sense of peace she hadn’t experienced in days. “That way, no matter what Dupree decides to do next, we’ll already own Charity House. Even if he confronts Judge Greene there won’t be much either man can do at that point.”
“Other than make trouble for us, in all sorts of awful ways.”
Laney batted away Katherine’s objection with a flick of her wrist.
“No. Don’t dismiss my concerns like that. What if Judge Greene teams up with Mr. Dupree, if for no other reason than to save face? What if they try to shut us down for some unknown, yet perfectly legal reason? What if they—”
“Stop, Katherine. Just stop. We must stay positive, and pray that Dupree will drop the matter now that I’m gone.”
“You really think he’ll leave us alone?”
“Yes, as long as he doesn’t find us.”
Katherine sighed heavily.
Looking at the clock on the mantel, Laney shoved her worries behind a brilliant smile. “Three hours, Katherine. We only have three short hours before the bank opens for business. By the time Dupree finds me, if he finds me, he’ll be too late.”
“You seem awfully confident.” Rising to her feet once again, Katherine moved to the window and looked out. “You’re sure he didn’t follow you home.”
Laney joined her friend at the window. “I was careful to lead him far away from Charity House. If I’m as good as I think I am, which I am, Dupree is looking for me on The Row.”
“The Row?” Katherine’s mouth dropped. “He thinks you live in a...a...brothel?”
A slow smile spread across her lips. “That would be my guess.”
“You’re reckless. That’s what you are.” Although Katherine’s tone held far too much worry for Laney’s peace of mind, a loving glint filled the other woman’s gaze.
Visibly relaxing, Laney smiled in return. “Perhaps I am more than a little reckless. But thanks to my quick thinking, Marc Dupree is chasing shadows on the other side of town. Now, stop worrying and trust me.” She squeezed Katherine’s arm. “I have matters completely under control.”
Katherine rubbed her temples. “Why is it every time you say that we end up in worse trouble than before?”
Chapter Five
Precisely three hours after arriving home from the Hotel Dupree, Laney bypassed the tellers, skirted along the high railing on her left, then charged toward the bank owner’s private office. Unwilling to wait for a response to her knock, she turned the knob and pressed forward. “I’m here to discuss my loan.”
Thurston P. Prescott III didn’t bother looking up as he waved his fleshy hand in bored indifference. “There is nothing more to say, Miss O’Connor. My terms stand.”
Outlaw, she wanted to scream. Cheat. Just yesterday, he’d adopted that same thinly veiled scorn, then shamelessly called in her loan six months early. No warning. No viable explanation. Merely the end of all her dreams for the children.
Exhaling slowly, Laney forced aside her hostility and coaxed her lips into a pleasant smile. “I have one final item to address.”
His attention riveted on the papers before him, Prescott scratched his salt-and-pepper beard and patently ignored her. Laney widened her stance, calling upon the patience she’d lost the day before while standing in this very spot. The constant, even ticking of the wall clock beat in stark contrast to the banker’s furious scribbling. The rich smell of polished mahogany and perfectly aged leather extolled power, ownership.
Laney refused to be intimidated.
She poked at the stack of papers nearest to her, sending them scattering to the floor. “Oh, my, look what I’ve done.”
Prescott’s head snapped up. Frustration knitted across his bushy brows. “I thought I made myself perfectly clear. As of this morning, you now have two days left to come up with the money.” He dipped his pen in the inkwell on his left, then returned his gaze to his paperwork. “You know the way out.”
Oh, no. He wasn’t sending her away yet. Not before she’d settled her loan. “I will take only a moment more of your time.”
Silence was his only reply.
Laney released a small sigh of satisfaction and plucked the neatly wrapped bundle of money from the hidden pocket in her skirt. “Perhaps you’ll be interested in what I have to say now.”
With a steady hand, she set the sizable pile directly where he’d fastened his attention after dismissing her so coldly.
In one swift movement, he snatched the money off the desk and looked up. His small, sharp eyes hardened. Sputtering, he flung his ugly glare from her face to the money in his hand and back again.
“It’s all there.” Laney granted him her most pleasant smile. “All five hundred dollars.”
For a moment his gaze filled with disdain, but then he set the money back on the desk and cleared his expression of all emotion, save one. Suspicion. “How did you come upon this much money in one day?”
A flicker of conscience ignited, making it no longer possible to escape the truth any longer. Yes, Judge Greene had owed Laney the money for Johnny’s room and board over the past three years. And, yes, he should have been paying all along for his son’s care. But that didn’t make what Laney had done the most ethical of routes she could have chosen to raise the money.
She’d used the man’s former “friendship” with her mother—as well as his current one with several other women in Mattie’s brothel—to insist he pay off his debt. Worse, Laney had led him to believe she would make his life difficult if he didn’t do so at once.
That had been wrong. Justified, perhaps, but wrong.
Forgive me, Lord.
Drawing in a slow breath, Laney fought to keep the shame out of her voice as she spoke. “Does it matter where the money came from?”
Eyes narrowed, Prescott slapped both palms on his desk and leaned forward. “Yes, Miss O’Connor, it matters significantly. I must know, without a single doubt, that every dollar of this money is truly yours.”
Laney sighed. She should have been prepared for such a reaction. But she’d been so relieved Judge Greene had cooperated without a fuss she hadn’t thought much further. After convincing Katherine all was well, she’d changed clothes, helped with the children’s morning routine, then hurried to the bank.
Tired now, and more than a little frightened, she did what came naturally. She fought for what was hers. “Telling you where or how I got this money was not part of our agreement. All you said was that I had to pay off my loan in three days. And there is my payment.” She pointed to the money.
A succession of creaks and groans exploded in the air as the banker shifted his considerable frame into another position. Resting his elbows on the chair’s arm, he steepled his fingers under his chin. “Did you steal it?”
“No.”
