Page 36 of A Rebel's Shot

The stench of crude oil hung heavy in the humid jungle air, clinging to Merritt’s skin like a suffocating blanket. She stood beside her father at the makeshift wash station, her small hands trembling as she tried to hold the struggling, oil-coated bird still.

Tears streamed down her face, mingling with the sweat and grime, as the bird’s pitiful cries pierced her heart.

“Daddy, why are we here?” she asked, her voice quivering. “It wasn’t our company that did this.”

Clay Harland’s jaw clenched, his eyes hard as he surveyed the devastation around them. He gently took the bird from Merritt’s much smaller hands, his touch surprisingly tender as he worked to clean the sticky oil from its feathers.

“Look around, Merritt,” he said. “Really look.”

She blinked away her tears and took in the scene before her. A village of rickety houses clung to the edgeof the jungle, their tin roofs gleaming dully in the oppressive sunlight.

People moved about in a daze, their faces etched with grief and despair as they packed up what meager possessions they could carry on their backs. Some wept openly, their sobs carried on the heavy breeze.

“It’s our responsibility to do better.” His words weighed heavy with conviction. “By protecting the earth when we drill, we protect the people. We can’t trust others to do it.”

He turned to face her, his gaze boring into hers with an intensity that made her heart race. “Don’t trust anyone, Merritt.”

Merritt jolted awake, her father’s words echoing in her mind as her heart pounded against her rib cage. She blinked rapidly, trying to orient herself in the harshly lit office.

The dusty scent that coated everything at the mine and the ring of metal followed by a shouted command brought her from the South American jungle to the Alaskan wilderness.

The nightmare clung to her like a second skin, the memory of the oil-soaked bird and the devastated village blurring with the cryptic warning that had haunted her since her father’s death.

She pushed herself up from the desk, wincing as her stiff muscles protested the sudden movement. Papers scattered beneath her elbows, and she stared down at the chaos of geologist reports and safety audits that littered her workspace.

The discrepancies glared up at her, taunting her with their secrets.

Merritt rubbed her temples, trying to ease the throbbing headache that had become her constant companion. She’d been searching for answers, desperate to unravel the mystery of her father’s last message and the nagging doubts that plagued her about the mine’s safety.

But the more she dug, the more the inconsistencies piled up, until she felt like she was drowning in a sea of contradictions. The official findings painted a picture of a safe, compliant operation, but the raw data told a different story.

One of cut corners and hidden dangers lurking beneath the surface.

Merritt’s stomach churned as she reached for another report, her fingers trembling slightly. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong, that the truth was just out of reach.

She had to find answers, had to protect the land and the people who depended on her, both the employees of the mine and the people she’d promised in the villages.

But as she delved deeper into the tangled web of secrets and lies, Merritt couldn’t shake the growing dread that the truth might shatter everything she thought she knew. The nagging suspicion that her father’s insistence on no-harm mining was nothing more than a carefully crafted illusion gnawed at her.

Merritt sank back into her chair, the leather creaking beneath her weight as she tried to bring order to the chaos before her. She methodically sorted through the papers,her eyes scanning the notes and reports for what felt like the hundredth time. Each word, each number, was seared into her memory, but still, the truth eluded her.

She cross-referenced their company geologist’s findings with the safety audits, her brow furrowed in concentration as she searched for the missing piece that would make everything fall into place. The inconsistencies teased her, like a splinter beneath her skin that she couldn’t quite reach.

Merritt was so lost in the labyrinth of data and discrepancies that she didn’t register the footsteps approaching her office until the door burst open. She jumped, her heart leaping into her throat as her head snapped up.

Tiikâan stood in the doorway, his broad frame filling the space as he stared at her.

For a moment, Merritt forgot how to breathe. The sight of him, so solid and real amidst the swirling uncertainty that surrounded her, made something deep within her ache with longing. She wanted to escape into the calm he provided.

Would confiding in him be so wrong? He hadn’t known her father, didn’t have a play in this confusing game she found herself in.

But reality came crashing back in. Sure, she was certain she could rely on him, but telling Tiikâan would put him in danger. No matter how much she respected him and was drawn to him like she’d never been before, she couldn’t risk him getting tangled in her mess.

Merritt straightened in her chair, trying to composeherself as she took in the worry in Tiikâan’s gaze. “What’s wrong?”

She braced herself for his answer, anticipation coiling in her gut.

What else could go wrong?

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