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“Zee.” She smiled.

“Are you a tourist?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Not anymore.”

I wanted to ask more questions, but we’d drawn a crowd.

“I’m persona non grata in Sawtooth,” I murmured, so hopefully not many people could hear. “People don’t like me. If you keep defending me, everyone’s going to hate you, too.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“Just…trust me,” I grumbled. “Please. I appreciate the help but…”

She zipped her mouth shut, looking away with annoyance but muttered to Black, “She didn’t do anything wrong. I’ll scream it from the rooftop if you need me to.”

Black grunted out an “okay” and said, “Get home, Jess.”

I rolled my eyes. “No.”

His eyes narrowed, but I turned my back on him and walked away.

The group of homeowners on the road leading out of town were already there, looking angrier than they had last time I’d seen them.

“What’s going on now?” I grumbled.

One of my neighbors started to talk, angry and upset.

“They’re making the meeting private,” he said. “They’re not allowing the public in.”

I frowned. “Why would they do that?”

“Exactly!”

I walked up to the front door and pulled.

Locked.

I looked inside and saw a man standing there.

I knocked and the man looked up, shaking his head.

I continued to knock.

Exasperated, he walked toward me, resigned to the fight he was about to have on his hands.

“Hello.” I smiled at him. “We’re here for the meeting that’ll be talking about the expansion project.”

“The meeting isn’t open to the public.”

I frowned. “Why?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I was just told it was private.”

“Wouldn’t you think that it would be best to talk this out with the people that are about to have their land taken away?” I asked. “It is imperative to be fully transparent so we can all understand why this is happening.”

He sighed. “Like I told the others, this isn’t something that I can control. It’s up to the city council…”

I smiled, trying to look sweet and non-threatening.