“I haven’t yet, but I will as soon as I get back. Where are we at?”
“Dormant sprays are done on the pears, and we started spreading the fertilizer. I don’t know about that new stuff though,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “I don’t think it’s meant for stone fruits.”
Tina had ordered the same stuff she always did—a special organic compound developed by the state university, specifically for fruit trees. It was something she was quite familiar with because she’d been part of the research team that created and tested it.
“What new stuff? Show me.”
Keeping a healthy distance, Tina followed Billy into the shed. A brief scan of the ingredients on the label confirmed Billy’s suspicion. The fertilizer was not the organic, ecofriendly stuff she ordered, but a toxic blend she didn’t want anywhere near her peaches.
“Where did it come from?”
Billy shrugged. “Some guy brought it up a few days ago. I didn’t recognize him, but I saw him talking to Eddie, so I figured you knew about it.”
“How much did you spray with this stuff?”
“Most of the cherries and some of the plums.”
“Shit.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t catch it sooner, boss. Eddie sent me down to Ehrlick’s to get some parts.”
Ehrlick’s was the nearest farm supply store and the only one within fifty miles that sold and serviced equipment.
“Parts for what?”
“The Kubota. It’s rolling coal again.”
“Did you check the glow plugs?”
“Yep. Blown.”
“How many?”
Billy’s face was grave. “All of them.”
If Tina hadn’t suspected sabotage before, she did now. There was no way they should be blowing through glow plugs as quickly as they were. The recent string of equipment failures, order mess-ups, and crew call-ins was too much to chalk up to coincidence and bad luck. The look on Billy’s face suggested he knew it, too.
“What’s going on, Billy?” she asked quietly.
He looked down at the ground and lowered his voice. “I don’t know, boss, but it isn’t good. You need to watch your back.”
Billy’s eyes flicked toward the entrance. Out of the corner of her eye, Tina saw another guy come in. Billy’s eyes met hers, and she knew in that moment that the newcomer was part of the sabotage team.
“Go with it,” she said softly before raising her voice loud enough to be heard. “Not good enough, Billy. Get the right fertilizer and do it today. No more spraying until you do.”
“On it, boss.”
“If we ain’t spraying, what are we supposed to do?” the guy asked from behind her. Unsurprisingly, he was a good friend of Eddie’s, and judging by the hardness in his eyes, he wasn’t happy with the recent staffing change.
“While you’re waiting for Billy to get back, get rodent guards up on the new trees.”
He scowled. “Rodent guards? Should we be doing pest control?”
“We’re not spraying anything until I see what’s in the barn. If we got the wrong fertilizer, we might have gotten the wrong pesticides, too.”
Tina turned and walked back to her truck. It was only once she drove away that she allowed herself to exhale and slump down against the seat. That show she’d just put on drained what little bit of energy she had.
She went back to her cottage, rationalizing that there wasn’t anything that needed her immediate attention. She’d head over to the barn later and check out the remaining shipment of pesticides once everyone else went home for the day, but until then, she was going to grab a blanket or three and take a much-needed nap.
Chapter Twenty
Doc
Doc knew going to Tina’s was a risk, but after nearly twenty-two hours with no response to his texts or calls, it was a risk he was willing to take.
His main objective was exactly what he’d said it was—to see that she was okay. Additionally, he planned on offering to help in any way he could, whether it be giving her the soup Kate had sent along with him or running to the store. The ideal scenario, of course, was that she would allow him to help in other ways, too, but that might be expecting too much, too soon.
When he arrived at Tina’s isolated cottage, he found the place dark and quiet. No lights, no sound, and no smoke curling from the chimney, yet her truck was parked at a haphazard angle along the side. Instincts on high alert, he tried calling and texting again. In the muffled silence of the night, he heard her phone ringing from within.