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Chapter Twenty-Six
Mulaney
Seven Months Earlier
“We’re supposed to behere,”I said, thrusting the GPS at Easton. I was fed up with the useless piece of shit after it had led us in circles for hours.
We were out in the blazing heat of the Nevada desert on a wild goose chase, searching for some property I’d wanted to check out as a potential solar and wind-power site.
“I put in the coordinates, but this can’t be it,” I grumbled. He shifted his gaze from the screen to me, an amused smile on his lips.
Instead of flat ground, we were at the base of a mountain. One I couldn’t put a solar panel or windmill on without it becoming very costly.
He spread out my map on the hood of the Yukon and ran his finger along it. “We’re here. We have to be.”
“No need to even get out my anemometer. I don’t think a stitch of wind has ever blown here.” It was dry, hot, the sun cooking anything within reach of its rays. “How are you not frying in that jacket?”
He still had on his suit and tie from the meetings we’d attended that morning. We’d come to Las Vegas for a conference of the leading energy companies, but I’d heard about this property and hoped it would be a good place to continue our sustainable energy projects. Aerial maps had indicated a mountain, but I’d totally missed the mark on this one.
“You’re not impressed by my ability to endure the heat?”
Sweat dotted his brow, while my entire body was misted, my black dress concealing it was soaked through.
“Terribly.”
He tilted his head to scan the mountain.
“This place might not be so bad.” He was the money man, but his instincts were sharp. I consulted him often when prospecting for new projects.
“The problem is getting the energy we harness somewhere it can be used. Until we perfect our storage methods, this isn’t feasible. There’s no infrastructure out here. The price of that alone makes it cost prohibitive.”
“Sounds like you need to light a fire under your research team.” He folded the map.
While seeking out oil was my first passion, I wasn’t so shortsighted I couldn’t see the bigger picture. There was more to sustaining the earth with responsible solutions than taking hydrocarbons from the ground. Carter Energy could capitalize on those alternatives, like wind, solar, and battery power.
Easton opened the passenger door for me, ushering me inside. He handed me the GPS and the map, which I tossed recklessly in the back.
I watched him stride around the front of the car. The man wore a suit better than a GQ model.
“Ready to go?” he asked, cranking the SUV and turning the A/C to max. The kind of wind I’d been hoping to find outside blasted me in the face, and I leaned toward the vents to get more.
“Not sure if this thing will be any use getting us back to Vegas.” I held out the GPS, and he programmed it to route us to the city.
“Here’s the plan,” he said as we went back down the rocky dirt road we’d traveled to get here. “We’ll go to the hotel to clean up. I’ll make my speech. As soon as I’m finished, we’ll get out of there. Find a place to get a good steak and drink whiskey. Then we’ll go play poker. Hustle some high rollers. Pretend you don’t know shit about it, like we did that time to the Danvers boys. With our winnings, we’ll buy the best bottle of whiskey we can afford. And from there, we’ll see what other kind of trouble we can get into.”
We followedEaston’s plan to the letter.
We’d just executed phase four of his plan: hustling the high rollers. They didn’t take it well when we cleaned them out for a few hundred grand, but it was fair and square. Playing the innocent, clueless damsel wasn’t really in my wheelhouse. After a few hands, I wiped the floor with everyone, including Easton. Just because he was pretty to look at, and fun to hang around, wasn’t reason enough to show him mercy.
“Where to next?” he asked when we left the table. I was sure the house was glad to see us go. It hadn’t been a good night for them either.
“Hey, Bonnie and Clyde.” The man who’d sat silently, puffing on a cigar the entire time we’d played, spoke up. He wasn’t a fan of Easton and me. If it weren’t for us, he’d have been the big winner tonight. “Why don’t you two go check out one of those drive-thru wedding chapels? Screw up your own night instead of everyone else’s.”
My, my, someone’s a sore loser.
“I’ve heard worse ideas,” Easton said. I stumbled, and he steadied me with an arm around the waist. “Wanna go check out one of those wedding chapels?”
I opened my mouth and closed it again, staring at him like he’d lost his mind. It wasn’t often I was rendered speechless, but he’d done it.
