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“Starting tomorrow?”
I hesitated and then sighed. “Not tomorrow but I’ll fix things and let you know, okay?”
Bessie beamed, her victory complete. “You won’t regret this, Neil.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, shaking my head. “If he’s anything like you were, I’m in for a world of trouble. And don’t forget it was you encouraging me to switch out the sugar.”
She laughed, the sound bringing a rare moment of lightness between us when we’d usually be talking about Dad. Still, we were a family expert in denial, and we were fraying at the seams.
I watched her leave, the weight of her request settling on my shoulders. Jason Thompson, nephew and current grumpy-ass teen in my office.Just what I need.
I flicked through documents,bemoaning the bureaucracy that kept me cooped up in the office and stressing over what I could have in place for Jason. Iwanted to get outside, to feel the fresh air, tackle something tangible, or at least get a coffee. The endless paperwork was enough to drive anyone crazy.
Thank God the phone rang. The worst part was that I’d take a local complaining about the roads over the forms, and I picked it up, grateful for the distraction. “Sheriff.”
“It’s Levi up at the Lennox Ranch. Can you get up here? The geotechnical engineer surveying the land has a drone out, and they’ve found something. They won’t let us near whatever they found but wanted me to call you in.”
“Is there a danger to the town?” I was already up from my desk, but specifics would at least let me form a plan.
“He said it’s not about the slip, but he won’t show me or Micah the footage.”
A mystery, and one that was anything but paperwork. “On my way.”
I ended the call, feeling a surge of relief and curiosity. Finally, something would get me out of this office. Grabbing my hat and keys, I was eager to see what the engineer had discovered and why it was so urgent that they needed the sheriff. I headed out of my office and into the main area, where Solomon was hunched over his desk.
“Solomon, I’m heading out to the Lennox Ranch. Levi just called. Engineers found something, and they need me there,” I said. “What time is Wyatt on call?” I asked, already knowing the answer but needing confirmation.
“An hour,” Solomon replied, glancing up from a pile of hellish paperwork almost as big as mine.
“Get him in early to cover the office, and when he’s here, get him to clear the desk at the back of the file room.”
Solomon raised an eyebrow. “The junk desk? What’s Wyatt going to do with the junk?”
I sighed, glancing around the cluttered office. “He’ll find somewhere—call it a training exercise on using ingenuity. Jason will be joining us for work experience and will need a place to work.”
Solomon’s eyes widened slightly, but he nodded. “Got it, Sheriff.”
I almost made it to the door. “Sheriff?”
“Yeah?”
“I hate to ask, but could you run a welfare check on Abe at some point? Maybe in the morning?”
“You can always ask, and of course, I’ll prioritize it for tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
With that promise made, I headed out to my car.
In the SUV heading up to the ranch, Connor and Abraham were two issues I could push to one side, and instead, I had to deal with a slight sense of dread about what I might find at the ranch. I hoped it wasn’t that the landslip was threatening the town somehow, although I couldn’t see how it would.
As I pulled up to the Lennox Ranch, I saw someone standing by the cars, looking anxious. I guessed this was the geotechnical engineer. He was a tall man dressed in practical outdoor gear; his expression serious as he waved me over.
“Sheriff Windham?” he asked as I approached, and we shook hands. “Dr. Reese. EarthTech Soil Solutions.”
“What have you found?” I asked, my curiosity piqued but my chest tight at what he might say about erosion or slippage. Whisper Ridge was a good community; neither our town nor Collier Springs deserved a mountain sliding down on them.
Pessimism alert.
