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At home, Lucas changes into clean clothes, and I help him get comfortable on the couch. “I’m taking Jasper out back. I’ll only be a few minutes.”
He grabs hold of my wrist. “I’d rather you don’t go out there without someone keeping an eye on you.”
“I’m going into the backyard. Nothing will happen to me.” I bend forward and give him a quick peck on the lips. “You were the one who was attacked at the bar. It had nothing to do with me. Besides, Jasper is an amazing guard dog. Isn’t that right, boy?”
Jasper barks his non-scary puppy yap and sits next to the couch.
I crouch to his level and scratch him behind the ear. “That’s right. You’re a big scary beast. No one would dare mess with you.” I grin at his adorable cocked-head expression.
“I still don’t like the idea of you going out there on your own.”
“You can see me through the window. I’ll be fine. We won’t be gone long. Nothing’s going to happen to us.”
I take Jasper into the backyard to do his business. I don’t, however, brush off Lucas’s concern about my being out here with only a puppy to protect me. The outside light is on, and I’m alert to my surroundings, every sound a potential threat.
The doorbell rings as Jasper and I step back into the house. I go to answer it.
Lucas’s brothers and Jerome are waiting on the porch when I open the front door. Behind them, Emily, Zara, and Kim are discussing something.
We go into the living room and take a seat. I sit next to Lucas. He threads his fingers with mine. The move is natural and surprisingly soothing after everything that happened tonight.
“Before Sebastian got into the fight with the other man,” he says, “I overheard them talking at the bar. At the time I didn’t know it was Sebastian. His back was to me. It wasn’t until Simone pointed him out that everything clicked.”
Garrett leans forward in his chair, elbows on knees. “What were they talking about?”
“I think the Wakefields’ property. Sebastian was telling him he was positive the Wakefields are going to sell the land to his parents. The man Patrick kicked out of the bar told Sebastian he would relay the information to his boss, but his boss already wasn’t happy with the delay. There was something about Sebastian paying, but I missed that part of the conversation.”
Emily’s fair eyebrows leapfrog up her forehead. “Do you usually listen into other people’s private conversations?”
“They were sitting at the bar, so I would hardly call it private. If they didn’t want anyone to overhear them, they should have sat somewhere else. There was something about the man that gave me an uneasy vibe.”
“What did the cops say when you told them this?” Zara asks.
“I didn’t. With the way they’re not doing enough to figure out how the drugs ended up in this house, they’re hardly gonna care about info they can’t easily link to the case.”
“I wonder who the boss is the man was talking about,” I say. “All we know is that Crystal and Walter Dryson are hoping to build the lodge because their son has been angling for them to do that.”
“It doesn’t sound like he’s planning for it to be the romantic getaway they believe it will be.” Lucas’s mouth flattens into a thin line.
“You think the romantic-getaway part might be a cover? To make people less suspicious about the lodge’s real purpose?”
Kellan shrugs. “This is all speculation. We have no proof that either man is up to no good. We need to keep an eye on Sebastian. But unless the other man plans to stick around town, there’s not much we can do about him.”
“It would help if we knew who hit you on the head,” Garrett says to Lucas. “You really have no idea?”
“None. One second, I was asking Sebastian about the conversation I overheard. The next, Patrick was shaking my shoulders to see if I was conscious.”
“Could Sebastian be the one who knocked you out cold?”
“No, it wasn’t him. But I’m sure the cops will be asking him questions.”
I tighten my hold on Lucas’s hand. “You think he might be indirectly involved with what happened? And that’s why he didn’t stick around to talk to the cops?”
“Possibly. But why not stay? It’s not like he’d be arrested because someone hit me on the head.”
“Maybe he got scared off,” Emily suggests. “He was afraid whoever hit Lucas would go after him next. You said the boss wasn’t happy about the delay. It’s possible what happened to Lucas was a warning to Sebastian. A ‘Get your act together or else you’re dead’ warning. Why would he want to hang around for that?”
Cold dread fills the pit of my stomach. “If that’s true, Tuuli and Robert could be in danger.”
