Molten Gold (10 page)

“Jared. I’m so sorry.” Adelaide crossed the room and threw
her arms around him. “I didn’t think. I know what you said about not
interfering, but when I heard that gunshot and was blind from the lights…”

“Stupid reporters,” Jared said mildly. Adelaide lifted her
head, but immediately saw from his face that he was teasing her. “Always
ruining a perfectly good operation. I’m just glad you’re all right.”

They kissed briefly. Jared pulled away, flushed red.
Adelaide touched the tip of her finger to his lips but then stood back, knowing
he wouldn’t want to show too much in front of his soldiers.

“I’m glad you’re fine too,” she said with feeling. “I think
one of us needing a doctor’s visit this week is plenty.”

Jared turned to Brett.

“It’s over,” Jared said. “You’re likely never going to see
the light of day again, and there’s only your greed to blame. Now make this
easy on yourself, McLean, and tell us where you’ve hidden the gold.”

“Fuck you,” Brett growled.

Jared clenched his arm around Brett’s shoulder. The man
gritted his teeth but didn’t utter another sound.

“There’s a lady present, McLean, so watch your language,”
Jared snapped. “We won’t hesitate to take your duplex apart piece by piece and
dig up every inch of yard. You’ll never see a dollar of that money or have
anything to leave your nephews and nieces. Think about that before you let your
balls and pride get the better of you.”

This, at least, seemed to strike Brett.

“Okay,” Brett agreed, his shoulders slumped. “Fine.”

Adelaide couldn’t believe it was really over. She grinned,
though emotion had a few tears welling in her eyes.

“Did you really kill my uncle?” she blurted out, kneeling
before Brett so he had to look her in the eye. “I need to know. Did you kill
Uncle Mark? And the rest of your team? Just for some stupid gold?”

Her voice wobbled but she couldn’t feel embarrassed.

Brett shrugged and looked away. It was all the answer she
needed.

“You disgust me,” she said in a low, furious tone. “You
should be ashamed of yourself. I’m going to expose you for the rot you are.”

Adelaide stormed away before she could do something she’d
later regret.

Jared caught up with her a few minutes later. “Addy, are you
okay, darling?” he puffed. Adelaide wiped the last of her tears away and turned
to smile at Jared.

“I’ll be all right,” she reassured him. “I’m upset now, but
I have the truth. I can live with that.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned in to
him, drawing on his solid, warm strength.

“I’m going to be tied up with this for at least a few
hours,” Jared said. She was surprised to hear hesitation in his tone. “I don’t
suppose you’d be interested in meeting with me for breakfast later? Or perhaps
brunch, depending on how long I take?”

“Why, Mister Teague, are you inviting me out?” Adelaide
looked up at him and fluttered her eyelashes, thickening her accent as she did
so.

Jared laughed.

“Why yes, Miss Baker, I certainly am,” he played along.
“Please would you do me this simple kindness and accept my offer to escort you
to a meal later in the day? I’d surely be thrilled to be seen with a lady such
as yourself.”

Adelaide chuckled and hugged him.

“We can make this work, can’t we?” she insisted.

“An embattled solider and a hot young reporter?” Jared
queried. “I’m sure there’ve been stranger things. Besides, I care about you,
Addy, deeply. And it’s growing more and more every day.”

Adelaide bent forward and kissed him gently on the mouth.
“And I love you, Lieutenant. I’ll look forward to that brunch.”

Two weeks later

The sun shone warmly. Childish laughter filled the air.
Adelaide could smell freshly mown grass, the heat of sunshine and star jasmine
filling the air. She felt joy race through her heart as she ran as fast as her
little legs could carry her.

She was playing hide-and-seek with her daddy and Uncle Mark.
Her favorite game with her favorite person in the world. Only ice cream sundaes
with her mama, daddy and uncle as a special treat on Sunday afternoons was
better.

Sixteen… Seventeen… Eighteen…

Adelaide runs faster. She needs a new hiding place,
somewhere Uncle Mark won’t think to find her so she can finally win. Adelaide
wants to go under the front porch, but it’s scary down there and there might be
spiders. Hesitating, she stares at the front porch. Uncle Mark walks down the
steps and holds out his hand.

She knows Uncle Mark is a brave man, a hero, almost as
strong and brave as her daddy. But she’s still unsure and pulls back a little
when he goes to lead her under the porch.

“Okay, Addy, I’ll show you a secret hiding place,” Uncle
Mark says. She’s still nervous, but trusts him implicitly. Adelaide nods.

Uncle Mark taps a loose board on the step. There’s a hole in
the wood just barely big enough for him to insert his index finger into it and
pry the wood free. He peers inside. Adelaide looks. It’s a small hiding place,
just big enough for her eight- or nine-year-old frame, maybe the size of a
changing room locker.

“I keep my important documents in here, Addy,” Uncle Mark
whispers. “Now it can be our secret place. Go on.”

Twenty! Here I come, Addy, ready or not!

Daddy was coming! Adelaide crawled into the small space and
helped Uncle Mark to pull the board down on top of her. She giggles, knowing
he’s shown her the perfect hiding spot.

She feels proud and like a big girl to be let in on such a
secret.

* * * * *

Adelaide woke up feeling warm and happy. The dream was vague
and she enjoyed the sensation of lying next to Jared’s warm, hard body.
Adelaide turned over, about to go back to sleep, when something clicked into
place.

The hiding place!

Yes, it had been a dream, but from a memory. Uncle Mark had
shown her that place when she was a little girl. She hadn’t used it or thought
about it in nearly twenty years.

“Jared.” Adelaide sat bolt upright and shook Jared’s
shoulder. “Jared, wake up.”

She watched his eyes fly open and he jerked out of bed,
looking around. Adelaide felt bad for a moment, but hurried out and pulled on
her slippers and a robe.

“I just had a dream, or a memory, more like,” she said.
Without waiting to explain further, she hurried out of the bedroom. She heard
Jared’s steady tread following her.

Adelaide unlocked the front door and raced over the porch
and down the stairs. She didn’t need a flashlight—the lamp-posts gave her
plenty of light—but it still took a minute to find the loose board.

Feeling proud and sure of herself, she pried the wood free
and stuck her hand into the crawl space.

Adelaide pulled out a few dozen sheets of paper—pictures
she’d made for Uncle Mark in her childhood, she noticed with nostalgia—and a
copy of his will. There were three stacks of bills, twenties and fifties, and
finally, down at the very bottom, two gold bars. A note rested beneath them.

“Let’s take this inside,” Jared said softly. Adelaide nodded
and opened the letter as she climbed the stairs again. When the door was
securely locked behind them, she read the letter aloud to Jared.

Dearest Addy,

I’m not sure I can even begin to explain what possessed
the guys and me to take these. Put it down to one of many snap decisions that
don’t look or feel the same now we’ve all returned home. While I can’t bring
myself to use them, neither can I return them to the Army without a lot of
questions, and the other guys might find a better use for them than I.

Instead I’d rather think about the story behind this—you
always were fond of tales, sweetheart. Maybe you can dig out how this came to
be and write a real winner. Whatever you choose, this is all yours.

Know that I love you, Addy.

Uncle Mark.

“Are these pictures you made him?” Jared asked, looking at
her truly appalling artwork. Adelaide smiled. Words were where her creativity
shone, drawing and art not so much.

“Yeah. I can’t believe he kept them all these years,” she
said, filled with love for the man who’d meant so much to her.

“Are you going to keep the gold?” Jared asked.

Adelaide met his gaze and put the letter on the table. She
emptied Jared’s arms, the gold going down with the money and artwork. She
wrapped her arms around his shoulders and drew him close. Lifting herself, she
kissed him slowly, sensually, relishing every press of his body and the
softness of his lips.

“Part of me would love to keep the gold,” she admitted. “Can
you think what a great story that would be? For our kids or just to boast about
when we’re old and gray.”

“Addy,” Jared said, his tone warning.

She chuckled. “I know. We can hand it in tomorrow. But I
want pictures first. Lots of them. And this will be a wonderful addition to my
story. Uncle Mark would love it.”

“You’re going to drag those pictures out all the time,
aren’t you?” he groaned. She beamed, not at all dissuaded.

“Absolutely. After all, it’s part of the story of how we
found each other and fell in love. Everyone loves a good story,” she insisted.

“I’m growing rather fond of this one,” Jared admitted, and
lifted her into his arms. She laughed, delighted.

“You can’t fool me, Lieutenant,” she said, carefree and
happy. “You love it.”

“I do,” he said. “I most certainly do.”

Elizabeth Lapthorne has been writing professionally since
2002. She has been astonished by the success of her Rutledge Werewolf series,
and finds immense pleasure in hearing from her fans. To date she has more than
ten books out, a few of those even in paperback.

Elizabeth regularly goes to the gym to chew over her ideas;
many a book has begun or been worked through while cycling on the bikes. She
also loves to read, eat chocolate and talk for hours with her friends.
Elizabeth would love to hear from her fans, and checks her email religiously.

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Molten Gold

ISBN 9781419993510

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Molten Gold Copyright © 2015 Elizabeth Lapthorne

Edited by Rebecca Hill

Cover design by Allyse Leodra

Cover photography by Shutterstock

Electronic book publication June 2015

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