Chapter 13
Nervously, Kira glanced out of the window of Eula’s diner for about the twelfth time in the last three minutes.
They’re not here yet. What if they’re not coming?
“Don’t worry – they’ll be here,” Caleb said, reaching over and taking her hand in his, as if he’d read her mind. “I’m sure of it.”
Kira laughed, but even she could hear how shaky it sounded. “I wish I could say I felt that confident,” she admitted. “I called the number Heit gave me the first time he made his insulting offer, but I just got someone saying they were his PA. They said they’d pass on to him that I wanted a meeting, but…”
“Then there’s not a lot else we can do,” Caleb said. “We have the will – that’s all we need. It’d be better to get this cleared up now, but if Heit won’t play ball, then we can still do things the hard way, if we have to.”
Biting her lip, Kira nodded. She really couldn’t express how little she wanted to do things the hard way. It’d be expensive, take up most of her time, and she genuinely wasn’t sure how court cases even worked. Would a judge have to decide in their favor? And if that was the case, was there a chance that things wouldn’t go their way? Not to mention the money –
“They’re here.”
Caleb’s low, sure voice cut through the whirl of her thoughts. Kira jerked her head up just as a huge, black car glided into one of the parking spaces outside Eula’s diner.
Kira swallowed heavily. She hadn’t told Heit’s PA exactly why she wanted to see him – she figured that was just a recipe for a no-show on his part. With his arrogance, however, she was pretty sure he’d come to his own conclusions about what she might have to say to him, and one look at the smirk on his face as he got out of his enormous car was enough to tell her she’d been right.
“Ah, Ranger Dearborn,” Heit said as he entered the diner, oozing charm and smoothness. It made Kira want to grind her teeth to pieces. “So nice to see you again. And your… friend.”
Heit raised a brow at Caleb, who, Kira noticed, tightened his jaw a little but otherwise remained completely calm.
“Good to see you too,” she managed to get out, through her own clenched jaw. How was it that this guy could make her go insane in less than a minute? But she supposed the combination of misplaced confidence and sleaze would do that.
“So,” Heit said as he slid into a chair across from them, after one of his lackeys had made a great show of wiping down the seat and table with a little towelette. “I take it then you’ve come to your senses and had a change of heart about my very generous offer.”
“Yeah, you could say that,” Kira said, unable to stop her lip from twisting. “Or you could say that I have an offer to make to you.”
Heit cocked his head, the smug gleam never leaving his eye. “Well, that is interesting. But then, I suppose I can’t fault anyone for playing hardball. What is it then, Ranger Dearborn? More money? Or something else I might be able to do for you? Name it – I promise to give it fair consideration.”
“No.” Kira shook her head. “Neither. My offer is that you leave town, and stop trying to buy the parklands. They’re held in trust, and you know it.”
Heit shook his head, a small laugh bursting from his lips. “This again? Look – I think things have been made pretty clear to you. No one’s seen the will that places that land in trust for years. And the county has ruled that without that, it’s up for grabs. I’m sorry that progress offends you so much, Ranger Dearborn, but the fact of the matter is that without that will, there’s absolutely nothing you can do.”
“Well. It’s funny you should say that,” Caleb said, as he put the envelope containing a copy of The Last Will and Testament of Mason George Thomas Girdwood II – the original remained firmly in his inside jacket pocket – down on the table, before sliding it over to where Heit sat.
Heit looked down at it suspiciously. “What’s this?”
“Why don’t you open it and find out?” Kira asked him. She managed to keep her voice steady, but she could feel her heart beating wildly. This, she supposed, was the moment of truth – the moment when they’d find out if they had to do this the easy way, or the hard way.
Pursing his lips and furrowing his brow, Heit picked up the envelope with the tips of his fingers, as if he was trying to avoid touching it as much as possible. He only removed the very edge of the paper – enough for him to read the header – before he stuffed it back down in the envelope again, looking at Caleb and Kira with blazing eyes.
“Where did you get this?” he hissed.
“I found it,” Caleb said evenly. “Seems like there was an original copy after all. I just had to know where to look.”
Heit stared at him, his lip pulled back in a sneer. For the first time, Kira thought, he seemed to be actually paying attention to Caleb. His eyes flickered over him, his scowl growing deeper.
“This thing you have here,” he said, waving his hand dismissively at the envelope on the table. “This is just a photocopy. You expect me to believe you haven’t just had this made up?”
“No,” Caleb told him, with a shake of his head. “We’re not prepared to let you get your hands on the original. But you can look at it if you like – I know a dragon of your power will be able to tell it’s real without touching it.”
Heit narrowed his eyes, pressing his lips together. But it was clear he didn’t have much choice. “All right then – show me this so-called will.”
Carefully, Caleb pulled the will from his pocket, unfolding it and holding it a safe distance from Heit. It was still clearly readable, however, despite the delicacy of the paper and the slightly faded ink. And Kira could tell he knew it was real – one glance at it was enough to make him suck in a quick, angry breath, his eyes blazing. A snarl curled his lip. She’d never seen anyone look more angry in her life.
Despite herself, Kira felt a little fear stirring in her stomach – even if he was in his human form now, she couldn’t forget that he was really a dragon.