Secrets of the Past IIf
Chapter 7
Scooter was Jarred out of a sound sleep, by the sound of his phone ringing. He rubbed his eyes and grabbed the phone to see who was calling.
"Lisa?" he said sleepily answering the call.
Lisa was about to answer him, when she heard snoring on the other end of the line. Lisa pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at it, annoyed.
"SCOOTER, WAKE UP!" Lisa yelled into the phone. The sudden shout in his ear made scooter jump and go tumbling out of the bed and onto the floor, knocking over his night stand in the process.
The crash woke Veronica up. And she peered over the edge of the bed with a what- is -going-on look.
"Okay, Okay," said Scooter, "I'm awake! Now why are you calling and 1:30 in the morning?"
"Because a bunch of muscle-heads just attacked my camp and tried to burn it down!" snapped Lisa, "And I know for a fact that your father-in-law is mixed up in some sort of business deal with the guy behind it!"
"Lisa, I swear I don't know anything about this, but I will be talking to Frank, believe me." Replied Scooter
"We'll finish this conversation at Pine Hollow tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock!" said Lisa before hanging up.
Scooter hung up the phone and face palmed.
"Frank DiAngelo what have to gotten this family into now?" he grumbled. He hadn't noticed that his wife's face had gone ashen as she listened to the phone conversation. Veronica quickly rolled over and pretended to be asleep as Scooter climbed back into the bed.
Meanwhile, Desi and Simon were getting the same phone call from Rafael. None of them got much sleep that night.
The next afternoon, Scooter, Veronica, Simon, and Desi walked into the Lounge at Pine Hollow to find Lisa, Rafael, Evie and Matt waiting for them.
"Okay," said Scooter, "My father-in-Law will be here in a few minutes."
"So will my dad," said Desi, "Now what is this all about?"
Matt decided to wait until everyone was settled before he launched into his explanation. As he stood there Evie leaned over to him.
"Does Veronica look a little fidgety to you?" she whispered
"Yeah," he nodded, "I'll bet she knows more than she's trying to act like she does. And I have a plan to find out for sure."
He turned to the others and began to speak.
"I believe the question was, what is going on here, so, I'll spell it out for you." said Matt, "There are two crooks by the names of Scanlon and Scheckter they want to build some kind of Rec center here in town."
"It's not a Rec center it's a high-end resort and spa." Snorted Veronica, then she realized what she said and clamped and hand over her mouth.
"How did you know that?!" said Evie looking down her nose at Veronica
"I-Uh," stammered Veronica
"You knew about your father's deal, didn't you?" said Scooter shooting a knowing look at his wife.
"Okay, yes I knew." Said Veronica, "But what's everybody so upset about?"
"The land that those guys want for the spa, is this land!" snapped Evie, "And they'll stop at nothing to force Max to sell, they've already tried to cripple the horses!"
"What?!" said Desi
Matt nodded.
"After we stopped them from doing that, they tried to kill us!"
"Yeah," said Evie, "Last night they tried to fire bomb my family!"
Desi had gone pale and Veronica looked like she was trying to sink down as far as she could into the couch cushions.
"And our fathers are mixed up with these guys?" she said glaring at Veronica, "What has your father gotten mine mixed up in?!"
"Hey," said Simon, "Don't be so quick to think that this is all Frank DiAngelo's fault, Desi, your father is just as crazy about money as he is."
Desi sighed, as bad as she hated to admitted, Simon had a point. Her dad could be money hungry
"I didn't know who my father was making the deal with?" insisted Veronica, "and I for sure didn't know that they would try to destroy Pine Hollow! Believe it or not, I love Pine Hollow as much as any of you do."
Matt nodded when Evie and the Atwoods looked at him.
"She isn't lying." He said
For the first time since the others got there, Lisa and Rafael's expressions softened a little. Matt proceeded to explain his background with these crooks, how he had faced them once before, and that they were wanted by the state police.
Just then Frank DiAngelo and Barry Biggins walked in the door. They were hardly ready for the angry glares from their daughters and sons-in-law.
"Daddy," snapped Veronica before anyone else could speak, "How could you get mixed up in a plot to destroy Pine Hollow and kill people?!"
"Same question, Daddy!" said Desi
Barry Biggins and Frank DiAngelo were stunned,
"What are you talking about?!" they asked bewildered
They sank into nearby chairs in shock as Veronica and Desi laid out everything that had happened.
"How were we supposed to know about this?" asked Frank DiAngelo trying to defend himself.
"Well, you might have found out that these guys were wanted by the state police if you had bothered to check them out!" snapped Veronica
Everyone in the room was a little stunned at the way Veronica was going to bat for Pine Hollow and she was still going.
"But of course, checking them out never occurred to you," she said continuing the tongue lashing aimed at her father, "not after you got an earful Scanlon's sales pitch. No, all you could think about was how much money you were going to make, and how many different ways you could spend it but then that's all you ever think about!"
At this a snicker escaped Barry Biggins lips.
Desi's head whipped around at the sound and she looked annoyed at her dad's amusement.
"Dad, what are you laughing at, when it comes to being money hungry, you're just as guilty as he is."
Her dad's smirk disappeared and he sank back into the chair looking guilty.
"You two had better get yourselves out of this deal fast." Said Scooter
"Yeah," said Simon, "When all this comes out, and it will, your reputations in this town will go down the proverbial dumper if you're still mixed up with these guys."
Barry and Frank looked at each other as they were struck with the realization that their sons-in-law were right.
"We'll back out of the deal," said Barry, "We promise, right Frank?"
Frank DiAngelo nodded and they hurried out the door pulling out their cellphones as they went.
Lisa was looking at Veronica, impressed.
"She's really grown up!" Lisa whispered to Rafael, "Who'd have thought that she would end up being just as protective of Pine Hollow as we are."
Rafael nodded,
"I'm glad she is." He said
Suddenly Risa's voice attracted everybody's attention when she, burst into the room and cried out.
"I got it!"
"Got what, Sis?" asked Evie
Risa held up a metal box with handle on it.
"This fell out of one of the jeeps that mom up ended back at the camp," said Evie, "And I finally picked the lock on it! Wait till you see what I found inside it!"
TO BE CONTINUED…PLEASE REVIEW
What is in the box Risa found?
Will this stop Scanlon and Scheckter?