Page 19 of Dark Fire

“You don’t know that that’s the kind of place it is,” she said.

“I might not know the exact spot, but for any place to hold that kind of residual power, there must be blood. Lots of blood. I’m going.”

Delaney finished her omelet, reached her hands up around his neck, and swung her legs up. He caught her and laughed as he carried her back to their bed and proceeded to have his wicked way with her again… and again.

Chapter 8

Delaney

Tevryn had a knack for making even the most mundane tasks fun and interesting. Delaney had been a little surprised at how easily Lucy had accepted his presence in their lives. The fact that he had more charm than the devil himself didn’t hurt, nor did the fact that he could make a killer omelet.

Once Delaney was packed, she assumed they’d head to his place to get his things. Truth be told, the idea of having someone along with her to hike to the spot Whistler had given her made the task seem safer and more enjoyable.

“Do you want to just take one suitcase? We won’t be gone that long,” suggested Delaney.

“Good idea. We can just add my stuff when we get out to the SUV. We can drop Lucy off at the grocery store on the way to the airport and she can drive your vehicle back here to the house.”

“Don’t we need to go by your place?”

He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath as if expecting an argument he didn’t want to have. “I don’t have my own place here in the area. I’m a freelance reporter and was planning on staying with Warrick and Dani. I hadn’t dropped my stuff off there yet. They were out of town and I felt funny just letting myself into their place, so I went to a hotel. I was planning to go there last night but then I bumped into you, and my whole world shifted on its axis.”

“Mine, too. And that’s a great idea about my vehicle. You aren’t here to do a piece on Whistler are you? Because I would feel bad about taking a job from him if you were.”

He leaned over, cupped the back of her head with his hand and pulled her forward before kissing her with a quiet authority that she was becoming addicted to.

“I wouldn’t put you in a compromising position like that. Do I like or trust Whistler? Not as far as I can throw him, but his new plant does interest me. For one thing I’ve heard a rumor that he didn’t actually invent Norle. It was one of his workers, who will never profit from it.”

“That’s normal under the employee work product doctrine.”

“Agreed, but he won’t so much as give the poor schmuck credit for the work he did. I’m actually here to do a more generalized story about the tech hub around Seattle. I did plan to try and interview Whistler, as I heard he wanted to build this new plant outside of any of the areas known for their tech companies. After all, he certainly helped put Bellevue on the tech center map, so I think it’s interesting he’s planning this new building away from the area.”

Delaney laughed. “Not just away from the area, but away from everything.”

They arrived at the private airport just outside of Issaquah and boarded Whistler’s private jet. By the time they reached the airport near the Winds, it was getting dark so using the SUV Whistler had conveniently provided, Tevryn and Delaney found a small bed and breakfast and checked in. Dinner was pizza by the fire in their bedroom, and Delaney found herself falling asleep next to him.

The following morning, they programmed the GPS coordinates into the SUV’s navigation unit and headed into the foothills that led to the mighty Wind River Mountains.

“You seem… I don’t know… apprehensive about this,” said Delaney. “If you don’t want to go…”

“It’s not that at all,” said Tevryn. “I just know this country. I’ve been hiking the Winds for years. It’s rugged and isolated. I can’t see how a large project like this is going to work. It’s going to take a lot of electricity, water, and other systems to support, and I don’t think any of the small towns around here can support that kind of infrastructure.”

Delaney nodded. “I don’t disagree, and that’s part of what I plan to include in my site report. Lucy and I found a great spot at the foot of the mountains, but Whistler wants me to look at a site that is up inside the mountains themselves. He wants part of the building actually built into the side of the mountain.”

“I don’t know that that’s feasible. The Wind River Range is mostly protected by three distinct federal wilderness areas: the Bridger Wilderness, the Fitzpatrick Wilderness, and the Popo Agie Wilderness.”

“Again, I brought that up, but he seems to think he’s got some pull to get it approved. For one thing, it’ll bring employment into the area.”

“Who’s he going to employ? It’s pretty damn isolated out here.”

“You seem to know a lot about this place.”

“I do. I’ve spent a great deal of my time here. I’d hate to see it spoiled.”

“Agreed, but that’s why he wants me. I’m going to propose some limited use of hydroelectric, as well as solar and wind power so that the plant is self-sustaining. He also wants a kind of planned development with housing and supportive businesses—like a grocery store, movie theater, restaurants, and the like.”

Once they’d gone as far as the SUV could take them. Delaney transferred the coordinates to a satellite phone Whistler had provided. They parked, got out, and began to make their way up the side of the mountain. The going was gnarly and rough, and while Delaney might have felt out of place at the cocktail reception, scrabbling along the trail—what there was of it—was second nature to her.

She and Lucy had been hiking the rugged Cascade Mountains as well as the Olympics for most of their lives. They hiked other ranges as well, although oddly enough, not the Winds. She’d spent her childhood and much of her adult life scaling rocks, scraping her knees, and cutting her hands on sharp rock edges. She and Lucy had picked up sticks and used them like swords in their games of royalty and rogues, princesses and pirates. Her childhood had been, for the most part, pretty terrific. Her mother was not a great mother, and their father had left long before either of his daughters really knew him, but her sister had made up for her parents’ shortcomings.

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