Page 42 of Eco-Activist’s Mountain Men (Mountain Men Reverse Harem #4)

Jack

I t's nearing midday, and the police have let us know they're on their way. They want to know if there's room to safely land their chopper.

"Plenty," Toby tells them. "You could land ten out here and still have room for a baseball game, a cheerleader display, and a hog roast." He's probably not far wrong.

Meanwhile, Luna is up to something on her phone. She's been smirking all morning, and she's bossed us all into showering and putting on clean clothes. She even makes Eric shave, then sits him down and cuts his hair. He blushes to his ginger roots, but he doesn't seem to mind the attention.

"Chopper!" Luke suddenly calls out. "Coming in from the south."

A pause. "Wait. There's another one, and—hell—now a third. Why are they wasting three helicopters on us?"

We all turn toward Luna, whose smirk has stretched into a full-on grin.

"Alright, Luna," I say. "What did you do?"

"Me?" Her eyes go wide, trying for innocence but failing miserably. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm talking about the three damn helicopters overhead."

"And two of 'em ain't police," Luke cuts in, squinting into the sky.

"Oh, that." Luna's grin widens. "That'll be the media."

"What?"

"Tim Collier's not the only one who can set up a press event." She folds her arms smugly. "But this time, Tim Collier is the press event." She giggles.

The police chopper and one of the media helicopters land, whilst the other chopper remains in the air, a cameraman leaning out, taking footage of the action going on below.

A sheriff and two of his deputies get out of the police chopper, bending low and hanging on to their hats to stop them blowing away as they jog across to where we're standing in the yard, watching them approach us.

"Be pleasant, be polite, and leave all the talking to me." Luna hisses.

"Okay, Bossgirl."

"Oh, and Toby, act the fool all you like after they've gone, but whilst the cameras are on you, please remember you're a senior director of a company, so act your age, not your boot size, okay?"

I can see she's serious, so for once I decide to behave myself. "You got it." She gives me a long look, and I hold her gaze to show I mean it. Eventually, she seems satisfied, gives a slight nod, and looks back towards the approaching cops.

A film crew and interviewer have emerged from the other landed chopper and are also making their way across to us. The police arrive first, and the sheriff appears less than delighted with the media presence.

"My name's Sheriff Dwayne York, and these two here are my Deputies, Smith and O'Callahan. Who's in charge here, and why have we got the media all around us?"

Luna steps forward, a friendly, welcoming smile on her face, her hand offered out to shake.

"Sheriff York – may I call you Dwayne? First of all, thank you so much for coming so soon.

We know you're still mega-busy after the recent storm, and we really do appreciate you taking the time to help us right now.

My name is Laura Wilder, and I'm the daughter of Kingsley Wilder, Head of Wilder Investments—you may have heard of him. "

At this news, the sheriff stops dead in his tracks, and his face drops.

She might just as well have said she was the daughter of Bill Gates or David Rockefeller.

Kingsley Wilder. Even I've heard of him.

One of the top ten richest men in America, which means top ten richest in the world.

Everyone knows about the charitable work of the Wilder Foundation, run by his wife, the ex-movie star, runway model, and renowned social beauty from the eighties, Lorenza De Angelis.

I remember her as the pinup star of maybe half a dozen Italian thrillers plus a couple of French art films, followed by a Hollywood blockbuster or two before she married and walked away from the spotlight, retiring from the silver screen to focus on her foundation work.

Shit – those are her parents? She'd said her daddy was wealthy, but the penny hadn't dropped with me, and judging from the faces of Toby, Luke, and Eric, they are going through the same shock of discovery and realization as I am.

Luna is from that family? No wonder she acts like a princess… she practically is a princess.

As if in a dream, the sheriff shakes her proffered hand, his eyes not quite able to look directly back into hers. "I… er… nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Oh, call me Laura, please, Dwayne. I am also a co-owner of and the Chief Revenue Officer for Mackenzie Forestry Services, and these four gentlemen here are the other co-owners.

These two are Jack and Toby James, this here is Luke Williamson, and last but not least, here's Eric Kurtz.

Eric is our secret weapon, and in fact, he's currently finishing his doctorate at Oregon State University before joining us full-time here as Chief Scientific Officer.

Between the five of us, we own the company.

"Now, I guess you want to meet my would-be murderer and get some statements from us, Sheriff.

I know how busy you must be, so I'll ask Luke and Toby if they'd be kind enough to show your two deputies to where we have the guy safely locked up, and perhaps Jack and I can answer any questions you might have in the meantime? "

"That will be fine, Miss… er… Ma'am… er… Laura." The sheriff takes off his cap to scratch his head, then remembers himself and recovers just in time. He is clearly as overwhelmed by the whole situation as I am. Luna, on the other hand, appears cool, composed, and entirely in her element.

"Here comes the press. Such a nuisance, aren't they, Dwayne?

How could they possibly have known you were coming out here today?

Did one of your junior staff give them the tip-off, do you think?

Or were they just tracking you with a scanner?

Anyway, it doesn't matter. I'm sure we only want the truth to emerge.

We certainly have a strange story to tell.

It all started the day of the storm. Want to hear the full story, Dwayne? "

Caught like a deer in headlights, Sheriff Dwayne York just nods, and as the camera rolls and the sound man hovers with his overhead mic boom just out of shot, Luna tells the police and the media a sanitized and company-friendly version of all the relevant events since Luna arrived.

Except the way she spins it, you'd swear she'd always been planning to buy the company.

Kill Climate Change? Just a clever cover story to flush out Tim Collier, and the scary part?

I can already tell people are going to believe it.

His role in the story, on the other hand, is very much at the fore and center of Luna's yarn, with emphasis placed on his deliberate acts of malice and his fraudulent attempts to buy Mackenzie for a knock-down price.

Her presentation of the facts ends as Luke and Eric arrive back with the two deputies, each holding an arm of our captive, Tim Collier, who looks at Luna and scowls.

"You haven't seen the last of me, you ungrateful little bitch," he spits.

I can see Luke's fist bunching in his pocket, so I hold out a calming hand and touch his arm, gently shaking my head, no.

Sure, it's tempting to watch Luke pound his face to a pulp.

It's not less than the guy deserves, after all.

But something tells me that this isn't how Luna wants us to play things.

It's not how it's done. Not in front of the media.

It also says a lot about how Luke has grown and matured over the years.

There'd been a time, not so long ago, when nothing would have stopped Luke from reacting with his fists.

Now he just stands there, calm as anything. I'm proud of the boy.

The interviewer leans forward and manages to get a question in: "Miss Wilder, how is your mother reacting to the news that you have had your life threatened by this…"

"Mad lunatic?" Luna helps, smiling sweetly at the interviewer. "She's bearing up. Mommy has a core of steel, even though she hides it well under that beautifully sculpted figure of hers."

"Yeah," I think to myself. "Not to mention all the Botox treatments, that means she goes about with a permanent expression of slight surprise that socialites in that class always seem to end up with.

"But most importantly, let me jump to our good news.

Let me tell you all about our plans at Mackenzie Services to become America's leading independent forestry services company.

Our innovation and our commitment to sustainable best practices are two of the reasons why I am so very excited about our planned growth for the next five years.

For example, our Chief Scientific Officer, Eric here, recently won an award for his research entitled "Drone-Assisted Monitoring for Sustainable Forest Management".

We're already in early discussions with the US Forestry Service about it, and with their approval, we aim to be going live with our drone program in early spring of next year… ."

Amazed and impressed, Jack, Luke, Eric, and I can only stand back and secretly applaud how easy Luna makes talking to the media seem to be. She obviously has the gift, and the cameras obviously love her.

Eventually, both police and media seem to have gotten all the information they need, and they pack up and head off, the film crew into one chopper, the cops into the other, along with a still fuming but securely handcuffed Tim Collier.

For a few minutes, the yard is filled with the whoosh of helicopter blades and the steady, loud thudda, thudda, thudda of their powerful engines.

I watch, entranced, as, one after the other, they lift upwards, impossibly slowly at first, then picking up speed as they gain altitude and head back towards Portland and civilization.

"Fuck me." I hear Toby say. "I've been nailing the daughter of one of America's richest m— ow !" Luna smacks him hard on the arm.