Losing Ladd

by Dianne Venetta

  “But you said there was enough gold here to pay us for the rest of our lives!” one of them scowled. “We was relyin' on you.”

  The second dark-haired man spoke up, “We took a big risk for you cuz you promised!”

  “Shut your pie hole. I need time to think.”

  “Think? Think about what—it’s gone!”

  Instinct scissored through Troy’s lungs as the third man came into full view. It was Jeremiah Ladd.

  “You better think,” said one of the strangers. “And you better figure a way to pay us back.”

  “I’ll get you your money,” Jeremiah growled.

  Surprise, surprise, Troy mused. The man was back and seemingly up to his old tricks. He was here to steal the gold, only there was one problem. Nick and Delaney had already removed most of it. Troy suppressed the urge to reveal himself and rub it in the man’s face. That’s right, Jerry. The rightful owners actually secured their fortune before you could come and steal it.

  The taller stranger straightened and poked a finger in Jeremiah’s chest, surprising Troy with his authority over Jeremiah. “You’d better find a way. This here gold belonged to us and it’s gone. Stolen right out from under us.”

  Mighty presumptive, Troy thought, savoring the defeat in their voices. Just because a man owes you a “gold mine” doesn’t mean it was his to give. Troy chuckled. Maybe Jeremiah would get another beating. Seemed tall man had no fear of Mr. Ladd. Delight streamed in like sunshine on a cloudy day. Oh, wouldn’t Troy enjoy watching a good payback beating.

  “Don’t worry. I will,” Jeremiah declared, then stalked off through the brush in the opposite direction. Troy looked beyond the men, through a mass of tree trunks and leaves. The other side of this area was the Ladd property line with the USFS. The men were leaving via public land, most likely the same way they’d arrived. Depositing his gaze on the exiting trio, Troy decided a call to Cal was warranted. He’d know exactly what to do with the news of Jeremiah’s appearance on Ladd land. Felicity’s land.

  A low whinny erupted behind him. Troy whipped his head around, his heart slamming against his ribcage. Spirit! Pleasure swamped him. Tossing a final glance toward the departing men, Troy focused his energy on the horse several yards away. “How’d you find me, Spirit?”

  The horse raised its head and shook its mane, dark eyes honed in on Troy. Course, just because he’d found him didn’t mean he would leave these woods willingly. Troy grinned. Spirit was a determined one. But then again, Troy could be pretty determined, too. Turning a shoulder to the horse, Troy took a slow step backward onto the trail. Spirit watched, wary, but didn’t move. “How’ve you been, boy?” Troy asked pleasantly, casually, adopting a submissive stance to the animal. Troy stood at a slight angle, not facing the horse head on or turning away in passivity. He already had a relationship with the horse as a leader, a comfortable figure for the animal, but after being on the run, Spirit might need reminding.

  This was Troy’s invitation to come check him out.

  As if on cue, Spirit dipped his head, then raised it, giving another shake. He didn’t make a move toward Troy. Seemed he wasn’t ready. “No problem, buddy. I got all the time in the world,” he said, remaining in place. Patience was his ticket to success. “You and me can hang out here for as long as you’d like.”

  Spirit’s ears pricked forward and back. He was thinking. Deciding. Troy understood. It was rooted in the predator-prey instinct. The animal wanted to follow a leader but was fearful, uncertain. His “flight” capacitors remained charged. Troy couldn’t blame him. The ordeal of running loose in strange territory had to be unsettling for Spirit.

  A branch cracked loudly in the distance and Troy cursed under his breath. Spirit’s ears stiffened, twitched as he backed away. Dad gummit. Troy wasn’t about to turn and see if the sound had come from returning men. He was relyin’ on Spirit and his response to the situation for his answer.

  Spirit looked around, settled on nothing in particular, then returned his attention to Troy. “Nothin’ to see over there,” Troy said softly. “Just Mother Nature cleanin’ house. You and me…we’re just a couple of friends gettin’ back together.”

  Troy dropped a shoulder and turned away from the horse, simultaneously taking a step. Spirit reacted, taking a step, too. “That’s it, boy. You remember me.” Troy halted, reversed direction, then took a few more steps away. Again, Spirit did likewise. Troy stopped, turned, and faced the animal directly. Keeping his voice gentle and soothing, he encouraged Spirit to abandon his natural fear response and let down his defenses. “I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to take you home.”

  When the horse hesitated, glancing away, Troy took it as a sign Spirit still wasn’t ready. Angling his body away from the horse again, Troy worked to reassure the horse he wasn’t a threat, communicating the message with body language. Spirit needed to understand that he was safe with Troy, that no harm would come to him. For several moments, man and horse stood motionless but fully engaged in one another. Troy rotated back toward the animal in a slow and methodical fashion. He didn’t stop for a head-on posture but rather continued his body’s rotation for a three hundred sixty degree turn until he was facing in the opposite direction in an effort to get Spirit reacquainted with his presence. Comfortable. “That’s it,” Troy cooed. “All is good here.”

  Feeling the moment was right, Troy maintained his angle-away stance and took half a dozen steps from Spirit. The animal immediately pursued, emerging from the woods and onto the trail. Troy smiled. The horse wanted to reunite. It was his job to instill in the animal an emotional security that would take him all the way to the stables. Circling his body in place again, Troy liked that Spirit was watching his every move. Ears pricked forward, the animal was fully intent upon what Troy was doing. They were close enough that Troy could smell the animal, the scent mixing with the earthy scent of clay and pine. When he took a step, Spirit took a step. When Troy stopped, Spirit stopped. Troy walked several paces down the trail and the animal trailed him, closing the space between them to mere feet.

  Troy stopped and Spirit stopped. Turning, Troy took a step toward the animal and slowly extended a hand to touch Spirit’s snout. The horse didn’t draw back but allowed him the contact. Troy purposefully kept it brief, turned and took a few more steps away. Spirit followed. Like a horse on a lead line, the animal was in sync with Troy’s every move. Troy could walk out of this forest right now and Spirit would probably track him every step of the way, but Troy didn’t want to push it. He worked too hard to build a relationship of trust with the animal and he wasn’t going to blow it now. Instead, he returned to face the horse, establishing contact again, ruffling the black mane between Spirit’s eyes. “You’re a good boy,” Troy praised, his voice light and easy as if he were talking to a child. “You’re a very good boy.”

  Spirit blinked. Unalarmed, standing still, the animal was demonstrating his acceptance.

  Troy quickly walked down trail and then stopped. Spirit stopped. Troy chuckled. “I think we’re officially back together, Spirit.” Turning, Troy smiled and patted the animal once again. “What do you say? You up for a hike home?”

  Spirit rewarded him with a low rumbling nicker. Troy laughed. “I knew you missed me.” Stroking his neck, the round length of his sweaty muscle, Troy added, “Now let’s say you and me get back to the stables. Miss Delaney is gonna want to see you.”

  Mindful of the forest around him, the possible intrusions and potential surprises, Troy headed down the trail the way he came in, Spirit on his heel. Miss Delaney wasn’t gonna like what he had to tell her about Jeremiah Ladd being here, but she was gonna love seein’ Spirit.

  Chapter Six

  “Blue!” Felicity’s boots crunched over the gravelly riverbank as she jogged toward the water. “I can’t believe you,” she cried out breathlessly. There in the middle of the river stood her horse, the animal’s body half submerged in the slow-moving depths of the river. Blue whinnied, then shook her mane
like a nuisance fly had buzzed her.

  “Told you it was a possibility she’d be here,” Travis said.

  “But she’s never come this far on her own.” Felicity clicked a call from her mouth and her mare responded, plodding carefully over the rocky river bottom, her slick black coat shiny in the bright sunlight. Felicity went quickly to her, boots splashing in the shallows of the river’s edge as her horse walked out. Felicity grabbed hold of Blue’s neck and hugged her, the round muscular body comforting to the touch. “Oh, Blue, I’m so glad we found you.” Felicity buried her face in the coarse hair of Blue’s mane. The horse was stinky with sweat and Felicity’s blouse was soaked through, her jean shorts too, but she didn’t care. Heartbeats kicked in her chest. Blue was safe.

  Her baby was okay.

  “Probably came here to cool off,” Travis remarked.

  Pulling away, Felicity slid a hand up and down Blue’s neck, rubbed the curve of her jaw, the pillow of her snout. The mare groaned and Felicity giggled, relief spurting through her limbs. “Oh, girl, you had me scared.” Blue nudged Felicity who cupped a hand to her velvety muzzle. “And you’re so spoiled,” she said. “Look at you. Here you’ve been gone for two days and all you want is a good scratch.”

  “She’s probably hungry,” Travis noted.

  “I’ll bet she is,” Felicity said, instantly concerned over Blue’s well-being. Had she been hurt? Had she been scared? Was she starving?

  “Why don’t you call your mom and tell her you found Blue.”

  Felicity nodded, instantly wondering how Troy had fared. Had he found Spirit? Taking a few steps from the river with Blue loyally following, she said, “You call Troy. I’ll call my mom.”

  Travis plucked the cell phone from his waistband while she pulled hers from her back pocket. Her mom would be so relieved to know Blue was safe and Felicity could only hope the same held true for Troy.

  As Felicity and Travis entered the stables, an elated Delaney immediately filled a bucket with water. Striding over, she deposited the bucket on the ground, slid a hand down the stretch of Blue’s back and examined the horse from head to toe. “She looks okay. Doesn’t appear to be dehydrated.”

  “We found her in the river.”

  Delaney smiled. “Figures.” With a pat to Blue’s hind quarter, she said, “Decided to go for a swim, did you?”

  The animal jerked up its head and shook its mane.

  “I was surprised,” Felicity said. “It’s not like her to go that far.”

  “Probably wanted to steer clear of the stables, seeing as how they’ve been a source of instability of late.”

  Felicity knew her mom was referring to the incident with her father. When he attacked her and the gun had discharged, the horses had been spooked. Add a stranger entering their midst and shooing them from their stalls and her mom was right. Anxiety pushed in Felicity’s stomach. Blue wouldn’t want to be anywhere near here. “Have you heard from Troy? We called but he didn’t answer.” It could have been due to bad cell reception. Service was spotty in the mountains. Nerves flitted through Felicity’s breast. It might be that he’d found Spirit and was on his way back right this minute. At least she hoped so.

  “Haven’t heard a word,” her mom replied.

  “Listen,” Travis said, placing a hand to Felicity’s shoulder. “Now that we know Blue is okay, I’m going to run down to Mr. Dakota’s office and see if I can’t do a little digging.”

  “Digging into what?” Felicity asked.

  Shooting a brief glance to Delaney, he said, “I want to find out who did this, who might have helped pay Jeremiah’s debt.”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  “There are ways to find the information, and Mr. Dakota’s computer has access I can’t get anywhere else.”

  Not fully understanding but relieved to know Travis was intent on doing something, Felicity nodded. “Okay. I’m going to hang out here a while with Blue.”

  Lightly kissing her cheek, he said, “I’ll call you.”

  As he walked away, Felicity called after him, “I’ll let you know if Troy calls with news about Spirit.”

  Travis waved a hand but didn’t look back, bothering Felicity with his apparent disinterest in all things Troy. What was going on with him? Why was he being so detached?

  “Troy will find him,” Delaney said.

  “I hope so.”

  Between them, Blue slurped from her bucket, then snorted. Drops of water sprayed onto Felicity’s jeans. Placing a hand to her horse, she looked at her mom, emotions pulling and tugging in her heart. Felicity didn’t want to think about the consequences of not finding Spirit.

  “What’s the matter? You sure look unhappy for a girl just reunited with her missing horse.”

  Felicity shrugged, glanced in the direction of the open doorway. “It’s Travis. I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately.”

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “It’s like he doesn’t care about his brother at all.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that. They’re just different people,” her mom defended. “Troy’s situation is not easy. It’s putting stress on the family and Travis is reacting. It’ll pass.”

  “It’s more than being different. It’s like he disapproves of Troy’s choices and has cut him off from his affection.”

  “Travis is headstrong. He believes what he’s doing is right.” Her mom frowned. “And to be honest, Troy has made some mistakes.”

  “Mistakes,” Felicity emphasized. “It’s not like he has to be tied to them for the rest of his life. What ever happened to forgiveness?”

  The corner of her mom’s mouth tipped into a smile. “You have a bigger heart than most, Felicity. Travis will come around. Give him time.”

  Grunting, she returned focus to her horse and ran a hand along the animal’s neck. Not all things healed with time. Some people didn’t want to mend fences. Travis sure didn’t seem like he was interested in pounding any nails back toward his brother.

  “Now that Blue’s back, I have a favor to ask.”

  Felicity looked to her mom. “What favor?”

  “Will you run down to Fran’s and pick up a lunch order? One of the guys is celebrating his birthday, and I offered to buy lunch for the crew.”

  “What about the hotel kitchen? Don’t they serve food up here?”

  Delaney shook her head. “This man wants fried steak and cornbread, and he only wants them from Fran’s.”

  “Oh...” Felicity checked her attire. A bit smudged, her shirt had dried, though if anyone came too close, they’d surely smell her horse on her. “I guess I can go.”

  “Thanks.” Picking up on Felicity’s concern, she said, “Maybe you can run up to the cabin and change first?”

  “Do I smell that bad?”

  “Not to me. I love stinky horse smell but Fran...” Delaney shook her head. “She might mind.”

  Felicity sighed. With nothing keeping her here other than a hungry horse, she replied, “Okay. Maybe I’ll pick up some carrots for Blue on my way.”

  Her mom grinned. “Good idea.”

  After changing into a fresh T-shirt and jeans, Felicity drove to the diner, engrossed by thoughts of Blue and whoever could have been responsible for her release. It had to be someone that knew Felicity. It couldn’t be a coincidence that her horse had been one of the ones targeted. Troy, too. Sure, a few other horses had been set free but maybe that was for distraction purposes. Maybe the perpetrator was trying to cover his real intent.

  The perpetrator.

  Slowing for a red light, Felicity still believed it was her father. He was the only one with ties to both Troy and Felicity. Why he didn’t release Sadie was a question left unanswered, but maybe he ran out of time. Maybe someone walked in on him, and he had to get out quick before he was discovered.

  A kid on bicycle sped across her path. Barefoot and shirtless, the kid couldn’t be more than ten. Peering at the boy, she glanced around for a nearby adult. S
potting no one who appeared to be with him, Felicity wondered about his safety. Were kids allowed to bike through the center of town on their own at that age?

  Her mom would have had a fit. Even Travis’ parents wouldn’t have allowed such a thing. With no parent in sight, Felicity watched as the boy jumped the curb and turned down a side street, pedaling as fast as his legs would take him. Trailing his figure, Felicity caught sight of a familiar face. She stilled. Two familiar faces. Up above, the light turned green but Felicity remained fixed in place.

  Was that her father?

  And Jillian Devane?

  Her pulse skipped as she zeroed in on the couple. Lingering outside a two-story building, Jack and Jillian stood idle by his truck. Felicity recognized and assumed the silver sedan next to it belonged to Jillian Devane.

  Jillian Devane. Her mind still couldn’t absorb the fact. What was she doing here? Running a hand up Jack Foster’s chest, the woman leaned into him and kissed his cheek. Oh my gosh--Felicity’s gaze darted upward to the hotel sign. Had they spent the night together?

  At the honk from behind, she jammed her foot to the accelerator. She had to call her mother. As soon as she arrived at Fran’s, she had to let her mom know what was happening. Jillian and her father, together. Revulsion shimmied through Felicity’s midsection. Could the news get any worse?

  Jeremiah Ladd dropped his cohorts at a waffle joint then drove back to the motel to clear his head. He needed time to think, to plan, and he needed it without the annoying presence of those two idiots. The gold was gone, the land raped by Delaney and her arrogant husband. As if they weren’t making enough money with the hotel they built on the property, they had to dig out every last flake and sell it. He’d needed that money. After getting his marker paid, the debt he’d racked up against the casino, he needed money for payback and to start over. Money that belonged to him. Ladd Springs was his family’s land, not Delaney’s. She was a Wilkins. She didn’t deserve Ladd Springs.