Ladd Fortune (16 page)

“
Heck, no,” she tossed out.
“I went with him willingly. I wanted to leave Tennessee back then
in the worst way, and Jeremiah was my ticket out.”

Malcolm nodded. He wanted to ask about
her family, wanted to know what would drive a seventeen-year-old
girl to run away, hook up with a man who slept with her sister only
to leave him six months later. She would have been too young to
work in the lounge at that age. How did she survive? From what he’d
gleaned, looking into her history, Lacy had quit her job at the
lounge to come here. Up and left, the manager said, without giving
notice. He was not pleased about it, either, informing Malcolm
there would be no referral coming from him.

Studying the woman across the table,
Malcolm considered she might be at a crossroads in her life. None
of his research into her background turned up trouble. No arrests,
no drugs, no violations of any kind. Unless they were sealed in
juvenile court, Lacy Louise Owens had no record with the law. She’d
merely “popped” back home for a visit. Because her ex-boyfriend and
girlfriend had decided to do so?

“
So how long are you in town
for?” Malcolm asked.

She hesitated, as though debating the
answer. “Oh, I don’t know. For a while.”

“
A while? Your boss back at
the lounge okay with that?”

“
You have a good memory, Mr.
Ward.”

He laughed at her cooled response. “I
have to. Running a hotel chain demands it.”

“
Is it fun?”

“
Is what fun?”

“
Working in a fancy hotel?
Aunt Frannie told me that you build really nice hotels.”

Amazed by the quick spin in subjects,
he nodded. “Remind me to thank her for the compliment, but yes,
it’s fun. One of those jobs I enjoy every day of the
week.”

“
I bet I’d like working at a
hotel, meeting new people all the time, talking to them about where
they’re from, what their hometowns are like...”

He smiled, intrigued by her guileless
nature. It was as though he were discussing business with a child,
a girl who had no idea about the world around her but seemed
fascinated by it. Had Lacy ever been to an upscale hotel? She
worked in Atlanta. He couldn’t imagine she hadn’t been exposed to
the finer things in life. His gaze dropped briefly to her chest,
the thin cotton material outlining her curves to perfection. Why,
men would fall at her feet for a chance to show her the
town.

Returning his focus to her, he said,
“If you’re interested, I could get you a job with Harris
Hotels.”

“
You could?” she asked,
instantly bubbling with interest.

He winked. “I happen to have
connections.”

Lacy realized he was teasing and
withdrew her enthusiasm. “Oh, of course.” She reached for her soda
and sipped. “How silly of me.”

And peculiar. Lacy couldn’t
be a neophyte when it came to life, yet she came across as naïve.
It was a trait he continually had to wrap his mind around.
Actually, what he wanted was to wrap his arms around
her
. “I bet the guests
would love you.”

That hit the mark. “I would
love
them
,” she
said, almost starry-eyed as she re-emerged from her
shell.

“
Then it’s settled. If
you’re here when Serenity Springs opens her doors, you have a job
as the official guest-greeter.”

“
Serenity
Springs?”

“
That’s what Nick and I have
decided to name the hotel, after the natural springs on the
property. Serenity is the feeling our guests will experience during
their stay, take with them upon their departure.”

“
Serenity Springs,” she
repeated dreamily. “I like it.”

“
If Jeremiah doesn’t succeed
in interfering, that is.”

“
Jeremiah?”

“
Yes, he’s stirring up
trouble, just like you said he would.”

Malcolm watched the calculations fire
through her brain, her mind whirring at high speed. “Can you stop
him?”

“
Sure, if we know where he’s
coming from, what his weak spots are.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
As it stands, Jeremiah can
challenge Felicity’s ownership, though I don’t think he’ll have
much success in court. If Annie joins forces with him though, he
might have a better chance.”

“
How so?”

Malcolm glanced askance and lowered his
voice to prevent eavesdropping from neighboring booths. One thing
he did know about small towns was people talked. They listened,
repeated and talked and talked and talked. One afternoon at the
lunch counter and he learned more about the townsfolk than he cared
to know!

“
From what I understand,
Casey is Jeremiah’s daughter.”

“
That’s what she claims,”
Lacy told him, “but it’s never been proven. Jeremiah certainly
won’t claim her.”

“
No?”

Lacy shook her head, a hint of shame
entering her gaze. “Jeremiah is as selfish as they come. He has no
desire for children. None. Zippo. Not long after we moved to
Atlanta, Annie tried to get him to acknowledge Casey as his
daughter, but he shut her down. Refused her flat.”

Nice guy, Malcolm mused but kept the
observation to himself. Lacy didn’t appear too pleased with her
role in the matter, either. Perhaps she could redeem herself by
helping him and Nick. If anyone knew how to get to Jeremiah, it
would be her.

“
Well,” Malcolm pretended to
think aloud. “If they do join forces, it might prove harder to
defend. Now, if we had something on Jeremiah to use as leverage, it
would be helpful.”

“
Leverage? What do you
mean?”

“
You know, something that
could be held over his head as a reminder that he doesn’t want to
mess with us. I’ve looked into his background in Atlanta and he
seems pretty clean.”

Lacy’s face lit up. “Oh, you won’t find
it in Atlanta—Jeremiah’s problems are in Vegas!”

“
Vegas?”

“
Sure. He’s got a bit of a
gambling problem—in that he doesn’t know when to stop.”

Hope blazed anew. “Really?”

“
According to Loretta, the
man can’t keep enough money in his pockets to leave a trail of
pennies to the front door. He gambles and he gambles big. Actually,
he owes money to a casino out in Vegas.” Lacy pushed her plate
aside and leaned forward. “And from what I can figure, it’s a
pretty fair amount.”

“
Jeremiah has an unpaid
marker?”

Lacy shrugged. “I don’t know about a
marker, but he borrowed a lot of money from the casino so he could
gamble and then lost it all. He can’t pay it back.”

Malcolm beamed.
God, he could kiss her right
now
. An unpaid marker amounts to a felony
which carried a prison sentence. Nevada was the only state to allow
casinos the right to go after a guy for spending their money, and
his friends took the privilege pretty seriously. They would hunt
Jeremiah down until they got their money and if they didn’t, they’d
throw his butt in jail. Tapping back his excitement, he asked, “Are
you sure about this?”

She nodded, seemingly unaware of the
gold mine of information she was providing. “It’s one of the
reasons Loretta said they were coming to Tennessee. Jeremiah needs
money.”

Malcolm chuckled. It was
beautiful.

“
What’s so
funny?”

Staring across the booth at
Lacy, he thought,
She’s
beautiful
. “You struck gold, Ms.
Owens.”

“
I did?”

“
You did.”

Lacy’s attention jumped to the door.
“Don’t look now, but we have company.”

Chapter Twelve

Malcolm turned, expecting to
see Jeremiah, but instead was treated to Tennessee’s latest budding
romance. Troy hung by the door, scanning the restaurant as he held
it open for Loretta to pass through ahead of him. The boy’s gaze
stilled and Malcolm followed his line of sight, tracking his point
of interest.
What do you
know
? It was young Casey Owens.

Loretta spotted Lacy and waved. Lacy
waved back, even as she quietly told him, “I hope they don’t come
over and sit with us. That’s all I’d need, Annie thinking I’m
cavorting with the enemy!”

Malcolm returned to the couple in
question, unavoidably settling on Loretta’s breasts. Ample cleavage
spilled from the tight yellow shirt she wore, her legs long and
lean as they extended beneath a short black skirt, her calves
strategically enhanced by four inch heels. She was a good-looking
woman, no two ways about it. “To tell you the truth, I don’t think
they have any interest in us.”

“
You’re probably right,”
Lacy replied, but her blue eyes remained fastened on the duo’s
every move.

Malcolm watched them secure a table on
the opposite side of the restaurant. Troy seemed uncomfortable,
though he worked hard to cover it, squaring his shoulders as he
steered his woman about. He avoided eye contact with anyone as he
slid into the booth across from Loretta, his back to the
wall.

“
Do you want to order
lunch?” Lacy asked him, drawing his attention back to
her.

“
Haven’t you eaten?” he
asked, indicating her plate of food.

“
Not yet. That was only a
snack my Aunt Frannie made for me.”

Malcolm raised his brow. A snack left
untouched. “Lunch sounds great. I’m always up for some good
old-fashioned home-cooking.”

She beamed. “Two orders of fried
chicken?”

“
You bet.”

“
I’ll go tell Aunt Frannie.
Can I get you a coke?”

“
A soda would be
great.”

Malcolm watched Lacy swing out of the
booth and breeze into the kitchen, his interest split between her
body and Troy’s lunch table. What was he doing here with that
woman? Was the kid trying to broadcast his disrespect for the Ladd
family around the entire town? First Whiskey Joe’s and now Fran’s?
If Delaney or Felicity walked in and saw him, Malcolm didn’t have
to guess what would transpire next.

It was exactly the boy’s audacity that
concerned Malcolm. He pulled the cell phone from his pocket and
dialed Nick’s number. Add the new information he’d received on
Jeremiah, and the two of them had to come up with a plan and
fast.

Nick answered on the first ring and
Malcolm dipped his chin as he spoke into the phone. “We need to
talk.”

Armed with knowledge of Clem’s
whereabouts, Jeremiah drove straight to the diner. If Loretta
didn’t have any news for him, so be it. He would find out
everything he needed to know from one Clem Sweeney—though he still
couldn’t believe it. Clem kidnapped Delaney? By himself? Jeremiah
chuckled. He didn’t think the hound dog had it in him. But maybe
things had changed since high school. Back then, Clem was as
scrawny as an abandoned mountain dog and couldn’t hurt a flea, let
alone kidnap the feistiest female this side of the Appalachian
Mountains. Had the world turned upside down since he left
town?

Slowing to a stop outside the front
door of Fran’s Diner, Jeremiah noted the building hadn’t changed a
bit since the last time he’d seen it. Still had a curved entrance
and block windows. The blue paint had faded, the red neon-lettered
sign remained the same loopy style of the fifties. Did the old lady
spend a dime on the place? Never did when her husband was alive and
probably didn’t spend a cent now. But Fran had always been cheap.
When he and his buddies worked the kitchen, she’d paid minimum wage
and disallowed overtime. There had been no argument, no room for
discussion. She refused to pay the boys a nickel more. It was a
wonder she’d stayed in business all these years.

Jeremiah ignored the
yellow-orange “no parking” lines painted across the pavement and
jumped out of his truck.
Tow the heap of
garbage, if you want
. He smiled to
himself.
I’ll be getting a new one right
soon
. Bells clanged loudly as he yanked the
glass door open, forcing an elderly couple on their way out to move
over as he passed them on his way inside. The joint was hopping,
not a single table available. Several people waited by the hostess
stand, a few more circled around the pie case.
Damn
...

Old Fran must he pulling in a mint with
this place! In the back corner he glimpsed Annie, a teenage girl
sitting across from her. Was that his kid? By the looks of her
black hair and blue eyes, she resembled nothing of him, but he
couldn’t care less. He spotted Lacy, with a man in tow. Jeremiah
shook his head. No surprise there. That one never did spend much
time alone. The customer he was looking for was an obvious stand
out, her blonde head of hair unmistakable, even from
behind.

Jeremiah walked over and giving the
Parker boy a cursory glance said, “Let’s go, Loretta.”

She whirled in her seat. “Jerry!” The
boy hit him with a hardened gaze. “What are you doing here?” she
asked, but wasted no time scooting out of the booth. Straightening
her shirt, she glanced about their immediate vicinity as though
someone might recognize her or overhear.