The Saga of Crow's Landing (eBook)

Robert Royer (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2026 | 1. Auflage
288 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3178-2241-5 (ISBN)

Infos

Crow's Landing, a luxury resort designed to pamper billionaire visitors, is being stalled by the city and the nearby native tribes who once owned the land the resort is set to be built on. Add in a mysterious figure leaving threatening notes, and town residents reluctant to support the luxury resort, and Jennifer has her work cut out for her! It'll take keen insight, savvy social skills, and a dash of luck to resolve the issues surrounding Byron's newest project.

A long-term Oregon resident, Robert Royer spent most of his career with the Oregon Department of Transportation as a long-range planner after graduating with a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Wyoming and Traffic Engineering from Yale University. Now retired, Royer is exploring his passion for writing. With several published journal articles under his belt, he continues to expand his horizons through fictional works focused on struggles relevant to today's world.

Textauszug

1

“Damn it!” shouted Byron slamming his fist on the table. “Our Crow’s Landing project just went to hell in a handbasket!” Coffee spilled from an overturned mug spreading over a set of construction plans on
the table.

“What the heck?” Jennifer’s back stiffened reacting to his outburst.

Byron’s beet-red face accentuated his anger.

“Here, let me help you with that,” she said reaching out to save the plans.

“John did it again!” he yelled. “I sent him to Wyoming to close the deal and what did he do? He may very well have put our project in jeopardy.”

This wasn’t the first time John had been the focus of a project-threatening controversy. The kickoff public hearing for a ski resort Byron wanted to develop for disabled kids had gone terribly wrong, nearly putting an end to that project. John had been introducing Byron’s project to the mayor and citizens of Silver Springs, Colorado. It hadn’t gone well. The hearing erupted into a free-for-all, filled with anger and all kinds of threats. Turned out John had only been the lightning rod for that crowd. The citizens of Silver Springs were not happy with how the resort would negatively impact the town’s major cash cow, and they aimed to kill it right then and there. Turning that disaster into their pride and joy had been a struggle.

She hated seeing Byron so upset. It was unlike him to explode like that, but on those rare occasions, it was best to steer clear of him for a while. He’d come around eventually. But she also knew that letting him stew over something very long wasn’t good either.

“What happened? I thought everything was worked out,” she said after he calmed down.

“I did, too; otherwise, I would have gone out there myself. I don’t have the foggiest idea what’s going on. He just said the deal was in limbo. Details to follow.”

She rested her hand on his arm for support. He yanked it away, indicating he needed more time. “When you’re ready, let’s talk about it,” she said. “In the meantime, don’t do anything rash.”

Byron was a brilliant software designer who had made a ton of money when he sold his startup software company for several billion dollars. What to do with all that money hadn’t come easily for him. At least not at first. However, once he settled on a new project, he focused nearly all his attention on bringing it to life. The Silver Springs ski resort had been his first. He had hired Jennifer to write a marketing plan for the resort, but he quickly expanded her role to help gain approval from the city. Since then, he had undertaken several different types of projects all around the world. Jennifer was by his side developing marketing plans for all of them. They made a very good team.

The Crow’s Landing project was a different type of venture for him. She looked forward to seeing it become a reality. The moment she had learned what Byron had in mind for Crow’s Landing, she fell in love with it. It was to be an upscale resort located miles from civilization. This project was Byron’s first that didn’t benefit those that needed help and couldn’t afford it.

This project would only benefit the wealthy. Wealthy like billionaire wealthy. The middle of nowhere in northwestern Wyoming was perfect. His clients could relax in luxury without fear of being bothered by hordes of people who were usually trying to get some money.

It was to have everything: a helicopter service to ferry clients to and from Cody; great fishing and hunting; backpack trail rides; and a host of other amenities tailored to pamper the rich and famous. Byron had a long list of billionaires already lined up. He had even persuaded the Cody City Council to lengthen the runways at their airport to accommodate the larger private jets his clients used. All that was needed now were building permits from Park County, and they’d be off and running. Or so Byron thought.

“These are ruined,” he said flipping through the coffee-stained plans. The color of his face had returned to normal, but his body language still suggested caution, proceed with care. He glanced up at her as she approached.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Don’t tell me. I know I behaved like a two-year-old that had just dropped his ice-cream cone on the ground. Taking it out on you wasn’t fair. John, on the other hand, is a different story. He’s got a lot of explaining to do.”

“We’ll work on the way you behave when you’re upset some other time. Did he say what went wrong?”

“No. All he said was the mayor no longer supports us. He didn’t go into the details. Let’s pack up and head out west. I’ve ordered a plane. It’ll be ready to go in an hour.”

“Let me give John a call,” said Jennifer.

“Good idea,” he said. “I’m sure he’s not looking forward to anything I might say. He’s picked up my cone too many times before. He really is good at getting things done . . . except when things go south. When that happens, he’s like a turtle hiding in its shell. I was so sure that everything was going well. I didn’t expect any surprises.”

Byron was himself again as they cleared New Jersey airspace. Flying always energized him. He had flown helicopters in the military and just loved everything about flying. He had even financed his way through college flying jets like the one they were on now.

She admired how he could carry out business on his computer while flying.. On the other hand, he tended to lose focus when things went off-kilter. But if there was real danger, his military training would kick in. At times like that, he was totally focused on figuring out how to find a solution to the situation. She had seen him come to the rescue of skiers buried under an avalanche in Switzerland and another time off the coast of Alaska, rescuing her and four others when a fishing boat capsized.

The flight to Cody was smooth and fast. The airport didn’t have a helicopter available, so he rented a sporty-looking car, and they headed south toward a small town close to Crow’s Landing. Not only did the car look sporty, but its powerful engine also responded instantly to Byron’s demand for more speed. He drove as he flew: fast and faster. Jennifer didn’t like it, and her white knuckles showed it. Her nerves wore thin as the miles from Cody slipped by in a blur.

“Slow down!” she yelled as they squealed around a curve that threw her hard against the door.

His eyes shifted to the next curve. An almost undetectable smile let her know that her demand fell on deaf ears. He was in a zone that blotted out any distractions.

Damn that airport for having a car like this for rent. But she knew a helicopter ride might not be much better. Before Byron presented the project to her, Jennifer had not been aware that Crow’s Landing existed even though she had grown up less than sixty miles from there. She had put Mr. Google to work to learn more about the 500 acres Byron had purchased.

They were located along the banks of Pickett Creek, in the foothills of Carter Mountain. The map designated the area as Crow’s Landing. How it got the name was a mystery. However, she did learn it had been a Shoshone Indian camp site for many years in the 1800s. She knew a little about those Indians because one of her heroes, Sacagawea of Lewis and Clark fame, belonged to the Shoshone tribe.

One newspaper article about the Crow’s Landing project stated that Buffalo Bill Cody had smoked peace pipes with an Indian chief at that location on a few occasions.

When Jennifer had told Byron about Buffalo Bill meeting with Indians on the same ground he was planning to build his resort on, he was overjoyed. He knew little about him and was unaware of his relationships with the Indians.

“If you didn’t know any of this before you decided to build there, why did you pick this spot?”

“I asked my friend from your hometown for suggestions. He pointed me to Crow’s Landing. I think it’s a great selection—providing we can get the needed permits to build it.”

Byron planned to meet John in Meeteetse. Byron had chosen to set up shop there until Crow’s Landing was under construction. Even though it was a small community, the people living there were friendly and welcoming. Byron’s wealth didn’t bother them like it had the residents in Silver Springs. Besides, he wanted to have a strong relationship with the town since it would be the hub providing employees and daily supplies for his resort.

He pulled up in front of the Hitching Post Bar & Grill, where they were to meet John. He was nowhere to be seen. Jennifer unfolded from the cramped cabin of the sports car. She stretched out the cramps in her six-foot-long body. Byron, a couple of inches taller didn’t seem to have a similar problem. Then again, he hadn’t been scared to death during the last thirty minutes.

She took a deep breath then caught a whiff of a familiar somewhat musty smell. She needn’t look to know what it was, but she looked anyway. Good thing. Mere inches from her open-toe shoes was a fresh pile of horse droppings.

“I’m starving,” said Jennifer. “I don’t want to wait for John. Let’s go ahead and eat. Where is he anyway?”

“He’ll be along soon. He’s probably checking out the house he rented for us. I recall you saying it might be better if you stayed in a motel until the town got used to a single girl hanging out with two men. Some people might not think it socially...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 10.1.2026
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3178-2241-5 / 9798317822415