Ladd Fortune (17 page)

“
I’m giving you a ride back
to the motel.” He smiled. “You can thank me later.”

The Parker kid rose and stood
eye-to-eye with Jeremiah. “You got a problem, mister?”

Overgrown brown hair, angular jaw,
pumped-up muscles, the boy was like every other punk Jeremiah had
come across in his travels. Get in the face and whip out the fists.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Jeremiah said, raking him with a hot glance.
“I’m here to pick up my woman.”

The younger balked.
“
Your
woman?”

Loretta placed a hand to his forearm.
“Troy, it’s okay. I’ll explain later.”

Jeremiah glanced between the two. “Have
another date, do we?”

“
I don’t see how that’s any
of your business,” Troy thrust.

“
When you’re making plans
with my woman, everything’s my business.”

“
Jerry
! You said you were here to give me a ride, now let’s get
going.” Loretta started pushing at him but Jeremiah didn’t
budge.

Troy looked to Loretta, seeking
answers, but none came. “I’ll call you, okay?” Fury lit his
eyes.

Now you’re getting the
idea
, Jeremiah mused, enjoying the
displeasure of a man who’s just realized he’d been conned. Loretta
pushed past him and made a beeline for the door. Jeremiah paused
and savored a private smile. If looks could kill, he’d be dead
right about now. Which gave him a chuckle. Jeremiah patted the boy
on the shoulder. “Sorry kid, maybe another woman will mean
it.”

The boy whipped his hand up and grabbed
Jeremiah’s arm. “Keep your hands off me,” he growled.

Surprised by the swift move, the
strength of his grip, Jeremiah was momentarily stunned. While he
enjoyed watching the kid suffer, he wasn’t interested in a fist
fight. Around him, the din of restaurant conversation had hushed to
rabid curiosity. “I’m not looking for trouble, kid.”

“
Too late.”

With a jerk of his arm, Jeremiah freed
himself from the kid’s hold. “It’s never too late. Or didn’t your
mother ever teach you that?”

Before the kid could respond, Jeremiah
turned on his heel. Ignoring the stares, he tugged his shirt from
his chest and made his exit. While he wouldn’t mind going a round
with the boy, Jeremiah wasn’t about to give these people a reason
to call the cops. Cops served warrants—warrants with his name on
them.

Strolling outside, he found Loretta
hopping mad. “What do you think you were doing in there?” She
jabbed a finger toward the diner and cried, “I was making progress
with that boy!”

Jeremiah brought hand to chin and eased
the tension from his jaw. “Told you already.”

“
Did you think it was a good
idea to let him know we’re together? After I spent all that time
getting him to trust me, convincing him I’m just a friend looking
out for your best interests?”

Jeremiah brushed past her and eased
into the driver’s seat. “Well, if he’s stupid enough to believe
that, you might have been wasting your time.”

Loretta opened her door and
climbed into the truck. Pulling the end of her skirt toward her
knees, she said sternly, “I said you were a
friend
, not my lover.”

“
Did you get any
information?” he asked, inserting the key into the
ignition.

“
As a matter of fact, I
did.”

“
And?”

Loretta’s blue-green eyes stilled,
flooding with emotion. “Your daddy is sick.”

Jeremiah’s hand paused on the gear
shift. She might as well have sucker-punched him. “Sick? What kind
of sick?”

“
Sick. As in terminal sick.”
She reached over the center console. “Troy said he thinks that’s
why your daddy signed the deed over. He’s dying.”

She searched Jeremiah’s gaze. If she
was looking for sympathy, any feeling at all, she was wasting her
time. Something inside him closed. Jeremiah didn’t care about his
father. In fact, part of him was glad the old man was
dying.

“
Did you hear me? He’s
dying, Jerry. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

He snapped to life. “It’s about
time.”

“
Jerry!”

Jeremiah ignored the stricken look on
her face and gunned the engine, pulling away from the curb with a
hard acceleration. Tamping down the mix of emotions coursing
through him, he said, “You’re not the only one with news. I learned
a few things of my own today.”

Loretta didn’t say a word. She only
stared. If he had to guess, it looked to him like she was
disappointed by his reaction. That she was upset, offended that he
had the gall to not care. Why should she be surprised? Loretta knew
how he felt about the old man, though a terminal illness was the
last thing he’d expected. Jeremiah smiled, as if to prove he didn’t
care. “Don’t you want to know what I found out today?”

Loretta turned away, shunning him with
a haughty edge.

“
Seems my neighbor Clem
Sweeney has been getting pretty tight with my old man but ran into
trouble with Delaney.”

“
What kind of trouble?” she
asked, continuing to stare out the passenger window as they drove
through the dump of a town.

Jeremiah savored the words as he said
them, “Clem kidnapped her.”

Loretta spun around to face him. “What?
That poor woman! Did he hurt her?”

Jeremiah chuckled. “Didn’t look like it
from what I could tell. But I bet he had good reason.”

“
Jerry, what could
possibly
make kidnapping
someone a good idea?”

“
I don’t know. But that’s
the part I intend to find out.”

Chapter Thirteen

Malcolm and Nick tracked Delaney as she
paced from one end of the cabin to the other. Both men sat pulled
up to the butcher block island in her kitchen, patiently waiting
for her to absorb the information. He and Nick had already
discussed the situation, drawing up a set of their own plans to
handle Jeremiah. But when it came to Delaney, Nick suggested they
move slow, break it easy to her. Interesting concern, considering
Malcolm had never seen Delaney take anything easy. She paced, she
grumbled, she fretted and she questioned. She was knee-deep in
emotion and Malcolm wondered if she could even think clearly, let
alone understand the options at hand. But Ladd Springs was her
land, hers and Felicity’s, and she needed to be
involved.

Delaney paused, a grave look hanging in
her dark brown eyes. “This is bad. This is really bad. If Troy was
with Jeremiah’s girlfriend, he had to have told her.”

“
We don’t know that,” Nick
said.

“
Why else would they be
together?”

Hot body, easy pickings. Malcolm
exchanged a glance with Nick. None of which Delaney wanted to hear
at the moment. Taking a deep breath, Malcolm focused on the more
pertinent issue at hand. “It doesn’t matter. Even if Troy did tell
her, it doesn’t matter.”

“
But he can sue us for
duress!” she cried. “You said so yourself!”

“
He doesn’t have the money,”
he returned calmly, as though treading softly would help soothe the
wild beast in her.

Delaney slid a hand over her head,
resting it on a cotton hair band that held her long blonde hair
back in a ponytail. Thick and full, it almost could belong to a
pony. “How do you know that?”

Without makeup, lines of worry scored
her face all the deeper. Dressed in jean shorts and simple tank
top, Delaney was thin as a rail. Malcolm understood worried, but
she looked stressed as hell, almost to the point of becoming
unhealthy.

“
Lacy,” he replied
quietly.

The name chilled Delaney’s demeanor.
“She’s not the most reliable source.”

“
She’s proven right on so
far,” Malcolm defended. But he wasn’t about to argue the point.
Family feuds ran deep in this part of the country, and inserting
himself between opposing forces was not a good bet. Especially
female feuds.

Delaney brought a hand to her forehead,
as though a headache were coming on. Malcolm sympathized with her
plight. She had cause. If Jeremiah was successful on any level, it
would jeopardize her ownership of the property and from what Nick
told him, living on this land was the only thing that mattered to
Delaney. If she lost that right, she would be
devastated.

“
What if Jeremiah finds out
about the gold?” she asked. “What if Felicity told Travis and Troy
about the gold?”

“
Would she?”

Delaney dropped her hand and heaved a
ragged sigh. “She tells them everything.”

“
But I thought you
specifically told her to keep it under wraps.”

“
I did. But if Jeremiah
finds out about the gold...”

Malcolm groaned inwardly. It was clear
she wasn’t certain her daughter would honor her wishes. Nick went
to Delaney and took her in his arms. “He won’t. We have a
plan.”

“
A plan?” She looked up at
him, then checked with Malcolm. He nodded. “What kind of
plan?”

“
According to Lacy, Jeremiah
owes money to a casino in Vegas.”

“
He does? How would she know
that?”

“
She keeps tabs through his
girlfriend, Loretta.” At Delaney’s puzzled expression, Malcolm
explained, “Lacy and Loretta are friends. They worked at the same
lounge in Atlanta. Loretta shared the information with her and she,
in turn, shared it with me.” And she had been so proud of herself
for doing so, he thought, pleasure streaming through him at the
memory, as though it were a most amazing feat. In the end, it might
just turn out to be amazing. “It’s all we need to take Jeremiah out
of the picture.”

“
How is a debt he owes in
Vegas going to help us stop him from taking Ladd
Springs?”

Malcolm smiled. “An unpaid marker is a
felony.”

“
What’s a
marker?”

Nick responded, “It’s a loan. A line of
credit. When a guy goes into a casino and wants to gamble, but
doesn’t have the cash, he can sign his name for a loan.”

“
But if he doesn’t have the
money, the casino can go after him,” Malcolm finished.

“
Like defaulting on a credit
card?”

“
Kind of,” Nick replied.
“Except that in Nevada, casino debt is a felony. Unlike your
standard credit card, they can put you in jail for
defaulting.”

Delaney stood there, mouth
agape.

“
The casino boys take it
pretty seriously,” Malcolm told her. “They’ll go after
him.”

“
But I’m sure Jeremiah
didn’t give them his real address. What if they can’t find
him?”

“
They’ll have his ID on
file, unless he used a fake driver’s license. Either way, I
guarantee you they know who he is. They’ll have surveillance video
on his every step through the casino. All we have to do is help
them connect the dots.”

“
And they can go after him?”
She shifted her gaze between the men. “Across state
lines?”

“
Yes, ma’am. The DA in
Nevada will obtain a warrant for his arrest and it will be reported
nationwide. Jeremiah can be picked up in any state, at any
time.”

Delaney paused. Still wrapped within
Nick’s arms, she settled her hands on his forearms. “How is it you
two know so much about casinos and debts?”

They shared a smile. “Didn’t Nick tell
you?” Malcolm asked.

She peered up at him. “Tell me
what?”

Nick grinned. “Mal and I like to
gamble.”

“
It’s like our home away
from home.”

“
Are you addicted?” Delaney
demanded flatly. Nick dropped his head back and laughed. She
punched his arm and tried to pull free from his grasp. “I’m
serious. Are you?”

Amused by the domestic squabble
unfolding before him, the confirmed bachelor in Malcolm enjoyed
watching his pal squirm.

“
No, I’m not addicted,” Nick
said. “Why would you ask?” Delaney didn’t reply and Nick’s face
changed abruptly. “I’m sorry, that was insensitive of me.”
Surprising Malcolm with his swift contrition, he kissed the top of
her head. “No, I’m not addicted. I merely enjoy the
entertainment.”

“
Why haven’t I heard of this
before?” Delaney asked.

“
Because we’ve been together
all of two weeks?” He flashed a grin to Malcolm then said to her,
“I daresay there’s a lot more to me you haven’t learned
yet.”

Delaney seemed placated by the response
and Malcolm stood. His business here was finished. Nick and he were
in full agreement. Delaney didn’t need to know any more. “Listen.
I’ll call our man out in Vegas and get the ball rolling. After
that, we wait.”

Nick nodded, communicating the unspoken
half of their plan with his eyes. Malcolm nodded.

“
But can they arrest
Jeremiah for no reason?” Delaney asked.