Free Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 04 - Saddle Up by Peggy Dulle Page B

important, but it’s another angle to look into. Thanks, Jordan.” I wrote both names on my pad. Then because I had made myself a promise that Jordan and I would actually talk more, I asked, “How’s Sam?”
    “He’s doing great. Thanks for asking.”
    “You guys still planning on taking that trip to Fiji?”
    “Oh yeah, I can’t wait. In two weeks, I’ll be lying on a beach soaking up the sun, sucking up little drinks with pretty umbrellas in them, and watching sunsets with Sam.”
    “Actually, that sounds very nice.”
    “You and Tom could go with us. We’d have a blast together.”
    “I’m still teaching in two weeks, Jordan.”
    “So take a week off.”
    I laughed. “It doesn’t work that day. My sick days are for just that, being sick or for medical appointments.”
    “They should let you use them for anything you want,” Jordan said.
    “I agree. I have eighty-seven sick days accumulated since I’m rarely sick. They do give us two discretionary days to take each year. I usually end up rushing to take them at the end of May before I lose them.”
    Jordan laughed and said, “I remember the year you took them the last two days of school and then went to school anyway.”
    “It was nice to have another set of hands to help with all the stuff I pass out on the last few days.”
    My phone beeped again. I glanced at the ID. Tom again.
    “That’s Tom on my other line, Jordan.”
    “Okay, Sis. Talk to you later.”
    “Bye, Jordan.”
    I clicked over and the first words out of Tom’s mouth were. “You’re not going!”

 
     
    CHAPTER 7
     
     
    I reached to disconnect the call. Who the hell did he think he was?
    “Liza, wait!” I heard Tom’s voice. The man could backpedal with the best of them.
    “Would you like to start this conversation over?” I suggested.
    “Yes.”
    “Hello, Tom. It’s nice to talk to you again so soon,” I started.
    “It’s nice to talk to you, too.” I heard him exhale a loud breath.
    “You must have found out more about Ridgedale, care to share?”
    “I talked to Earl Backston, their Chief of Police.”
    I recognized the name immediately. “I thought it was an all volunteer police force?”
    “It is, except him. The city doesn’t actually pay him; he’s paid by some corporation as a security specialist.”
    “Which corporation?”
    “It’s called Blue Stripe Enterprises.”
    “I’ll get Justin to look into them,” I said, adding Earl’s occupation next to his name. Then adding the word ‘idiot???’ next to it because of what Jordan had said about the sexual harassment case. Could anything that this guy said be accurate? I wondered. Then I turned my attention back to Tom and asked, “So what did Earl have to say?”
    “Ridgedale has some major problems. They have two gangs – one Latino and the other a biker group fighting it out for control of the drugs, mostly meth, up there. According to Earl, they’ve had five deaths in the last year because of the gang war.”
    “You said earlier they might have a gang issue. Is that the reason you don’t want me to go?”
    “If it was just that, I’d have reservations, but there’s more. An ecology group is planning on picketing the power station and a lagoon recreation area during the rodeo weekend. Earl expects big problems since those two places account for ninety percent of the jobs for the town’s people.”
    Okay, now I had to make a choice. Did I tell Tom that my dad’s group would be up there? If I did, would he call the FBI? Did I want to have a relationship with a man I kept secrets from?
    As I argued with myself, Tom continued. “And if those two reasons aren’t enough, there’s more.”
    “Really, what?” I asked, startled back from my inner squabbling.
    “Earl told me in confidence that Blue Stripe Enterprises is trying to buy up everything in town and level it for an expansion of Highway 70. The local newspaper got wind of it and it’s creating havoc for the town’s people,