Ladd Fortune (26 page)

Chapter Nineteen

Eager to speak to his friend Willie,
Clem Sweeney pushed through the heavy metal door leading to the
visitation room. He wanted to know what happened with the gold, if
Willie showed Jeremiah like he told him to, and did he follow him
afterwards. Clem didn’t trust Jeremiah, but he was the only man he
knew with any money who could help him make bail. He spied Willie
at the first cubicle, his ratty black hat and grubby clothes
unmistakable, looking like somethin’ the dog’d been keepin’ under
the porch. Clem surely wasn’t gonna get a dime out of him. He only
trusted Willie not to steal the gold because the man was dumb as
dirt. Didn’t have two brain cells to rub together and, besides,
Clem had the goods on him. He happened to know for a fact that
Willie was involved in a certain robbery that took place on the
Baxter Farm. Old man Baxter was madder than a wet cat covered in
mud, and both knew he’d pull out his shotgun before he dialed the
first number to the police.

Shuffling to a stop before the cubicle,
Clem eyed Willie. “Well?” Willie looked from side to side, then
scooted real close as Clem sat across from him. Cigarette smoke
seeped through the small holes in the window, giving Clem an itch
for a cigarette. “Did you find out anything?”

Willie withdrew a toothpick from his
mouth and muttered, “Jeremiah is a dog, Clem.”

Clem’s gut tightened. “What do you
mean?”

“
I mean, I showed him where
that gold was, just like you told me, and then he done went and
told his buddies about it!”

Clem scowled. “How do you know that?
You followed him like I told you?”

“
Yeah, Clem, you know I
did!” Willie fidgeted with the toothpick in his mouth. “I followed
him all the way to Bucky’s place.”

Jeremiah wouldn’t let Willie get within
ten feet of him. How did he overhear what was going on? “Did you
hear it with your own ears?” Why would he go talkin’ about it with
you right there, listenin’?”

Willie snatched his toothpick. “What do
you take me for—a fool? I ain’t no fool. Course I was watchin’ from
across the bar. He went to Bucky’s place and I hid in the corner. I
could tell by the looks on them there faces of his pals. They got
all serious like and started lookin’ around.” Willie snuck a gaze
around the visiting room and whispered, “You know how folks get
when they hear about gold.”

Lightning bolts ripped through Clem’s
midsection. Willie might be as clueless as a blushin’ sow on
butcher day, but Jeremiah was a snake. “That no good two-timin’
double-crosser.” Willie nodded like a bobble doll. “Who does he
think he is?”

“
Jeremiah Ladd?” Willie
offered.

“
Shut up,” Clem snapped. He
lashed his gaze around the lobby, his thoughts unraveling. Jeremiah
wasn’t gonna pay his bail. He was gonna take the gold for himself,
with the help of his buddies. “I got to think a minute.”

Willie sat, his face twitching,
fiddling with the chewed-up toothpick as he stared at
Clem.

Clem should never have believed
Jeremiah when he said he’d help him with bail, out flappin’ his
lips faster than a preacher caught with his pants down, already out
tellin’ everybody in town about the gold. How was there gonna be
any left for him by the time he got out?

“
What we goin’ t’do,
Clem?”

He set his lips in a firm line.
Jeremiah had another thought comin’ if he figured on
double-crossin’ Clem Sweeney. He might be locked up, but he wasn’t
powerless. He had friends on the outside. Loyal friends. “You’ve
got to call Harley.”

Willie nodded. “Harley.”

“
You’ve got to tell him I
need to see him.”

“
Okay, then what?” he asked
eagerly, pleased Clem had a plan.

“
You tell him come see me.
I’ll take it from there.”

With a determined step, Lacy filed
through the forest at a virtual race walk, recounting her steps
from yesterday with Malcolm through the fading light. Misty air
cooled her skin as she travelled, the rich scent of earth filing
her nose with familiar scents and memories old and new. Running
wild through these woods as a child had been glorious but so was
her hike with Malcolm. He was glorious, she mused. The only dim
spot in his journey was Malcolm’s call for an early dinner this
evening. She had refused him—again—claiming Aunt Frannie was fussy
about spending too much time with him. Lacy professed the need to
placate her aunt, all of which was true, but this expedition was
the real reason she had declined. Recalling the disappointment in
his voice, Lacy smiled. She really liked him and would love to be
dining with him this very instant, but the job of convincing Annie
was taking longer than she had anticipated.

Last evening, when Lacy had
gone to Annie’s salon and revealed the news, Annie had shut her
down.
You’re lying
.
But Lacy heard insecurity in her objection. Annie wasn’t sure. She
wasn’t sure what to believe and wanted to see for herself. Lacy had
been thrilled! It was the opening she needed. She was telling the
truth and the sooner Annie realized it, the sooner the two could
mend their broken fences and start acting like a family again.
Unfortunately, Annie had been working the late shift and the forest
would have been too dark last night, but today was a new day. A new
day for discovery and forgiveness.

So now, like two thieves in the night,
they were charging through the shadows of green and brown. Stepping
over a root, Lacy sighed and looked over her shoulder to make sure
Annie was still following her. Not the most athletic person, her
sister was struggling to keep up. But if they didn’t keep up their
pace, the blanket of night might just smother them to a standstill.
“C’mon, Annie, we’re almost there!”

The path was easy to
remember. All she had to do was find the rock where Malcolm kissed
her and then look for the group of boulders near a low-lying creek
just beyond. Simple. She’d remember that rock anywhere. Sticking
out from the mountain, it was a flat panel of stone where he pushed
her—trapped her with his body—and kissed her. A squiggle of delight
scurried low in her belly. It had been the best kiss
ever
.

“
Slow down,” Annie hollered
at her from behind. “You didn’t tell me it was this
far!”

“
It’s not that much
farther,” she encouraged, clueless as to how much farther it really
was—but they had to be close. She and Malcolm hadn’t hiked for that
long before they made it to the spot.
The
spot
. Her insides tingled again. Malcolm’s
mouth on hers had been so gentle, his body so warm and hard and
delightful... “There!” Lacy cried, elated to have found the rock.
She ran up to it, inspected the wall of earth around, skimming her
palm down the center where she had stood only hours before. Stood.
Leaned back against. Been pushed into. A swell of desire rose
inside her. This was the rock where they kissed, no question. Lacy
pivoted and searched off the trail, scanning the forest floor to
their right.
Yes
.
“Those are the rocks where the gold is!”

Annie came to a stop at Lacy’s side.
Staring in the direction Lacy pointed, Annie surveyed the
landscape. “Where?”

“
It’s in one of those rocks
over there. You see that group? It’s the one on the right, I
think.”

“
You think?”

Lacy dismissed the fresh swarm of doubt
in Annie’s expression. “It’s there, I’ll show you,” she said and
confidently trotted down the same narrow path she had taken with
Malcolm. She only hoped Annie could see the yellow hue of the
stone. In this waning light, it might all look gray and
drab.

Traversing the soft forest floor, she
breathed in deeply. The air was infused with a musty scent of wet
clay and decaying plants and her senses wallowed in the moist
smell. She loved it out here, always had, though as a child it was
all about the adventure, the freedom of roaming the forest outside
the watchful eye of her parents. Then she’d moved to Atlanta and
the opportunity to lose herself in the woods, in the middle of
nature, all but evaporated. There was always the chore of shopping
or laundry, work or dates—something that interfered with her desire
to get outside and find a hiking trail. Stumbling over a rock on
the ground, Lacy inhaled again and thought, yes, she loved the
forest with every fiber of her being.

Annie stomped a branch in half as she
trekked behind Lacy who slowed, circling a group of boulders, their
surfaces blotched with patches of white fungus and smiled. “See.
There it is!” she declared proudly. “Gold on Ladd
Springs.”

Annie looked at the rocks, but clearly
saw nothing. “Where,” she demanded.

“
Right there.” Lacy motioned
for Annie to come closer. She tapped a finger on the ragged line
cutting across the gray stone. “See it?”

“
Oh, my...” Annie’s breath
expelled in a rush as she inspected the dusty lines in the rock.
She touched them, fingered them, outlined them as if to prove to
herself she wasn’t seeing things. All trace of displeasure erased,
she stood mesmerized.

“
I told you I was telling
the truth.”

Annie gaped at her. “I can’t believe
it.”

Lacy nodded. “Now you know. So when you
get the property rights for Casey, you’ll be sure to include this
as part of the deal.” Annie didn’t say a word, only stared, moving
her gaze slowly between Lacy and the streak of gold in the stone.
“This will help, won’t it?”

“
Yes, but...”

“
But what?”

“
But I’m sure Delaney will
try and keep this section for herself. She won’t let Casey get
anywhere near it.”

Disturbed by the declaration, Lacy
frowned. “But who’s she to say? Shouldn’t a judge or someone
important like that be the one to make the decision?”

Annie fixed her focus on Lacy. All edgy
hate and anger had dissolved, softening her sister’s features into
those of the girl she grew up with, the one who used to braid her
hair and paint her nails. This was her big sister, Annie Grace, the
girl Lacy had looked up to her entire life. “You don’t understand,”
Annie said. “It’s more complicated than that.”

“
Why?” Lacy asked, refusing
to be discouraged. “Because of Jeremiah?”

“
Because of Jeremiah,
Felicity, Ernie...”

“
Jeremiah doesn’t deserve
the property, after everything he’s done. The man has become so
hateful. Why, you should have seen the way he treated his daddy
today.”

“
The law doesn’t care about
his personality, Lacy. It only cares about the rules.”

“
Can’t Ernie tell him no?
Can’t he give it to you and Casey instead? Along with Felicity, I
mean, seeing’s how she’s already on the new deed,” Lacy added
matter-of-factly.

Annie slumped against the stone, an
utter sense of fatality settling into her gaze. “Ernie already
signed it over to Felicity,” she repeated, as though reminding
herself of the facts.

It occurred to Lacy there was more to
getting the property than proving Casey was Jeremiah’s daughter.
And it dashed her enthusiasm. Why should doing the right thing be
so hard? “Well,” she said flatly, “I’m sure we’ll think of
something. We have to. It isn’t right for Casey not to get her
share.”

Annie crossed her arms and brought a
hand to her mouth. She massaged her chin, glanced at the rock, the
trees. She seemed so intent, Lacy was certain she was coming up
with a solution this instant. Then Annie tightened her gaze around
Lacy and said, “Thank you.” Lacy’s pulse jumped. “Thank you for
telling me about this. I appreciate it.”

Nerves fluttered beneath Lacy’s breast,
trapped, anxious. For the first time since Lacy had arrived in
town, her sister’s hatred showed signs of thawing. “Even if you
can’t get it?” she asked, desperately hoping Annie would say yes,
even then.

Annie offered a smile, small, but
genuine, embracing Lacy with a warm gaze. “Yes, even
then.”

“
Oh, Annie Grace!” Lacy
threw her arms around her sister and hugged her as tightly as she
could. There were no words for the gift she had just received. No
words for the first step her sister had taken toward her. Lacy
would do whatever she had to do to help Annie get Casey’s share of
Ladd Springs. The epiphany of her predicament slammed home. Even if
she had to take sides against Malcolm, she would. For Annie, she
would.

“
Are you two here to steal
my gold?”

The shouted question iced
Lacy’s exuberance.
Jeremiah
.

Annie sprang from her embrace.
“Jeremiah!” she cried under her breath.

Standing up on the trail, the green of
his shirt blending in with the mountainous landscape, his mocking
leer slapped them with accusation. “Now you know I don’t take
kindly to thieves.”

Lacy’s mind scrambled for reason. How
did he know they were out here? Had someone told? But who? No one
knew. She hadn’t even told Malcolm where she was going.

I can trust you, right? You
don’t want me to get into trouble, do you?