Tied Up and Dumped Into a Raging Western River by Her Greedy Ex-Fiancé to Steal Her $4 Million Riverfront Ranch, a 19-Year-Old Native Girl Is Rescued by the Giant Black Bear She Raised in Secret
I spent the next two days drafting the formal defense. My fingers flew across the keyboard, citing federal statutes, attaching my rehabilitation license, scanning Maku’s detailed history. The county land board would get a packet so thick it would make their eyes water. My son, Leo, usually played quietly while I worked, building towers of blocks or drawing fantastical creatures with his crayons.
Today, however, the silence felt too deep.
“Leo?” I called out, pushing back from my desk.
No answer. A prickle of unease started in my stomach. Leo, at five, was an independent spirit, but he rarely wandered far without telling me. I found the front door ajar, the cool spring air drifting in. My heart sped up.
Tyler’s construction crew had been working just a few hundred yards upstream, their loud machinery a constant irritation. I raced out, my eyes scanning the familiar path. Then I saw it: a tiny set of footprints in the damp earth, leading directly towards the new, temporary site office Tyler had set up near the proposed resort entrance.
A wave of panic hit me. What if Tyler or his men saw Leo? They already knew Maku was nearby.
I ran faster, my breath burning in my lungs. The site office, a small, ugly trailer, stood empty. No trucks. No workers. It must have been a shift change, or a break. I saw Leo standing inside the open door, a brightly colored, oversized folder clutched in his small hands. He looked up, his eyes wide.
“Mama! Look what I found!” he exclaimed, holding up the folder. It was thick, yellow, and looked official. Too official.
My heart still pounded from the run, but a different kind of jolt went through me. Had he just wandered in and picked up something important? He loved bright colors.
“What is it, sweetie?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even as I swept him up into my arms. My eyes darted around the empty trailer. No one. Thank the spirits.
“It’s pretty,” he said, pointing to the bold black title on the tab. “It says… ‘Lawson Development. Survey 2024. FINAL.’ It was under a big rock.”
I hugged him tight, feeling the strange weight of the folder against my chest. Leo, my curious, bright little boy, had just stumbled into the lion’s den and walked out with something he wasn’t supposed to have.
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