Forever Wild: A Camden Ranch Novel

by Jillian Neal

  “Whatever you think you saw in here, you didn’t. Leave. Tiffany and I have some work to discuss for tomorrow. This blessed wedding cost me a fortune. Some of us have to work for our keep.”

  “And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Indie’s nerves bled quickly to gall-driven fury. Was he actually insinuating that Luke didn’t work for his money?

  “Come on, doll baby. A man hell bent on being right won’t ever believe he’s wrong.” Luke took her hand and guided her back outside.

  “Luke! He’s … they’re …well … and my God, what is it with him and his secretaries? Ugh!” evulsed from her mouth as soon as they reached the living room.

  “Indie, baby, are you okay?” His arms were around her again, steadying her, but she couldn’t process what she’d just seen. He couldn’t be doing this again. Could he?

  “No. Yes. I don’t know. What the hell does he think he’s doing? We should go back up there. Catch them in the act.”

  “We don’t have any proof that he’s up to no good … yet. And you will under no circumstances go up there right now. I won’t stand by and watch you dance with your demons. When trouble comes calling you don’t have to give it a seat. Let’s get back to the party.” Indie was torn between vengeful longing to stick it to the mayor and terror to relive the moments that had torn her entire world apart so many years ago. Maybe Luke was right. She should just let sleeping dogs lie. And Ernie Perkins was a dog if she’d ever seen one.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Luke guided Indie back out to the reception, forcing himself to appear unaffected by all that had just taken place. He didn’t want to scare her. If their illustrious mayor made his baby run yet again because he couldn’t keep his half-inch dick in one woman, he swore he’d draw and quarter the bastard alive.

  And what the hell did he mean by whatever they’d seen in his office? What was in there he was so afraid they’d found? Luke needed to talk to his daddy, and somehow he needed to get back in that office to look around.

  The best offense was always a good defense. Coach Chalmers had beaten that into him. Luke had to know what he was dealing with. He wouldn’t let the fallout of yet another mayoral extramarital affair hurt Indie. Not this time. He wasn’t a dumbass kid anymore. If the mayor wanted to play with fire, Luke would make certain Indie wasn’t the one who got burned.

  Before he could stop her, Indie dropped his hand and jerked Miranda from the dance floor. The hissed whispers started as soon as they were out of the crowds.

  Glancing back at the house, Luke let his mind wonder over all of the things he’d seen on the desk before he’d cleared it with one quick swipe of his hand.

  “You, bro, look like you’ve been thoroughly fucked, and I’d dare say Indie Jane’s hair was up in one of them fancy twist things women do, and now it’s down. Gettin’ laid in the mayor’s mansion. Nice job. Even I’m impressed.” Grant handed Luke one of the cold bottles of beer in his hand and then immediately clinked them together in an awkward toast.

  Rolling his eyes, Luke refused to respond. He sure as hell didn’t kiss and tell, even with his brothers.

  Never needing any encouragement to keep going, Grant studied him. “Gotta say, though, it don’t really seem like you. You ain’t ever been the sneaking around type. You used to do whatever the hell you were gonna do right out in the open. Anybody had a problem with it they could be damned. That had to all be Indie’s idea.” He gestured with his beer back towards the house.

  “Have I ever made your dumbass-self think that I would carry on a conversation of this sort with you?” Luke snarled. His brother was wrong. It was precisely who Luke was when he was with Indie. Together, the way they were meant to exist. That hadn’t all been Indie. The perfection they’d just shared was a function of them together. Only problem was, their tryst had just effectively launched them from the skillet to the fire.

  A low whistle slid between Grant’s teeth. “Damn. Some’um got up your craw. Figured you’d be in a better mood since you just got your rocks off.”

  “You figured wrong. Hey,” Luke changed course, “You know anything about Dad and Mayor Jenkins’ feud that I don’t know?”

  “What? I just spent the better part of the last half hour with some sonuvabitch from the Governor’s office jawin’ me ta death, and now you want to talk about taxes, too? Jeezus, I’m glad I ain’t gotta get fixed up for this kind of thing too often.”

  Out of patience, Luke jerked Grant away from two elderly women near the food table pouring booze from airline bottles into their punch. “Indie and I got busy in the mayor’s office. We were interrupted by Ernie and his secretary coming in. They both looked as guilty as sin. Ernie said some shit about what I’d seen in the office. Like there’s something in there he’d be in trouble over if I found.”

  “So, that’s why you’re madder than a wet cat. You didn’t get your rocks off.”

  “Don’t make me whup your ass, Grant. You know I will.”

  “All right, all right. Simmer down. Geez. What on God’s green earth was Ernie doing with … wait his secretary? Are you shittin’ me? Boy don’t ever branch out does he?”

  “Hell if I know. I’m far more interested in what it was he don’t want me seeing in that office.”

  “If I know you, and I do, I’d say what you’re interested in is keeping Indie out of the fray if this all blows up bad enough to make a freight train take a dirt road.”

  “Yeah, that too.”

  “Well, if you wanna know what’s up in that office there’s only one way to find out. You are new to the sneaking around game. I, on the other hand, invented it. Let’s give Ernie and his hoochie-mama a minute. Guy can’t take longer than that. Ain’t got the cahones for it. Then we’ll go take a look-see.”

  Grant was right about one thing. Luke had always gotten away with shit, relying on his confidence and his mind to get him out of sticky situations. Calm, cool, and confident was always the name of his game. Grant, on the other hand, got whatever he was after by never getting caught with it in the first place.

  “Let’s get.” Luke urged. “There’s Tiffany now. Mayor can’t be far behind her.”

  Grant chuckled. “I take it there’s no pun intended.”

  “Just shut up and come on, ‘fore Indie figures out I went back up there.”

  “All right, ease up. There’s the mayor now.”

  “He’s heading this way. You know nothing,” Luke reminded his brother.

  Grant gave a single nod before the mayor was upon them, dragging Clarke, the deputy sheriff, behind him. “Arrest this man for trespassing. Now. And Anna as well.”

  Clarke’s eyes goggled to the size of horseshoes a half second before a ridiculous grin crawled across his face. Clarke had always hated Luke. He looked like the mayor had just named him king of Pleasant Glen.

  Luke laughed at them outright. “Trespassing, huh? I’m thinking you’re gonna have to come up with something else seeing as I’m an invited guest to this shindig, your stepdaughter’s boyfriend, and your son-in-law’s best man. Seems to me Indie’s got more blood right to be here than you do. It’s her sister’s wedding.”

  “And just what is that supposed to mean?” the mayor bellowed.

  “You hard ‘a hearing or just dumber than a hill of beans?” Grant chuckled. “Means we ain’t going anywhere.”

  “What’s going on?” Luke’s father sauntered up, looking none too pleased. Luke kept his eyes on Indie. She hadn’t yet noticed the mayor’s reappearance. She and Miranda had Tiffany backed up to one of the buffet tables, conducting an interrogation of their own.

  “Your son and Anna were up in my office, uninvited. Like father, like son, I suppose.”

  Humor played in Ev’s eyes as he slid a slight eye roll to Luke. “Can’t imagine what was going on up there.” He chuckled before returning his glare to the mayor. “That don’t really seem like an offense worthy of bothering our good deputy here, so why don’t you leave my son be. Melony and Tuck
er are getting ready to leave. I imagine you’ll want to see that. And I do not take too kindly to my kids being threatened. Never have. Never will.”

  “Of course, the Camdens are free to come and go as they please in any man’s home in the entire county. What’s it gonna be this time, Everett? The founding family excuse or the largest ranch in Western Nebraska drivel you love to rub in everyone’s face?”

  “You know, Ernie, I got no clue what crawled up your sorry butt and died, but the Camdens got no problem with you or anyone else. We sure as hell don’t go around blabbing about how much land we own. We ain’t got time nor desire. Nobody but you seems to give two hoots about the fact that my great-granddaddy’s great-granddaddy founded this town, or who owns the most land. You’re the only crowbait horse in this pissin’ contest. Go on and give yourself a blue ribbon ‘cause nobody else gives a half-holler. And quite frankly, I’m sick to death of hearing’ about it.”

  Luke and Grant duplicated their father’s stern expression.

  Ernie narrowed his beady eyes. “Someday, Ev, I’m gonna figure out a way to show this entire town that we don’t need the likes of the Camdens to survive.”

  “See, that’s just it, Ernie. You stupidly seem to believe the town cares what you think. Our land sits where it sits whether the town’s here or not. It was there for generations before you and I ever came to be, and it’ll be there when my great-great-grandbabies are running it. One ain’t got nothing to do with the other. What is your deal with wanting to own everybody’s land anyway? Pick another fight. Seein’ as you’re the only one climbing in the ring, you’ve already lost.”

  Ernie’s entire being was scalded red and puffed up like a tick about to burst. His toupee had shifted oddly, covering more of his right ear than his left. Refusing to meet Ev’s eyes, he scanned the crowds until he located Tiffany. Miranda and Indie still had her trapped in a conversation she surely didn’t want to be a part of.

  “You and your sons can go straight to hell, Ev Camden. You’ve gone too far this time.” With that, he slithered away, presumably to rescue Tiffany.

  “Dad, what the hell? He’s crazier than a Junebug in Ju-ly.” Grant leapt as soon as Clarke walked away, obviously disappointed.

  Ev rolled his eyes. “I wish I knew what exactly started all of this.” They watched Ernie’s path be intersected by Carolyn, who was fit to be tied over something, naturally. “You remember your granddaddy used to say biggest thing in a small town are the secrets it holds?”

  “Yeah.” Grant lowered his voice. “Luke thinks Ernie’s stepping out on Carolyn with his new secretary. You think that’s what this is all about?”

  Disgust hardened Ev’s chiseled features. “No. It’s more than that.”

  “What did he mean when he said ‘like father like son’ when he was talking about me and Indie bein’ in his office? And what was all that about land? You know more than you’re saying, Dad. Spill it.” Luke honed in on the pieces of the conversation that might hold a clue as to what the hell Ernie Perkins was so terrified the Camdens knew.

  Guilt tensed in his father’s kind eyes. “Couple years ago, your mama and I decided to try anything to get Brock back up here. She knew there was some reason he wouldn’t come back to visit. We’d been worried sick about him for years. I thought he was ashamed my good for nothing brother was his daddy and about what had happened when he was a kid. She knew it was something more.

  “I started trying to figure out if I got the opportunity how I could give Brock back the land that was rightfully his. That’s when I discovered that Ernie was trying to fix it so generational land was taxed to both parties twice. I wasn’t having my kids being robbed blind like that. You know this. Natalie started researching. I talked with a lawyer friend of mine. Ended up at the courthouse. His secretary let me in his office. I just wanted to talk to him before I made a big stink about everything. See if I could reason with him. He wasn’t in the office when she let me in, but there was a land map of the county spread out on his desk and a bunch of papers from a lawyer’s office. He’d gone in and drawn up a few changes I assumed he’d like to make. Namely, to own half of Ben Harper’s property, a good hundred acres of the Kilroy’s place, and to cut ‘bout ten thousand acres off of ours under imminent domain.”

  “What?!” Grant and Luke bellowed at the same moment.

  “I put a stop to it. He’da never gotten it through the state anyway. Whole thing was crazy. Imminent domain on ranch land that borders nothing but more ranch land. Twenty miles from the closest road. But I was in his office, snooping, I ‘spose. I imagine that’s what he was talking about.”

  “So, that’s what this whole thing has been about?” Luke demanded. Gall scorched through his veins. If Ernie Perkins thought he was gonna take Camden land or rob Indie’s daddy of his farm, Luke would make sure he understood fully what a no-good piece of chicken shit he really was. Hell, he’d taken the man’s wife. Wasn’t that enough?

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you kids. I saw no reason to get you all up in arms over it. Not long after that, Brock showed up here with his sweet Hope, and I got him his land. That was all that mattered to me. I did warn Ben and Duke that he was after a portion of their farms, but Indie and Tuck don’t know nothing about it, and you need to keep it that way. Ben talked to a surveyor who assured him the land was his unless he sold it.” Ev shrugged. “Duke Kilroy let Ernie know he’d get Kilroy land over his dead body. I thought Ernie had dropped it.”

  Luke and Grant shared a quick glance. That was all it took. They were thinking the very same thing. They had to get back up to that office and figure out just exactly what it was Ernie was hiding now.

  Conveniently, Sal Cartwright and one of his sons sought Ev out, giving Luke and Grant a chance to disappear. The DJ was calling for Tucker and Melony’s last dance of the evening. They had to hurry. Luke didn’t want Indie coming to look for him. If she found out Ernie was after her daddy’s land, he’d be bailing her out of the state pen that night.

  “Let’s get while the gettin's good.” Grant urged. With a few quick steps, they disappeared to the side of the house and entered through the front doors this time.

  Luke’s heart hammered against his rib cage. Cold sweat dewed on the back of his neck as they slunk through the grand entrance hall headed towards the back steps. Terror and wrath fought for dominance in his mind. He couldn’t recall another time he’d felt so frantic. Foreboding doom echoed with the footfalls of his boots on the marble stairs. Cowboy boots weren’t the greatest shoes for moving anywhere quietly.

  Grant stepped behind him. Their gazes swept the perimeter of the house constantly to make certain they weren’t being followed. When they reached the landing, Luke eased to the large picture window that overlooked the grounds. Ernie was standing with Carolyn. His simper still laced with righteous indignation, but he was making conversation with a few of the guests from the governor’s office.

  One of the caterers stalked through the living room. Luke and Grant tucked themselves tightly against the wall. She never glanced up the steps. When she disappeared back into the kitchen, they flew to the office door at the end of the hall.

  “It’s locked,” Grant whispered.

  With a deep breath, Luke summoned his usual calm. He’d figure it out. He always did. Digging his hand in his pants pocket, he extracted one of Indie’s hair pins he’d dispensed with during their foreplay. He’d scooped it up off of the desk just a moment before Ernie and Tiffany had made their appearance in the office.

  It took him less than a minute to pop the standard knob lock. They eased inside and shut the door.

  “What are we looking for exactly?” Grant quizzed as he scooted to another window to spy on the reception.

  “There was a newspaper and some file folders on the desk right here. They’re gone.”

  “Ernie’s dancing with Carolyn. Indie’s lookin’ for something. I ‘spect it’s you. We better get a move on.” Grant glanced around the office. “There’s a
newspaper right here.” He stalked across the room and lifted a paper from the top of a filing cabinet. “Why the hell is Ernie reading the Elk Creek Tribune?”

  Forcing himself to remain calm, Luke took another detailed inventory of the office. Nothing else seemed to have been moved but the file folders.

  “Elk Creek?” He’d heard something about the tiny town three hundred miles due east of the Glen. It occurred to him that if the paper was on top of the filing cabinet maybe the files were nearby. Using Indie’s hairpin once more, he popped the lock on the top file drawer. “Wasn’t that the town that they’re mining for rare earth minerals or something?”

  “No idea. You want me to keep reading this or start going through drawers?”

  “No need to go through any more. I just found the files.”

  “Was in a hurry to shove ‘em somewhere, wasn’t he? Dumbass.” Grant shook his head while Luke extracted a stack of file folders haphazardly stowed in the drawer and handed half of the stack to Grant. “Hey, look here.” There was a letter-sized county land map in the top of one of the folders. A red box was drawn around the east side of Ben Harper’s farm and around approximately ten thousand acres of Camden Ranch right where Luke’s land met Grant’s on the southern border.

  “What are you up to, Ernie?” Luke murmured as he continued to dig through the file folder. Grant started in on another one. Under the map was a lengthy letter from the Mineral Resources Data System. Luke’s brow furrowed as he continued to dig. Surely, Ernie wasn’t dumb enough to think Pleasant Glen could become Elk Creek.

  “Uh, Luke …” Grant’s normally deep, steady voice shook violently.

  “Shh.” Luke continued to study. He spread out the papers and maps on the desk, certain that what he thought he was seeing couldn’t be true.

  “Luke, man … uh … you need to see this.”

  “In a minute. Holy shit. He thinks there’s oil on Ben’s land. Some surveyor convinced him that there might be lines down flowing from Buffalo Gap.”