Ladd Fortune (21 page)

Sitting back against a rock with her
legs extended and crossed, Lacy wriggled her toes. Painted apple
red, they shone brightly in the sun. Digging into the paper bag,
she pulled out a drumstick and handed it to him.

Sprawled out beside her, he replied,
“Thanks.” He could eat this one and ten more after the hike up
here. Malcolm bit into the round end and groaned with pleasure at
the mild spice of fried coating mixed with moist meaty flesh. “This
is delicious,” he said through a half-closed mouth.

“
It’s Aunt Frannie’s
specialty.”

“
What isn’t her specialty
when it comes to cooking?”

Lacy laughed. Pulling one free for
herself, she said, “So you never told me where you’re
from.”

“
California.”

“
Really? What part?” she
asked, then bit into her chicken.

“
Southern California. Plenty
of beaches, plenty of desert, not a lot of green. Basically nothing
like Tennessee.” He paused. “Which is probably why I like this
place so much.”

She frowned. “Did you not have a nice
childhood?”

“
Oh, I had a great
childhood. I surfed, I played music, hung out with my friends. I
was simply ready for a change of scenery.”

Holding the chicken before her lips,
she gazed at him. “Is that why you travel a lot?”

“
I travel because it’s my
job. Nick and I have properties in ten different cities, three
different countries.”

“
Wow, I’ve never been
anywhere,” Lacy murmured, and took another bite.

He could see her mind digesting the
revelation, probably conjuring up exotic beaches and beautiful
people. What she didn’t see was the poverty of South America, the
slums of the Caribbean, the hardship of the Outback in Australia.
Life wasn’t as pretty outside the hotel boundaries as inside. Nor
in his hometown. Most people heard the word California and imagined
Hollywood, movie stars, but there was a whole lot more to the state
than the film industry. Maybe one day, he’d show Lacy.

A flash of red caught his eye. Malcolm
fired a hand to Lacy’s mouth, pressing it to her lips. She blinked
and he held a finger to his own lips, motioning for her to be
quiet. Her eyes grew wide. Malcolm’s attention shot to the trail.
As he lowered his hand from her mouth, she followed his gaze. Two
figures were traveling down the trail, partially obscured by tree
trunks, leave-filled branches, and a massive boulder that jutted up
between the trail and river.

“
Oh!” she cried under her
breath. Lacy’s eyes glistened as she stared.

“
Shhh...” Malcolm warned, a
bad feeling seeping into his gut. Jeremiah just ran past, followed
by a skinny, ragged-looking fellow. What the hell were
they
doing up
here?

Malcolm was surprised they didn’t see
him and Lacy, but the two men seemed in a pretty big hurry. His
first instinct was to follow them, but that would leave Lacy
exposed. With no weapon, no way to defend herself, she would be in
jeopardy if he left her.

“
What are
they
doing up here?” Lacy
whispered.

“
Don’t know.” But he was
damn sure going to find out.

“
And who was that man with
Jeremiah?”

“
You don’t know him?”
Malcolm asked.

“
Never seen him before in my
life.”

“
We need to tell Nick and
Delaney. This could prove to be a wrinkle we don’t
need.”

“
A wrinkle? Right
now?”

As much as he hated to do it, he
nodded. “Time may prove critical on this one.” The dash to her mood
was quick and severe. Malcolm tilted her chin up to face him,
taking pleasure in the fact that her current pout was genuine.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make it up to you. But right now, we need to
go.”

Chapter Sixteen

Once in the privacy of Delaney’s cabin,
Nick and Delaney stared expectantly as Malcolm let loose with the
news. “We’ve got trouble.”

“
What’s up?” Nick asked,
standing by Delaney’s side at the kitchen island. A thick black
iron skillet of cornbread sat on a heat pad on the butcher block
surface, the aroma saturating the interior. It made Malcolm hungry
for the picnic he’d abandoned, but for good reason. He could eat
later. They needed to talk now.

Lacy hovered by Malcolm’s
side, meek as a kitten, almost as if she feared being in the same
room with Delaney and in
her
room at that. He had to admit, the razors
thrashing through Delaney’s gaze were not the most welcoming sight,
and they were
definitely
aimed at Lacy.

“
Jeremiah was on the trail!”
Lacy blurted.

Delaney recoiled. “What?”

Way to ease it out, Malcolm thought,
though he wasn’t angry, only learning her ways. “It’s true. We saw
him by Zack’s Falls, headed down the trail.”

Delaney clamped a hand to Nick’s arm.
“He knows.” Her voice was a barely controlled panic as she hooked
her gaze into her man. “He must have talked to Clem.”

“
Clem Sweeney?” Lacy asked,
then glanced about. “What’s he got to do with all this?”

Nick covered the hand on his arm and
drew Delaney close. “We don’t know that for sure. There could be a
dozen reasons why he was there.” He looked to Malcolm. “What do you
think?” he asked, though both men knew better.

Jeremiah Ladd in the forest near the
site of the gold? Not a coincidence. “He was with another man and
the two seemed in quite a hurry.”

“
I’ve never seen the man
before in my life,” Lacy added eagerly. “He’s nobody we
know.”

Ever the helpful one, Malcolm mused,
noting Delaney’s displeasure wrapping itself around Lacy like a
python. But if Lacy’s lack of familiarity helped narrow down the
man’s identity, then so be it. Let her chime in all she
wanted.

“
What did he look like?”
Nick asked.

“
Thin, scraggly,” Malcolm
began. “Definitely a local type, but one who looked pretty hard
up.”

“
Was he wearing a hat,
special clothes?” Nick probed.

“
He had a ratty black hat,
maybe a band of metal around the crown.” Malcolm looked to his
trusted eye-witness for assistance, but when Lacy remained quiet,
he said, “I can’t be sure. Like I said, they were in a pretty big
hurry.”

Nick and Delaney shared a knowing
glance. “Willie,” she said to Nick, then to Malcolm, “Did they see
you?”

“
I don’t think so,” Lacy
replied. “We were sitting by Zack’s Falls, on the far side by the
old rope swing tree. Remember it, Delaney?”

Malcolm sought Delaney’s response but
none was forthcoming. If she did remember, she didn’t concede the
fact. “I’m willing to bet they would have said something if they
had.”

“
I agree.” Nick turned to
Delaney, still clinging to his arm. “Jeremiah must have talked to
Clem. There’s no other way he could have known.”

“
He’s going to steal it!”
Delaney cried.

“
Delaney.” Nick took her
gently by the arms. “At this point there’s nothing he can
do.”

Anger slinked into her brown eyes.
“Other than rob us blind.”

Malcolm remained mum. It wasn’t his
place to reveal the presence of gold on Ladd Springs. Delaney
wanted to remain pretty tight-lipped about the subject and with
good reason. Word would spread like wildfire, most folks heading in
for a look-see themselves, probably leaving with a souvenir or two,
for their time.

“
It’s not like we can stand
guard, shooting any looters on sight—” Delaney stopped as if a
thought just occurred to her. “Or can we?” She looked to Malcolm,
then back to Nick. “Maybe that’s
exactly
what we should be doing. We
should stand guard and make sure Jeremiah doesn’t get anywhere near
it, shooting him on sight if he tries.”

“
Near what?” Lacy
asked.

Delaney, claws exposed and ready to
pounce, honed in on Lacy. “Nothing.”

Lacy looked to Malcolm. It was clear
she didn’t believe Delaney. “Nothing?”

“
Nothing your ex-lover
should be anywhere near,” Delaney jabbed at her.

“
Delaney, please,” Nick said
calmly and pulled her back. “Lacy has been helpful so far. She’s
not conspiring with Jeremiah.”

“
I have nothing to do with
Jeremiah, I told you. I’m here to visit family.”

Lacy was so earnest, so genuine, but
Malcolm could see Delaney was losing control. The stress was
unraveling her before their eyes, and if he and Lacy stayed much
longer, all hell could break loose and tie these two in one mess of
a fight. Malcolm ushered Lacy toward the door and, with a hand to
the knob, stated, “The point remains. If Jeremiah knows, he’s not
going to let it go without a fight. We need to keep our defenses
up.”

Surprising Lacy, the four of them left
the cabin together, Nick and Delaney deciding they had to search
the woods this instant, while Lacy and Malcolm chose to finish
their picnic. Too bad it was interrupted in the first place, Lacy
thought, although she had no idea why. What was Delaney so worried
about Jeremiah stealing? Was it in the woods? Were they hiding
something?

Following Malcolm step for step down
the steep trail, Lacy couldn’t shake her curiosity. Her brain kept
peeling back the layers like a sweet Vidalia onion knowing there
had to be a reason Delaney was wound up tighter than a fur ball. It
was so unlike her, it had to be something big.

One after another they filed down the
narrow wooded path. Hitting the small clearing, they crossed the
bridge. Lacy worried the deteriorating structure would collapse
beneath their weight, dumping them into the cold creek water
rushing below. Several boards had been replaced, but in her opinion
the whole bridge should be redone. It plumb wasn’t safe!

“
Looks like we’ve got
company,” Malcolm said, slowing.

Lacy’s pulse quickened as she caught
sight of Jeremiah, his bright orange shirt more like a hunter’s
vest than fashion statement and a stark contrast to the dilapidated
old cabin. Standing on Ernie’s front porch, Jeremiah was banging on
the front door something fierce. Lacy feared he might break it.
Next, he grabbed the door handle.

“
If he thinks he’s going to
alert Ernie to his little discovery, he’s in for a surprise,” Nick
commented.

“
What discovery?” Lacy
asked. And why wouldn’t they tell her? Nick and Delaney were acting
more secretive than the FBI.

Malcolm and Nick traded looks.
Divulging nothing they kicked into action and headed for Jeremiah.
Delaney was right behind them.

“
What’s going on?” Lacy
wailed under her breath, trailing close at their heel. This was
ridiculous and so unfair! After all, she was on
their
side.

As they neared Ernie’s cabin, Jeremiah
spotted them and stilled. The look on his face was pure evil, even
from this distance, and the quickest way to ruin his otherwise
handsome face, Lacy. Jogging down the front steps, he waited for
them.

“
Trying to break in?”
Malcolm asked, leading the pack.

“
As if anyone would try and
steal something from this rat hole,” Jeremiah pitched back.
Although he acknowledged Lacy, he was more interested in Delaney.
Circling around her in a conceited swagger, Jeremiah held her in
his gaze. “You thought you could get away with it, didn’t
you?”

Delaney remained mute, Nick and Malcolm
standing guard to either side of her.

A wicked glimmer lit up Jeremiah’s
expression. “Does the old man know?”

“
It’s none of your business,
Jeremiah. You don’t own Ladd Springs, Felicity does—or will—and I’d
advise you to keep off private property. I catch you trespassing
again, I’ll call the police.”

He laughed. “Oh, Delaney, you floor me,
you really do. You always were good at bluffing.” Jeremiah set
hands to his hips and said, “Remind me to invite you to Vegas on my
next trip. I could use you by my side at the poker
table.”

“
I wouldn’t set foot in a
casino with you.”

He paused, staring at her with an odd
look. It occurred to Lacy that Jeremiah still cared for
Delaney—though he had a funny way of showing it. “The scowl on that
pretty face of yours would prove distracting enough for my fellow
players but it might distract me, too. Better we leave you home.”
Jeremiah glanced between the Malcolm and Nick. “So tell me, do your
boys here know what you’re hiding in the woods?”

“
I’m not hiding anything,”
she replied, but Lacy noted a tinge of color rise in Delaney’s
cheeks. “And even if I was, it’d be no business of
yours.”

Jeremiah snickered. “So aggressive,
Delaney. And here I’m the one who should be pissed off, what with
you stealing my inheritance right from under my nose.” He iced the
men with a look of sheer contempt. “I hope she’s paying you well
for your trouble.”