“I’ve got a job to do, lady. How about you get out of my way so I can do it.” A bee stung the man beside his eye but he stood his ground.
She wasn’t quick to anger—normally. “Fine. I won’t worry about you—” which wasn’t exactly true as the bees were attacking him with glee “—but I am worried about my bees.” She tried to tug him after her, digging in with all her might. “If you stay here, you’ll continue to be stung and, if that happens enough, you won’t fare so well.” He yanked his arm away from her. “Also, you have no right to be on this private property so I’m going to ask you to leave nicely. Then I’m calling the sheriff.” The air was a deafening roar and the bees kept bumping off her suit.
Astrid blinked, startled by the appearance of Charlie. The bee suit was too small, his ankles exposed, but he’d been smart enough to don her spare gloves.
“Let’s go.” Charlie’s voice was so intimidating, the man actually held up both of his hands and walked along the path.
Astrid followed, the buzzing fading but still audible. It wouldn’t be a quick cleanup. She’d need some new deep hive boxes and waxed frames to replace the ones that had been damaged or broken. Once she got to the house, she’d text Tansy.
The minute they reached a small break in the trees, Charlie unzipped his bee hood and pushed it back. “Who are you and why are you here?”
“We were hired to do a full commercial survey by Stinson Properties,” the first man said.
Charlie’s physical response was hard to miss. He jerked back, his eyes shifting to the blue sky overhead, before he drew in a deep breath.
Was he counting? Astrid unzipped her hood to get a better look. Yep, he was counting. And angry. Like, really angry. He was beet red and his hands were clenched into tight fists. His breath powered out of him, ragged.
Finally, Charlie flexed his hands. “Do either of you have a card?”
The man who had far too many bee stings offered a card.
Charlie read the card and muttered something under his breath. “The invoice you will receive for the damages needs to be paid in full or law enforcement will become involved.” Charlie tucked the card into one of the bee suit’s pockets without bothering to look at it.
The two men exchanged looks.
“This is some sort of misunderstanding,” the less stung man said. “Is this Rebecca Wallace’s property?”
Astrid felt a lump form in her throat. Her instinct was usually spot-on. Right now, her instinct was telling her Charlie knew more than he was letting on.
“It is.” Charlie nodded. “But Stinson Properties has no claim to this property and you two are officially trespassing. You need to leave. Now.”
The two men exchanged another look.
“If you’ve got a long drive, you might want to go to the medical clinic.” Astrid was growing more concerned about the man covered in stings. “Ten stings per pound of bodyweight is generally safe, but more than that can be dangerous to an adult.” She gave him a meaningful once-over. “It’s up to you, of course, but the Lewis County Medical Center has an ER. I’d suggest going there.”
“I’m fine,” the bee-stung man grumbled, his gaze dismissive.
He really wasn’t. If she’d had her phone, she would have called an ambulance.
“Maybe she’s right, Trey?” The other man was assessing the red welts on Trey’s face. Thankfully, he seemed to understand his coworker’s predicament was cause for alarm.
“I’m not wasting money on an ER visit,” Trey ground out. “Damn bees. Call pest control and spray the damn things until they can’t hurt no one. Shouldn’t there be signs out? Warning people?”
“The No Trespassing signs should suffice.” Charlie was still grumbling and more than a little threatening.
“It was an accident. Trey tripped—fell into those things—”
“You don’t need to explain.” Trey cut the other man off.
Astrid didn’t want to waste time with pointless arguing. The sting close to Trey’s eye was looking angrier and angrier. “A bee sting on the eye can blind you.” She nodded at him. “I’ll repeat, I strongly encourage you to go to the ER.” She hoped Trey would listen.
Trey’s jaw jutted forward and he turned on her with open hostility, making her step back. His color was blotchy and his face was already swelling. “Oh, you encourage me? Maybe I should sue you—it was your damn bees that did this to me.”
“She saved you. While you were trespassing. If she says you need medical help, you do.” Charlie stepped closer to her. “Say thank you and walk away.” He drew a deep breath. “This is the last time I’m asking you to go.” His hands clenched tight and his narrow-eyed gaze shifted between the two men.
“Come on, Lyle.” Trey waved the other man to follow. “Let’s hit the road.”
“Take that trail—it’ll keep you out of the bees’ way.” Astrid pointed at the secondary path. “And go to the Lewis Medical Center. Please.”
