Page 60 of Ambush

“Good point.” He grinned and went around to climb into the passenger seat. “This happens all the time, so I’m not really worried. I suspect she wandered back to the gift shop on her own. I see no evidence she’s out here, but we at least need to do a cursory search.”

He pointed to the back pasture. “Let’s take a drive out there in case she got lost. If we don’t find her in fifteen minutes, I’ll check with the staff. Maybe they’ve seen her. We aren’t babysitters, and we like guests to be able to wander at their leisure.”

She nodded and drove that direction. When they rounded a copse of trees, he spotted Nicole’s bright green hair. Her backpack lay on the ground, and she bent over ten feet from it with a small shovel.

She was so absorbed in her actions she didn’t notice the Gator.

Blake motioned for Paradise to stop the vehicle, and he got out and approached Nicole. He paused at her backpack and noticed a collection of pieces of coal. A hole exposed more coal under the dirt in the area.

Her face turned their way, and a stricken expression settled over her features. She hastily put the shovel behind her back, but not before he realized what she was doing. Looking for natural gas or oil deposits. The area she had targeted consisted of dying vegetation as well as black coal deposits sticking up here and there through the dirt. Why had he never noticed there might be something valuable underground here? Why would she care if the land had oil or gas deposits?

Chapter 28

Gas or oil.Blake’s gaze swept the surrounding area, and he noted things he’d never consciously picked out in his walks around the property. How had he never noticed the terrain before? He turned his attention back to Nicole.

“Who sent you?” he demanded. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize whoever had discovered this possible windfall might be behind what had been going on with The Sanctuary.

“No one. I’m a geological student, and the terrain caught my attention. I took pictures and wanted a coal sample to write an essay about it for my class. I didn’t mean any harm.”

Paradise hovered nearby to his right. “That makes no sense, Nicole. You came prepared with a shovel in your backpack.”

The girl’s chin tipped up, and she stared back with defiant green eyes. “I always carry a foldable camping shovel in case I notice something interesting.”

Should he believe her? The words didn’t ring true to Blake. “You took off without telling me where you were going, and I find you in an area that’s clearly markedDo Not Enter. What do you think I should make of that?”

She shrugged. “I’m telling you the truth. It’s a school project, nothing more.”

“Where do you go to school?”

“TGU.”

Tupelo Grove University was down the road. Maybe she was telling the truth, but something smelled off about it. “Hop aboard the Gator and we’ll run you back to the parking lot.”

Nicole grabbed her backpack and shouldered it before shuffling to the utility vehicle. Blake motioned for her to take the passenger seat while he hopped in the back for Paradise to drive them. His thoughts jumbled in a tangle of questions. If oil or natural gas was out there, did someone want to force them to sell before they discovered it? And what if they had it surveyed for their own purposes? The funds might help his mother immensely. But if they went that route, the expansion dream out here would be dead. It would have to be his mother’s decision.

They reached the parking lot, and Paradise braked to let Nicole disembark. The girl glanced at Blake as if to see if he planned to detain her, but he shrugged and she scurried off to her car, a rusting green Subaru that matched her hair.

He took a quick snapshot of the license plate as she pulled away. He didn’t know her last name, but he would. And Rod might find it interesting. He didn’t see any reason to inform Creed Greene of the encounter. The detective wouldn’t let facts interfere with his quest to pin everything on Blake, but the sergeant might be able to rein him in.

He settled in the passenger seat. “Let’s take this back to the barn and head for the house. I need to tell Mom what we found.”

“This could be good news, right?”

“I don’t know yet.” He told her his thoughts about how it might go. “If Mom doesn’t want to give up her dream of yurtsand glamping, we might still be dealing with someone trying to push us out so they can pick up the property for a bargain.”

Her brow knitted. “It’s so hard to know what’s happening. Finances are still pretty dicey?”

He shrugged as she drove toward the barn. “I’m considering running some ads. Our visitor count is down compared to a month ago, so the negative publicity is having an adverse effect.”

“What about social media? I’m pretty good at it. I know you shut it down because of the haters, but it’s time to work on it again. I was thinking about it last night, and we could do funny memes of what the animals might be saying. Tourists would love that. Show the keepers interacting with the animals. What’s the status of the zip line?”

“Nearly ready to go. Thrill seekers will love it, but I’m having an engineer take a final survey to make sure it can’t dump a visitor in an unexpected place. With the way things have gone lately, I’ll have to keep a close eye on things.”

“Good call. If you don’t mind, I’ll take pictures and create some memes to use on our socials. We do still have the accounts, right?”

“Yeah, I just locked them down. I can get you the logins and passwords.”

She pulled into the barn and turned off the vehicle in its corner spot. “Your mom is awesome. I want to help however I can.”

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