Ladd Fortune (28 page)

In the beginning, Annie had tried to
talk sense to him. She’d tried to convince Jeremiah that she and
Lacy were of no use to him, and that if he had any chance to
reclaim Ladd Springs, it wasn’t by kidnapping them. Oh, but he
thought that was funny and laughed and laughed.

“
Kidnapping? Who said
anything about kidnapping? I’m just taking my two old girlfriends
for a drive. To the scenic part of town.”

Lacy shuddered to think what
he meant. Certainly not scenic, as in pretty scenery. Through the
window, she saw the sky was turning a dusty blue, the fiery orange
and red long since melted into the mountain ridge around them.
Lamps came on in houses, street lights flickered to life along the
lonesome county road. Night was upon them, darkness brewing.
As was her fear
. Lacy
didn’t like Jeremiah one bit anymore and wouldn’t put anything past
him these days. Jeremiah had become so mean and unpredictable, Lacy
knew trouble would not be far behind. And soon as she could, she
was going to tell her friend Loretta Flynn exactly what she thought
of the man and advise her to run clear of him. Skedaddle, move on.
Run for her life!

Until then she had to think
of a way to get away from him. Think, Lacy.
Think
.

When nothing came, she
turned to Annie, imploring her sister with her eyes to do
something.
We have to do
something
!

Annie shook her head in that
frustratingly calm way and re-hooked her gaze to the windshield.
They’d be to town soon. She’d do something then. Lacy stifled a
sigh. Something—but what?

Jeremiah’s phone rang. Grabbing it from
his pocket, he answered, “What’s up?” Lacy watched his eyes from
her corner of the backseat and wondered who he was talking to. “I
can’t. I’m busy.” Light brown eyes flicked a glance to the rearview
mirror. Catching her looking at him, he sharpened his gaze. “Fine.
I’ll be there.” Ending the call, Jeremiah said, “Change of plans.
You’re going to my place, instead.”

The motel? Excitement mounted. Loretta
would be there! She could help them get back to their car. And, oh,
but wouldn’t Lacy help her pack her bag, too. Heck, she’d pack it
for her if Loretta would help them get away from
Jeremiah!

Fifteen minutes later, Jeremiah dumped
Lacy and Annie at his motel. He didn’t drop them at his door,
didn’t lock them away inside. He merely pulled over, told them to
get out and drove away. “Tell Loretta I’m going out for the
evening,” he said, as if Lacy would deliver any such message.
Turning the steering wheel of his truck, he glared at Annie. “And
don’t forget what I said. Continue with this paternity business and
you’ll find yourself convinced otherwise—a convincing that won’t be
pleasant.” His eyes skimmed her from head to toe. “It would be a
shame to ruin your good looks. And you are a good-looking woman,
Annie.” He made a tsk sound with his mouth. “Too bad it didn’t work
out between us.”

Jeremiah spun his tires with a loud
screech, his truck hitting the road with a bump as he tore off into
the night.

“
I’m going to call the
police, Jeremiah!” Lacy screamed at him then lashed out at her
sister. “We have to stop him. We have to call the police. We have
to do something!” Annie held her tongue. “What’s the matter with
you? How can you stand there and let him go?”

Cool, blue eyes iced the flames licking
at Lacy’s heart. A blinking red sign overhead illuminated her
expression with a creepy glow. “What exactly do you want me to tell
the police? Jeremiah gave us a ride to his motel? He was stealing
the gold right before our very eyes?” She narrowed her gaze. “Or
better yet, he picked us up while we were trespassing on Ladd
springs.”

Lacy blinked. She sealed her lips shut,
outrage blasting through the seams.

“
You understand, now? We
have to work smarter. We have to beat Jeremiah at his own game.
Running around like two scared hens won’t solve a
thing.”

The imagery punctured her
wrath. Beat him at his own game? How were they going to do that?
Jeremiah was a
snake
. He was nothing but a no-good, downright, slithering varmint
intent on spewing his venom. Is that what Annie wanted? Did she
want to turn hateful toward Jeremiah and kidnap him?

“
I’m going to call Candi,”
Annie said flatly. “She’ll give us a ride back to my
car.”

“
But...but…” Lacy stammered,
unable to digest the detour her sister made so easily.
I’m going to call Candi
.
Back to my car
. Lacy didn’t understand. She didn’t understand how her sister
could let Jeremiah go without a fight, without putting him in jail.
It was maddening. Unbelievable, she thought, but obediently stomped
after her sister.

Chapter Twenty-One

Jeremiah blinked, the light
bright, painful. His head throbbed. His jaw ached. One eye felt
swollen shut. Lifting his head, he dropped it back down. “Ouch!” he
cried, the pain to his scalp quick and severe. Spreading, it began
to pound. Miserably. He raised his arm, but dropped it. The effort
was too great.
What the
—?

Rolling his head from side
to side, he opened his eyes.
Where am
I
?

He was lying on the pavement. In a
parking lot. What the hell happened last night? Jeremiah wracked
his brain—his throbbing brain. He’d been downtown, drinking with
his buddies...drinking heavily. He blinked. Where had they gone?
Bucky’s? Leon’s? He couldn’t remember. He could only feel, and
everything he felt hurt. His head was splitting open, his body
pulverized. Closing his eyes, he willed the pain to
subside.

One thing he did know, this was not a
section of town he wanted to be in. Not even in the daylight. But
Jeremiah couldn’t move. Not without his brain tearing apart. Had he
been hit by a car? A truck? He lifted a hand and forced it to his
forehead. His shoulder was stiff, sore—really sore, like it had
been hit with a metal bar.

Images flashed in his mind’s eye. Men,
arms, swinging objects. Yes, he’d been hit. Jumped. Jeremiah
concentrated on the pictures forming in his mind. There’d been two
men. They jumped him from behind...

Yes, one hit him across the back with
something hard. The other whaled on him with his fists. Jeremiah
groaned. His hand slid from his head, dropped outward to the rough
grainy pavement. Damn, if they hadn’t done a thorough job on
him.

He couldn’t remember who they were.
He’d never seen them before. Didn’t really get a good look at them,
either. It was dark. He was outside the bar. Jeremiah opened his
eyes and scanned the parking lot where he lay. Was it here? He
didn’t see his truck. But then again, he’d been at the bar. There
was no bar in sight.

Closing his eyes, it came to him. They
probably dumped him here after they beat the hell out of him. But
who? Why? That’s what he needed to find out.

Forcing himself to move, he winced,
sharp jabs of pain plunging into his side. Son of a bitch— Jeremiah
hugged his midsection. Did they break his ribs? It sure as hell
felt like it. Rolling over to his knees, he took a second to catch
his breath. The pain in his chest was bad, but his head hurt the
worst, like someone had slit the thing wide open.

Fury rolled through him. Whoever did
this was going to pay—dearly. Only first, he had to recover.
Jeremiah noticed his watch was gone. Damn it. Automatically, he
checked his back pocket. Then his front. Mother fu—

“
Hey, you.” Jeremiah’s heart
stopped. The gravelly voice above him was laced with malice. “What
are you doing?”

Staring up at the man, he
wanted to shout,
Can’t you see I’m trying
to get up, you idiot
? But Jeremiah held his
tongue. The guy was a vagrant. Torn pant legs, filthy shirt,
missing two teeth. If he hadn’t already been robbed, this man would
gladly do the honors. The vagrant glanced over him head to toe, as
though checking his person for any valuables.

“
Already taken,” Jeremiah
grumbled. “I don’t have anything for you to steal.”

The man stood taller and scowled. Like
Jeremiah had insulted him, or something.

Please, he mused bitterly. Get over it
and move on to your next victim. Jeremiah pushed up from the
ground, suppressing the urge to yelp. God damn that hurt. He shot a
dirty look toward the man who then stumbled off. Good riddance.
Slowly rising to his feet, Jeremiah glanced around, took a step and
cursed. This wasn’t going to be easy.

Three hours later, Jeremiah managed to
make it as far as Fran’s Diner. His motel was a good mile farther,
but there was a chance Loretta would be here. When she wasn’t
chasing the Parker kid, it was her new hangout. Jeremiah didn’t kid
himself when it came to Loretta. There was one reason she was with
him and one reason only—he had money. Used to. Didn’t take long in
Vegas to make a mint, or to lose one, he added ruefully. But after
last night, his gold was gone too. Son of a bitch. Whoever took it
was going to pay.

Loretta wouldn’t be too happy to see
him in this condition. He could smell the cigarette smoke and sweat
that pervaded his clothing. The marks on his face would only add to
his unsightly appearance, but too bad. With no wallet, he needed
money.

As he swung open the door to the diner,
the bells reverberated in Jeremiah’s skull. “Damn it,” he muttered.
He was trying to keep the jar of pain to a dull minimum. Scanning
the diner in short order, he found no Loretta. His attention caught
on the couple in the corner. Well, look who was here. If it wasn’t
Loretta’s Parker squeeze. And from the back of the head sitting
across from him, Annie’s daughter. His kid.

Jeremiah sauntered over,
enjoying the ignition of concern in the boy’s eyes. That’s
right.
Be concerned
.
Be very concerned
.

Casey followed Troy’s abrupt
fascination with something behind her and turned to look, but
whirled back around quickly. It was Jeremiah Ladd—her sperm
donor—and he was coming over!

She gulped, tamped down the sudden race
of her heart and concentrated on ignoring the man. But how could
she? His face looked awful, like he’d been beat up or something.
Why would he be coming over to them?

When he reached their table, Troy, ever
the brave one asked, “What happened to you?”

“
None of your business.” He
glanced briefly between the two and demanded, “Where’s
Loretta?”

Troy scoffed. “How the hell do I know?
Not my problem you can’t keep track of your woman.”

If he wasn’t standing in the middle of
Fran’s diner, Jeremiah would have slugged the smirk from the kid’s
face. “Don’t get cute with me, boy. As you can see, I’m in no
mood.”

“
Don’t matter to me what
kind of mood you’re in,” Troy said defiantly, speaking more to
Casey. “We didn’t ask you to come over here.”

Jeremiah looked at Casey and she
averted her gaze. Not only did his face look terrible, it made him
seem all the more scary. And he smelled disgusting. It was all she
could do not to pinch her nose. How could he be her
father?

Through her periphery vision, Casey saw
that he continued to stare at her, the silent probe like a hot barb
shredding her nerves. Was he going to say something to her? Should
she respond?

But he didn’t. “If you see Loretta,
tell her I’m looking for her.”

“
I have no plans to see
her.” Troy looked at Casey and she yearned for him to say more, to
mean more. After last night, she was beginning to feel like he
really cared about her. “If you’ll excuse us, we’re trying to have
a private conversation.”

Casey held her breath. Was Troy trying
to provoke him?

“
You’re a cocky son of a
bitch,” Jeremiah replied but stalked off just the same. No
lingering at the entrance, no words for other diners, he went
straight for the exit. Jeremiah may be right about Troy being
cocky, but it had never felt better having him near. “That guy
gives me the creeps.”

Troy reached over and pulled her hand
toward him. “Don’t let him get to you.”

His hold was strong, warm. Reassuring.
Nerves tickled her neck. “I wonder what happened to
him.”

“
Looks to me like he got
what he deserved.” A flicker of pleasure lit up Troy’s dark eyes.
“I only wished it could have been me.”

Did Troy hate the man as much as she
did? But he had been with that Loretta woman, hadn’t he? Suddenly
confused and uncomfortable, a bucketful of regret poured into her
heart. She pulled her hand free. Last night she had let Troy touch
her. He had touched that woman.

“
What’s the
matter?”

“
You were with his
girlfriend.”

“
Loretta?”

Casey nodded.

“
I told you, she don’t mean
anything to me.”

Jealousy fired hot through Casey’s
veins. She felt cheap, easy. Troy had been with that blonde woman
and then he smooth-talked her into going out with him, too. “If she
doesn’t, then why were you two together?”