Jeremiah chuckled. “Well, seems he’s dealing with a whole lot of change in his household that’s hard to handle. Honestly, if he hadn’t been distracted by his personal problems I don’t think he would’ve let me off with such a gentle hand. As it was, he seemed eager to put the matter to bed so he could focus on other things.”
“His turmoil was our gain,” Miranda said, shrugging. “Well, I went out to meet Vee Walker, and let me tell you, she’s a tough cookie. On the surface she’s gruff, barely civil and plainly not open to cooperating, which under normal circumstances would raise flags, but my gut tells me she’s not actually hiding anything. She just hates government authority. And if that were a crime, there’d be plenty in Alaska who were breaking the law.”
“So back to square one.”
“Not exactly,” she admitted, hating what she was about to say. “She told me a few things that have made me realize I need to take a deeper look into Rhett’s business.”
“Why?”
“Just a hunch that I ignored when we saw him and Vee echoed that hunch.”
“Do you want me to chase it down so there’s no conflict of interest?” he offered.
“Yeah, that would probably be best. God, I hate this. I don’t want to be right.”
“Don’t stress just yet. Plenty of things can seem suspicious but in the end, be perfectly legitimate.”
“Yeah, but I subscribe to the Occam’s-razor rule—the simplest explanation is usually accurate.”
“Let’s wait and see what the evidence says. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said. “See you at the office tomorrow.”
“Bright and early.”
“Oh, and, Jeremiah...sleep well.” She didn’t know why she’d tacked that on, maybe because deep down she knew he suffered from the same level of insomnia as she did and the one time they’d both slept like babies was with each other. It was silly, but, somehow, hoping that she’d be the last thing on his mind made her smile.
“Ditto,” he replied, his voice lowering just enough to sound like a caress. And then he was gone.
* * *
RHETT FOWLER BARKED for his wife, Ambra. “Where’s that damn beer, darlin’?” What a day. What a damn day! That Walker woman was going to put him out of business. Three more cancellations today. Ambra, his saving grace, came into the room with her usual serene expression and a beer in her hand.
“Darlin’, you’re the best part about my day,” he said, pulling her into his lap. She smiled and allowed him to rest his hand possessively on her pert rump. He sucked down a healthy swig of his beer before asking, “What did you do all day while I watched that woman steal three more reservations?”
“I did as I always do, my love—think of you,” she said, bending down to sweep a petal-soft kiss across his lips.
“Is that so?” Rhett asked, his ire slipping away and being replaced by simple need. “Why don’t you show me what you were thinking?”
Ambra laughed and slipped away before his hand could reach the full bounty of her ripe breast. “You silly thing, not now. Perhaps later.” Ambra walked away, leaving Rhett wishing he could follow her into the bedroom and enjoy the benefits of having a wife who was so much younger than he was, but Ambra was a fickle beauty who doled out her affections sparingly. Usually, he had to loosen the buttons on her blouse with the help of something shiny and expensive. He sighed. And he couldn’t afford a shiny new bauble at this rate. He drained his beer and grabbed his expense sheets. There was one saving grace—his new helicopter pilot, Mack, was saving him money. The kid came cheap because he wanted to build his résumé and Rhett had been more than happy to provide the experience for him. If only he’d been able to find ways to cut all of his operational expenses in half.
He was just surfing the Net looking for alternative fuel companies for his fleet of vehicles when a commotion interrupted his research.
Ambra trailed after that horrid woman, Vee Walker, as she barreled into the room and headed straight for him with fire in her eyes.
“You rotten SOB, siccing your fish-and-game honey on me just because you can’t handle a little competition? What’s the matter? Can’t deal with a woman getting the jump on you because you’re too damn lazy to start thinking creatively? So we cut a little into your business...tough titty! Fat and lazy, that’s what you are, and you’re trying to submarine us for simply trying to run a legitimate business.”
Rhett struggled to his feet to stand toe-to-toe with the tall woman. “Legitimate business? You can’t tell me you’re running a clean operation when you cut corners to offer a dirt-cheap price for your clients. How do I know you’re not running that poaching ring to supplement your income?”