Ladd Fortune (29 page)

Troy’s rough exterior melted. “I was
trying to help you.”

The tide of anger broke.
“Help
me
? How does
being with that woman help me?”

“
She was asking questions
about Ladd Springs, said she was trying to get information about
Delaney and Felicity. When she started, I didn’t know she was his
girlfriend. She told me they were just friends. She said he was
here to reclaim his property rights. I figured if I helped her to
help him get the property away from Felicity, you’d have a chance
at getting your share.”

Casey clung to Troy’s every
word.

“
It’s not right Felicity
gets all of it. She don’t need a thousand acres. You should have
some, too.” Emotion simmered in the depths of his gaze. “He is your
daddy. It’s right you should have it.”

“
You went against Felicity?”
It was more than Casey could ever wish for.

He nodded. “Actually, more against
Travis, but her, too.” Troy lowered his gaze. “The both of
them.”

Last night had meant something to
Casey. She and Troy went out drinking, a little too much, and
kissed. He held her in his arms like he really cared about her and
said sweet things. So many sweet things. Hope bloomed warmly in her
breast. Did he really mean them? Was last night as important to him
as it was her?

“
Dad gum, Casey. I like you.
I’m sorry if my being with her makes you mad, but I was only trying
to help.”

Casey didn’t care. He wasn’t with that
woman anymore and it sounded like he didn’t want to be with
Felicity either. Casey smiled. “It’s okay.”

An hour later, Jeremiah pounded on the
door to Ernie’s cabin. He’d found Loretta at the motel sunning
herself by the pool, reading some trashy novel. As expected, she
wasn’t pleased by the marks on his face, but that was too bad. He
didn’t care what she thought. He was there for money and a change
of clothes—even spotted his truck outside a gas station on his way
over. Parked off the side of the road, it looked as if he’d been
driving, been stopped, yanked out of the driver’s seat and hauled
away. Beat the hell out of him was how it went down. He didn’t
remember the first detail. According to the lumps on his head, it
wasn’t a wonder.

At least they left the keys in the
ignition. Jeremiah was surprised the vehicle hadn’t been stolen but
there it was, sitting pretty and waiting for him. Now he wanted to
know who the hell was responsible for it all. There was no doubt it
was planned, and the last person to threaten him was his old
man.

Ernie swung open the door, shotgun in
hand. Pointed directly at Jeremiah’s head.

Jeremiah flinched.

Beady black eyes bore at him through
the dusty screen. “You’re not welcome here, boy.”

Caught off guard by the barrel in his
face, Jeremiah taunted, “You gonna shoot me, now?”

“
I will if I need
to.”

“
Haven’t you done enough
already?” he goaded, searching for signs of guilt in his father’s
face. Jeremiah didn’t put it past Ernie to hire some local thugs to
rough him up after their encounter yesterday. Between him and
Albert, they probably had access to enough of them.

Ernie scrutinized Jeremiah’s face, his
injuries. “Too bad they didn’t finish the job.”

Jeremiah riled. “Too bad
you’re not
dead
already. Sure would have made taking this place from Felicity
a hell of a lot easier.”

Ernie thrust his gun into the screen
between them. “Say her name again and I pull the
trigger.”

Jeremiah hesitated, his heart thumping
against his rib cage. It was possible the old man was crazy enough
to do it. Ernie Ladd, blowing his own kid clear off the porch with
his shotgun. Glaring eye-to-eye, Jeremiah grimaced. “You’re not
worth it,” he said, “but if I find out you had something to do with
this,” he said, pointing to his face, “I’ll be back and give you a
reason to use that gun of yours.”

Ernie yanked it back and Jeremiah
retreated down the steps, each foot fall a painful reminder he was
not up for a fight. But he’d be back, that much was certain. There
was gold on this land, gold that belonged to him. First, he’d have
to nurse his wounds and get some more money. He might not have the
cash to hire a lawyer, but he damned well had the brains to
outsmart this bunch of hillbillies and get the judge to see things
his way. And if that didn’t work, he always had the power of
persuasion. Jeremiah punched fist to palm. A persuasion he’d take
great pleasure in using against them.

At the sound of a vehicle crossing over
the bridge, Jeremiah cursed. Delaney and her boys. Well, talk about
making his life easier. They were on the list of people he wanted
to see today.

From inside the car, Malcolm
glanced across the meadow. The white car was gone. Knots unwound
inside him.
She must be
okay
. Questions swirled anew. Where was
she? Why didn’t she return any of his calls last night?

Delaney spotted Jeremiah and pointed.
“Oh my God... What happened to him?”

Via the rearview mirror, the two men
exchanged a glance. “No idea,” Nick replied.

Abruptly, she whirled on him. “Did you
have something to do with that?”

“
No, ma’am,” Malcolm said
easily.

But the smile easing onto Nick’s lips
didn’t help ease the worried look from her face. “If you’re lying
to me—” she said to Nick.

He put a finger to her lips. “I told
you. I’m a man who believes in honesty. Mal and I had a meeting
last night. We had nothing to do with Jeremiah’s beating. We may
have shadowed him for a while before our meeting,” Nick allowed,
“but we didn’t lay a hand on him.”

“
You
followed
him? Are you insane? Don’t
you understand Jeremiah is not above using sleazy
tactics?”

It was exactly those sleazy
tactics Malcolm wanted to discuss with Jeremiah. All night long
he’d wondered about Lacy. He’d wanted to confront Jeremiah about it
last night, but Nick forbade him.
We’re
innocent bystanders here
.
We can’t be tied to him in any
way
.

Well, Malcolm had questions—questions
he wanted answered. Before Nick placed the car in park, he jumped
out, his eyes never wavering from Jeremiah as he approached.
“Where’s Lacy?”

“
I have no idea.”

“
I don’t believe you,”
Malcolm growled.

Jeremiah snickered, his one eye swollen
shut. Up close and personal the bruises from his beating were dark
and pronounced. Whoever did this to him had done a thorough
job.

Delaney pulled up beside Malcolm. “What
happened to you?”

“
As if you don’t know,” he
said snidely.

“
Know? How would I
know?”

“
Ask your boys, here.
They’re responsible.”

Delaney sucked in her breath but didn’t
ask a single question. Malcolm understood. She already doubted
them. Once Nick revealed their plan from last night—part of it,
anyway—she had no reason to believe they wouldn’t have done this to
Jeremiah. They had a will, they had a way. “That would be a waste
of their time,” Delaney defended, her conviction quivering beneath
a fine layer of nerves threading through her voice.

“
We didn’t beat you,” Nick
confirmed. He grinned boldly. “Though I sure am glad someone
did.”

“
Don’t push me,” Jeremiah
cracked. He swiped a menacing glance toward Delaney and said, “You
have people you care about that could get hurt.”

Malcolm grabbed Jeremiah by the collar
and wrenched him close. The stench of alcohol from Jeremiah’s
breath assaulted his senses, set a fuse to his temper. “You lay a
hand on Lacy and I swear I’ll kill you.”

“
Let go of me,” Jeremiah
said evenly, “or you’ll be the one lying in the morgue.”

Malcolm made a snap appraisal of the
man’s eyes. They were black as coal behind a veil of brown.
Jeremiah Ladd would fight and he would fight hard—to the death if
need be. He was a man on the edge, a man with nothing to lose.
Malcolm’s gut warned Jeremiah would prove a worthy opponent, too.
Shoving him away, he thrust a finger in Jeremiah’s face. It might
be worth a go-round to find out. “Warning stands.”

Four heads swiveled in unison as a blue
compact car passed by the bridge, turning into the meadow on the
other side. Malcolm’s heart kicked. In the backseat sat Lacy.
Lacy.

Malcolm took off running. The driver
slammed the brakes, put the car in reverse and drove over the
bridge heading straight for him. Pulse pumping, a thousand thoughts
raced through his mind, emotions tangled in his heart. Lacy was
okay. She was okay.

The car stopped suddenly and three
women popped out of the vehicle. Lacy ran toward Malcolm. A sliver
of fear entered her eyes as she noticed Jeremiah. Malcolm scooped
her up in his arms and hugged her close. God, she felt good. “Where
have you been? What happened to you?”

Lacy didn’t reply, only squeezed him
tightly. Annie Owens and a blonde woman came up behind her. “What
happened to Jeremiah?” Annie asked. But rather than showing alarm,
she seemed oddly intrigued.

“
He got a beating last
night,” Malcolm told her, then released Lacy but kept her
close.

“
From you?” Lacy
asked.

Malcolm shook his head. “I wish.”
Cupping her face in his hands, he searched her eyes for answers,
meaning. “What happened to you? Why did you leave your purse in
that white car by the trail last night? Why didn’t you return any
of my calls?”

Lacy’s eyes hollowed, her lower lip
began to quiver.

“
We were in the forest,”
Annie explained. “Lacy was showing me the gold. We were on our way
out—until Jeremiah showed up.”

“
Jeremiah?” Anger exploded
inside Malcolm.

“
Jeremiah thought it would
be a good idea to threaten us,” she said. “Drove us off the
property and took us to his motel.” Malcolm logged every syllable,
each and every one stoking the embers of his fury. “Before we
reached town, he received a phone call and that’s when he dumped us
at the motel. Up and drove off, leaving us with no car of our own,
no way to get home.” Annie’s anger was palpable. She raised a hand
to her side. “I had to call my friend Candi, to come and get
us.”

Malcolm registered the blonde and her
timid wave, registered the role Jeremiah played, registered the
fact that Lacy had revealed the gold—the truth unfurling in her
eyes as clear as a written confession. Malcolm’s heart ripped open.
More hurt than he was prepared to be, he released Lacy. “How could
you?”

Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m
sorry.”

Malcolm spun around and charged
Jeremiah.

“
Malcolm!” Nick
yelled.

Annie screamed. Delaney jumped out of
the way. From somewhere in the background, Lacy shrieked his name.
Back-stepping, Jeremiah threw a punch, landing it against Malcolm’s
jaw. He swung again, but Malcolm blocked it, undercutting
Jeremiah’s chin with a slug of his own. The man reeled and
fell.

“
Mal, stop!”

Malcolm ignored the plea from Nick.
Yanking Jeremiah up, he hit him again. Jeremiah moaned in pain, the
sound like a balm to Malcolm’s pride.

“
Malcolm!” Lacy cried.
“Stop! Please, stop!”

Something inside him snapped. He no
longer cared about the consequences of assault and battery. He no
longer cared about a calm presence of mind. This parasite had it
coming. Jeremiah lifted from the ground and Malcolm kicked him
hard. His body fell limp.

Nick grabbed Malcolm by the arm,
pulling at him. Malcolm resisted, staring down at the bloodied
face, the body writhing on the ground. He reached down to haul
Jeremiah up, but Nick dragged him away. “This is not a fight you
want to have.”

“
Oh, but that’s where you’re
wrong,” Malcolm objected bitterly. He rubbed his jaw.
That’s where you’re wrong
.
The pain building in his face had been worth it.

Lacy ran to him. “Are you okay?” she
asked, examining his chin.

“
I’m fine,” he answered
gruffly.

Lacy looked frightened as a
kitten on a high wire. Tears spilled from her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
She glanced at Annie, Delaney, Nick. “I’m
sorry
. This is all my fault!” She took
off running. Malcolm’s instinct was to follow her, to chase her
down and demand an explanation. But he didn’t. He didn’t move.
Didn’t take the first step.
Lacy had lied
to him
.

Annie stepped forward, squaring her
slender shoulders. The delicate lace trim of her blouse posed stark
contrast to the authority in her voice. “She didn’t mean any harm.
She had no idea it would cause this kind of trouble.”

“
Lacy told you about the
gold?” Delaney asked, incredulous at the turn of events.

“
She was trying to help
me.”