Chapter Twelve

Maggie could almost see the cogs whirring in Frank’s brain.

“Where did you get it?” She frowned.

“One of the Fieldings’ thoroughbreds got out of its paddock the other night. This was in the grass just by the gate.” Frank pressed his lips together tightly.

“Got out or was let out?” she asked quietly.

“That’s the million-dollar question.”

She could tell by the look in the old man’s eyes that he already suspected the answer.

“Is it the land he’s trying to sell to Aiden and his family?” Maggie pursed her lips thoughtfully.

Frank nodded.

“So there has to be a good reason why he didn’t just steal the horse, if that’s what he wanted. Unless… Could it be some kind of subliminal threat? Sort of, ‘you’ll need to buy this strip of land because next time your horses stray onto it, you’ll get fined for trespassing’?” She knew only too well how Robert’s mind worked.

Frank stared at her. “Of course! Ben said the guy was in a real hurry to sell. This could be his way of trying to rush through the deal.”

“But why the hurry?” Maggie wiped her hands in her apron as she spoke, more out of habit than necessity.

“He doesn’t own the land, so he’ll either need to marry Lorraine or have her do the deal, then he’ll try to wheedle the money out of her afterward. Perhaps he’s nervous that she might go off the idea before he gets around to marrying her.” Frank pulled out his cell and relayed their find to Aiden.

“More coffee?” Maggie busied herself pouring another drink while Frank strolled toward the door as he spoke. It was hard, but Maggie did her best not to listen to his conversation.

Frank returned, a satisfied grin on his face. “Lorraine might not be as keen on the idea of marriage as Rossington seems to believe,” he explained to her. “Ben’s been talking to her, and she doesn’t seem to have any kind of feelings for the guy at all. It’s almost as though it’s her that’s stringing him along.”

Maggie felt a warmth flood her stomach. “Good for her.”

“We still need to figure out how he plans to get the money out of her, though.” He frowned, looking thoughtful. “If they don’t marry first, he’ll have a job persuading her to part with all that cash.”

A thud hit the bottom of Maggie’s stomach. “He’ll find a way.” She felt her face flush as a recollection of how Robert had tried to convince her that her own money had been stolen. She had known it wasn’t true, but she had no way of proving that he was lying. Even the sheriff supported his story, though she bet that must have cost Robert big time. When her mother wouldn’t listen to her side of things, Maggie knew the fuckwad had won. No one was ever going to believe her. Chances were he had a similar fate planned for Lorraine Parry.

* * * *

Aiden was pleased to see Frank when he swung by the ranch a little later.

“Thought I might head on over to Almondine to see if I can dig up any more dirt on that Taylor guy. Wanna come along?” Frank grinned.

“This should be interesting,” he told the older man.

“Yeah. He definitely had a hand in this business with Maggie’s money. I just wondered what the state of play is between him and Rossington nowadays.”

“You really think he’s likely to spill?” Aiden looked over, surprised.

“I shouldn’t think so, son—honor among thieves and all that. But your horse was let out by Rossington. Maggie recognized that piece of paper as part of his cigar wrapper. If I’m not mistaken, the fuckwad’s about to try to cheat Lorraine Parry out of her money, the same as he did Maggie.”

Aiden frowned. “You think he’d involve Cam Taylor again?”

Frank grunted. “I dunno. Sure will be interesting to find out, though.”

The ride over was fairly quiet, as both men tried to avoid talk of Rossington. It didn’t stop Aiden from thinking about him, though. Most of his thoughts were of how good it would feel to kill the fucker with his bare hands, although he knew that might not be too helpful at this point.

Aiden snickered as Frank pulled up in the main street of Almondine. This was going to be fun.

“We’ll try the sheriff’s office first,” Frank announced, putting on his hat. He was always well-dressed, and today was no exception. His brown boots shone and his corduroy pants were well-fitted. His plain cream shirt was neatly tucked into his waistband and his belt buckle gleamed in the afternoon sun. He walked with the confident gait of an older man as they crossed the street and strolled up the steps to the open doorway.

“I’m really hoping you can help me, Deputy Taylor,” a familiar woman’s voice said from inside. “Robert told me you’re the best, so I’m kind of relying on you.”

“I’ll do everything I can, Miss Parry.” Cam Taylor sounded gruff and a little unnerved.

Frank reared, almost knocking Aiden back down the steps. He put a finger to his mouth in a gesture of silence then stood with his back to the wall just by the doorway.

Aiden frowned but followed suit.

“I know you will. And, of course, there’ll be a reward for the return of my necklace. You see, it had great sentimental value to me, but obviously Robert doesn’t know that.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Perhaps we could keep this between us?”

“Yeah, sure…” Cam Taylor seemed to have perked up all of a sudden. “I’ll do my best to get it returned to you. You just leave everything to me—and, of course, mum’s the word.”

Aiden grimaced, wondering just how naïve Lorraine was. Maybe it was time to find out.

He pointed to the ground, indicating to Frank that he was planning to stay put. Frank nodded and slowly strolled into the office.

Aiden peeped around the door and saw Frank stand with his back to Lorraine, carefully studying a large notice board at one side of the room.

“Well, I can see I’m in safe hands,” Lorraine remarked as her heels clicked across the wooden floor.

Aiden quickly made his way down the steps and leaned nonchalantly across the rail at the bottom as the blonde-haired woman came out. He watched her give a tiny smirk as she stood on the top step, then carefully but confidently walked down the steps toward him.

“Hi, Lorraine.” He smiled as he raised his hat to her.

“Aiden, how nice to see you again.” She beamed at him, blushing slightly. “What brings you out here?”

“Frank’s got some business to attend to in town,” Aiden told her, shrugging. “I thought I’d tag along for the ride, but I didn’t want to get involved. How about you?”

“I had some jewelry stolen recently. Deputy Taylor’s promised to look into it for me.”

Aiden frowned, surprised that she didn’t look more concerned about her loss. “That’s awful. Do they know who did it?”

She chewed her lip hesitantly. “You got time for a coffee?”

“Sure thing.” Aiden jumped at the chance.

Lorraine linked his arm then led him up the street to the nearby diner where they took a table in a quiet corner.

Aiden ordered their coffees, aware of the way Lorraine studied his face. He turned to smile at her, wondering what she was thinking just then.

“You’re very like your brother, aren’t you?” she answered his unasked question with one of her own.

“No, I like to think I got the brains as well as looks,” he said with a grin.

She hooted. “I’ll tell Ben you said that,” she teased, just as the waitress put their drinks on the table.

“I think he likes you,” Aiden noted.

Lorraine flushed and immediately busied herself adding cream to her coffee. “I like him, too,” she confided.

Aiden smiled. He could certainly see why his brother was attracted to her. Lorraine was quite pretty when she smiled, although not as attractive as Maggie, in his mind.

“We got to talking,” she went on in a hushed tone. “Ben told me about that misunderstanding with Maggie. I hope I didn’t make things worse?”

Aiden sipped his coffee, then asked, “In what way?”

“Just by being there, I guess. It must have been awful for her, especially with Robert’s reaction. He can be very…insensitive at times.”

Aiden raised his eyebrows. Perhaps she wasn’t as taken in by Robert Rossington as he had feared.

She smiled. “It’s all right. Robert stole the necklace from me. It wasn’t worth quite as much as he took from Maggie, but it was still unforgiveable.”

Aiden stared at her. “You know?”

She took a sip of her drink, eyeing him thoughtfully. “Robert stole all Maggie’s money and got Cam Taylor to fabricate some story about being robbed.” She nodded slowly. “And now he’s stolen my necklace and is paying Deputy Taylor to cover that up, too.”

Aiden frowned. “Is that why you were in the sheriff’s office today?”

She nodded. “I’ve told the guy that there will be a large reward if he can get my necklace back. He seemed real interested, too.”

Aiden narrowed his eyes. “So you think Taylor’s got it?”

She shook her head, picking up her cup. “No. Robert’s still got it,” she told him matter-of-factly. “It’ll be interesting to see how Cam Taylor gets it off him, but I reckon he will.”

“So he can claim your reward?”

She nodded. “My guess is he won’t mention that part to Robert. He’ll just get it off him and return it to me. Taylor thinks I’m offering the reward because the necklace is of great sentimental value to me, something I won’t have admitted to Robert.”

Aiden took a slow sip of his coffee, eyeing her curiously. “And you’re sure it was Robert who took it?”

She nodded, a little sadly. “Yeah, he took it all right. He obviously didn’t notice the CCTV in my dressing room. I’ve got the tape under lock and key.”

“Unlike the necklace?” Aiden snickered.

Lorraine laughed. “Not exactly, though he did have to hunt for it,” she explained. “Well, it wouldn’t have been any fun if it had been too easy, would it?”

Aiden chortled. “I like the way you think,” he said.

“Funnily enough, your brother does too,” she confided with a salacious smile that made him laugh even more.

“I can see why Ben likes you,” he said, giving her an impressed nod. “You’re both pretty outrageous.”

“I can’t deny that,” she responded, taking another sip of her drink.

“So how come Robert’s not around?” Aiden looked around the diner, half-expecting her fiancé to suddenly turn up.

“Don’t worry about him. He’s out of town today. And I can guess where he’ll be tonight too, once Taylor calls him.”

“You reckon they’ll meet up tonight?” He frowned.

“Oh yeah.” She smiled confidently. “Taylor will want to get his hands on that necklace as soon as he can. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t called him already. Robert’s over in Springvale today, seeing who’ll offer him the best price for it.”

Aiden gaped. “How on earth did you find that out?”

She smirked. “You really were taken in by my ‘dumb blonde’ act the other night, weren’t you? Well, let me tell you…” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Not only am I not so dumb, but I’m not a natural blonde, either.” She giggled.

Aiden just stared at her.

“I had a boyfriend, Chuck, before I moved away,” she explained, taking another sip of her coffee. “I was totally besotted with him, but my daddy saw right through him. The guy started stealing my cash, and, when he couldn’t get that, he used to take whatever he could from the house. Daddy was doing some business over at Springvale when he saw a couple of Momma’s silver vases in a pawn shop over there. Didn’t take long to discover my beloved boyfriend had been making quite a bit of money selling our stuff that way. Luckily, Daddy had connections, so he was able to pull in a few favors.” She chewed her lip.

“That must have been awful for you,” Aiden replied softly, seeing the clouded look on her face.

She grimaced. “I didn’t believe it. Well… I didn’t want to believe it. I told Daddy he must have gotten it wrong. That’s when he took me over there to see for myself. It’s a strange feeling seeing something you just assumed was still back at home sitting there on the shelf of some musty, old second-hand shop. Daddy introduced me to the owners, and they each gave the same description of the guy who’d brought the stuff in to them. It was Chuck all right. Hadn’t even had the sense to cover the tattoo on his arm.”

“Ouch!” Aiden winced at the thought of finding all that out the hard way.

She smirked. “It was then I realized what a grade-A jerk the guy was. I vowed I’d never fall for a dipshit like that again. Then I met Robert.”

Aiden really felt for the woman. She’d sure had her share of asshats.

She shook her head. “I was a bit savvier this time,” she told him. “I thought he was quite sweet when we first got together, but I could read the signs all right. I always seemed to be the one to pay when we went out, and he used to make up all sorts of excuses not to take me back to his place. He still doesn’t think I know where he lives.” She shrugged.

“So you’re not actually planning to marry him then?” Aiden felt a sense of relief.

She shook her head. “Of course not. He’s only after my money. I know that.”

Aiden narrowed his eyes. “So you’re planning to expose him?”

“I wasn’t going to at first. I thought I’d just stop seeing him and that would be that. But then he got drunk one night and bragged to some guy about how he’d swindled Maggie out of her money. I only found out by accident while I was checking some tapes. I’d had some cameras installed around the house when Mom started needing home help. I just wanted to make sure they were looking after her properly while I wasn’t there, you know? Anyhow, at first I was horrified that he’d do a thing like that, then I realized if he could do it once, he could do it again. It was like a red rag to a bull. I was so mad that I decided then and there I was going to make dang sure he didn’t get to do it to any other poor woman. I’ll see him go down for this. You see if I don’t.”

Aiden saw her jaw tense as she filled him in on a few more details, and he knew this girl meant business. He’d seen that look before on Maggie’s face not so long ago.

“Good for you,” he told her.

She finished her coffee. “Hey, we should let Maggie know we’re on to him.” Her eyes lit up.

Aiden felt his heart lift, and he grinned. “Well if Robert’s out of town, there’s nothing stopping us going over there right now, is there?” He was desperate to see Maggie again, to make sure she was all right.

“Going where?” Frank suddenly appeared, smiling.

“We thought we’d go over and tell Maggie about Lorraine’s plan to smoke out Rossington,” he murmured. “The guy won’t be around for a couple of hours, so it’s a golden opportunity, and it’ll make Maggie’s day to know there’s a plan in place.”

Frank’s face lit up. “I had an idea you were hatching something,” he said to Lorraine with a surreptitious smile.

“Now I remember you. I thought I recognized you in the sheriff’s office, but I wasn’t sure.” Lorraine pointed at Frank as she spoke.

“Did you unearth anything?” Aiden asked as Frank took the seat next to him.

The old man gave a satisfied nod. “Oh yeah. He’s on the take, all right. I told him I was moving into one of those big old houses down by the river and just wanted to know about security and stuff. He offered to keep a ‘special eye’ on the place for a small monthly fee.” He used air quotes to emphasize his meaning.

“Yeah, I can imagine his idea of ‘small’, too.” Aiden also used air quotes, and they all giggled at the implications.

“Well, I’d best get back to Sylvia,” Frank said. “You need a ride back?” He looked questioningly at them.

“I’m heading over to see Maggie now, if you wanna come?” Lorraine offered.

Aiden nodded. “That’d be great.”

* * * *

Maggie was just wiping down the last of the tables when the door swung open and Aiden walked in. She couldn’t hide the massive beam which spread across her face.

“What’re you doing here? I thought—” She gasped.

Aiden was dressed in a white shirt that was tight enough to show off his muscles and jeans tight enough to show something else!

Ignoring the last couple of customers, he scooped her into his arms, and she felt his hot body flush against hers as he took her lips in a sensual kiss that left her tingling for more.

“He’s out of town,” he whispered into her ear once he’d unlocked their mouths. “And I’ve got news.”

Her heart was pounding with hope as she gazed into his gorgeous face. He was obviously dying to tell her something and looked like he was going to burst if he didn’t let it out soon.

He managed to wait until the customers finally left and they were alone. Maggie momentarily wondered if they wouldn’t complain to her boss about her kissing in the café, but somehow she didn’t care about that right now.

She was about to go and lock the door but noticed a large car outside that she didn’t recognize.

“Aiden, are you sure the coast is clear?” She frowned, her heart now pounding for a totally different reason. She could hear someone talking outside and couldn’t be certain that Robert hadn’t sent someone to spy on them. “I know you hate having to stay apart as much as I do, and I’m sure Robert wouldn’t hurt me if you were with me, but…”

“But we won’t be able to nail the guy if he knows we’re together.” He nodded, though he didn’t seem very worried. “Then we wouldn’t be able to get him to return all the money he took from you.”

She shook her head, realizing for the umpteenth time how ludicrous it all sounded. “You really think we’ve got a chance of getting my money back? I mean, it’s been a couple of years, and I’m still no closer to proving anything. The longer it goes on, the worse my chances get. I’ll never be able to prove he did it. I really don’t know why you think you can just—” She broke off as someone walked in the door.

“Aiden may not be able to prove he stole your cash, Maggie,” the woman told her as she slowly strolled toward the counter, “but I can.”