Oscar trails his finger over the paper. “These are properties we’ve marked, places we’ve been able to find out that the company is interested in,” he says. “They’re casting a wide net.”
“How do you know they’re interested in these places?” I ask, squinting to orient myself on the map.
“Don’t ask,” Emir mutters.
“It’s best not to know,” Oscar assures me. “Emir’s technical prowess doesn’t always operate within the bounds of the law.”
Iver chuckles. “Doesn’t ever, he means.”
“None of what you do is legal,” I point out.
“True,” Oscar agrees. “But what Emir does is quite illegal.”
“Seems like there’s not much of a distinction,” I say. Then I see it. Autumn’s orchard, outlined in red marker. “What’s this?”
Oscar leans over, his glasses perched on the tip of his nose. “One of the properties the company is quite interested in,” he says. “It's one that we can consider using to our advantage.”
“Using to your advantage? How?” Thoughts are rushing through my head, one right after the other. Autumn mentioned that there were men on the outskirts of the property. She mentioned the offer to buy her land. I clench my fists at my side, feeling the nearly-irresistible urge to walk out of here and go straight to her place.
“We select target properties, and our rival energy company shows interest in them,” Tempest explains. “Our surveyors find europium on the properties –”
“That we ensure is there, of course,” Oscar adds.
“How?”
“That will be my doing,” Iver says.
“So… what? Are you guys going to break into some top-secret lab and steal –“ I start. “Of course you are.”
“Our company drives up the cost of the land, and we get the mining company to put in bids to buy up useless land,” Oscar explains.
“A big company like that, it’s a drop in the bucket,” I protest. “How is that useful?”
“The mining company is going to have a problem with the company who does its extraction and testing,” Oscar goes on.
“An unfortunate data leak,” Emir says, shrugging. “Can’t trust anyone these days.”
“And… you’re the new company doing the testing,” I say.
Oscar nods. “We’ll fail to find anything of value on the properties the company has already purchased,” he says. “The mining company will want to unload the properties onto their rivals – also us – and there you have it.”
“That doesn’t take care of the sheriff and the mayor,” I say.
Oscar holds up his index finger. “All in good time. You haven’t allowed me to finish.”
“This property,” I interrupt, pointing to Autumn’s place on the map, “is not involved. She’s not involved in any way with this. Do you understand?”
I try to ignore the glare I can feel coming from Silas' direction. I want Autumn and Olivia kept far away from any of this shit, out of danger.
Oscar nods. “No involvement,” he says.
No involvement, I think.
That’s when it hits me. Autumn can’t know about any of this. If she did, she’d be an accomplice to the hundred laws I’m sure we’re about to break. Autumn, and especially Olivia, have to be protected from this. If they’re involved, they’re even more vulnerable. If the mining company wants her land, they're going to keep trying to get it and she's going to keep saying no, which puts her in danger. And that means the mining company has to be stopped.
But I have to keep Autumn and Olivia out of this.
I have to stay away from them.
If Autumn doesn’t hate me, she’ll come after me.
So I realize what I have to do. It’s for the best. If I care at all about Autumn, I have to let her go.
29
Autumn
I swallow hard to try to manage the lump in my throat. “It’s no big deal, you know,” I say, my voice wavering, betraying how I really feel.
Which is like total and complete shit.
“It is a big deal,” June says, her voice rising briefly before she clears her throat. Even over the phone, she sounds pissed off. “Even if he was just a fling, it’s still the biggest dick move ever. And he’s working for you.”
I laugh, the sound bitter. “Yeah, well, not anymore,” I say.
It’s been two weeks since that cryptic as hell message from Luke. Two weeks. Over two weeks, actually. It’s been fifteen days, to be precise. Fifteen days since Luke texted me, saying something had come up and that he couldn’t come over. Fourteen days since he texted me again, saying he’d be sending someone else, another foreman to replace him. The foreman was overqualified, competent, completely on top of things. I should be pleased about that fact.
I should be pleased to be rid of Luke, with his annoying lack of boundaries, with his showing up to my house all the time and inviting himself in.
Inviting himself into my life.