Wildfire by Mina Khan Page B

She pulled out
salad ingredients and carried them to the counter next to the sink.
    Lynn bit her lip and watched Jen slice and dice. Within
minutes of reading, she’d figured out she held the conceptual design of the
proposed land development. Contraband material. Should she compound her sins by
sharing the information with Jen? Oh hell, she was already in trouble. “Okay,
this has to stay between you and me.”
    “Oooh, do tell.” Jen’s eyebrows danced up and down as she
carried the tossed salad to the table and settled into a chair.
    Lynn grabbed plates and utensils. She helped herself to
heaps of spinach, artichoke hearts, mandarin oranges, and grilled chicken.
“It’s a proposal for developing thirty five hundred acres as a high-end
subdivision— three hundred houses at about $400,000 each.” She took a bite.
Cheese. It needed cheese.
    Jen’s eyes widened as she let out a low whistle. “Where are
they planning it?”
    She hurried to the refrigerator and grabbed the hunk of
Cheddar, then a knife. “Paradise Valley.”
    “Holy Purple Cow!” Jen glanced at the folder then at Lynn.
She squinted. “Wait a minute, is this what they discussed in closed session?
Where did you get the folder?”
    Her face burned. “It was an accident. I must’ve grabbed it
when I picked up all the additional information.” She focused on cutting the
cheese into slivers over her salad.
    “Lynn, you shouldn’t have this.”
    “I know.”
    Jen pushed away her half-eaten salad and jumped out of her
chair. She crossed her arms and paced. “You are going to get in trouble for
this.”
    “Thanks for the news flash.” Lynn nibbled her thumb. “Only
if they find out. I mean, they might know it’s missing, but they don’t know I
have it.”
    Jen glared at her. “Lynn!”
    She held up her hands in surrender. “I can’t just hand this
back to some commissioner, giggle and apologize for the silly mistake. No one’s
going to buy that.” She twirled her fork, making the spinach dance.
    “Well, you definitely shouldn’t have read it.”
    Lynn sighed. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have read it, and I
shouldn’t have said anything to you.”
    Jen stomped to the table and reached for the folder, but
Lynn snatched it away. “No, no, I should start doing the right thing at some
point.”
    “Oh cut the crap!” Jen rolled her eyes and threw herself
back into her chair. She grabbed the folder. “Heck, you’re going to hang for it
anyway.”
    She read with pursed lips. “Huh, they’ve designated two
hundred acres in the middle for a shopping center.”
    “Well, right next to it they have a children’s park.” Lynn
pointed at the much smaller green area on the drawing.
    Jen snorted. “Yeah, look at the comparative sizes. Freaking
developers!” She flipped back to the map locating the proposed subdivision in
the county. “That’s a lot of land, and the Jarvis property is right at the
center of it.”
    Lynn pored over the spot Jen indicated. “I wonder if they’ve
had an offer on the land.” She needed to ask around.
    Jen shrugged. “I can’t imagine them selling. In fact, I can
see quite a few people in the area turning down their offer. There’s a lot of
family history tied up in those properties.”
    “Even if the price is right?” Lynn glanced at the business
card attached to the proposal. Something sparked in her mind, but she couldn’t
stoke it into fire just yet. “The representative, Henry Chase, looked rich and
confident.” She flipped through her papers and notes.
    Jen frowned. “Maybe, money can make a difference to some
people, but I doubt it. He came sniffing around here, but lost interest when I
told him I was merely the renter.”
    Lynn bound out of her chair and rummaged through Jen’s
collection of pens and pencils by the phone. She grabbed a red pen and drew
lines across the Jarvis land.
    “Great, now you’re defacing a document you shouldn’t have.”
    “Hush, finders keepers.” Lynn