A Fortune to Die For (White Oak - Mafia Series Book 1) (9 page)

She sighed heavily and stared out at the crops. “What’s a massasauga?”

“What do you think it is?”

“A local Indian tribe who likes to cause trouble?”

His burst of laughter told her she had guessed wrong. Only he wouldn’t stop his loud guffaws to tell her what it really was. His booming merriment proved contagious, and soon she chuckled, too.

They didn’t settle down until they entered the city limits.

“A massasauga is a swamp rattler. While the bite’s painful, it’s rarely lethal even if you don’t get treatment. We’ve got a nest of them living around the ditch.”

“Oh…” She then chuckled. “I just maligned whatever local tribes of Indians you have.”

“There’s only one tribe left in Iowa, and they reside in Tama, farther west, so you just maligned the snakes and nothing more.”

“But you used to have Indians here,” she insisted. “They’ve left burial mounds in the mountains.”

“Those are hills, not mountains, and the last Indians who lived in these parts were the Illini, and they were run out in the eighteen-hundreds.”

“Oh…” Meg felt like a cultural idiot.

“Where shall I drop you?”

“How about a car lot?”

“A what?”

“A place where they sell cars.”

He pulled off the road onto the side. “You’re going to arrive at a car dealership with luggage? They’ll rob you blind.”

“Well, I won’t do better if I arrive by taxi. They do have taxi service here, right?”

“I’ve never paid attention. I suppose they do…maybe.” He pulled back onto the road and sighed heavily. “I have an hour before my meeting, so if you want, I’ll drive you to the dealership I bought my truck from and make sure they give you a square deal. I’ll need to pretend you’re my girlfriend—”

“What? Why?” she yelped.

“Look,” he snapped. “If I can stomach the thought, then you shouldn’t have any qualms about it.”

“Why can’t you just tell them to give me a fair deal and leave? Why do they need to know anything else?”

“Okay, we’ll do it your way until they ask if you’re my new girlfriend. Then I’ll let you decide if you wish to be fleeced or not.”

“What if it gets back to your
real
girlfriend?” she asked.

“Not a problem.”

“Because you don’t have one, or you don’t care if you rip her heart out?” Once Meg raised the need of a prenup, it was amazing how quickly her “true loves” found new girlfriends.

“It’s none of your damn business. You’ve got some nerve diggin’ in my life, seeing as how you won’t even tell me your name.”

“Fair point. I withdraw the question.”

He pulled into a block-long car dealership and parked the junk heap in a parking spot far from the building.

She brought her case with her as she exited the car, which caused him to roll his eyes.

“What?”

“Who brings a computer to shop for cars?”

“Well, I’m not leaving it in the junk heap.”

He stared up at the sky. “Whatever.”

His response pissed her off. “Look, all I possess is a suitcase and my computer. It’s all I’ve got. And frankly, without the computer, I can’t buy a car.”

He held his hands, palms out, in her direction. “Not my problem, and I don’t care.”

They didn’t speak the remainder of the way to the building. When they arrived, Traver surprised her by opening the door for her and smiling, which Meg thought a bit disconcerting.

“Trav, my man!” a guy in his twenties yelled and threw something large and brown at him.

Traver didn’t try to duck. He just caught the flying object and then lobbed it back.

A football.

“You shouldn’t throw ballistic weapons around so much glass,” Meg chided.

“God, you sound like my mother,” the young man said as he eyed her over. “Don’t look like her, though.” He then tilted his head at Traver and raised his eyebrows, as if asking an unspoken question.

“Just ignore her, Jimmy,” Traver advised.

Meg was in no mood to be ignored. “Do you have a Subaru Outback with standard shift?”

Her question caused Jimmy’s eyes to round. Speaking slowly as if she were brain dead, he said, “This is a
Ford
dealership. We sell—”

Traver interrupted him. “Can you call your dad and see if he has one on the other lot?”

The young man paused and then smiled as if something funny had just happened. “Sure…I’ll give him a call.” He pointed to her. “You stay here.” He gripped Traver’s arm. “You come with me.”

Traver followed him over to a desk.

“You got the other thing worked out?” Jimmy asked.

“Picking up my proof today and then heading to the courthouse. With any luck, he’ll order I get reimbursed.”

Meg had no idea why he pulled Traver over. She could hear them loud and clear.

The football-throwing car dealer pulled out a cell phone. “Dad, do you have a Subaru Outback? It’s for Traver’s new girlfriend…. No, not her. This one’s a sexy blonde wearing hiking clothes and carrying a metal briefcase.” He grinned and scuffed his foot. “No, I’m not. It’s the God’s honest truth. You got this place wired. Check her out. She’s standing by the door.”

Meg searched about for the security camera, found it, and waved.

The young man laughed. “He’s right here.” He shoved the phone at Traver. “Dad wants the lowdown.”

Traver took the phone. “Maybe…haven’t decided yet. Yeah, she is… You’ve no idea. We met when she damn near ran me off the road… Not in the least…which is why I thought you might be able to help her… You do?” He looked at Meg. “You do know how to drive a standard, right?”

Her eyes narrowed as she nodded.

“She says she does. I can tell you this—she has trouble with automatics, so let’s hope she ain’t lying… You know, it seems like forever.” He laughed. “True, but she really does need a car. Her current one is face down in a ditch.” Traver smiled and gave her the “okay” signal with thumb and forefinger.

“You will? Well, I appreciate it. We’ll be at the Best Western on Dodge Avenue. Seven sounds good. See you then.” He hung up and punched the young guy on the shoulder. “Later, my man.”

He gripped her arm and basically dragged her from the building and back across the parking lot filled with cars. “Now aren’t you glad you brought your shiny briefcase?” he teased.

“Actually, yes. It seemed to cheer everyone up, and I had the ease of mind knowing no one was stealing it as I wasted my time at a Ford Dealership.”

He shook his head as he opened her car door for her. “You are the sassiest thing I’ve ever met. Where exactly are you from?”

“None of your business.”

He walked around the car and climbed in the driver’s seat. “Actually, it is my business since Mr. Drecker is going to a bit of effort to get you the car you want. He’ll bring it to the Best Western at seven tonight, so by then I need to know at least the basics, like your name and where you came from.”

“I don’t see why.”

“Because he thinks I’ve finally gotten over my distrust of females and got myself a girlfriend. If he discovers I lied to him, he’ll probably stop selling me trucks at a discount, which will really piss me off since I didn’t want to take you to Dubuque at all.”

“Right, you wanted me ticketed and my driver’s license revoked.”

“Or locked up,” he added as a reasonable alternative.

She couldn’t help it; she chuckled. Then both of them burst into laughter again. He pulled up at Best Western. “Any chance in hell you have money?”

“Yes.”

“Enough to reserve two rooms? I’ll pay you back for mine.”

“I do, and you don’t have to pay me back. Consider it thanks for driving me up here and securing me a Subaru Outback.”

He stared at her in confusion, but for the life of her, she couldn’t understand why. “Are you having trouble understanding my accent?”

“No…I can make out your words if I squint hard enough.”

“Okay, then squint hard and listen. Do not run off the second I get out of this car because I need to retrieve my luggage from the trunk. Do you
see
what I mean?”

He killed the motor, got out, and had the trunk open before she had time to reach the back of the car. He stared at the small piece of luggage. “This is all you have?”

She patted her aluminum case. “And my computer.”

He stared at her for a long moment, shook his head, and returned to his car. He waited until she entered the lobby of the hotel before he drove off.

Meg walked to the check-in desk. “I’d like to reserve two rooms, one for me and the other for…oh shoot, I don’t know Traver’s last name…”

“Is it the guy who just brought you here?” the girl asked.

Meg nodded.

“His name is Traver Regetti. Be careful. He’s got a reputation for getting girls pregnant and leaving them high and dry.”

While she returned to thinking him a jerk, it really wasn’t her problem. “Two rooms, please. One under my name, and the other for Traver Regetti.”

“Hope you’re on birth control,” the girl muttered as she typed in the information.

“Also, can you tell me how long it will take to get to this address?” She passed over the lawyer’s location.

“It’s two blocks away. Just walk down to the Tasty Freeze and hang a left. You’ll see a two-story brick building with white columns.”

“Thank you.” Meg walked to the elevator, happy something was going her way. Maybe she had escaped her curse after all.

Arriving at the two doors, she pulled the keycard from the envelope…two cards, one for each room.

Traver must have some reputation.

She shook her head and entered the room to the right. A glance at her watch told her she had time for a shower before her meeting with the lawyer. Meg opened her suitcase and selected the one good blouse and suit she owned. For some reason, never fully explained to her, the FBI did not want her to bring anything with her during the move, not even her clothes. When she’d pushed back saying she had to have clean clothes or she’d soon look like a homeless person, they settled on her taking one suitcase containing only items that wouldn’t stand out or be remembered.

She carried her plain polyester blue suit and her non-wrinkle blouse into the bathroom so the steam from the shower would help remove the wrinkles, which even non-wrinkle clothes required after three days in a suitcase.

Upon placing her shampoo, conditioner, and razor on the tub’s edge, she undressed and jumped into the shower. After her stressful day, the hot water felt wonderful, which kept her in the shower longer than she planned. Upon noticing the time, she cursed. “Damn it!” She only had a half hour before her appointment.

Wrapping a towel around her, she rushed into the room to get clean panties and bra. As she pulled them from her case, she felt something was wrong.

There were feet by her suitcase on the bed.

She followed them up to Traver’s furrowed brow and annoyed glare.

“I thought you understood I wanted separate rooms,” he said.

She blinked at him in confusion and then realized she must have taken his room. “Sorry.” She looked around the room and found the cardkeys on the dresser. “I must have gotten your room. Take mine.”

She tossed him his key and ran back into the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later when she came out, he was thankfully gone. Meg tried to pull her hair in a ponytail but discovered her new cut was too short. She’d just look like an adult Pebbles. Fortunately, the bathroom had a blow-dryer, so she spent ten of her scarce minutes drying her hair. Once presentable, she grabbed her computer case and the key to her room, then hurried downstairs to her appointment.

Meg arrived five minutes early, which gave her time to move some money before a dapper fellow in his mid-thirties stepped out of an office and smiled at her. “Miss Williams, I’m Joseph Cane.”

She rose and shook his hand. “Call me Meg.”

“Then call me Joe.”

He led her to a conference room where she presented her plan for the woods, going into great detail since he seemed so interested.

When she finished, he leaned back in his chair and smiled. “To be honest, I was dreading doing another land donation, but I think this one is going to go a great deal smoother. You’ve pretty well hit upon all the issues that normally hold matters up and provided solutions so it doesn’t cost the state a dime. I think your plan’s brilliant, and hopefully, so will the governor. I’d like to set up a meeting with him tomorrow if I can get us in. If you aren’t afraid of flying in small planes, we can fly out in the morning and be back the same evening.”

Meg almost mentioned she had a private pilot’s license but remembered she’d lost it in the identity conversion. “I’ll be fine flying in a small plane.”

“Excellent, I’ll call and see if he can fit us in. I think he’s going to love this.”

Feeling on top of the world, Meg set out in search of food. Instead of going back to her hotel room and changing, she stopped at a restaurant/bar she’d passed on the way.

The place turned out to be overly popular with a long wait for a table, but the bar offered immediate seating. Taking a stool, she ordered a grilled chicken with a vegetable medley and a Long Island Iced Tea. Amazingly, they actually delivered the proper drink.

Needing to create a to-do list, she attempted to work on her laptop. The counter’s trim made typing on the bar counter too uncomfortable. Sitting it in her lap was kinder to her wrists, but the PC kept trying to slide off her wrinkle proof skirt.

“You come to a bar to work on your computer?” the now familiar voice of Traver asked.

She laughed. “I was trying to write a to-do list.”

“If you promise to leave your laptop in the Rin-Tin-Tin briefcase, you can come join me.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then you can stay here. I’m not having my reputation ruined by sitting with a woman who would rather fawn over her PC than me.”

She laughed and closed down her laptop. “You are something else.”

He led her to his table and motioned her into the booth first, sliding in after her so they sat side by side.

“You dress up nicely,” he said and caught the attention of a waiter wandering around with a tray of food. “What was your order?”

“Grilled chicken and veggies.”

To her surprise, the waiter set her meal before her. Yes, the curse was definitely broken!

“Eat, we have to be back at the hotel in twenty-seven minutes.”

“Not a problem,” she assured him.

A guy wearing blue jeans a size too small and a baseball cap came up and asked Traver what happened to his truck.

Meg paused in her eating, dreading being castigated before an audience.

“Deer ran out in front of me and I swerved, breaking an axle in the process.”

“Did you hit the deer?”

“Nope, it’s alive and running about.”

“Well, I’ll shoot it for you if I see it.”

He chuckled and put his arm around Meg. “I’d be most grateful.”

When the guy left, Meg stared at him. “You’re growing soft, Traver. You had the perfect chance to burn me at the stake.”

“Yeah, well after talking to Harvey and Lee, I’m cutting you some slack. It appears the car was at fault, not you.”

She reached up and placed her hand on his forehead.

He ducked back. “You aren’t totally out of the woods. Harvey says my truck won’t be ready for a week, and he needs his piece of crap back.”

“Is there someplace around here where I can rent you a pickup truck?”

He nodded.

“Then I’m renting you a replacement. I’ll take care of it after our meeting with the car dealer.”

“Well, he’ll rent me a truck at a special price.”

“Then let’s get you a truck, preferably the same as the one you have.”

“It’s an expensive rental…”

“I don’t care. I was driving the demonic car when it decided to run you off the road, so it’s my fault.”

“It really wasn’t.”

She sighed. “Must you always argue with me? Just let me make this right, okay? You drove me into Dubuque, helped me get a car, dropped me off at a hotel within walking distance of my meeting, and saved me from eating at the bar. Just let me do this one thing in return.”