Losing Ladd (20 page)

Malcolm opened the glass-paned lobby
door, directing Travis in ahead of him. A single female clerk
manned the front desk. Not particularly unusual for a Sunday
evening, especially considering half the hotel was up the hill,
checking out the damage to the stables, but Travis found it
disquieting. The mood was pensive, the ambiance unnerved. Hearing
the gurgle of fountain water didn’t help, only serving to
underscore the aberration of events.

Malcolm strode over to the desk,
ushering a smile as he said, “Good evening, Patty.”

“
Hi, Mr. Ward.”

“
Is Cal
around?”

“
Yes, sir. He’s in the
office.”

“
Thanks.”

Waving for Travis to follow, Malcolm
made his way behind the check-in desk as Mr. Foster emerged from
the office. “Did I hear my name called?”

“
You did,” Malcolm
replied. “Travis and I wanted to speak with you. Do you have a
second?”

Cal glanced between the two, a
heightened curiosity nipping at his gaze. “Of course. In the
office?”

The three men walked into the small
office and Cal closed the door behind them. Without enough chairs
for them all to sit, they remained standing. “What’s up?” Cal
asked.

“
Travis has been doing
some research into Jeremiah’s debt situation and discovered his
marker was paid from a local bank here in town.” Cal glanced at
Malcolm with an odd mix of confusion and curiosity but said
nothing. Malcolm smiled. “It seems he’s also taken it upon himself
to do a bit of investigating work.”

Cal centered on Travis. “What kind of
investigative work?”

Travis looked to Malcolm
who gave him the nod.
Go ahead and show
him
. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he
brought the photo onto the screen and handed it to Cal. “I followed
him to a shanty house downtown where he met with these guys. We
were wondering if maybe you recognized one them.”

Cal examined the imaged, zoomed in as
Malcolm had, scrolling through the few photos Travis had taken. “I
don’t know... The one looks familiar but the shot was taken too far
away. It’s possible I’ve seen him around town, even here at the
hotel, though by the looks of him, I doubt the latter.” Looking up,
he said, “You know, Troy mentioned he saw Jeremiah in the woods
with two men.”

“
He did?” Travis asked.
“When?”

“
When he was out looking
for Spirit. Jeremiah was looking to grab some of the gold, but
there was none to be grabbed. According to Troy, he and his cohorts
weren’t too happy.”

Travis felt a warm rise in
his cheeks. Why hadn’t Troy mentioned it to
him
?

“
It’s possible Ladd has
hooked up with some old friends while in town,” Malcolm said,
“engaging in a bit of freelancing on the side.”

“
Maybe. I think we should
show this picture to Troy,” Cal said. “See if he recognizes the
fellow as one of two in the forest with Jeremiah.

Malcolm prompted, “I find the beard
interesting, don’t you?”

The question snapped Cal
to attention. “
Yes
. I do. Should we call Becky in?”

“
If you don’t think she’ll
mind coming into work on a Sunday evening, I do.” Malcolm grinned.
“The police are already on site, which would make it convenient to
take her statement.”

Cal handed the camera phone back to
Travis and picked up the phone from his desk. Travis didn’t
understand exactly what was happening, but dutifully followed as
Malcolm walked out of the office. “What was that about?” Travis
asked, unable to stem his curiosity.

Passing the desk clerk, Malcolm took
him aside by the fountain. Lowering his voice, he explained, “The
gift shop was robbed the other night.”

“
Robbed
?”

“
We’ve tried to keep it
under wraps so as not to alarm the guests, but the man responsible
had a beard.”

Comprehension sank through him like
stone. “You think this might be the guy?”

Malcolm nodded. “Seems likely. He fits
the general description.”

“
I told Felicity I didn’t
think it was a coincidence that Jeremiah was back in town and
things started happening,” Travis said, the notion gaining steam.
“She thinks it’s her father who’s responsible. She thinks he’s
behind all the trouble.”

“
I’m not ruling out Jack
Foster.”

“
You’re not?”

Malcolm shook his head. “He could have
easily paid the marker for Jeremiah. You said the money came from
here. He’s here.”

“
But why would he help
Jeremiah?”

Malcolm stared at him. “He doesn’t
care for Delaney? He knows their history? Seems to me now is not
the time to pull any chips from the table.”

Travis stood
stunned.
Felicity could be
right
?

Chapter Seventeen

Travis tagged along as
Malcolm and Cal made the trek back up to the stables. The police
officer who had stopped him earlier noticed Travis and narrowed his
gaze, his expression sour as he trailed the three men walking past
him.
Yes, I’m with them.
The man made a move toward him until a couple of
guests walked up to the officer, distracting the evil eye he had
trained on Travis.

Tamping down a rush of
nerves, he thought,
whatever
. Tugging the shirt from his
body, he did what he had to do. These men had to know what he knew,
though unlike Mr. Ward, Travis maintained his belief Jeremiah
seemed the most likely culprit. While Jack Foster might have it in
for Felicity’s mom, he didn’t have any grudge against the hotel.
Other than the fact Troy worked for Hotel Ladd, but Travis thought
that connection was a stretch. The sticky point was the money. Mr.
Foster definitely had the money to help Jeremiah get out of jail.
His daddy owned the biggest bank in town making it easy enough for
him to wire the money without leaving a footprint. But
still...

Travis wasn’t ready to give up on his
theory quite yet. His gut wouldn’t let him. Climbing the hillside
with little effort, he listened as the men conversed.

“
Where’s Jillian tonight?”
Malcolm asked Cal. “Any idea if she’s in house?”

“
I don’t know. I haven’t
seen her since I came down from the bonfire.”

“
Hm.”

“
If she had anything to do
with this, so help me God, I’ll make her wish she never set foot on
this property.”

“
You’re not alone in that
sentiment,” Malcolm said.

“
How’s Delaney?” Cal
asked.

Malcolm tossed a glance over his
shoulder at Travis before replying, “Not good. She’s in a
coma.”

“
A coma?” Cal swore under
his breath. “Gosh, I’m sorry to hear that. I assume Nick is with
her.”

“
He is.”

Cal ground his jaw, muscles jumping
beneath his skin. Travis understood the emotions churning through
him. They were the same ones he was experiencing, although his were
compounded by a sense of betrayal. Why didn’t Troy share his news
about Jeremiah with him? Differences aside, they were brothers who
cared about the same people. They helped track down the missing
horses, helped handle the blaze. Why couldn’t they be a team?
Didn’t Troy understand they were working toward the same
goal?

Arriving at the stables, Travis noted
firemen were loading up their truck. Flames no longer leapt into
the night sky, the fire nothing but a smoldering mess of
destruction. Several guests hovered about the edge of the bright
yellow crime scene tape. A lone group of men walked the perimeter
of the paddocks. Horses looked normal. Travis didn’t see Troy
anywhere.

As an older staff member walked past,
Cal asked him, “Is Troy still around?”

The man nodded. “He’s in the barn.” He
hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “They’re making room for the
horses.”

“
Thanks,” Cal replied and
headed over.

They didn’t have to walk far. Troy was
on his way back to the paddocks. When he spotted them, he picked up
his pace. His arm was bandaged in white, a stark contrast to his
soot-covered skin and the black of his T-shirt. Malcolm said he’d
been burned. He’d suffered the injury while saving the horses.
Travis’ lungs constricted. Saving Felicity’s horse.

“
Hello, Mr. Foster.” Troy
tipped his head. “Mr. Ward.”

“
How’s it coming with the
move?” Cal asked.

“
Fine. I think they’ll be
all right in there temporarily. I’ve moved the carriages out back,
and dependin’ on the weather, most of the animals can stay outside
during the day.”

Cal added, “How’s Spirit?”

His brother’s dark eyes turned inky
black, a menacing spark lighting them as he replied, “Not good. The
fire spooked him bad. I think he must have been near where it
started ‘cause it looks like he tried to bust clear out of his
stall.”

“
Is he okay?”

At the upheaval in his brother’s eyes,
Travis knew the answer before Troy said, “He’s hurt. The vet is
here taking a look at him, but he scraped himself up pretty
badly.”

Malcolm placed a hand to Troy’s
shoulder. “We’ll take care of him, Troy. If there’s anything that
can be done, we’ll do it.”

Troy mumbled, “Yes, sir.”

His brother appeared on the verge of
tears, which meant this must be the horse Felicity had told him
about, the one Troy and only Troy seemed to be able to handle.
Memories of an injured horse put down during his childhood overcame
Travis, hitting harder than he expected. God help Troy if he had to
put down this horse. Travis prayed the injuries were only
superficial and wouldn’t warrant such a drastic measure. Ending an
animal’s life was tough. Too tough.

“
I hate to take you away
from your business,” Cal said, knowing full well Troy had no
“business” here. He was here as a volunteer, no longer an official
employee on duty. At least until his name was cleared at
trial.

“
No, sir. That’s fine.”
Troy glanced at Mr. Ward. “What’s on your mind?”

No concern in his voice, rather Troy
seemed heartened by the distraction.

“
Travis has some
information regarding Jeremiah that we want to ask you
about.”

Troy looked at him. “What?”

Blunt, challenging, he
went straight to the source, Travis mused. Pushing his shoulders
back, he said, “Mr. Foster said you saw some guys in the forest
with Jeremiah Ladd,” inflecting a “
why
didn’t you tell me
” into his
tone.

“
I did.”

“
Well, I followed him
downtown where I saw him meet with some guys.”

“
We want to know if the
men are the ones you saw in the woods,” Cal said. Troy shot a
questioning glance to Travis. “He has a picture,” Cal said,
prodding Travis to share it with Troy.

Pulling the phone from his pocket, he
displayed the photo depicting Jeremiah and the taller man on the
screen. “Is this one of the guys you saw?”

Troy examined the picture for a second
and said, “Yep. That’s one of ‘em.” Focusing on Travis, he said,
“Where did you see him?”

“
Downtown, over by Pine
Street.”

Anger funneled into his gaze. “He’s up
to no good.” As though mentally connecting the dots, he asked, “Do
you think he had something to do with this fire?”

“
We don’t know,” Malcolm
answered. “He could have, but we don’t want to rule anyone out at
this point.”

“
What about that Jillian
woman?” Troy asked boldly. “She was together with Mr. Foster at a
motel in town. Do you think they had something to do with
it?”

Travis gaped at him. “Jillian was with
Felicity’s dad?” Disbelief coursed through him. What else didn’t he
know?

Troy flashed a look of disdain but
duly revealed, “She told me the other day. Said she saw them the
afternoon we found the horses.”

And she didn’t tell
me
? Travis grumbled silently.

Cal and Malcolm shared an unsettling
glance, before Malcolm turned his lens on Travis and Troy. “Now
that we’re putting our cards on the table, is there anything else
you boys think we should know?”

Travis was spent. He had nothing more.
He looked to his brother. Did Troy?

He shook his head and scowled. “That’s
all I know, except whoever did this is gonna pay.”

“
Troy,” Cal cautioned,
“think about what you’re saying. With the trial coming up, don’t
give Jack any more ammunition to use against you.”

Troy grunted his displeasure but
Travis thought it good advice. Troy didn’t need any more trouble
than he already had. Especially trouble that was
preventable.

“
Okay,” Malcolm said. “Do
me a favor and keep it to yourselves. I don’t want anyone getting
ahead of us on this one.”