Page 24 of Canyon Killer
“Why fire just one shot?” Ian asked. “They had us pinned down. They could have kept shooting.”
“Maybe they just wanted to frighten you,” Jamie said. “Warn you off.”
“It frightened me at first,” he said. “Now it just makes me angry.”
Aaron turned to Bethany. “I don’t want you working out here,” he said.
“I’ve already told Ian I want to wait until the via ferrata is up and running.” And after that kiss, she might still turn him down, in favor of a different relationship.
Early days, she reminded herself.Don’t rush things. Just enjoy yourself.
Aaron nodded and turned to Ian. “Maybe you should think about moving into town.”
“I’ll think about it. But I’m going to be here all day working anyway. If someone is out to get me, they’ll know where to find me.”
“I can’t believe people are getting so upset about one canyon,” Bethany said. “There are so many places around here to climb.”
“Maybe this isn’t about the via ferrata,” Aaron said. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, a bullet seems a lot more personal to me. Have you made any enemies, Ian?”
“There are people who don’t like me,” he said. “But nobody who would want to hurt me.”
“This place was for sale before you bought it,” Jamie said. “Did you beat out another buyer? Someone who might be upset that they didn’t get the property?”
Ian’s expression hardened. “I did beat out someone,” he said. “And they were plenty angry about it.”
“Who?” Aaron asked. “We should try to find out if they’re behind this harassment.”
“You won’t find out anything,” Ian said. “If he’s responsible, he knows how to cover his tracks.”
“Who is it?” Bethany asked.
He looked at her, eyes filled with pain. “My father. Phillip Seabrook can’t stand for anyone to get the best of him. Not even his son.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Ian wished he could take back the remark about his father as soon as he had uttered it.
“Are you serious about your father being responsible for trying to kill you?” Aaron asked.
“The shooter didn’t really try to kill either one of us, did he?” Ian looked at the shattered window. “He broke the window and left. He was trying to frighten us, not murder us.”
“You can’t be sure of that,” Aaron said. He took out a note pad. “What’s your father’s contact information? We’ll need to talk to him.”
“No—forget I said anything. And don’t spread word of this around town. It’s just a broken window.” He moved to the door and opened it. “I need you all to leave now.”
Aaron was going to argue, but Jamie said, “Call us if you see or hear anything suspicious.”
When they were alone, Bethany moved closer to Ian. “Can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“You said your dad wanted to buy the canyon. What was he going to do with it?”
“He wanted to open it up for mining. Studies have shown traces of copper and tellurium in similar rock formations. He planned to strip out the rock, crush it and extract as many precious minerals as possible.”
“He would have destroyed it!” she said.
“I couldn’t see that happen. I have money of my own, from my grandmother and from investments I’ve made. I used some of it to make sure I made the highest bid for the canyon.”
