“I’m fine,” I lie. Emma Grace comes in, rushing past me. She climbs up into the chair beside Mama's bed and opens one of her many books to read her a bedtime story. The munchkin has been doing that since before she could read. She used to just make it up. That's something else I have to be grateful to Annalee for. If it weren't for her, I don't know that it would have ever dawned on me to try and build a relationship between our child and a woman who could never respond to her, even if that woman was her grandmother.
I remember going to my own grandparents' house. I hadn't really understood then about money, about those who have it and those who don't. But they'd had it in spades. Still, it had been a warmer and much more inviting place than home, at least when Samuel was present. If Mama had responded, if there was something happening there, and Emma Grace could have that feeling of the complete and unconditional love of a grandparent, there's nothing I wouldn't do to give it to her.
Turning back to Annalee, I say, “I need to get going. If this is as big as I think it could be, I can’t afford to piss them off by being late.”
I move towards the door, but as I start to brush past her, her hand catches mine. She holds onto me for just a moment. It isn’t much, but God above, it feels good. It feels like, for just a moment, we’re a team again. Not fighting one another, not trying to hold on or let go. For that moment, we just are.
“Be careful,” she whispers.
“I will,” I promise. And as much as it hurts to do it, I pull away from her long enough to give Emma Grace a big hug and a loud kiss. “Be good while I’m gone. I’ll see you in a bit.”
Annalee
* * *
After Clayton leaves, I move over to Patricia’s bedside and look down at her. I’ve spent a lot of time with her over the past few weeks, but because I’m not with her every day, I see things that others don’t. The subtle tension in her features that tells me she’s there. No, she’s not in full control yet, but something is happening. Trapped in that shell, she’s waking up. And I have the distinct feeling that she just did something to let Clayton know that.
“Emma Grace, you can read to your grandma later. Can you go in the living room and watch TV?”
Emma Grace looks at me as if I've asked her to move a mountain. I raise my eyebrow at her and she lets out a huffing breath accompanied by an eye roll. “Fine.”
When she's gone, I look back at Patricia, and even though I know she won't answer me, I have to ask. “What did you do, Patricia?”
Of course, there is no answer. I wasn’t expecting one, but I think it’s important to talk to her like she could answer.
“I know you’re in there and I know you’re hearing every word I say to you… So, I’m going to be blunt. They need you. All of your children… right now, they need you. So whatever it takes, however hard you have to fight,” I urge, “Come back to them.”
There’s a slight fluttering of her eyelids, but they don’t open. Doctors would say it’s simply nerves, that it’s not a response, not an indication of awareness. Fuck ‘em, I think. What do they know?
From one mother to another, I know that she knows they’re hurting. Nothing will convince me otherwise.
I settle back into the chair while Emma Grace watches television in the living room. I’ll get it out of him. Whatever she did, I’ll get it out of him and I’ll add it to the catalog of other things I’ve seen.
For the longest time, I’ve thought Patricia was misdiagnosed. They said she was in a vegetative state, but I’ve been reading about Locked-In Syndrome and I can’t help but feel that’s what’s happening here. Samuel hasn’t been exactly chomping at the bit to have her re-evaluated. In fact, that asshole has been pretty content to just let her rot here while he goes out and lives the high life.
Clayton will fix it. Somehow, I know he will. I just pray he doesn’t lose himself in the process.
6
CHAPTER SIX
Clayton
The Hayes family farm is on the outskirts of town, on the opposite end of Fontaine from Fire Creek. I park my car on the shoulder of the road just beyond the gate while I wait on Bennett to show up. Considering the location of the farm, I think it’s a safe bet that it isn’t a coincidence. Emmitt Hayes can’t stand the sight of a Darcy and neither could his father.
Getting out of the car, I lean against the door and keep my gaze locked on the glimmer of headlights that I can catch through the trees. The gravel road up to the farm is one hairpin turn after another. It’ll still be a solid five minutes before I actually see Bennett, even though he’s probably not even a quarter of a mile from me.
I don’t really know what I’m going to find, but whatever it is, I pray it’s enough. I’ve given Samuel a heads up about the tax issues. That was one of the biggest things I was holding over his head. I hope I won’t have to regret that later.
Bennett’s truck finally rolls up and he gets out to punch in the access code at the gate. The chain link rolls slowly to one side and he looks back at me.
“Go ahead,” he says, “But don’t even think about walking up to that door without me. Emmitt’s not a big fan of people with your last name.”
“I know the feeling,” I reply. The name Darcy isn’t exactly an easy burden to bear. It comes with a lot of expectations and a lot of well earned mistrust. I’ve been fighting it all my life, and now, with everything I’ve had to do to get what I need on Samuel, I feel sullied by it.
Thinking about Bennett’s warning as I drive through the gate, I know there’s no way in hell I’m getting out of that car to approach him first. Emmitt Hayes is roughly the size of a mountain and looks like he lives on raw, potentially protesting, meat. The last thing I want to do is give that big, crazy son of a bitch an excuse to take a bite out of me.
After we’ve both parked in front of the house, and Bennett has gotten out and climbed the steps to the door, I fall in behind him. He motions for me to stay back and I stop instantly. I don’t consider myself a coward, but when facing down a savage animal, caution isn’t exactly a bad idea.
Bennett knocks on the door. No answer. He knocks again. Nothing. He’s lifting his hand, preparing to knock a third time, when the lights come on inside. Emmitt appears at the door. His dark hair is rumpled, he’s sporting a beard that any Duck Dynasty fan would be proud of and he’s wearing a pair of coveralls that, well, I don’t want to think about what’s on them. Do not piss him off, I tell myself.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he demands, giving his younger brother a glare that would send most men running.
“What the hell were you doing in bed?” Bennett fires back, clearly unimpressed with the posturing of the grizzly in front of him.
“I worked last night,” Emmitt replies. “Country vets don’t keep city hours, jackass.”
“Do you have the file on Darcy?” Bennett asks.
Emmitt looks past him and at me. From the way his eyes narrow and from the sneer visible even through the massive beard, it’s pretty obvious he recognized me immediately. But he doesn’t acknowledge me, just turns back to his little brother.
“What the fuck are you up to, Bennett?”
Bennett motions me forward and with more reluctance than I care to admit to, I climb the steps and get closer to a man who’d see me dead as soon as look at me.
“We all have one thing in common,” Bennett explains. “Samuel Darcy has ruined the life of every person standing here.”
Emmitt just looks at him, and I can feel the weight of his judgement. Standing there in a rumpled dress shirt, with my suit jacket still draped over the front seat, I am about as far apart from Emmitt Hayes and his dirty coveralls as another person could be.
“I doubt that,” Emmitt says. “I’m not inviting a third generation thief into my goddamn house, Bennett, and I’m sure as hell not giving him what we found.”
Bennett curses softly, clearly exasperated with his brother. “Emmitt, just listen for a damned minute, would you?”
“One minute,” Emmitt agrees. “Make it count.”
Bennett looks back at me, and I know that this is my chance to make it count. If I don’t lay it all on the line and tell the whole truth, Emmitt will not only kick my ass, but I’ll miss out on the best chance I have of ending this mess and coming out on top. “Samuel ran Fire Creek into the ground. He borrowed against the company until it was so deep in the hole there was not getting it out. For years, he’s been using it as his own private checking account… taking out money and never investing it back. We were on the brink of foreclosure when the three of us, Quentin, Mia and I, took all that we had, pooled it, and bought sixty percent of the company outright. Right now, I’m looking for anything I can use to make Samuel sign over the remaining forty and the house.”
“Your family problems are no concern of mine,” Emmitt replies stiffly. “That whole damn place could burn to the ground and I wouldn’t even blink.”
I shrug. I’ve given it the best shot I have. “I never did anything to you, Emmitt. Not me. I’ve scoured every document in the archives. There’s not a slip of paper that I haven’t looked over to see if I could find a shred of proof that your great grandfather had bought into Fire Creek. If it ever existed, it’s gone now.”
“Actually,” Bennett interrupts. “It’s not. We have it.”
I shake my head. I can’t quite believe what I’m hearing. I’ve been working like a damned fool looking for something and they’ve had it all along. “What? Why the hell haven’t you done anything with it?”
“The man wants to destroy his family business, let him,” Emmitt answers. “We don’t want it. The very idea of that place leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It destroyed our great-grandfather. Our grandfather lived like a beggar because of it, and our father died consumed with finding proof of it. I hate that damn place… and I don’t have a lot of love for its occupants.”
“Emmitt,” Bennet says cautiously. “I trust him. If we give him this, it gets us all something we want.”
“What’s that?” Emmitt demands. He’s clearly unimpressed with the conversation.
“Freedom,” I reply. I don’t know what it means to them, but to me, it means that I get my life back. I get to spend time with my wife and my daughter and not worry about prison sentences. It means I don’t have to live every day prepared to kill my own father just to save the people I love from him. “It gets Samuel Darcy as far out of the picture as I can get him without digging him a grave. It gives Mia and Bennett a chance to make things right.”
Emmitt looks at Bennett. I can’t say he’s softening. I don’t that that word will ever be able to be applied to him. But there’s less open hostility and that’s a good sign. “All this for that damned girl?” he asks.
“The only girl,” Bennett answers and there’s not a shred of doubt or hesitation in his voice. “But also, it’s the right thing to do. Trust me, Emmitt.”
Emmitt makes a disgusted sound and slams the door in our faces. Maybe I’d counted my chickens too soon. Son of a bitch.
“That was an epic waste of time,” I say and turn back toward my car.
Bennett doesn’t move, just stands there at the door. “Just wait.”
Not even a full minute later, the door opens again and Emmitt shoves a heavy file folder at Bennett. “Do what you want with it. I’m tired of that shit taking up space.”
The door slams again, the lights go off, and we’re left standing on the porch in the dark. I don’t even know what the hell just happened.
I look up at Bennett, barely able to make him out in the pitch black. “Is he always like that?”
“No,” Bennett replies smoothly. “He was actually in a pretty good mood tonight.”
I’m shaking my head in amazement. Unable to really process what just happened. “So what is all that?” I ask gesturing pointlessly in the dark toward the folder.
“Sworn affidavits, signed, witnessed, and notarized from the county clerk who was in office when, in 1962, your grandfather bribed him to make the original contract between him and our grandfather disappear. Your father was present,” Bennett replies.
Holy fucking hell. They’ve been sitting on something that would have entitled them to strip Fire Creek right out of our hands and they’ve never made a move. What the hell else have they been sitting on?
“That’s a thick folder for one document.”
Bennett grins. In the darkness, I can just see the faint gleam of his too-white teeth. “That’s only one thing your family did to ours. There’s the property taxes that were only raised on our farm, courtesy of Samuel. There were the bank loans that would randomly come due because our payments weren’t being applied to our loans… He held sway over this town because everyone here feared him. But they loved my father, and when he got sick, people came here of their own free will and gave him the evidence he’d been trying to gather his whole life.”
It’s everything I need and more. God above. And it’s just being dropped into my hands. “Does Mia know about this?” I ask. It might piss her off. It might do a lot of things. She’s been through so much in the last month that I’m not sure of just how clear her thinking is.
“Not yet,” he replies softly. “I’ll tell her… but she’s had a rough day. He lied to her about your mom’s accident. He told her Patricia wrecked because she was out looking for Mia.”
I always wondered what he had on her, what sway Samuel used to bend her to his will. Now I know and I hate him even more. “While Mia was with you,” I surmise. “Even if it were true, that’s still not Mia’s fault.”
Bennett nods. “Well, that’s what she’s been living with for the last ten years… with him putting that in her head every chance he got.”
I open the back door of the car and pull out the bag Evelyn had packed. “I don’t know what’s in there. I called Evelyn and she went back to the house and packed for her while I kicked Samuel’s ass out.”
Bennett grinned in the darkness. “I would have liked to see that.”
“It was bloodless,” I reply. Regrettably bloodless. I wish now that I’d at least taken a swing at him.
“Disappointing.” The sad note in Bennett’s voice tells me I’m not the only one who would have liked to see Samuel with his ass in the dirt and a couple of his perfect teeth missing.
I’d had to tip my hand pretty heavily to get him gone. I’d pretty much given him everything I had on him and provided him the chance to cover his tracks. It had been a strategic concession, and it would complicate things in the future. But with what Hayes had given me, I was still going to come out on top. If it allows Mia a chance at real peace and possibly even happiness, it will all be worth it. “I’ll check in with Mia tomorrow. I’m sure she needs the rest.”
“I will look after her,” Bennett says. There’s a tone in his voice, proprietary and a little defensive, like I’m doubting his intentions.
“If I doubted that for a minute, I would have thrown you out of the hospital myself two weeks ago,” I remind him.
Bennett points to the folder. “Whatever you do with all that, make it count.”
“He’s broke… flat fucking broke,” I confess. It feels good to say this shit to someone. “He’s living on credit that’s about to be maxed out and mooching off friends who haven’t quite figured it out yet. This,” I tap the file folder, “was the final piece to force his hand.”
“Into what?”
I smile. It’s so close I can taste it. “Leaving. There’s a ratty condo in Boca Raton with his name on it. If he wants to live in the lap of luxury, he’s going to have to start dating twenty years older instead of just twenty years old.”
Bennett laughs out loud. “That, I would actually pay to see… but only the G-rated version. God above.”
“Go take care of Mia,” I tell him. Like I plan to go take care of Annalee. Tonight, it’s time to confess. “I’ll let you know how this shakes out.”
Bennett nods and opens the door to his truck, when he does, a p
icture comes fluttering down from the visor. I stoop to pick it up but Bennett is already in his truck and gone. Getting into my car, I turn on the dome light and take a look at the photo.
“Son of a bitch!”
We’ve been searching for a link between Samuel and Katherine Shelby and it was right under our noses all along. A much younger Erica McCoy is staring back at me from the photo with her arm around her equally blonde and tanned friend, Katherine. It would be right up Samuel’s alley to be screwing the best friend behind his mistress’ back.
Conscious of being alone and unarmed on Emmitt Hayes’ property, I don’t stick around too long. I key the ignition and add the file and the photo to the box of evidence I’ve gathered. I’ve got a shit ton of work to do.
7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Annalee
* * *
I’ve put Emma Grace to bed in Mia’s room. She’s got some clothes at Patricia’s so it won’t be too much of an issue to get her ready for school in the morning. Luckily, I’d had the foresight to bring her backpack with me so she wouldn’t have to go to school sans homework in the morning.
I glance at the clock. It’s pushing ten and I’ve still had no word from Clayton. I’m worried. The only thing predictable about Emmitt Hayes when it comes to a Darcy is hatred. And that’s in public. For a Darcy to show up on his property, even in the company of his brother, is no guarantee. If Clayton comes in a bloodied mess, I’m going to have to raise fifteen kinds of hell.
I check on Patricia again. She’s on a regular schedule with feedings, meds, turning and repositioning her. Everything has been done. I’m doing it more for my own peace of mind and to distract me from other worries than because she actually needs it.
I hear the back door open and I go to the kitchen to see Clayton walking in. He’s carrying a heavy file box which he sets on the counter.
Clayton (Bourbon & Blood Book 2) Page 8