Page 46 of Love and Loathing
“Yes, sorry, I just hit my head.”
“Ouch, that stings. On what?”
“My desk …” He rubbed at the sore spot.
“O … kay.”
Alex shook it off. “Did Steve Howard and Kevin Lance not make a bid?”
“They did, but the landowner liked your offer better.”
His heart sank. This had to be a mistake. “My bid was not for everything. It was just for the areas where the docks are.”
“He knows. I also told him you planned to give the land to the town,” Liam said. “Oh, and he doesn’t like Howard and Lance.”
Alex grinned from ear to ear. “He doesn’t?”
Liam chuckled. “Nope. Called them two-bit lying cheats, said he wouldn’t sell to them if he was plum broke and needed money for food, and that if they were in town, he’d give them a good lickin’ they’d not soon forget. Which, by the way, is easily the best thing I’ve ever heard as an attorney, and I used to work as a corporate lawyer in Philadelphia. Anyway, you can come on down anytime to sign the papers.”
“I will,” Alex said, still kneeling under his desk. “But just one thing. Can you tell me who the landowner is now?”
“’Fraid not. He’s very serious about his anonymity.” Liam paused. “But I can tell you this: the only reason he’s selling to you is because he thinks you’re a sound businessman and a man of good character. And from someone who knows who he is, I can tell you that’s a real compliment.”
Alex hung up and got in his chair. In a matter of less than ten minutes, every reason he’d thought he had for leaving fifteen minutes ago had changed—at least, he hoped everything had. He stared at Jessie’s video, heart in his throat, and hit play.
Chapter 18
Jessie stood on the sliding ladder against the wall with an armful of Brenda Lee Mitford’s latest novel in one hand; she was sliding them into an empty space they reserved for storage of overstock. She slid one of the books into place, then heard a construction worker whistle from below. Which was interesting, because the workers at Alex’s site had not once used it on her. She didn’t have to look to know who it was.
“I’d be careful, Jacob,” she said. “I have an armful of books and a great vantage point for dropping them on your head.”
“Come on, now, don’t be like that.”
She put the rest of the books away and looked over her shoulder at him. “What do you want?”
“Would you believe me if I told you I wanted to ask you to the fireworks show tonight? I have a boat. It’s not much, but it’s seaworthy.”
She glared at him.
He threw up his hands. “As a peace offering only, I swear.”
“Oh yeah, I’d believe that.” She headed down the ladder, and he grinned. “If you could get me secluded on a boat out on the water where there’s no escape, that would be the perfect opportunity to lie to me some more and try to convince me you had nothing to do with stealing from this town and its people.” She hit the bottom and hopped down in front of him. “Sound about right?”
He made an admirable attempt to not look bothered. So good, in fact, that she could finally clearly see why people believed his lies. Daniel was the same way. Obviously, both were cut from the same cloth. Even after Daniel had fled almost three years ago now, people had given him the benefit of the doubt for weeks. Defended him. Were sure he’d come back. Looking back on all the years she’d known them both, she could finally see the pattern in their behavior that she’d missed before. It was so obvious, and yet everyone missed it. Even now.
Jacob leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Come on, Jessie girl. For old time’s sake.”
She put her hands on her hips. “What old times were those? When you broke that window with the baseball in middle school and left me to deal with the cleanup? Or when you ditched me on prom night so I had to go with your brother?” It’d been after that night that she’d started dating Daniel. “Or was it the time you stole millions of dollars from my family, my friends, people I care about?”
“All right, I was with my brother in that photo, I admit it, but I swear to you on my life that I didn’t have anything to do with the money he stole. That was all him. Boy Scout’s honor.” He made the Boy Scout salute.
She slapped his hand down and seethed, “You were never in the Boy Scouts!”
He reached up and took her shoulders in his hands, and she shrugged him off. Even after his hands were back at his sides, she could still feel her skin crawling. “Come on. I thought that because you hadn’t told anyone, it meant you’d come to your senses.”
“I haven’t lost my senses, thank you very much.” She pointed to the door.
“All right, fine. I tried. Don’t ever say I didn’t.” He walked off, and she had never been so glad to see the back of someone. But what he said haunted her. She hadn’t told anyone about her discovery. Even now with him admitting he’d been with his brother, she still wouldn’t. It wouldn’t do any good. He would never tell anyone where Daniel was, and as his brother, it would be his legal right to refuse. And it wasn’t like the Sheriff Chris could arrest him, anyway. They had no proof of his involvement.
