Page 95 of Caught in the Axe
“I will let her go.” Just saying the words out loud made my stomach churn. “It may kill me, but I’ll do it. She deserves it.”
He nodded, his lips pressed together in a way that signaled his approval. Then the expression dropped, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Don’t hurt her.”
“I would never. Just please keep what you saw to yourself.”
He frowned at me. Gus was pretty much a vault and probably spent more time chatting with his chainsaws than actual human beings.
I shifted in my chair, ready for a change of topic. “So why did you barge into my office?”
“Two things. First, the Barrett kid. I handed over everything I had about my interactions with both him and his predecessor at the Department of Fish and Wildlife.”
“Okay.” I leaned forward and rested my forearms on the desk. “Do we need a lawyer? Are we in trouble?”
“Nah. They seemed satisfied. He’s only been on the job for about six months. Gary retired, and this guy came out here a few weeks ago to talk about the bats.”
Ah. The bats. The fucking bats. Specifically the northern long-eared bat. The little fucker was an endangered species and nested in our forests. That little fact meant lots of regulatory work to ensure their safety and constant visits from our friends at Fish and Wildlife. Just another fun fact about the timber industry I wish I didn’t know.
“Who would want to hurt the bat guy?”
Gus shrugged. “Beats the shit out of me.”
“Is he gonna be okay?”
“Still in a coma. Officer Fielder told me they moved him to Portland. He’s got family there. Poor kid. I feel so badly that it happened here.”
“We’re doing what we can to catch the people responsible. Just keep me posted if the police come poking around again, okay? I don’t trust Souza. It feels like he’s looking for an excuse to fuck us over.”
Gus grunted. “No shit. He’s so worried about his reputation since he was friends with Dad. Jude’s convinced he wants us shut down and run out of town.”
I agreed with Jude, but I wasn’t interested in diving into the motives of small-town law enforcement with Gus. I had a shit ton of work waiting for me already.
“Lila found something too,” I said, giving him a brief rundown of the questionable transactions.
He took his hat off and leaned back in his chair. “Fucking great. Gotta love Dad’s web of lies and crime.”
I laughed. At this point, there was nothing else I could do.
“I did the basics after Dad and Uncle Paul were arrested,” Gus explained. “And I never saw any of this. If there was an invoice. I paid it. Miranda helped me, but we got the bills out, so everyone got paid.”
“None of this was in the official databases,” I explained. “You wouldn’t have known unless you dug deep into the paper like we did. But this money exchange has been turned off for more than a year, and have you noticed anything shady withany accounts?”
Gus shook his head. “Not at all. But I was just trying to keep my head above water. If I missed something—”
“No,” I interrupted. “You didn’t. It’s just more evidence that this shit went further than Dad. There were more people involved, so the sooner we get ourselves away from this mess, the better.”
“Is this gonna ruin our sale?” Gus looked stricken. It was amazing how he’d come around to selling recently. We’d spent a lot of time going through the business together, him teaching me about logging and me teaching him about accounting, and we’d reached a mutual understanding of how badly we needed to be rid of this mess.
I shook my head. “Don’t think so. There’s no concrete evidence, and I’m certainly not looking to poke around in a drug conspiracy. The buyers are well aware of the company’s criminal past, and this just helps me give them a better financial picture.”
“Okay, good.” He looked relieved. “Actually. That’s why I came in here. To talk to you about the sale.” He took a deep breath like he was steeling himself for battle and locked eyes with me. “I need help.”
If I hadn’t been sitting, I might have stumbled at that admission. Gus did not ask for help. Ever. He was a one-man show. He could do everything and anything better than a team of ten. He was always learning, always training, and could pick up any skill.
“We’re behind. The cutting is done, but all the rain fucked us. We’re behind on almost a dozen orders, and we’re going to start incurring financial penalties if we don’t deliver soon.”
I had suspected as much, but Gus wasn’t exactly an openbook, and my job was to sell the company, not run it, so I’d kept my nose out of his business.
“What can I do?”
