Breath of Scandal(108)

Her flippancy annoyed the hell out of him. "Well, since you've got all the answers, why bring me along?"

" Protection. "

Angrily, he regarded her for a moment, then threw the transmission into reverse, stretched his arm across the back of the seat, swiveled his head around, and guided the truck back to the intersection with the highway. Against the fingertips of his outstretched hand he could feel Jade's hair. it was damp and soft, and it made him mad that he noticed. He wanted to grip handfuls of it and rub it against his face. The falling rain had cooled the windows. They were beginning to fog up. He could smell Jade's perfume in the still, sultry air.

Jade's hair. Jade's perfume. He was far too aware of Jade.

Searching for something to distract him, he noticed a rural mailbox leaning precariously on a rotting post. Through the rain, Dillon read the name that had been painted on the dented metal years ago. The letters were faded, but he was still able to make them out: 0 - PARKER."

6LI.90-

"I want to know what the little bitch is up to." Querulously, Ivan waved away the housekeeper who was trying to serve him a second helping of sweet potatoes. Four years earlier, Eula had retired. Her daughter had taken her place, assuming the additional responsibilities of taking care of an amputee.

"Bring me a bottle of brandy," he ordered brusquely. As she left to do his bidding, Ivan glared at Neal, who was slouching in his chair, toying with the food remaining on his plate. "Well, have you gone deaf? Say something."

Moving nothing except his eyes, Neal glanced up at his



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father. "How many times do I have to say it? I don't know any more than what I've already told you."

Ivan snatched the bottle from the housekeeper and poured a hefty amount into a snifter. The maid removed Neal's plate when he signaled that he was finished. When she returned to the kitchen, they were left alone in the dining room-two people at a table that would easily seat twenty.

Neal said, "That contractor, Burke, just awarded the excavation job to an outfit out of Columbia. They're already hauling in earth-moving equipment."

"Well, they can just as well haul it right back outa here," Ivan growled as he poured himself another brandy.

He wheeled away from the table and into the den. "Get in here," he hollered through the empty rooms of the house. The interior hadn't changed beyond the modifications required to accommodate Ivan's wheelchair.

Neal entered the den behind his father, bringing a snifter of brandy with him. "You can't stop this thing by willing it to disappear, old man. You made a damn fool of yourself at that town meeting, snarling like a wounded gator. That isn't the way to go about it, Daddy."

Neal threw himself onto the leather sofa. "We've got to beat Jade at her own game. We were asleep at the switch while she was buying that land where the plant is going to be. We won't be caught napping this time."

"What've you got going?" The brandy had helped mellow Ivan's sour mood.

Besides, these days it drained his strength to be tyrannical. Since the train accident had so seriously impaired his health, Neal had assumed more responsibilities. Having avoided work before, he had been pleasantly surprised to discover that it was like a game. He always played to win-and he was a sore loser.

"I've been sniffing out everything Jade does," he told his father. "She's set up shop out there at the construction site in a portable building, fight next to the trailer where that Burke fellow lives. About the only curious thing she's done is go out to the Parker place twice."



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"ne hell you say!"

"Twice that I know of," Neat added with a frown. "Once with Burke, then next time alone. She doesn't go to visit them, you understand. just to snoop around. The second time, she didn't even get out of her car, only drove around the perimeter of Otis's fence several times. Yesterday, she went to the courthouse and asked to see the plats."

"You're sure they were for the Parker place?"

"I'm sure. I complimented Gracie Dell Ferguson's fat ass," Neal said, referring to the courthouse clerk. "After that she was willing to tell me everything. Jade asked to see all the records on the Parker place and its surrounding property - "

"I own most of the surrounding property."

"That's right, Daddy, you do. Gracie Dell pointed that out while making sure I noticed her big tits."

"Did Jade tell Gracie Dell why she was interested in looking at the plats?"

I'No. 11



As Neal poured them each another brandy, Ivan asked, "Why do you think Jade is interested in the Parker farm?" "I can't imagine, but I don't like it," Neal grumbled. "I want to know what she's got in mind."

"Well, she's not likely to announce it ahead of time. And sooner or later she's bound to find out that you've been following her and asking questions."

"No problem. I found a couple of boys who are halfway smart and can keep their mouths shut. They're watching her in shifts and reporting back to me. And in the meantime," he added with a slow grin, "I'm being my charming self. I sent her flowers yesterday. "