Finding Fault by Annie McDonald

Author:Annie McDonald [McDonald, Annie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2022-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

By the end of the evening, the air had turned colder. Evie was thankful for the sweater she’d stuffed into her bag before heading to the loft and wrapped herself in it as they walked out of the casino. She had insisted on accompanying Merritt to her car, even though the lot was one of the closer ones. “Just in case you run into any elbows,” she’d teased. She was aware that she would’ve walked anywhere, in any temperature, sweater or not, to spend more time with Merritt. Even if it was as friends.

The agreement they’d made at the loft had an unexpected result. Evie had been able to tune out their sexual attraction, or at least turn the volume down, and had made it one of the most enjoyable evenings she had spent in a long time. The first hour or so, she’d taught Merritt the basic strategies of the games and the customs of the casino. Merritt had eased into it like a pro, dropping her usual cautious formality, and soon, they were both putting money down. Evie was donating more than winning, but it didn’t matter. It was fun to be in the company of a sexy young woman. Who also happened to be an outstanding kisser.

“I’m aware that I haven’t explained much about the investigation.” Merritt hooked her arm in Evie’s. Touching had seemingly proven too hard to resist, so Evie accepted the concession. “I appreciate your not pressing the issue.”

Evie had decided to show faith in her judgment. “I trust you’ll tell me what you can, when you can. I am curious about one thing, though. Are you in any danger?”

“No. At least, none of which I’m aware. I haven’t gotten close enough to make anyone uncomfortable, so that’s good.”

“Have there been more totes found?”

“You didn’t hear it from me,” Merritt said carefully.

“How many more?”

“I can’t say.”

The circumspect responses reminded Evie that they were in very different camps on the topic. But it was important. She wanted reassurance, something the meeting last week did nothing to provide. “Do I…do we need to worry that the quantities are sufficient enough to cause irreversible damage?”

“Please, Evie. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We have no evidence of anything at this point.” She spoke more quickly than usual. Evie’s reaction must’ve shown on her face because Merritt returned to her usual, unhurried pace. “Yes, there is an inconsistency in the supply chain. Inventory shortages. Measurable and not attributable to normal manufacturing losses. If I can figure out ‘where’ in the chain, we’ll be that much closer to figuring out the ‘how’ and ‘why.’ The likelihood is that someone is trying to buy liquid because it is otherwise unavailable in Canada.”

Evie let the assurances sink in. Everyone in a farming community knew farmers had resisted when the pellet form of fertilizer was given the green light. Most of their equipment was designed for liquid, and the cost to change was on their dime. But the dangers that liquid

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.