“It connects our property to our right-of-way through the Coulters’ property. Mitchell, kicking and screaming, has agreed to trade eight hundred acres from the Baldwin property for that two-hundred-acre parcel.”
Travis laughed. “You want me to believe that your cheap-ass brother who would sell his soul for a deal would give Ellen four times the land? And Baldwin’s property is choice—”
“Yes,” Clive interrupted, one eye to the north, where lightning sliced across the dark sky. A roll of thunder followed quickly.
Clive pulled a folder out from under his jacket and handed it to him. “This is a copy of what I gave Ellen. Read it. Look at the map. You’ll see it’s on the up-and-up. We need that land.”
Theyneededit? “Why?” Travis asked. “You sound desperate.”
“Like I said, it connects to the Coulters’ land, and to other parcels we have. Talk to her. Convince her. You were on board last year.”
Slowly, Travis nodded. “I was, until Verdacorp started dicking around with our neighbors. Until you started overpaying for land that John and Ellen were trying to buy. And then pushing her to sell not a week after John was buried.”
“That wasn’t me,” Clive said, having the good sense to avert his eyes.
“Yeah, Clive, it was,” Travis said. “You and Mitchell are a team, brothers, partners. You went too far.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Tell Ellen, not me.”
“I have. She’s so stubborn, you’d think she was born a McKenna rather than marrying into the family.”
“Must be why John fell so hard for her,” Travis mused.
“Are you going to help?”
“No.”
“What? Dammit, Travis!”
“I’ll talk to her tomorrow, see what she’s thinking, look at the contract, and give her my honest opinion.”
“Which is?”
“I don’t have one yet. I need to read this”—he held up the folder—“and make sure you’re not trying to screw her over.”
Clive stared at him, then gave him a nod. “Okay. Thanks. Remember, I need this signed before nineAMMonday.”
“I heard you the first time.”
Travis watched Clive run back to his truck and drive off, mud and water spraying out from his tires on both sides of his dirty truck.
He stared at the papers in his hand. Glanced down at Titan, scratched him again between his ears. The dog relaxed when the truck was out of sight.
“What are the Robinsons up to now?” Travis asked Titan.
Titan didn’t respond. He probably thought the exact same thing Travis did.
The Robinsons were up to no good.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ellen stood on Margery’s front porch and watched the rain fall hard on the ground while she talked to Dr. Ron Patel. He’d called her back twenty minutes after she left her message. Margery’s blood pressure was still elevated. He didn’t think she needed the hospital, but asked Ellen if she could stay a few hours to monitor.
“I can’t,” Ellen said. “My kids are home with my grandmother, and if I don’t leave now, I may not make it back before Whisper Creek floods.”
“How difficult would driving be right now?” he asked.
