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She used her phone to calculate how long the drive would be. Nearly three hours. She could do it in one day.Sure, she wrote back.Just text me the address and a list of what I’m supposed to pick up. I’ll bring it all here, and you can come for it after I get home. That way, no one will even know I helped.
And I won’t have to explain why I haven’t made it over to Missoula myself. Thanks a lot.
No problem.
Ellen began to sing along with the music she had playing in the background as she went back to fixing her sink. As worried and stressed as she’d been lately, and as frustrating as this repair was continuing to be, she was somehow happy. She told herself it was because she was glad Jordan seemed ready to leave her alone, she’d been able to save the Haslem well and she had some valuable information on who’d most likely sabotaged it. Those were all good things that’d happened today.
But she knew the way she felt had nothing to do with her problems and everything to do with Hendrix.
Lynn was already in the office when Hendrix arrived. He knew it would be more awkward between them than it had been lately, because Stuart and Leo wouldn’t be there, giving them other people to interact with as they avoided speaking to each other—or, at least, filling the silence and keeping Lynn from getting too worked up.
But he supposed it was for the best. He needed to talk to her in private, and this gave him the perfect opportunity.
She looked up when she heard him come in but didn’t say anything. Going back to her computer, she continued to work as if she hadn’t been interrupted in the first place.
“Morning,” he said.
She glanced at him, slightly startled—and maybe even a little smug that he’d been the first to break the silence. She always made those around her be the first to apologize, even if she was the one at fault—or at least equally to blame.
When she didn’t reply, just went back to work for the second time, he knew she planned to punish him a bit longer. She was trying to teach him a lesson, he supposed. To show him what it was like when he fell out of her good graces.
Normally, he focused on her better traits, which allowed him to tolerate these episodes. Stuart had trained him to turn a blind eye until the situation finally worked itself out. Today, however, it was harder to shrug off her behavior.
“You’re not going to say anything?” he asked.
“You want to hear me say good morning? Good morning,” she replied sarcastically.
He put his lunch box and water bottle on his desk but kept the coffee he’d purchased on his way over in one hand as he stepped closer to her. “We have a problem,” he announced.
She finally gave him her full attention. “What problem are you talking about?”
“Rocko Schneider.”
She seemed unfazed. “The guy who owns Burgers and Shakes?”
He took a sip of his coffee. “That’s him.”
“How could he be a problem?”
If she’d almost crashed into Rocko, she didn’t seem to be aware of it. Or she was a better actress than he’d realized. “He saw you the night before last.” That wasn’t strictly true, but Hendrix didn’t believe it could be Stuart.
Again, she didn’t bat an eye. “Where?”
“Driving off the Haslem property.”
Lines of irritation appeared, forming deep grooves on either side of her mouth. “What are you saying? I haven’t been over at the Haslem property.”
“He claims otherwise,” he said, pushing harder.
She remained resolute. “Then Rocko doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Why would he tell anyone I was at the Haslem property?” she asked. Then it dawned on her. “He’s not claimingIsabotaged Jay’s well!”
“He’s not saying that, no. What he’s saying is that you almost crashed into him when you came from the property on Tuesday—the night the well was vandalized—at nearly midnight, going way too fast.”
She jumped to her feet, from all appearances genuinely stunned. “That’s almost the same as sayingIsabotaged it. Why else would I be there?”
“It certainly invites suspicion, especially considering how you feel about Ellen.”
“Who’s he telling this to?” she demanded.
