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Damn.
They’re not giving me a lot of room to find fault here.
I laugh out loud. A deep and sarcastic laugh. Here I am, an attorney, wishing that a family in my town—a good and honest family—somehow screwed up along the way.
I’m totally in the Twilight Zone.
I sigh. A gas leak, then. A manufactured gas leak. That will get Brendan off the property and out of business until it’s fixed.
Man, I was really hoping I could find a legitimate reason to shut them down.
Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it—I do have some contacts at the energy board from a case I worked on a couple of years ago. Even if I have to grease a few palms, I’ll be able to get this done.
I plug the number into my cell phone.
“John Lambert, please,” I say when a receptionist answers. “Donovan Steel calling.”
A few seconds pass.
“Donny!” John’s big voice booms into my ear.
“Hey, John. How are things?”
“Good, good. I hear you packed up and moved back to the slope.”
“I did. A favor to my mom.”
“I can’t believe you gave up your track at Bishop Helms,” he says. “Then again, since when do the Steels need to worry about money?”
Classic John Lambert. He’s a good guy, but definitely willing to bend the rules for the right price. His money comment cements it.
“I need a favor,” I say.
“Sure. Of course. Anything for the man who got me out of that defamation lawsuit. What can I do for you?”
“I need you to create a fake gas leak on a property in Snow Creek.”
Silence for a few, until—
“I’m listening.”
“I won’t go into detail unless you want me to. Probably the less you know about the reasoning the better.”
“Don, this is pretty substantial.”
“I know. I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t necessary.”
“Everything okay out there?” he asks.
“For now. I want to keep it that way.”
Silence again as he pauses.
Finally, “You got it, Donny. Give me the relevant information, and I’ll let you know when it’s done.”
“How will it go?”
“I’ll get someone from the office in Grand Junction to pay the property owner a visit.”
I inhale. Exhale. Inhale again. “John, I was hoping you could take care of it yourself. I don’t want to include any more people than necessary. I’ll make it worth your while. Put you up at the Carlton in Grand Junction, wherever you want. But I want you to be the one to visit the owners and serve the papers.”
Another pause.
“All right. All right. I can get a few days off. What’s the point of working for the government if I can’t slack off on the job, right?”
I force out a laugh even though this is far from funny. “When can you serve the papers?”
“Tomorrow good enough?”
“Yeah. Tomorrow’s perfect.”
“Got it. I’ll put it all together and get on a flight to Grand Junction tonight. I assume the Carlton suite will be waiting?”
“Absolutely. Plus a car and airfare. And whatever else you need.”
“Can’t think of a thing. Except now you owe me a favor, Don.”
“Yeah. I know.”
I hate owing favors to people outside family.
It never ends well.
Chapter Forty-Four
Callie
As Donny predicted, Alyssa and Troy run out of things for me to do by three, so I knock on his still-closed door.
“Yeah? Come in.”
I open the door and walk in. Donny’s hair is mussed, as if he’s been ruffling his fingers through it nonstop. He smiles when he sees me.
“Hey,” he says.
I bite my lower lip and close the door behind me. “I’m free.”
“I sure hope so.” He smiles lasciviously.
There go my cheeks again. Sparks galore. “I mean, Alyssa doesn’t have anything else for me today. And since there are still a few working hours left…”
He inhales. “Right. Yeah. I have plenty, Callie.”
“What can I help you with, then?”
“I’m going to give you access to the databases, but it’s imperative that Alyssa and Troy not know what you’re working on. Do you know if there’s a VPN set up on your computer?”
“I have no idea, but it’s easy enough check.”
“Good. Make sure there is one. If not, we’ll get one installed quickly. Then I need you to do a search of all the property in and surrounding Snow Creek.”
“Okay. What am I looking for?”
“Liens.” He clears his throat. “I want to know if the Steel family holds any liens on any property. I already know you’ll find one.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. Apparently the Steels hold a lien on Murphy’s Bar.”
I widen my eyes. A lien on Murphy’s? Why?
Donny’s gaze turns serious. “Not that I think you need reiteration, but I’ll say again that this all remains between you and me.”
“Of course.” I frown.
“Good.”
“Can I ask something?”
“Anything.”
“Why does your family have a lien on Murphy’s?”
He shakes his head. “Callie, I don’t have a fucking clue.”
“Ah.” I sit down in a chair across from him. “I’m beginning to understand what’s going on here.”
