A Little Too Late (Madigan Mountain #1)(47)

He cackles. “Now there’s a question I never get anymore.”

“Listen, I dropped a tracker into my rental before the Sharpes drove away, and now they’re parked outside Tucker Block’s house.”

There’s a silence on the line, and I wait for him to curse me out for interfering. But the explosion never comes. When he speaks, it’s only to say, “You’re shitting me.”

“I’m not.”

He groans. “That no-good, piece-of-shit…”

I’m not sure if he means the Sharpes or Block. But it doesn’t matter. “Dad, can I take your car? I want to do a little drive-by in town.”

“We can take mine,” Ava says. She’s already on her feet. “It’s right behind the building.”

“Actually, we’ll take Ava’s,” I say to my dad. “Gotta run.”

“Keep me posted,” he barks. “I’ll be here eating my feelings.”

I disconnect with a snort. It’s been a long time since I laughed at anything my father said.

“I’m wearing the wrong shoes again,” Ava grumbles, looking down at her pumps.

“Take mine!” Sheila’s already unlacing a pair of fashionable suede hiking boots in a girly shade of pale blue. “I’ll be right here finishing the appetizers and raiding Reed’s mini fridge.”

“You really do deserve that raise,” Ava says as she hurries to lace them up.

I grab my wool overcoat and also a packable down jacket I’d brought in case I actually found a moment to ski. “Here.” I thrust it at Ava. “Put this on. Let’s roll.”

For once, she doesn’t argue.

Five minutes later, we’re headed into town in Ava’s Subaru. I’d insisted on driving, on the pretense that I knew exactly where we were headed. “My caper, so I’ll captain it.”

“Fine,” she’d grumbled. But then she’d fallen silent for a couple of miles.

“You okay?”

“I guess.” She sighs. “Your father pays me pretty well. I like my job, Reed. I wanted that promotion. And I really wanted a vacation.”

Ouch. “I’m sorry. But if the Sharpes are in some kind of arrangement with Tucker Block, my dad might not sell.”

“Who is Block? Someone needs to explain what the hell is happening.”

“Block and my dad don’t like each other. Never have. When Dad met my mother, she was dating him.”

“Oh, wow.”

“Yeah. That’s the family myth, anyway.”

“So they never speak. And now you think this Block guy is going into business with Team Sharpe?”

“Seems like it. Block owns a huge tract of land on the Main Street side of the mountain. When I was a kid, my parents approached Block about doubling the size of the skiable terrain, by—”

“—putting a ski lift in town,” she says, finishing my sentence. “I heard about this once in the canteen. Thought it was a cool idea.”

“It’s the only way to grow the resort. The only way my family could ever think of. But Block wouldn’t sell us the land.”

“And now someone else has the same idea,” Ava says.

“Maybe. I guess we’re about to find out.”

The car grows silent again as Ava broods in the other seat. I feel guilty. As if her sadness is all my fault. “Ava, are you okay?”

“Yes. Sort of? I don’t know.”

Ouch. “Is it, uh, work related? Or am I the asshole here?”

She groans. “It’s complicated, Reed. Everything was simple until Tuesday. And now it’s not. That is more or less your fault.”

“Yeah,” I say slowly. “Okay.”

Ava is right. I came to Colorado to help. I meant well.

Now it might all blow up in my face.





CHAPTER 23




SCARY MOVIES START LIKE THIS





AVA Fifteen minutes later, Reed steers my Subaru down a quiet road just past the center of town. Snow accumulates quickly on the windshield, and Reed has to run the wipers in order to see where he’s going.

Then he drops his speed and douses the headlights, so we’re driving through the dark.

“Omigod!” I squeak. “There are scary movies that start like this!”

Reed chuckles. “There’s a half moon. I can see fine.”

After my eyes adjust to the dark, I have to admit that it’s true. I’m honestly not afraid for my life. I’m in a warm car with a hot guy I never quite got over.

A hot guy who has me very confused.

Even worse, it’s just dawning on me that—outside of last night’s fun in the bedroom—stalking a trio of Texan businessmen is the most excitement I’ve had in a long time.

What does that say about my life? Nothing good.

Reed eases the car into a parking lot beside an attractive but utilitarian building. It’s a big garage, full of tractors, each in its own stall, tucked behind an arched doorway. He cuts the engine.

“Um, Reed?” I whisper. “This place looks deserted, and I don’t see your SUV.”

“Block’s house is the next building over. Let’s walk from here.”