Page 57 of Disciplining Dana

Benefits. He’d certainly provided that in ways far beyond the bedroom and the dungeons. And as she walked away, the thought that tightened her throat was a simple one.

It was all starting to slip away.

CHAPTER 14

Kurt

Gary Jenssen.

The name on the cell screen made him clench his fingers. Dana had left less than a half hour ago, and now Gary was calling? That seemed awfully coincidental, but… what could she—or would she—have said that would’ve put Gary up to calling him now?

Well, only one way to find out…

“Hey, boss, what’s up?”

“That’s what I was going to ask you,” Gary replied. “I haven’t gotten an email, a call, a text from either of you. I sent you two out there for work, not to lounge around on vacation playing cowboys.”

Kurt forced a chuckle. “Hey now! We’ve been busy.”

“Uh huh, I’ll bet. And in the midst of ‘being busy’ did you find time to get out of your rooms or off the horses and find any indication of what you were sent there for?”

“As a matter of fact…”

“What?” Gary asked, his voice quick with interest.

“Dana found it.”

“Are you… she found it?”

“Yep.”

“Wait, how… how did you get into the mine?”

“We didn’t.”

There was a brief pause. “I’m confused.”

Kurt smiled. “She didn’t find it in the mine.” He took a minute to explain to Gary the drive he and Dana had taken, and what she’d discovered.

“So, she hasn’t gone into the mine?”

“She didn’t have to,” he hedged without hesitation.

There was a soft sigh on the other end of the call. “Well, I’ll be damned. Will wonders never cease; that’s a first.” There was a short pause. “Good job.”

“Ha. Ha.”

“I’m serious!” Gary replied. “I’ve been expecting a call telling me Dana’s being airlifted to Missoula, or a Search and Rescue operation is being mounted.”

“Well, sorry to disappoint.”

Gary chuckled, then asked, “So, what did you find at the indication?”

“Well, here’s the thing; we didn’t actually go over to it,” Kurt explained. “It was getting late in the afternoon, and the terrain there is pretty rugged. We didn’t make a walkover.”

“Ah.”

“We can, though,” he added quickly, “but before we do, Dana brought up a good point: do we know if Derek Hawkins owns more than just the land Rawhide sits on?”

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