by B. J Daniels
“I put my hand in my pocket on the way home. It was still there right before I fell asleep for a while. Maybe it’s...” Her eyes widened again. “Maybe it’s still in Ella’s pickup.”
“Nice try. Ella has it, doesn’t she?” He thought about his and Ella’s talk before the kiss. He knew how her mind worked. All the Hanovers needed was the key, because by now at least one of them must know where the money had been hidden. The killer would know that the key found in the well was worthless. But if someone offered them the original key...
Chapter Twenty
Ella had just started her pickup when the passenger-side door flew open.
“You’re taking off in a hurry,” Jeremiah said as he climbed in.
She cursed silently. “Get out. Please. I have somewhere I have to go.”
He shook his head and buckled his seat belt. “I can’t take another moment of your aunt trying to feed me. I heard her on the phone, calling people.” He leaned back and closed his eyes. “I don’t care if you don’t like me. I’d rather be with you right now.” He opened his blue eyes and turned his head in her direction, pinning them on her. “Where you’re going has something to do with our mother, doesn’t it?”
Ella groaned. “You can’t go with me, not where I’m going.” He didn’t move. “Seriously, you have to get out.” She was wasting time. “Fine. I’m going over to visit with the Hanovers.”
His eyes widened. “Really?” He let out a laugh. “Great. High time I met them.”
“They want to kill you.”
“They don’t know me. I can be quite charming when I want to be. Come on—what better way to let them know about me than to show up at their house?” Those eyes narrowed. “So why are you in such a hurry to visit them?” He grinned at her. “Baby sister, what are you up to?”
Her mother would have her head, but as Ella looked at her brother, she made up her mind. She suspected the family would be anxious to get the key. But they would be even more anxious to get it and the money once they met the heir to the fortune. That was assuming Stacy had been telling the truth and Marvin was Jeremiah’s biological father and there was a will naming him heir.
“Fine.” Putting the pickup in gear, she pulled out. “Maybe it’s best for them to meet you, break the ice. But if they stone you to death immediately...well, remember I said this was a bad idea.”
He laughed. There was something about the sound that felt familiar. Just like his smile. Ella kept seeing her mother in him. And herself, which really annoyed her.
When they reached the Hanover house, there were several vehicles parked out front, including a motorcycle. Ella cut the engine and looked at her brother. Her brother. She would never get used to this. “The smart thing for you to do would be to—”
He opened his door, saying over his shoulder, “I try never to do the smart thing.”
“Why does that not surprise me?” she grumbled as she got out and the two of them walked up to the large front door. She braced herself. “I should probably have told you that I’m about to tell a few white lies.”
He chuckled without looking at her. “I would expect nothing less.”
* * *
AS SOON AS Waco returned Stacy to the ranch, he noticed that Ella’s pickup was missing. He had a bad feeling about where she might have gone—with the original key to a fortune.
Stacy headed for her cabin, saying she had a headache and needed to lie down. He watched her walk up the mountainside for a moment before he climbed the porch steps and knocked.
Dana answered the door, her usual cheery self.
“I was looking for Ella.”
“She and Jeremiah left together in her pickup,” she informed him, which made him even more anxious. “I’m sure she’s probably just showing him around the ranch.”
“I’ll catch up with her later, then,” Waco said and left, sure Ella wasn’t just showing her brother around the ranch.
But where would she go? He felt the weight of the fake key inside the evidence bag tucked in his jacket pocket. He called Ella’s cell. It went straight to voice mail.
“Ella, we need to talk. Call me. Please.” He disconnected, hating where his thoughts had gone. Had he really admitted on video that he was falling in love with her? He shook his head and grinned, because, damn it, it was true. He knew he should be more upset about that. He was falling for a woman he’d just met? A woman who was almost as strong-willed, independent and determined as he was?
He actually wanted to call Hitch to tell her how wrong she’d been about him. He was capable of falling in love with a woman. He was capable of even thinking about a future with her. He wasn’t commitment phobic. He had just never met a woman who made him feel like this.
As much as he wanted to share this news, Waco didn’t. He was too worried about Ella because he’d come to know her. He knew where she’d gone. Worse, she’d gone there with Jeremiah.
Unfortunately, he thought he knew that, as well. Swearing, he started his patrol SUV and took off. Once he reached the highway, he turned on his emergency lights and siren and raced toward Gallatin Gateway.
* * *
A MAN IN his early sixties opened the door to Ella’s knock. “You must be Lionel Hanover,” she said.
Looking at her, he raised his nose in the air as if he’d smelled something that upset his finer sensibilities. Then he shifted his gaze to Jeremiah. The man’s eyes widened slightly, his unpleasant expression turning even more filled with distaste.
“I’m Ella Cardwell, and, yes, we would love to come in,” Ella said, even though Lionel had yet to speak. For a moment, he didn’t move, and she wondered if her whole plan was about to fall apart. What if she was wrong? What if coming here, especially with Jeremiah, was the worst thing she could have done?
“Who is it, Lionel?” called a faint female voice from the darkness inside the large space. He didn’t answer her.
To Ella’s surprise, though, he did step back to allow them entrance. She heard the large door close behind them, afraid she would hear him lock it. She stepped into the lion’s den, Jeremiah right behind her.
An elderly woman sat in a threadbare chair near the crackling fire, a lap quilt over her legs. Even though it was summer, the interior of the house felt cold. Ella wondered if the fireplace was the only heat source. Glancing around, she noticed that the entire room seemed threadbare. Was it possible they desperately needed their father’s money?
“Who’s this?” the woman inquired, squinting at the two of them as they moved deeper into the room and closer to the fire.
“I’m Ella Cardwell,” she said. “I thought maybe your brother might have mentioned that I was coming over.”
“I didn’t want to upset my sister,” Lionel said behind them. “Angeline isn’t well.”
The woman shot him a withering look. “I’m not unwell—I’m dying, you fool. But as long as I’m here, I like to know what’s going on.” Her gaze returned to Ella. “You’re her...”
“Stacy’s daughter,” Lionel said as the front door slammed open again. Everyone’s attention was drawn to it as Mercy came charging in. She stopped short as she saw Ella and Jeremiah. “Welcome to the party,” he said sarcastically to Mercy. “I’m assuming Trevor listened in on my call and then reported to you.” As if on cue, Ella heard a motorcycle start up out front and take off in a loud roar.
Lionel sighed. “You might as well join us. We were just about to find out why this...meeting has been called.” He moved to a chair next to the fire and dropped into it.
Mercy stalked in to stand in front of the fire, her backside to the flames.
“Let’s at least offer our guests a seat,” Angeline said. “I don’t know what has happened to my brother’s manners. I apologize on his behalf.”
“Thank you, but we won’t be staying that long,” Ella assured her.
The wom
an’s gaze had shifted to Jeremiah. “And who is this?”
Ella watched Lionel and Mercy out of the corner of her eye. Both seemed suddenly interested in the young man standing next to her. “This is Jeremiah. Your father’s and my mother’s son.”
* * *
HUD COULDN’T BELIEVE the news when Dana called to tell him about Stacy’s return—with a son in his early thirties. He left the office and drove right home to find Dana in the kitchen. Nothing unusual there.
“Where are they?” he demanded as he walked into the room.
Dana turned from whatever she had cooking on the stove, a spoon in hand. “Ella left with Jeremiah and Stacy went up to her cabin.” She started to turn back to her pots, as if this was just a normal, everyday occurrence.
“Dana,” he said, “what the hell is going on?”
She sighed. Turned off whatever she was cooking and put down the spoon to turn to look at him. He listened as she filled him in on Ella going to a place called Hell and Gone to find her mother and—surprise—her half brother.
“He’s Marvin Hanover’s son and, apparently, the heir to a fortune.”
Hud shook his head. “Why does this sound like a story Stacy has made up? Do we have any proof that this young man is even her son—let alone Marvin’s—and some heir to anything?”
Dana gave him an impatient look. “He’s family. That’s all I need to know.”
“Well, I need to know a whole lot more. Where did you say he and Ella went?”
She shook her head. “Maybe she’s showing him around the ranch.”
Hud groaned. This man none of them had even heard about before today was with Ella and only God knew where. “I’m going to look for them. If they come back or you hear from them, call me.” With that, he thrust his Stetson back on his head and stormed out. Stacy was going to be the death of them all, he thought.
He had to find Ella. He couldn’t shake the bad feeling that had settled in his gut that she was in trouble.
* * *
AFTER ELLA HAD announced who Jeremiah was, the crackling of the fire was the only sound in the room. Angeline let out a curse, followed by a phlegm-filled cough. “That’s not possible,” Mercy cried. “Your mother lied about being pregnant. She lied about having a miscarriage. If she was pregnant, we would have known it.”
Ella noted that all the color had drained from Lionel’s face, but he recovered his composure the quickest.
“What kind of scam are you trying to pull here?” he demanded. “They didn’t have a child.”
“Sorry, but they did,” Jeremiah said. “My mother has kept me a secret all these years to keep me safe. She said my father’s family was nothing but a den of vipers.”
Ella shot her brother a warning look. “Let’s not get into all that. Instead, let’s do business. I have what you need to access your father’s money.”
“The key?” Mercy said on an excited breath. “The detective gave it to you? I thought he couldn’t give it to us until after the investigation was over?”
She shook her head. “We all know that the key found in the well with your father’s remains wasn’t the real key.” The room again went deathly quiet. “My mother has been in possession of the original key all these years and now I have it.”
“I would love to know how she pulled that off,” Angeline said with a chuckle.
“You have it?” Lionel asked, something in his tone predatory.
“Not on me.” Ella shook her head. “I wouldn’t be that stupid as to bring the key with me. First, we need to negotiate a deal.” Lionel laughed. “I have the key. I’m betting one of you knows where the money is hidden.” She looked around the room, going from Angeline to Mercy to Lionel and back. “I provide the key and I get my cut.”
Mercy swore and began to rage.
“Let’s cut to the chase. How much do you want?” Lionel asked, waving off Mercy’s angry response.
“It’s a fortune, right?” Ella said. “Jeremiah and I want fifty percent.”
The room exploded with all the Hanovers talking at once. “That’s ridiculous,” Lionel snapped over the top of Mercy’s and Angeline’s shocked responses. “Why would you think—if any of what you’re saying is true—that we would give you fifty percent?”
“Because we have a copy of your father’s real last will, leaving all the money to Jeremiah,” she said. “Without the key, you have nothing. This way you have half.”
“This is highway robbery,” Mercy cried. “We aren’t going to—”
Lionel rose, silencing his sister with a wave of his hand. “If we agree, I want to see that will.”
Ella smiled. “You mean a copy of that will. I wasn’t born yesterday.”
He glared at her. “How long will it take you to get the key?”
“I’ll be in touch.” With that, she turned to leave, grabbing her brother’s sleeve and urging him along with her.
“You just gave away half of my inheritance?” he cried once the door closed behind them.
“I didn’t give away anything,” she said, “and I think you know it.”
He laughed as he climbed into the passenger side of her pickup and Ella slid behind the wheel. “You’re running a con. And you thought we didn’t have anything other than a mother in common.”
Ella shook her head at him as she started the engine and pulled out. They were almost to the main highway when they spotted the flashing lights on the patrol SUV and heard the siren as Waco sped toward them.
Chapter Twenty-One
“This doesn’t bode well,” Jeremiah said, stating the obvious as Waco pulled them over. A moment later, Ella’s uncle came roaring up, as well.
Both Waco and Hud had similar looks on their faces as they got out of their patrol SUVs and approached her pickup. Ella took a breath and put down her window. “You’d better let me do the talking.”
Her brother chuckled. “Have at it, little sis,” he said and crossed his arms as he leaned back as if readying himself for the show.
“Ella.” Waco said her name from between gritted teeth. “Tell me you haven’t been to see the Hanovers.”
She said nothing for a moment as she looked from the detective’s face to her uncle’s next to him.
“We should discuss this back at the ranch, don’t you think?” she asked, sounding more calm than she felt. Since walking into the lion’s den, her heart had been pounding. But she’d succeeded in doing what she’d set out to do. “I’ll tell you all about it there.”
With that, she put on her turn signal and swung back onto the highway, headed up the canyon and toward home. She could feel Jeremiah’s gaze on her.
“Wow. Got to hand it to you. That was smooth,” he said. “Of course, I wouldn’t want to be you when you get back to the ranch.”
She shot him a look. “As if I put a gun to your head and made you come with me.”
“Good point,” he said. “Mums will have a fit.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” Ella let out a breath. “In retrospect, maybe I shouldn’t have done that.”
He laughed. “Are you kidding? You were awesome back there and damn believable. Do you really have the original key?”
“I hope so. You know the woman you call Mums? She often doesn’t tell the truth.”
“As if that’s a bad thing,” he said.
Ella shook her head, afraid of how much of her mother had either rubbed off on Jeremiah or was roaring through his veins. Ahead, she spotted the exit into the ranch and slowed to make the turn. Behind her were the two patrol SUVs and two very angry lawmen.
The worst part, Ella knew, would be if they told her that she was acting like her mother. Those were fighting words.
* * *
“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?” Hud demanded after Ella told him, and the rest of the family gathered in the large living room at
the ranch, what had happened with the Hanovers. “And taking Jeremiah with you!”
“To be honest, I didn’t give her a choice.” Jeremiah spoke up and quickly shut up under his uncle’s intense glare.
“Didn’t I warn you?” Stacy demanded, pointing a finger at Waco. “I know these two.”
“Everyone calm down,” Dana said. “Ella and Jeremiah are safe. I’m sure they have now realized how foolish they were.”
Hud groaned inwardly. He sincerely doubted that. All of this had hit him hard. It was as if his family had all lost their minds. First, Stacy taking off and then coming back with a son! A son they’d never heard about, let alone laid eyes on. Conceived before her husband had ended up murdered and found at the bottom of an old homestead well.
Dana was sure that Stacy was innocent of the crime. Of course Dana was. As much as he loved his wife, she could often be too accepting and forgiving. But then, that was what he loved about her.
But now Ella was acting like her mother, going off half-cocked. He said as much and instantly regretted it as his niece bristled and shot to her feet.
“I most certainly wasn’t half-cocked,” she said, confidence in her voice. “I knew exactly what I was doing.”
“She’s right,” Jeremiah interjected. “She was awesome. You should have seen her.” He seemed to realize everyone was looking at him, and not in a pleased way. He shut up again. He wasn’t helping her.
“I won’t let you use Ella and Jeremiah as bait,” Stacy cried. “Jeremiah is the rightful heir to the money—everything but the houses and businesses. Those went to the family, and they’ve now sold off most of it and gutted the house of all the antiques so they could continue to live the way they had without working. You can’t be sure they won’t kill my children, especially when they don’t get the key as Ella promised.”
“If I might say something—” Hud’s voice was drowned out.
“Jeremiah’s safe here,” Ella argued.