Page 107 of Five Alarm Love

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It didn’t escape Tuli’s notice that Hunter’s dad hadn’t attended the wedding.“Only, you haven’t been a part of this community for years.Why are you Team Yukon Valley now?”

“I don’t have to answer any questions from someone likeyou,” he growled.

Lou gasped.“Hunter.You don’t have to be rude.”

Hunter chopped his hand toward her.“To a guy who can’t figure out how to keep his mouth shut, you bet I need to be rude at times.Maybe I came back to reconnect.Get back to my roots.”

Tuli said, “You might not need to answer my questions, but you may want to answer the committee’s questions—”

“Which I will do at any time.”

“No better time than the present.”

“Except for now.We have a contract to sign.”

“So impatient.Huh.”Tuli ignored his protests.“So, earlier this year a vein of gold and provable rare earth deposits were discovered on our village property and local citizens’ property.Worth a ton of money.Life-changing money.Town-changing money.Village-changing money.”

“We get the idea,” Hunter interrupted.

Tuli eased off his right leg as he stood in front of them.“Then Randy Nelson came in and tried to access the minerals—basically attempted to yank it out from under the community.Actually, he’d been trying to get access for years by trying to purchase the Steens’s property.”

“I don’t know anything about that,” Hunter said.“Speculators were just doing their job.”

“I know all about what happened last winter,” Steve replied, a steely expression etched on his face.“We were lucky that the Steens’s land didn’t get stolen.That would have taken all the self-determination for stewardship and safety out of our hands.The income would have been stolen too.”

Tuli dipped his chin.“Stolen.Exactly.The guy who wanted to steal it tried to hurt and threaten people in town to get his way.”Tuli rubbed his leg.

Local law enforcement still didn’t know who set up the sharpened branches that nearly killed him, but his betting money was that it involved land speculator Randy or his friends.

“When the Steen option got blocked, he even tried to access the minerals by going through Aggie and Bruce’s property.”

“About killed me too.Literally.”Calvin appeared on the edge of the group, Deirdre next to him, and Aggie and Bruce hovering nearby.

“So?”Hunter said.“What’s that have to do with me?Move along, man.I was making polite conversation here until you showed up.”

“This continues to be a polite conversation.Very polite.”Tuli cleared his throat.“So, you saidcontacts.Who are they?”

“I’m not revealing my sources toyou.”

“Then reveal them to me,” Steve said.

“Not until we have a deal.”Hunter pulled out the paper from his vest and held it out to Steve.Despite the cool autumn air, a few beads of sweat made his forehead shine.

“You don’t have a contact.You have a business partner,” Tuli said.

“Same thing.”

“Oh, but it’s not.”He pulled out his phone and scrolled.“He’s actually not a business partner.You are carrying out a missionfor your boss.”

Lou narrowed her gaze.

Steve crossed his arms over his chest.

“This you?”Tuli asked, pulling up a picture that a follower had DMed.The photo showed a younger Hunter standing in the shallows of a high mountain river with an older guy’s arm slung around him.There were a few other men nearby, all in name-brand outdoor gear.

Hunter looked.“Sure.That was back when I was a fishing guide in the Cascades a few years ago.So what?”

“So, this is a fishing trip?”A fishing trip in more ways than one.Tuli’s heart thudded as he pressed on.