Unexpected Love (White Oak-Mafia #2) (17 page)

Steel would bet money that all those wiggles could be found on the real trail.

Dan grimaced. “What’s my budget?”

Tess smiled at him. “That’s what we’re here to figure out.”

“Yeah, but what’s the ballpark?”

Tess looked to Steel. “Let’s plan for the best. I’ve been assured anything within reason will be covered.”

“But who is deciding this?” Dan persisted.

“The person who donated the land put aside money to develop this land and to pay its employees. She was very generous with both.”

Dan glanced at Tess.

“Not me. Grams sold her woods to a Mega Times winner named Meg.”

“Seriously?” he challenged.

“Yes. My father tried his hardest to kill her, but he failed. So you see, he can be beaten.”

“Let’s focus on our plan,” Steel insisted, certain Dan was going to argue her positive observation.

Tess pointed out the three known sites. “We were thinking about having a platform that people could stand on and watch the site work while audio devices tell them about what’s going on.”

“Great.” Dan snorted. “An assassin will love that.” He then glanced at Steel. “No platforms.”

“Hold on,” Steel insisted. “What if the path up to the site had detection equipment?”

“Do you know how much electrical power that would require?”

“Well, if we have power, we could probably use less ugly fences, but electrify them,” Tess muttered.

“That’s a good point,” Steel said. “We are going to have new power lines brought to this place anyway. We can plan for a bigger drain. That’ll no doubt make the electrical company happier about stringing the wires.”

“Power lines can be cut,” Dan stated.

“So we’ll have a backup generator for the fences, and if power is off, we’ll close down the site platforms.”

Dan sighed.

Steel leaned over the table. “Look, I’m willing to go halfway on this, but at the end of the day I still need to build the best state park in the country. If you want me to wear a bulletproof vest under my normal gear, I’ll do that. I’ve done it before in hotter weather than Iowa. If you want to only open the platforms for the sites I won’t be working on, I can make out a schedule doing that. But I need you to stop just being a problem finder and become a problem solver as well. If you can’t, then you’ll be spending the next four years in Dubuque worrying about your career.”

Dan closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Those were two really good solutions to my objections. I’ll sign on to the platforms if you aren’t below, just waiting to be picked off. I’ll also want to check this state’s gun laws because I really don’t want people running about with guns. There is no valid reason for a hiker to need a gun. That is just insane.”

Tess opened her mouth, then shut it, then suggested something more constructive. “While the State Parks say no guns are allowed, there’s a whole bunch of exceptions to the law. See if we can close any of those loop holes.”

Steel was certain she was about to mention Grumpy, the lethal six-hundred-pound bear, but he was gone now. Dan didn’t need to know about him. Instead, he focused on the problem at hand. “If you can get rid of the guns, I agree it will be safer for all involved. We are expecting this park to be successful, which means shooting a gun anywhere will put other people in harm’s way. I would push that angle. Tom Barkman should be able to help us there.”

When the last of the green tea disappeared, Steel called it quits for the night. “We’ll resume this tomorrow after breakfast.” He patted them on their backs. “Good job, both of you. Tess, if you would, please send a copy, marked as a draft, to Tom. Just so he knows how hard we’re working.”

“Okay, but only because he won’t know how to convert it into the software that we are required to use. Otherwise, this is good enough that he’d show it to the governor.”

“We aren’t there yet,” Dan warned.

“I know.” She then smiled. “But we made great progress tonight. You guys can go on. Wait. Is the butler still awake to lead me to my room?”

“He’s supposed to be, but I doubt it. I’ll show you.”

“I’ll go along, too,” Dan said.

Steel suspected Dan had added chaperone duties to his job to keep them platonic. While he found the presumption annoying as hell, it was probably for the best because Tess was incredibly enticing.

Early the next morning, Tess dressed and hurried down to the beach. Dan was already there staring at the map, which now had small red dots all over it.

“The map has the measles,” she said with pretend-sadness.

He glanced at her and grinned. “Those are where I want cameras. See any problem with that?”

She grabbed her pencil and circled a few. “These will probably need to be moved to better sites. The white oaks are thick in these sections.”

“Any possibility of thinning them out?” he asked.

She gasped at his question.

“If we start moving the cameras, we’ll end up with blind spots. While I recognize someone might use a tree to approach a camera, as long as they are positioned within three feet of these marks, a person won’t be able to cross without detection, unless, as you observed, the trees are so thick that they would always be behind a tree, safe from either camera.”

She sighed. “With blind spots, it pretty much makes the whole camera system useless against professional thieves.”

“And assassins.”

“Yes, but to justify why we are doing this, Steel will need some reason other than his safety.”

“Well then, the cameras will pick up thieves determined to steal whatever these Indians left up there, and we can send out security before they can penetrate the fence.”

“They are called Paleo-Indians, the first human beings to walk this land,” she said. “While mounds have been found at Harper’s Ferry, they are much younger and less interesting than ours. And this village is the first ever found. It’s priceless and will change what we know about these first humans in this area. There will be cretins who wish to destroy and steal this magnificent find.” She sighed heavily. “So if we need to remove a few trees to protect it, I will do it.”

Dan studied her. “I see why Dr. Castile has fallen for you.”

She frowned at him.

“I meant that as a compliment.”

“Yes, but it’s one that could get him killed and, just so you know, that weighs on me heavily. If I could wish my father and brothers to hell, they’d already be there.”

“So back to our plans,” Dan said. “I’ve found another problem that I can’t think of a solution for.”

“What?”

“We need the road to bring in the fencing, but it will take months to build the road, leaving Dr. Castile
and
the sites unprotected during that time.”

“I have a guy who helicopters out trees and returns us the lumber. I’m sure he’ll bring us fencing, too, if he can make a profit on the carry.”

“Sounds pricey.”

“But it solves our problem. I’m pretty sure Tom will approve it. Otherwise, the sites could be stripped and Steel could die before the road gets done. That alternative is unacceptable.”

“Still, this is a state park…”

“But the funding is from Meg, and it can’t be spent on anything but this park.”

“Really? That was smart of her.”

Tess nodded. “She’s a very smart woman. She once had a good life. Then a friend teased her into buying a Mega-Times ticket. She turned out to be the sole winner of half a billion dollars. Only it came with a lottery curse and a serial killer. Grams offered to sell her the woods if she promised not to cut down the trees. She did Grams one better. She bought the land and donated it to the state, plus she created several trust funds to cover all the costs of running it properly.”

“That’s incredible. Who gives up that much money?” Dan asked.

“Someone who understands how rare and wonderful this forest is.”

Tess ran her hand over the circled red dots. “Some of the trees I’ll have to take out are over three hundred years old and six feet wide.” Tears welled in her eyes at the thought of cutting them.

“Wow…six feet, really? You could hide a freaking army behind that. We definitely need to get rid of those.”

These trees were majestic beauties, not obstacles to be removed
. She had to leave before she did something that would get her arrested, like kicking Dan in the leg. With her head down to hide her distress, she rushed to the door and plowed into a broad hard chest.

Strong but gentle arms circled her. “What’s wrong?” Steel asked.

“Nothing. Dan just sees life differently from me, and sometimes I don’t like his view.”

“I’ll send him off if you want.”

“No. Just because I don’t like his view doesn’t mean it isn’t needed. We are going to have to take out some large trees near the fence. They’ll block too much of the security cameras’ view.”

He tightened his arms around her. “But think how happier the younger trees will be for the extra sunlight.”

She relaxed and smiled. Steel’s view was much better. “They’ll be like teens when the parents leave the house.” Only these parents wouldn’t be coming back as trees. Still, they’d return as lumber. “At least it will give us sufficient wood to make really nice viewing platforms.

“Well, let’s grab Dan and have breakfast. Have you by chance planned our schedule for today?”

She smiled at him. “Yes, after breakfast we can work two more hours on our plan, then I’ll send it to Tom’s secretary who knows how to convert it back to the program. However, the conversion doesn’t always work perfectly so she’s promised to wait until we have time to review it after we buy mattresses and pick up Gram’s ashes.” She then smiled. “Good thing Dan has a vehicle because we don’t.”

“About that, I don’t think a Mercedes is going to make it up your road.”

“Not a problem,” Dan stated from the atrium door. “Lionel took the Mercedes. I have an SUV capable of off-road situations.” He approached and spoke softly. “You two really shouldn’t be hugging.”

Steel released Tess, and then to her shock, and no doubt Dan’s, he wrapped his arms around Dan. “Thanks for being such a good security guy.”

Dan pushed him off. “Do
not
ever do that again,” he growled.

Tess laughed and hugged him next. “Yeah, you really are a good addition to our staff.”

To her surprise, he didn’t push her off, so she let him go and stood back.

Dan glared at them. “Okay, you two have had your fun. Can we eat now? I’m starving.”

***

After a hearty breakfast, they returned to planning. By the end of two hours, they had the security portion of their plan complete with a price tag that even had Tess doubting Tom would approve it.

“Are you positive everything listed would be needed even if I wasn’t in the mix?” Steel challenged.

Dan went down the list. “You’d still need fencing and cameras. However, this whole platform idea is certainly not my suggestion, so if you want to get rid of it, then we can get rid of the scanner.”

Steel jumped on that. “Other than shooting me, is there any reason we believe viewers would be firing on the mounds?”

Tess thought of a potential problem. “Could they harm the site by shooting at the bear and bird?”

Steel groaned. “Yes.”

Tess gripped his hand. “Well, to a teen, they’d probably look like fun targets.” After mauling her bottom lip, she perked up. “But they wouldn’t do that during the day. We should have gates on them so no one could enter at night.”

Dan frowned. “Oh, we will certainly have gates because wherever Steel is working, there will be no people watching.”

Steel focused on Tess. “Maybe we shouldn’t have these platforms.”

Tess’s mouth fell open as she shook her head. “That’s just going to make curious but otherwise innocent people try to get to the site in other ways. We need the platforms. Just with gates.”

“But no scanners,” Steel insisted.

Dan sighed. “As long as whatever site you are working will be closed to the public.”

“Agreed…how much does that save us?”

Tess found the cost projections in question. “Fifty thousand in equipment, three hundred thousand in setup, and six hundred thousand in maintenance and operators…so almost a million.”

She could almost see a lightbulb go off above Steel’s head as he asked, “What’s the retail value of the lumber the cut trees will provide us?”

His question worried her. “But we are going to use the lumber to build the platforms.”

“Yes, which is under a different budget, if I recall.”

“True…but changing the cost of the various cost buckets doesn’t change the overall cost.”

“How much are the trees worth?” Steel asked again.

“I’ll have to actually determine and measure the trees we need to cut, but if we have to take out the largest, then estimate around thirty trees at ten thousand a piece.”

“Three hundred thousand dollars.” Steel smiled.

His happiness confused her. “After you add the cost of removal and return of lumber it’s almost the same cost as if we paid to have standard lumber shipped in. So the only real upside is that our lumber is better quality and will last longer.”

“And this is the only way to get these trees out?” he asked, disappointment clear in his question.

Tess gripped his hand. “Until the road is built. And even then, it will depend on where the tree is and where we need lumber. However, when it comes time to cut the trees for the road, Sam assures me the cost will drop because they can use trucks to remove the logs, which is much cheaper.”

“But there is no ‘found money’ right now.”

“Sorry, no. This is just a necessary evil so the cameras can secure the site.”

***

Steel frowned at her use of the word “evil”, then realized she meant due to the cutting of trees. He squeezed her hand and brought it to his lips. “Just remember, by sacrificing the three-hundred-year-old trees, we are protecting three much older and rarer sites.”

She nodded. “And giving young trees their chance to grow. I wasn’t complaining.”

Knowing how much these trees meant to her, she was taking their demise extremely well.

She glanced at her watch. “I need to send the plan off now.”

“Did you remove—”

“The scanners? Yes. That whole project is designated as unfunded and unapproved. It won’t show up on anything Tom sees.”

“Then send it off.”

Dan smiled at her. “Man, you’re efficient.” He looked at Steel. “She’s like Superwoman.”

Steel forced a smile and nodded. He was glad Dan wasn’t trying to send her off anymore, but he really didn’t want the guy falling in love with Tess. She was his. The fact he couldn’t go there right now, perhaps ever, didn’t matter. This was the woman of his heart, and he had no intention of sharing.

He sat in the back with Tess when they climbed into the SUV.

Dan frowned as he stared back at them through the rearview mirror. “You two need to work on your ‘platonic’ cover. That means no hugging, no hand kissing or holding, and one of you should sit up front with me. Tess?”

“We’re fine,” Steel assured him, securing Tess’s hand.

She smiled and snuggled against him.

“Seatbelts,” Dan snapped.

Tess moved back to her side and buckled in.

At the store, Tess asked Dan to sit on of the selection of bunk beds. He refused to lie down on them, stating that impeded his job. Finally, she asked Steel to lie down.

He hit his head on the top bunk and, once prone, his feet hung a foot beyond the mattress.

“These beds are for kids,” Tess complained.

Dan rolled his eyes. “How many adults do you know who wish to sleep in bunks?”

“Good point,” Tess conceded. They turned their attention to single beds. She selected the first bed Steel declared tolerable. He wondered if she hated shopping in general or just furniture shopping.

“I’ll need eight of these,” she told the salesman. “And I need four of them delivered today.”

The guy hurried off, and soon the manager returned. “I’ve got four beds in the warehouse, but I’m booked on deliveries until next week.”

“Do you have somewhere in your parking lot that a helicopter can land? Someplace without wires or cables strung?”

“I do, but do you have a helicopter and someone who knows how to carry heavy loads? There’s not many pilots who can do this.”

“I agree, but I do know one.”

Since the man didn’t wish to take her word on the matter, she called Sam and let the manager speak to him. Steel was impressed with how well she handled people. In short order, she’d arranged for four beds to be delivered directly to her cabin by Sam.

As she rushed through the purchasing process, he wondered why she was in such a hurry. Glancing at his watch, he realized they were off schedule. Helen’s ashes should have been picked up ten minutes ago.

He appreciated Tess didn’t believe time bent to her whims.

***

When they returned to the car after retrieving Helen’s ashes, Tess handed him the urn. “Will you hold Grams while I sit in the front and get us safely home?”

Having experienced the nightmare of the road, he nodded. “Perhaps you should drive.”