of them got through to the real him that he kept hidden. Being around Ellie made him relax. And maybe that was the key. He wanted to tell her everything about himself.

  “Drew?”

  “Yeah?” He shook off the depth of thoughts. “What is it?”

  The frown was as cute as the rest of her, but he didn’t think she’d agree. Something was bothering her. She said, “Was she killed because we showed up asking questions?”

  “Did you ask her about the land being bought out?”

  Ellie shook her head. “Just about the corporation. I also asked her where Simon was and when he would be back.”

  “And their response to our questions is murder?” He shook his head. “I don’t buy that. It’s not a good reason to silence someone. It won’t stop us. Arguably it both draws attention to the fact that there really is something going on in town and they have to know we’ll be more motivated now, since a woman is dead.”

  She nodded. Was she convinced though? Drew couldn’t tell. He stood and carried both their empty bowls to the sink. “Got any ice cream?”

  She spun in her chair.

  “It’s my weakness.”

  That got him a smile. Still, she said, “I think we should go look around the real estate office. Before the sheriff sends someone over there.”

  He leaned his hips against the Formica countertop. “You think he’ll do
that tonight, or tomorrow morning?”

  “Probably tomorrow, given the time. He’ll want to talk to Simon as well.”

  “He’s not the only one,” Drew said. “I’d sure like to find him and ask him about all this.”

  “I can’t believe the BOLO has come up with nothing so far.”

  “He’s laying low.” Drew thought for a moment, then said, “I’d have thought he would be looking for an alibi. Or he’s already fled to Mexico.” He sighed. “If we’re going to be breaking and entering, you should get changed.”

  “I’m a sheriff’s deputy, I’m not going to break and enter anything.”

  He held up his hands. “Sorry. My bad.”

  She blew out a breath. “I’d like to know where Simon Mills lives.”

  “Me too. From what Mark told me it’s like the man literally does not exist.”

  “And today he happens to be absent from work?” Ellie got up and stretched. “Let’s go see if we can find anything in his office that might indicate who he really is. Or where we can find him.”

  He stared at her.

  “I’ll call the sheriff. Make it an official visit.”

  That meant there would be restrictions on whether or not Drew would be able to pick the lock. Still, he nodded. Honor was something in short supply in the work he usually did. Criminals didn’t care if he was a nice guy. Drew’s job was to get in, get what the feds needed, and get out.

  Protecting Ellie—both keeping her safe and not putting her job in jeopardy—was going to be a different kind of task.

  But one he was well equipped for, given his history. His career choices. The jobs he’d worked, and the kind of people he’d come up against. Whatever he and Ellie faced, Drew figured God would pick up the slack for whatever it was they couldn’t handle.

  He wasn’t one of those guys who thought a woman couldn’t protect herself. But he knew that together they would make sure she remained unscathed. Help me do this, Lord. His protective streak ran a mile wide. For a second, keeping her safe felt like it might be the most important job he’d ever have in his life.

  Twenty minutes later they pulled up outside the real estate office. She hadn’t changed. Still in uniform, Ellie cracked the door. She got out but stood between the door and the frame. Staring at the office.