North considered. “Of course. I assume he talked mostly with Macon’s assistant, Janice. Macon didn’t have time for anyone he didn’t deem important. Hell, he didn’t even see them. You think Julian signed the logger contract for me?”

“If he worked for Macon on the side, then he could have signed contracts for you. Things you didn’t know about. Like the land lease.”

“I’d have known if the corporation bought land and leased it to loggers. It’s not like that can slip by anyone. I mean, even if I didn’t get wind, accounting would have. We might be a billion-dollar company, but paying millions for land is hard to hide.”

“Unless someone in accounting’s in on it too,” the director added.

“I asked Julian for all of Macon’s open contracts and I read through them yesterday,” North continued. “That’s how I learned about the deal with Marshall. Well, first from you,” she said, looking at me and when I’d come to her office. “It was in the pile. There was nothing in there about a logging lease.”

“Julian left it out intentionally then,” I assumed.

“I’ll go to the office and confront him.”

North’s words made me laugh. “Fuck no. Someone shot at you driving down the road. Until we know who’s after you, you’re staying here.”

“Where’s here?” the director asked.

“Somewhere safe,” I countered, not telling her. I was on a burner phone even she couldn’t trace.

“Jed, I want this done,” North said, setting her hand on my chest. My bare chest. Which meant my dick went hard at the feel of her touching me. “If this stuff, and I mean the contracts, not the shooting, keeps happening, then Macon isn’t really gone. I need him and his shit out of my life for good. You taught me that.”

“I got you out here to keep you safe and you want me to turn around and put you in danger?”

She gave a little shrug. “I don’t want to be shot at again. I might be stubborn, but I’m not stupid. But if Julian’s behind all this, then I want to know.”

I agreed with her, but I didn’t like it.

“I’ll confront Julian—”

“We,” I butt in. “We’ll confront him. You’re not doing it alone.” No fucking way.

She gave me a small smile. “We’ll confront him and if it turns out we’re wrong or he’s not involved in the shooting, we’ll come back here.”

A squirrel ran across the porch rail. Boozer stirred, hopped up and chased after it. Eddie didn’t even stir.

“Fine, but there are hundreds of people in your office building. I can’t protect you there.” I was losing my shit thinking about it.

“Then somewhere else remote. This is Montana,” she countered.