“Fair enough,” another man said, this one with a kinder voice that also sounded familiar. “We’ll give you funds to get elsewhere. Where’d you come from? Denver?”
“I don’t want funds to go elsewhere.” Cade’s voice was a low growl.
“I don’t care whatyouwant. I want my land.” That was the man with the kinder voice, sounding much less congenial now.
Jolie swallowed and pressed herself against the wall beside the doorframe. Ever so carefully, she peered around it.
And there, just beyond the door in the dining room where she’d sat and enjoyed dinner not that long ago, she spotted Cade. She moved just a fraction of an inch farther. On the other side of the table, Mr. Yount sat with his arms crossed. His usual smile was gone, replaced by an ugly glare. And behind him stood Hannah and—just as she’d suspected—Mr. Bennett. Sawyer, Neil, and Horace were nowhere to be seen.
“You’re out of luck. I’m not signing a thing.” Cade punctuated the sentence by shoving a sheet of paper back across the table.
Mr. Yount stood suddenly, and Jolie whipped back around the doorframe, pressing herself as close to the wall as she could get without becoming part of it.
“Did you know,” Mr. Yount began. “I gave your brother this same proposal. He turned me down too. That didn’t end well for him. But perhaps you should ask Bennett about that.”
Jolie bit down on her lip. She’d been right! Mr. Bennett was the murderer. But, if she understood what was happening, it sounded as if he’d done it for the benefit of Mr. Yount.
“Are you threatening me?” Cade asked.
“What do you think?” Mr. Yount replied.
Jolie pressed a hand to her stomach. She felt sick and scared and useless. If only the sheriff would arrive now!
But he wouldn’t, not for a while yet.
There was a loudthunkthat came from the dining room. Unable to stop herself, Jolie peered around the corner again. Mr. Bennett had moved, and now he stood next to Mr. Yount, a pistol laying on the table in front of him. Hannah had moved to the corner, a hand over her mouth and her eyes wide.
She had todosomething. There was no one else. She didn’t know where Neil or Horace were. Or Mr. Sawyer—and for all she knew, he might be involved too.
The only person who could do anything was Jolie.
And she had an idea that just might work.
Chapter Twenty-four
Caderefusedtolookat the pistol that Bennett had slammed onto the table. Instead, he held Yount’s gaze. “You can’t intimidate me.”
“That’s what your brother said.” Yount gave a laugh, as if that were funny. “Come on, Harris. It’s my land. You know that. Your brother knew that. Surely you’ve got the brains he was lacking.”
“You keep saying that. It’s not your land.”
“Itwasmine.” Yount’s voice was bitter. “Bought and paid for. Till my loan got called in, and I had to sell. I was desperate and Lucas Harris knew it. He took me for pennies on the dollar.” He sat up straighter and took a breath. And when he spoke again, his face held a pretend sort of friendly. “But you aren’t like that, are you? You’re good people. And good people want to make right on the bad things their family’s done.”
Cade furrowed his brow. Lucas had seen a legitimate opportunity and taken it. Of that much, Cade was certain. “He didn’t take advantage of you. You agreed to sell.”
“Pennies on the dollar. How is that fair?” Yount was angry again.
“It’s business.” Cade was walking on the edge, but he wouldn’t back down. Not to this man, not the one he was fairly certain had ordered Bennett to kill Lucas. Jolie had been right, although she hadn’t suspected that Yount was behind it all.
He wanted to wince when he thought of her. Heaven help him, he’d ignored everything while danger stared them in the face. But she hadn’t. She’d been right about the murderer, the need to find him, and about the fact that Cade was acting like a coward.
That last part hurt the most.
But not more than knowing he’d shoved it all back into her face while he stubbornly clung to the tenuous grip he had over grief.
Now he’d not only put himself into danger, but Neil and Horace. And Jolie too. He wanted to bury his head in his hands, but he’d done enough of that lately.
Instead, he let the rage funnel through him, and he clenched his fists under the table. He had to get Yount away from the topic of the sale to Lucas. Steer him to something else that made him less angry.
