Page 121 of Let Me Be the One
Funny that a compliment from Dirk could mean so much. “Thank you.”
“It’s the truth. We see you working nonstop.”
“And you never seem to mind much,” Lang added.
She beamed at him. “Actually, I’m loving it.”
Again, Tanner got them back on track. “Any idea what Sutter was planning to do with the info you gave him?”
“He’s scum—worse than what you’ve always accused us of being,” Dirk said. “So who knows? You can bet it won’t be good.”
Callie made a decision and she hoped Tanner would agree. “Thank you both for helping out today.”
Taking that as a dismissal, Lang stood, but she didn’t want him to go just yet. “I want to share something, and I hope you’ll hear me out.”
Slowly, Lang sat back down. Dirk only narrowed his eyes and waited.
When Callie glanced at Tanner, he gave one slight nod.
“Someone threw a rock through my attic window.” She quickly held up a hand before they could get riled.“I’ll admit, at first I wondered if one of you had done it, but I couldn’t see any reason why you would.”
“Because wewouldn’t,” Dirk ground out, the clench of his jaw the only sign of his temper. “Whatever Tanner’s told you, we don’t hurt women.”
“Not ever,” Lang added. “That’d make us chickenshit and we’re not.”
“I believe you.”
“All you know about us is what Tanner’s told you.”
“All warranted,” Tanner said.
“Most, maybe.” Dirk let out a breath as he considered things. “I guess it makes sense she’d suspect us since she probably doesn’t know that many other people yet, being new and all. There’s no way anyone would accuse Addie of any wrongdoing, and since she’s sleeping with you it’s not likely she’d accuse you.” He shot Callie a look. “Even though he had plans for this property and you mucked them up.”
“Expanding his tree farm, I know.”
Lang huffed. “More like he wants to put up a mentoring program or something for all those troubled kids he supports.” Shifting uneasily in his seat, he muttered, “We always thought it was a solid idea.”
“Kids like that need attention,” Dirk said. “They gotta know things so they have options.”
The bottom dropped out of Callie’s stomach. Beside her, Tanner had gone still.
Dear God, she’d been wallowing in her freedom, enjoying learning new things, playing at life—and in the process she’d unknowingly disrupted Tanner’s special dream.
Why didn’t he tell me?His profile didn’t alter, nota flicker of guilt or anger showed, but she felt the new tension in his frame and in the very air around him.
“I didn’t know,” she whispered.
Tanner nodded. “I’ll figure out another way.”
But how could he? She had the perfect property for it, especially since it was right next door to his tree farm.
Once more, Tanner wrestled the topic back on track. “The lock was opened on her window, which makes me wonder if anyone got in her house that way.” He hesitated, then said, “Or if the point was just to plant a big snake in the attic. That’s why she fell. She heard the noise, went up the ladder to investigate, and the snake was there moving around.”
With a shrug, Dirk said, “Snakes get in attics, usually looking for food.”
“Sure, but they don’t throw rocks or unlatch windows. Besides, there wasn’t a single mouse or rat to be found. Other than some dust, the space is spotless. And now, after what you’ve told me about Sutter, I’m wondering if he planned it all.”
It suddenly struck Callie, too. “Odd that he’d show up here so early the very next day.”
