Page 52 of No Bed Of Roses

Levi chuckled when Isla gasped. “Dad!”

Instead of getting insulted by the question, Levi looped his arm over the back of Isla’s chair and played with her hair. “I know her pretty well. I’m in love with her.”

“Oh.” Duggan didn’t smile, but he nodded.

Isla’s face was flushed. “Levi’s farm is next to mine. He’s helped me out with a lot of things since I moved here.”

Levi grinned. “She’s helped me too.”

Isla smiled at him. “Actually, he’s helped me with more than issues with the crops. I’ve had some problems here that I haven’t told you about yet.”

Duggan leaned forward with a frown. “What problems? Is it money? Do you need something? Is someone bothering you? Are you okay? How can I help?”

Tears misted in Isla’s eyes before she blinked them away. “Thanks to Levi, I’m mostly okay. We’ve had some bumps and bruises. A few weeks ago, someone damaged a few rungs on my ladder, and I fell, although we’re not sure that was done recently. Then someone sabotaged my car, and we were in a rollover. Today, someone shot at us.”

Duggan slammed his desk, then stood up and yelled. “Nancy, get me on the first flight to Vermont.”

Levi didn’t think anyone was a good enough actor to pull off the fear and outrage Duggan showed. The man sat back down and wiped his face. “Are you alright? Have you had a doctor check you out? Who the hell is doing this to you?”

Isla nodded and wiped her eyes. “We have a great town doctor. We were both lucky.”

“Doesn’t sound lucky to me. Sounds dangerous. Why don’t you come down here for a while? Get yourself out of danger while your police figure it out.”

Isla smiled. “I think I want to stay here and see it through, but I’ll keep that as an option in case we need to leave. But I do have something to ask you about.”

Duggan nodded. “How can I help?”

Isla bit her bottom lip. “Actually, it’s information. Do you think Glen could be behind this?”

The man’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “Glen? Why would he want to hurt you? I sent him to look for you. He knew I wanted to reconnect. Hurting you is the furthest thing from my mind.”

She smiled at her father, and Levi was glad he also believed the man was off the suspect list.

“I know you wouldn’t do that, Dad. But Glen has never liked me. He was thrilled when we had our disagreement.”

Duggan held up a hand and sat back in his chair. His fingers drummed on the desk while he thought things through. It took less than a minute for his eyebrows to furrow. “You think he’s worried about the will? About the money?”

Isla nodded. “It’s just a possibility. Would he be angry that you wanted to find me?”

“Maybe. He tried to talk me out of it at first. Then, when he realized I was determined to follow through, he was happy to agree to be the one to go find out where you lived and worked. I thought having someone you knew would be a good start.”

Then, the man’s face paled. “If you’re right, this is my fault. I sent him after you.”

Isla shook her head. “It’s not your fault at all. If it is Glen, it’s all on him and his greed.”

They heard a knock on his door and saw a woman bring a note to Duggan. He thanked her and looked at the screen. “I’ve got a flight that will get me to Burlington late tonight. I’ll get a hotel and rent a car in the morning. You’ll have to give me your address.”

Isla's eyes were swimming again. “You don’t have to do that. I know you’re busy.”

He shook his head sharply. “I can’t stay here if you’re in danger. I’ll be there tomorrow.”

To give Isla a moment to control her emotions, Levi brought up her theory. “We’re wondering if maybe Hicks has hired someone to do some of the damage. That way, he’s in Texas with an alibi while someone else sabotaged the car.”

Duggan frowned again. “If that rat bastard is behind this, I’ll do everything to get his ass tossed in jail. I’m going to call him and sound him out.”

He picked up the desk phone, but the call went to voicemail, and he left a terse message telling him to return his call.

When he hung up, Levi leaned forward. “It might be better to not mention anything about having spoken with Isla. Let him think you’re still looking, that you don’t know anything about what’s been happening up here.”

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