Page 58 of Disciplining Dana

“Yeah, he owns quite a bit more than just the ranch property itself.”

“Okay. Let me give you a general idea of where she found this, and if you let us know whether it’s on his land or not, we’ll make a drive back out there and take a closer look, if you want.”

“I’m betting it’s still on his land,” Gary said. “If you guys can get to it without drawing attention, do it. Otherwise… don’t. The company will send in the flacks to negotiate with him or whoever owns the land the trace is on.”

Kurt nodded. “Understood. Oh!”—he added a second later—“and check out a man named Jason Jaeger.”

“Why? Who’s he?”

“Not quite sure to tell the truth, but I do know he’s got some knowledge about this area.”

“Are you saying he’s competition?”

Kurt could hear the concern in Gary’s tone. “No, if I had to guess, I’d say he isn’t a big fan of the mining industry in general. Whatever his deal is, I think he’s someone to look into. Maybe he owns some other ranch around here, or maybe he’s just Rawhide’s best customer. All I know is he and Derek Hawkins seem very close.”

There was a short silence. “Okay, I’ll get someone on that as well. You’ve got, what? Three days left?” Gary asked.

“Yes.”

“Tell me you’ve at least had some fun while you’ve been there?”

“With Dana? When she’s got the bit between her teeth?”

Gary laughed. “Well, she found the indication. What’s holding you back now?”

“Dana.”

He laughed again. “Point taken.”

“If we can get back to do a walkover, maybe she’ll spend a couple of hours the last day relaxing.”

“Hope springs eternal.” There was another brief pause. “She didn’t go into the mine, huh?” he mused quietly.

Before he could respond, Gary continued, “Well, that should keep them off her back for a while.”

And that’s the only good thing that’s come from any of this.

“I honestly didn’t do anything,” Kurt replied dismissively.

“No, I don’t buy that. You must’ve done something. But I’m not gonna pry or ask for details. She’s still there, she’s not in a hospital or stuck a thousand feet underground, so I’m not gonna jinx it.”

“Thanks, Gary.”

“I’ll call or email you when I’ve got more details on whether Hawkins owns the location of the trace or not. And let you know what I find out about Jaeger.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And drag her ass out!” he ordered. “Dinner or… something. You need to celebrate.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Kurt ended the call, then rose from the bench. He didn’t like having to hedge the truth to Gary, but, considering the circumstances, he didn’t have much of a choice. And since Mr. Hawkins had told him he wasn’t going to out Dana, Kurt certainly wasn’t going to be the one to do it. Dana may have made her own bed, but there was nothing to be gained by deliberately making her situation worse while she lay in it.

Wandering the gravel paths that laced Rawhide, Kurt dwelled on everything that had gone on the past twenty-four hours and before that. He had a decision to make, a plan to come up with to deal with the situation between him and Dana, but what to do next was turning out to be much more difficult than he’d imagined in the throes of his anger. He’d told Dana he needed time to suss things out, but now that he had that time, nothing as to his next step was gelling.

Is that because you’re afraid of what you said, or what you might actually have to do?

He didn’t know. And that was part of the problem.

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