“I tell you what,” Poppy said. “Once you have this Leona shit under control, I will. Because if I have to deal with her, I’ll just kill her.”
Daniel growled and the hair on the back of my arms stood up. “I’m tempted to do it myself. She put my—”
He stopped talking and cleared his throat.
“She put my assistant and a woman I care about in danger. If Leo hadn’t taken you when he had, she fully intended to send some of her pride into the office totake care of you both.”
“Does my brother have her in custody?” Poppy asked.
Daniel shook his head. The expression on his face was terrible, as though he wanted to tear the town apart with his bare hands just to find her.
“Why does she want this land so badly?” I asked.
“Money,” Poppy answered.
Daniel cocked his head. “I’m not so sure anymore. If it was just money, there is plenty of property owned by townsfolk that she could buy that would be just as profitable.”
“Then what?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I don’t know but I’m going to find out. There’s something about this specific piece of land that she wants. Mineral rights, maybe? I’m not quite sure. Or maybe she hopes that she can pressure me to pay more for the property for the resort. I can’t be sure.”
It didn’t make any sense to me. Sure, some people get this way about money, but the impression I had of Leona is that she had plenty of money. More might always be nice, but she seemed obsessed with this property. Not just the land, but owning it.
“I think she wants something from that property,” I murmured, staring out the window.
We were almost back in town. I wondered where we were going, but figured I’d find out soon enough.
I also felt much safer with Daniel and Poppy in the car with me.
“I don’t think it has minerals or anything else of value,” Poppy said.
“It has something,” I replied. “Something she wants badly enough to risk the wrath of Daniel and the rest of the town. Something that she’s willing to alienate her son over.”
Poppy scoffed. “She doesn’t give a shit about her son. The only person Leona cares about is herself and power.”
Well, that was the answer then. There was something about that land that would increase her power.
We all fell silent as we entered the town.
But Daniel’s hand crept across the armrest to touch my hand.
Without thinking, I turned my palm up and laced my fingers with his.
Right now, I was safe and I was with him.
That was all that mattered.
17
Daniel dropped Poppy off at the police station with a message for Sheriff Stoic.
Yeah, yeah, I know, I’d been kidnapped, but I couldn’t give up the snarky nickname for the police chief. Even in my head. It made me feel better.
“Tell Kent he can come by the house to take her statement. I’m taking her home.”
Home. He was taking me home?
That sounded much better than it should considering he’d kidnapped me less than a week ago.
