“I haven’t been looking.”
“But I bet you wonder what happened to it. How a man with so much power could end up with nothing.”
“How do you know what happened to Hank’s money?” I asked before I could stop myself.
Her face lit up with glee. “Because I’m the one who stole it.”
Chapter Ten
“You start lookin’ and I’ll be in touch.”
“Looking for what?”
She ignored me and walked inside, humming a song that sounded familiar, but which I couldn’t place. Since she already knew Marco was there to keep an eye on me, I was tempted to go inside and get him. Although he was much stronger than her, injured leg notwithstanding, there was a moment there I nearly ran inside, terrified she’d hurt him. She’d considered him her kin, and she was seeking revenge for his murder . . . or so she claimed. There was no denying she wanted my help, which meant she was unlikely to hurt Marco, but the real clincher was that she’d expect me to seek my own revenge if she even tried. She had called me a vigilante after all.
So I got in my car and drove to the Dollar General parking lot—our agreed-upon rendezvous spot—and waited for Marco.
His Explorer pulled up next to my passenger side a few minutes later, and he was out of his vehicle and in my front seat within seconds.
“Are you all right?” he asked, looking me over.
I grabbed his hand. “You’re the one I was worried about. She knew why you were there. I was scared to death that she was going to hurt you, but then I realized she wants me to work with her too much to do something so stupid.”
His fingers clasped mine. “How do you know she wouldn’t try to hurt me to force you to help?”
“Because she says she wants to bring Bart Drummond down for killing Walter.”
His scoffed. “I was always under the impression that she didn’t give two shits about Walter.”
“She admitted that he didn’t mean much to her, but she claimed he was kin, and you don’t mess with kin.”
He sat back in the seat, fatigue washing over his face as he untangled his hand from mine. “That’s a long-standing tradition around here, but there’s no telling if it’s her real motivation.” Then he turned back to face me. “Are you sure you’re all right? From everything I’ve heard, Louise’s tongue is a lot sharper than the knife she had strapped to her calf under her jeans.”
My eyes bugged out. “She had a knife?”
He pushed out an aggrieved sigh.
“It doesn’t matter. She won’t hurt me.” Then I added with a shrug, “Well, at least not until I turn down her generous offer to look for her black metal box.”
He shook his head. “Say what now?”
“She wants me to help find a small toolbox she claims was hidden on her property.”
“What’s in the toolbox?”
“I don’t know, but her parting shot was a real zinger.”
“What’d she say?” he asked, cocking his head.
“She said she stole Hank’s fortune.”
His eyes widened. “Do you think she could have?”
“You’d likely know better than me,” I said. “How do you take someone’s fortune, anyway? Did she find out the password to his international bank account?”
Marco shifted in his seat to face me better. “Let’s not forget this is Drum. I doubt there was an international bank account. Hell, Hank can barely handle the remote control and the satellite dish for his TV. Do you see him managing an international bank account?”
“No…” I said, frowning. Then I jerked my gaze up to his. “But what about Mary?”
His forehead creased. “What about her?”
“Was she more tech savvy?”
“They don’t have internet or a computer, Carly. How were they going to have an online bank account?”
I groaned my frustration. He had a point.
“When people say they think Hank has his fortune buried in the backyard, they mean it literally,” Marco said. “I’ve heard deputies say they were called out to Hank’s land for trespassin’ all the time after he first retired. People thought they’d sneak onto his property and dig up his money.”
I gasped. “Did they have a death wish? How many of them did Hank shoot?”
“A few,” he admitted. “But the sheriff’s department never charged him.”
“No one’s tried that since I moved in.” Well, except for the man who’d broken into my room and tried to kill me because I was a witness to Seth’s murder.
“That’s because nobody else has a death wish, and enough people have dug up parts of his property that everyone has collectively decided the money’s not out there. But one thing’s for certain,” Marco said. “Hank made damn good money back in the day, and now he has next to nothin’.”
“You know my theory on that,” I said with a frown.
“Yeah, you think Mary’s cancer treatments sucked it all up, but I’m not so sure. Maybe Louise was being truthful.”
My jaw dropped. “You’re seriously suggesting that Louise Baker stole Hank’s money?”
He shrugged. “Stranger things have happened. What did Hank say about Louise when you talked to him this mornin’?”
I glanced out the windshield. “He was too busy kicking me out for us to discuss her.”
“He did what?”
I shook my head, frustrated with myself for taking it so personally. “He told me to leave for a few weeks. Says he has some things cooking with his old crew. My gut tells me he’s settling a score.”
Marco gave me a knowing look. “You thought he might be up to something, and this only confirms it. He knows she’s back, and if she really did take his money, Hank’s not the kind of man to sit back and let her keep it. He’s going to go after her and take back what’s his.”
I hated to admit it, but he had a point. “I didn’t ask him about Louise. Actually, I ended up asking him what happened to his money.”
His eyes widened.
“He told me it was gone, and it was none of my concern, but he sounded pissed about the whole thing.” I gave him a pointed look. “If he’d used it to pay for Mary’s bills, I think he would have told me. Instead, he was cagey.” I tapped the steering wheel with my fingertip. “Maybe she really did steal it.”
We sat in silence for several seconds before Marco spoke up.
“So let’s say she did take it. It’s not like she plans on giving it back. She’s using it as another lure to drag you into her mess. You need to tell Louise you don’t want to get mixed up in her scheme. Findin’ something on Bart isn’t worth the risk of dealin’ with her.”
“Ordinarily, I’d agree with you. Only she insinuated that she knows who was responsible for running Jerry off the road. She says she’ll show me the proof if I help her find her toolbox.”
“You know she likely doesn’t have anything to give you, right?”
“Just like she probably doesn’t have Hank’s money?” I asked dryly. “But what if she does, Marco?”