Noah narrowed his eyes. “How’d you hear about that?”
“I keep tabs.”
So he could bother to keep up with what Noah was doing, but not bother to keep up with Noah himself? Seemed about right. He clenched his fists. “I’m not asking to borrow money.”
“I wasn’t offering to lend it. I’m here for the inn.”
“You want to take over the Blue Pirogue even with a mold issue?” Noah frowned.
“I can handle that.” Russell waved one hand in the air. “Who’s doing the mitigation work? I’ll assume the payments.”
A wave of protectiveness swept through Noah’s body, tightening his shoulders. “Thanks, but no thanks. The inn isn’t up for grabs.” To Isaac Bergeron or to his dad. The last thing he needed was for his father to sink his cursed claws into Grandpa’s legacy, just to have it taken over later by a loan shark or a lawsuit from a scorned west coast husband.
Not. Happening.
Russell leaned forward, matching Noah’s braced posture. “I don’t think you understand.” His voice dipped as he leveled his gaze at Noah. “I’m taking the inn.”
His ears flooded with heat. “It’s not yours to take.” He was starting to understand why Isaac had punched Russell square in the nose. This man and his arrogance were infuriating. “There’s a sentence in Grandpa’s will you might be interested in.All my assets revert to Noah.”
“On the contrary.” Russell lifted his chin. “You know what trumps a will?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “A mortgage with my name on it.”
His heart skipped. “What?”
“I was the co-signer some years back when Dad needed help.”
A co-signer? Noah stared blankly. Then Owen’s words from their bank meeting last week flew through his head like a bat in a cave but twice as scary.If you had a co-signer, like your grandfather did for that second mortgage years ago, it’d be no problem.
“I was getting bored in Cali. My hotels can manage themselves for a bit. Thought I’d take a change of scenery—catch up with my son.” All smiles again, Russell clapped his hand on Noah’s shoulder.
Noah ducked out of the grasp. “That’s bull and you know it.” He studied his father’s carefully arranged expression. “Let me guess. Bailey didn’t find another man. Youwerethe other man, and now he’s after you.”
Russell clasped his hands together. “Like I said, you’re sharp. Don’t worry. I’ll get you a job at the Blue Pirogue if you want.”
Over his dead body. Noah abruptly stood and turned, towering over his father on the bench. “I’m not going to let this happen.”
Russell laughed. “As soon as I can get to the bank, you’re not going to have much of a choice. If I pay off that thirty grand, the inn is mine.” He spread his hands wide with a grin. “You’re welcome to find a probate lawyer and fight me on it, but I hear that’s expensive.”
“Fine.” Frustration knotted in Noah’s throat as he turned away from his sorry excuse for a dad and stalked to the door. “Then we’ll see who gets there first.”
With money he didn’t yet have.
Noah gripped the cell door with both hands and stared down the hall, chest heaving as reality crashed. Elisa had abandoned him. He had no leads on the next clue. Had just been handed an even tighter deadline than the one Grandpa had initiated...
And he was literally stuck behind bars.
* * *
Clouds bulging with the threat of rain covered the night sky. Elisa banged on the front door of the Magnolia Bay Parish Jail, shivering in the unseasonably cool wind blowing in from the bay. Sheriff Rubart looked up from the front desk, long abandoned by the receptionist this time of night.
He frowned at her, but rose from the rolling desk chair and ambled to the door, opening it just enough to poke his head out. “Is this an emergency, Ms. Bergeron?” His pinched brow affirmed his strong opinion that it wasn’t.
“Yes, actually.” Elisa slipped through the opening before he could block it. “I need to make a statement about what I saw at the ball field tonight.”
He rolled his eyes. “How convenient.”
“Noah didn’t hit anyone. In fact, hegothit trying to keep me out of it.”
“So you’re saying you belong in that cell back there?” He raised his brows.
