Page 95 of Unleashed
Her jaw tightens. She puts the phone down.
"You don't scare me anymore, Harper. You don’t have Ace to fight your battles."
I laugh. “Ace just fucked me more times in one morning than you get all year. So yeah, I do. And I’ll call him if you want? Perhaps get Hunter Sterling down here, too.” I tilt my head. “Would you like me to do that? Or are you going to go do your job… Tiff.”
Her face goes red. She opens her mouth, and a door behind her swings open.
"Harper? Harper Jones, is that you?"
A man steps out from the back office. Tall, gray-haired, with reading glasses perched on his nose. He's got a coffee mug in one hand, a stack of folders in the other, and a grin spreading across his weathered face.
Dale Hutchins. My dad's oldest friend. They still play poker every other Thursday. He's been the records manager here since before I was born.
"Mr. Hutchins!" The relief almost buckles my knees. "It's so good to see you."
"Good to see you, sweetheart. Your dad told me you were back in town." He sets the folders on the counter and pulls me into a one-armed hug. "You look just like your mother. How's LA treating you?"
"It's... an adventure."
He chuckles. "That's a diplomatic answer." He glances at Tiffany, who has suddenly become very interested in her keyboard. "Everything okay out here?"
"Just requesting some records. Tiffany was about to pull them for me."
Dale looks at Tiffany. Tiffany looks at her screen.
"What do you need, Harper?"
"Ranch 42. Recent property transfer. Sale documents, purchase agreement, land survey—whatever you've got on file."
He nods, already moving toward the back. "Give me five minutes. I know exactly where that is; it came through a few weeks back. Caused quite a stir."
"Stir how?"
He pauses at the door. "Well, a ranch that's been in the Carson family for generations suddenly selling off? People talk. Especially when nobody around here recognizes the buyer's name. People don’t like that. Especially when everything had to be done silently."
He disappears into the back. I stand at the counter. Tiffany types furiously at nothing.
"It was really nice catching up, Tiff," I say.
She doesn't respond.
Dale comes back with a folder and sets it on the counter, and slides it across to me.
"Transfer of sale, recorded three weeks ago. Buyer is listed as a company, Aegean Holdings LLC."
"Thank you. Can I take copies?"
"Already copied. Those are yours." He taps the folder. "Your dad know what you're up to?"
"He doesn’t need to know."
Dale studies me for a moment. The same way my dad looks at me when he knows I'm not telling the whole story, but trusts me enough to let it go.
"You be careful, Harper. There's been some strange folks around here lately. Not the usual kind of strange. The dangerous kind."
"I will. Thank you, Mr. Hutchins. Really."
"Anytime, sweetheart. Tell your dad I'll see him Thursday."
