Hard Hat shrugged and shoved his thumb in the direction of the surveyors. “Ask them.”
She raised her voice. “Iamasking them. Sirs, you are trampling an environmentally protected area housing endangered species.” She didn’t think quail or deer were endangered, but she liked to sound not-flaky. “You need to leavenowor I’m calling the sheriff.”
“So, call him.” The older, larger of the khaki-wearers continued setting up equipment. He had EMMITT embroidered on the nametag on his shirt.
Evie sighed and addressed the county worker who’d deigned to speak to her. “He doesn’t know what he’s asking. If you don’t have any authority over them, sir, I suggest you put your hands over your ears.”
He looked at her as if she were demented. Perhaps she was. She just got perverse pleasure out of irritating authority figures who ignored her. Her diminutive stature, red hair, and genial personality seemed to give the impression that she could be easily dismissed. She needed a T-shirt that saidGo ahead, underestimate me. It should be fun.
Without further warning, she began screaming.
The two surveyors swung around and glared. The hardhats hastily covered their ears. She escalated an octave. She wasn’t that far out of town yet. A car alarm went off and a dog howled.
She wasn’t more than five minutes from the courthouse. It might take a little longer than usual... She put more energy into pushing with her diaphragm to achieve full range. One of her aunts was an opera singer. She’d taught Evie how to cast her voice to the furthest edges of the theater—and regretted it later. Evie didn’t have a musical voice. She just had good lungs.
All four men were swearing by the time she heard the siren. Not one of them packed up to leave. Evie didn’t really want them to leave. She wanted to know who they were. Since they wouldn’t talk to her...
The sheriff’s car slammed to a halt behind the road truck. Sheriff Troy climbed out, looking seriously disgruntled. “Why the hell don’t you just call like everyone else, Evangeline?”
Evie took a deep breath and allowed silence to descend for half a beat before answering. “Because I don’t own a cell phone. And if I did and punched in 911, who would I get? A dispatcher in Charleston? What would I say is my emergency? Trespassers? This way, I cut out the middleman.”
Snorting, Troy pushed back his Mounty hat and studied the men who’d at least stopped working. “It’s easier to listen to the ladies around here than ignore them, gentlemen. She’s right. This is her family’s land. You got papers for being here?”
To Evie’s surprise, Jax came jogging up the road. Well, she supposed he ought to recognize her scream by now. She waved at him. “Here’s my lawyer now. Show him what you’ve got, fellows.”
“Lawyer?” Troy looked over his shoulder and snorted. “Damn, if that don’t beat all. You got him trained already?” He returned to sheriff mode and focused an eagle eye on the surveyors. “If the lady says she didn’t hire you, you got no business here. We’re a small community. We don’t cotton to strangers.”
Oooo, cue the horror music as the city slickers stumble into the hick town full of witches. Evie grinned in enjoyment as Jax followed this dialogue and raised his bushy dark eyebrows.
The older surveyor scowled and stomped back to the van, probably crushing a quail nest or two in the process.
“There’s a reason we stick to paths, gentlemen. The grasses conceal wildlife nests.” Now that she had backup, Evie ambled closer. Men with gray overlays didn’t drift into town often. She wanted to study them. Jax stepped up right beside her. She cast him a surprised look but then returned to her examination of the surveyors.
Jax’s male air of authority had the one named Emmitt handing the paperwork to him. Evie snatched it first. More Greek. She recognized John and Tiffany Post’s names though. She couldn’t identify the legitimacy of their signatures. And again with the Titan Surveying. She handed it over to Jax, who brilliantly used his smartphone to snap a picture.
Before he could say anything lawyerly, a white Cadillac Escalade pulled up on the far side of the road. Oh, goodie, more fun. Evie stepped behind Jax as Mayor Arthur Block got out of his vehicle and strode over.
“What’s happening here, Troy?”
Dressed in an impressively tailored suit that had to be warm in this humidity, the mayor was a few inches shorter than Jax and considerably less muscled. Yet the mayor always behaved in a swaggering manner that had swayed the town into believing he was a leader. Evie figured he had his silver-fox hair professionally blown dry every day to keep it looking fuller than it really was. His swagger didn’t impress her.
“Just the usual trespassing disagreement, Mayor. We’ve got it in hand.” The sheriff’s genial tone had a surly edge, to Evie’s surprise.
While partially hidden by Jax’s broad shoulders, Evie slipped into aura mode. She checked the mayor first, but as usual, the dishonest murky pink diluted his red energy and his fifth chakra was muddy blue. The mayor simply was not an honest man, but then, she didn’t know many politicians who spoke the whole truth.
She checked the sheriff, and his stress levels were higher than usual.
But she didn’t think she saw any killers, not that she’d ever known one. Checking back in, she stepped out from behind Jax just to watch the mayor scowl. Since she’d quit dating his son, she didn’t get many opportunities to push His Honor’s buttons, so she smiled hugely. “Hey, Mayor, good to see you taking an interest in us for a change.”
Apparently having learned her tactics a little too well, Jax grabbed her elbow while handing the clipboard back to the surveyor. “Sorry, this is insufficient. The signers are deceased. My client owns this land, and she hasn’t agreed to a survey. You’ll need to take this back to your employer and have him update his records.”
The mayor’s scowl blackened at Jax’s words. As the surveyor pulled out his phone and reported back to his employer, the mayor stuck out his hand. “Don’t think I’ve met you. I’m Arthur Block.”
Still holding Evie back with one hand, Jax shook with the other. “Jax Jackson of Stockton and Stockton, sir, good to meet you. We have this situation under control, but I thank you for your interest.”
Bollocks, Evie thought, watching the mayor’s face turn a lovely shade of puce.
“Stockton and Stockton, huh?” The mayor appeared to be stifling a comment or swallowing his tongue before he finally continued. “Good firm. I’ll trust you have the matter in hand then.” He tipped his head at the sheriff, ignored Evie, and walked back to his hulking monster of a car.