I wondered how long she’d been doing drugs and how she’d managed to hide it. We’d emailed from time to time when I was in New York. In the beginning, maybe once or twice a month. But lately, it had been every other month, at most.
I took a deep breath. Life was a delicate balance. And I wanted to make sure I lived mine to the fullest.
Movement at the door caught my attention. Hayden stood there, staring at Teagan while he ran his fingers through his hair. Something like this would rock the town to its core. The news of what happened would spread like wildfire. Things like overdoses rarely happened in Skagway. The townspeople would be wary of Teagan now. They would love her through it, but I don’t know how they’d ever trust her again.
After a few minutes, Hayden motioned for Drake to meet him in the hallway. At our insistence, Ike had gone home to be with Amie, but Hayden had stuck around. The police were stopping by at regular intervals to check on Teagan. Our concern was what would happen when she awoke. She might be docile, or she could be violent. If it was the latter, Drake and Hayden would be able to help manage her if Hollis and I had to sedate her.
Drake sat up. “I’m going to speak to Hayden. You want to come?”
He must have known what his brother wanted to talk about if he asked me to join him. This only increased the unease I was feeling.
Hollis was still engrossed in his journal, so I had to interrupt him for a second. “I’m going to step into the hallway if you’re okay with it.”
“Mmm.” Without looking up, Hollis continued to read and make notes. The journal on genetics must have been the most interesting thing in the world.
“Hollis?”
He glanced up at me. “I’m fine. She’s not going to wake up for at least another hour or so.”
“Okay. I’ll be right out
side.”
Drake and I took a step out into the hallway, where the bleach smell still lingered from when Teagan had vomited earlier before she finally passed out.
Hayden held the back of his neck. “How is she?”
“Stable. But the hardest part is yet to come. Hollis has her on methadone. When she wakes up, that should keep the withdrawal symptoms at bay while we talk to her. She just won’t have that high feeling. But maybe it’ll allow us to reason with her.”
He shook his head. “This is just so hard to believe. Mom called a little while ago. She’s bringing over breakfast. The quilting circle is going to bring lunch. They also wanted to know if there was anything Teagan needed.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised. This town pulled together for the people who were part of it regardless of who they were. They always had. “Tell them thank-you. I’ll let you know.”
“I will.” There was some sort of silent communication between the brothers before Hayden spoke again. “I was flying with one of my buddies yesterday. I asked if he knew about a Milano Incorporated. Said he’d had an offer from them he was seriously entertaining.”
“Where’s his property?” I asked.
From his raised eyebrow, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like the answer. “Butts up to your place. You know the Ewings from Anchorage?”
“Yes. That land has been in their family forever.” I was pretty sure their family had owned that land for almost as long as mine had owned ours.
“It has. But he said they were offering over the market price. It’s hard to walk away from that kind of money. Business has been hard.”
Drake nodded. “Yeah, at our quarterly business meeting, he talked about being down double digits. Wanted to know if anyone else had the same issue.”
Drake was part of a group of other businessmen. They touched base four times a year to see how business was going and what could be done to help each other.
It wouldn’t matter how much this Milano Incorporated offered. Some things weren’t for sale. My head spun as I wondered what was going on.
Drake asked, “How have they been communicating with Ewing?”
“Through the bank. He thinks it’s Chazz, and that’s the only reason he’s not selling yet. But the bank confirmed the offer was valid.”
To me, it just sounded shady.
“Thanks, Hayden. I appreciate it,” Drake said.
Why would someone work so hard to remain anonymous? Secrecy in this sort of transaction generally wasn’t a good thing.