Danger On Dakota Ridge

“For possession of meth?” Travis asked.

“Yes. And for trying to sell stolen property. He was part of a group of addicts who were robbing apartment complexes in Denver. I was part of a joint drug task force working that case. We had already determined the thefts were linked to drugs.”

“There was no doubt of his guilt?”

“None.” He sighed, all the frustration of those days coming back to him. “Paige wanted an adjudicated sentence, with her brother, Parker, allowed to go to rehab instead of prison. I didn’t agree.”

“From what I’ve seen, she can be a little protective of Parker,” Travis said.

“I get it. As far as I know, he’s the only family she has. But the fact that part of my job was to help see that he was punished for his crimes made me the enemy. Her opinions about right and wrong tend to be very black-and-white.”

“She went up there today to cut off that lock, didn’t she?” Travis asked.

Rob grinned. “I didn’t see a thing. Though she was carrying a hacksaw and a pair of bolt cutters with her.”

Travis shook his head. “When Paige believes she’s in the right, there’s no changing her mind.”

“I certainly learned that.” Though he would have preferred she didn’t see him as the bad guy. Still, she wasn’t his chief concern at the moment. “As long as I’m here, maybe I could help you out with Henry Hake’s case,” he said. “Is there anything you’d like me to look into? Unofficially, of course.”

“Did your aunt say who her brother was afraid of?”

“No. Except she thinks it had something to do with his business.”

“So not necessarily Eagle Mountain Resort. He had other real-estate holdings, didn’t he?”

“A few apartment complexes and some office buildings,” Rob said. “Eagle Mountain Resort was definitely his most ambitious project. When the court ordered him to stop development, I gather it put him in a financial bind.”

Travis nodded. “That’s what I’ve learned, also.”

“What can you tell me about the property’s new owners—CNG Development?” Rob asked.

“They’re another real-estate development company, out of Utah. They’re much larger than Hake Development, with projects all over the United States. I wondered why they even bothered with Hake—he was pretty small potatoes, compared to them.”

“Maybe they’re one of these companies that specializes in finding small firms in financial straits and buying them for bargain prices,” Rob said.

“Maybe so.”

“Paige says they want to build a research facility up there.”

“So they’ve said. They haven’t presented anything concrete to the town for approval. The couple of times I’ve been up there since Hake’s body was found, the place has been deserted.”

“It wasn’t deserted today,” Rob said. “I’d sure like to know why those two were going around armed—and what was in that box. And why they reacted the way they did when they caught Paige watching them.”

“Want to go up there with me to check it out?” Travis asked.

“You know I’m not officially on duty,” Rob said. “My boss doesn’t even know where I am.”

“You wouldn’t be participating in any official capacity,” Travis said. “I just want someone to watch my back.”

“I can do that.” And maybe he would get lucky and discover something he could tell his aunt. He couldn’t bring her brother back to her, but finding out what had really happened to him might ease her suffering a little bit.

* * *

THOUGH PAIGE VOWED to put Rob Allerton firmly out of her mind and focus on work at the bed-and-breakfast where she both lived and worked, she couldn’t stop thinking about the man. He was always so aggravatingly calm and sure of himself. Having him here in town annoyed her, like walking around with a pebble in her shoe. Those days following Parker’s arrest had been among the worst in recent memory. Her brother had needed help and men like Rob were preventing her from helping him. Yes, Parker had broken the law, but he wasn’t a bad person. His addiction had led him to do things he never would have done otherwise. Instead of punishing him, why not treat his addiction and give him another chance?

Rob Allerton had made it clear he didn’t believe in second chances. No thanks to him, Parker had at least gotten a chance to get clean, though he had had to serve time, too. But he was clean now, going to school and staying out of trouble. Another year and the charges would be wiped from his record.

But he was in that position only because Paige had fought for him. Other people weren’t so lucky. They had to deal with the Rob Allertons of the world without anyone on their side.

She sat down at her desk off the kitchen and tried to put Rob out of her mind. His vacation wouldn’t last forever, and she had more than enough to keep her occupied in the meantime. She was working there a little later when the back door opened and Parker entered. He dropped his backpack on the bench by the door and pushed his sunglasses on top of his head. To some of the more conservative people here in Eagle Mountain, he probably looked like trouble, with his full-sleeve tattoos and often sullen expression. But Paige saw past all that to the little boy she had read stories to and made macaroni and cheese for more times than she could remember. “How was class?” she asked.

“Okay.” He opened the refrigerator. “What did you do today?”

Attempted vandalism and ended up getting shot at by two thugs,she thought. “I was up on the Dakota Ridge Trail and you’ll never guess who I ran into.”

He took out a block of cheese and a plate of leftover ham. “I don’t have to guess,” he said. “You always tell me anyway.”

“Rob Allerton is in town.”

“Who?” He took a loaf of bread from the box on the counter and began making a sandwich.

“Rob Allerton. Agent Allerton? The DEA guy who arrested you?”

“What’s he doing here?”

“He says he’s on vacation.” He hadn’t told the sheriff about her attempt to cut the lock from the gate up on the trail, so she figured she could keep quiet about Rob’s aunt and Henry Hake. Parker wouldn’t care about any of that anyway.

“Maybe he wanted to see you,” Parker said.

“Me?” She blew out a breath. “I’m sure I’m the last person he would ever want to see. Don’t you remember how we clashed at your trial?”

“I remember sparks.” He shot her a sideways look. “He thought you were hot.”

“He did not!”

“You thought he was hot, too.”

“You’re delusional.”

He turned back to his sandwich. “I’m not the one blushing.”

“I’m not blushing. This room is too warm.” She opened the refrigerator and began putting away the items he had removed. “Are you volunteering at the museum this afternoon?” she asked. She had talked Parker into volunteering at the local history museum. Her friend Brenda Stenson, who ran the museum, needed the help, and it was a good way for Parker to keep busy. Everything she had read had said that having too much free time could be a problem for a recovering addict.

“No.” He took a bite of the sandwich.

Paige tore off a paper towel and handed it to him. “What time does your shift at Peggy’s start?” She had found him the job as a delivery driver at Peggy’s Pizza as another way to keep him out of trouble.

“I’m off tonight,” he said, then took another bite of sandwich.