Everyone except Mel and Dean reacted in a flurry of raised voices. But it was Atwell who prevailed. Standing at the head of the table, he urged everyone to quiet down. “My apologies, Miss Ravenel.” He covered his heart with a hand. “Please forgive me.
“No one should leave here angry,” he continued. “Or hungry. A hearty dinner will be ready shortly. Please, take a breath, all of you. Stay, eat, and rest. You’re safe here, I promise. You’re the only guests on the ranch and my security team is the best.”
Mel’s stomach clenched. In her opinion, Atwell was the least likely peacemaker on the planet. And his version of safe never extended to outsiders in the past. Dean, close enough to sense her tension, smoothed a hand across her low back. A rush of gratitude flowed through her system that his touch kept her steady.
“Are the two of you willing to go out again?” Dale asked. “No matter who stays or goes, we’ll get more information about locations with the drones.”
Mel nodded. “We are down to one drone, but we’re confident we can handle it. As local, independent contractors, we’ve faced this kind of situation before. What happened today was unfortunate, but not unprecedented.”
“We spent some time reviewing the video footage prior to the, ah, incident in the park,” Dean said, mindful of Lacy’s fragile state. “As I said, we’re not investigators, but what happened could be as simple as someone using the drone for target practice.”
“They shot at Mr. Spalding!” Tears welled in Lacy’s eyes.
As Andrew calmed her down again, Mel was more tempted than she’d ever been to break cover. The woman deserved to know she was under the protection of an excellent, effective team.
But they had bigger fish to catch.
She glanced up and this time she caught Atwell studying her. “Mr. Spalding,” Mel said, as if she hadn’t noticed anything, “it might be wise to give everyone a day to recover and reset. I’m sure Mr. Atwell has a full list of activities we could enjoy.” She smiled sweetly at Atwell, daring him to argue. “In exchange for glowing reviews, of course.”
Spalding started harping on the issues of the schedule and his goals for the trip.
“My friend, Mrs. Turner is right,” Atwell interjected before the meeting devolved into another morass of emotions and opinions. “Let’s discuss activities over dinner.” He’d projected his voice and the kitchen staff apparently heard him. The doors parted and a feast was brought out by a line of half a dozen servers. Dana was not among them.
Mel had to lock down her immediate concerns. She couldn’t be sure Dana had been behind the warning she’d received in Afghanistan. Besides, if Atwell was certain about her identity, he would have taken direct, decisive action. The shooter in the park would not have missed, or some other deadly surprise would’ve been waiting in their cabin.
She wouldn’t ignore Dean’s concerns, but she remained confident Atwell hadn’t linked her to her working days back in Afghanistan.
A platter loaded with brisket, mashed potatoes, green beans, and cornbread was set in front of each person. Another server followed with silverware wrapped in cloth napkins. Bowls of coleslaw, fresh mixed greens salad, baskets of yeast rolls, and several cheese and fruit boards were added to the table.
“You’ve outdone yourself, James,” Spalding said. He pressed a hand to his stomach. “You were right about a good meal.” He smiled at his people, but it didn’t seem to comfort anyone. “Let’s eat and then we’ll feel better about discussing how best to move forward.”
His words were met with mixed reactions. Lacy sniffed, Andrew glared, and the others wore mutinous expressions caught between those two extremes.
Mel’s mouth watered and she dug into the meal with gusto, as did Dean. The others followed suit. Slowly, the anger and worry that had been so prevalent subsided. Brochures about the ranch activities were passed around and low comments sparked more in-depth conversations.
“Do you think they’ll find the person who shot at Mr. Spalding?” Lacy asked Mel under her breath, clearly not fully on board with the change of topic.
“Law enforcement around here is very good at finding even the smallest clue,” she replied. “And in that park especially, it’s difficult to cover your tracks.”
“Why is that?” Kent queried.
“Garden of the Gods is a natural monument and though it’s made of stone, it’s not impervious,” Dean answered. “In fact, it’s a relatively fragile environment.”
“Signs of human activity off the marked paths are pretty obvious to the people trained to care for the park,” Mel added.
She appreciated the way she and Dean could tag-team conversations. Professionally, it underscored their marriage cover story for this assignment, which was a bonus. Personally, it emphasized the deep connection they shared as partners.
And now as lovers, too. She reached for her iced tea to hide the flush rising in her cheeks when her mind drifted back to her last few hours with Dean.
“It may take some time, but I believe the park officials working with the sheriff’s department will find evidence that leads them to the shooter,” he finished.
Mel, surreptitiously watching Atwell, saw his hand tighten around the fork he held. A subtle tell, but the reaction was similar to the way his hands would tense up when she didn’t capitulate to his demands. Not incontrovertible proof of anything, but the movement enforced her instincts that he was using the ranch to cover up illegal activities.
“That gives me a lot more confidence to finish the trip,” Dale was saying.
“What about our other locations? Those are far less controlled than the park,” Maria pointed out.
“True,” Mel agreed. “Dean and I regularly notify the local authorities about where we’ll be when we’re flying over remote sites. It might be smart for us to set up a radio check-in schedule.”
“Surely that’s overkill,” Spalding said.
Beside him, Atwell nodded in agreement. “The authorities have better things to do.”
“They’d really do that for us?” Lacy wondered.
“Yes,” Mel confirmed. It was easy to give a confident answer when she knew those departments would be backed up by members of both the Athena Project and Brotherhood Protectors, if necessary.
“About tomorrow.” Atwell drew everyone’s attention. “We could arrange for a horseback tour. You’d have an inspiring view of the area.” He turned to Spalding. “Inspiration will only help your movie.”
Spalding, coaxed along by Atwell, eventually warmed to the idea. As peach and apple cobbler were served, the conversation turned to discussions about who had what kind of experience with horses.
Mel overheard Andrew quietly coaching Lacy to create good memories to balance the day’s negative events. Those two would be okay, she thought, regardless of how long they continued to work with Spalding.
“Sounds like it’s settled,” she said to Dean as everyone parted ways for the evening. Tomorrow they would reconvene over breakfast in the lodge, at the respectable hour of eight o’clock, before meeting with their riding instructors at the paddock.
Dean, his arm warm and comforting at her waist, scanned the area. “Let’s just hope all stays quiet at the cabins overnight.”