Manhunting Read online

  “I know,” Will said tiredly. “You’re a scout from Eastern.”

  “You knew?” Valerie said, dropping her arm from Will’s shoulders.

  “Well, then, we can put our cards on the table,” Donald said. “I’ve just offered Ms. Borden a very generous contract, but she insists on giving you the opportunity to match it.”

  Will looked at Valerie for a moment and men turned back to the table.

  “She’s yours,” he said.

  “Ouch,” Kate said, and even Jake winced a little.

  “What?” Valerie said. She moved her hand to Will’s shoulder and pulled him back in his chair to face her.

  “Go with my blessing,” Will said, patting her hand once and then prying it off his shoulder.

  “What about us?” Valerie said, clenching her teem.

  “What ‘us’?” Will said. “Hey, don’t think I’d stand in your way on something like this. I wish you all the luck in the world. Eastern is the big time. Go for it.” He turned back to Nancy and said, “So, do you agree with this ordering idea?”

  “Absolutely,” Nancy said, keeping a wary eye on Valerie. “Do we need to sign anything?”

  “Naw,” Will said. “We operate on trust around here.”

  “Trust?” Valerie said, her voice rising to a shriek.

  “Trust? Three lousy years, and all I get is ‘Good luck,’ and you call that trust?”

  Will turned back to her. “Oh, come on, Valerie,” he began, and then she picked up his beer mug and threw the contents of it in his face.

  “I thought so,” Nancy said and slipped out of her chair to get a towel.

  “Hey,” Jake said, getting up, but Kate caught his arm and pulled him back down.

  “Will’s a big boy, and he got himself into this,” she told him. “He can get himself out.”

  “Don’t bother with two weeks’ notice,” Will was saying quietly to Valerie while he dripped on the floor. “Just leave me an address so I can forward your mail.”

  “Just like that,” Valerie said.

  “Val, it was always just like that,” Will said. He took the towel Nancy handed him and blotted the beer off his face. “I thought you knew that. You never asked for anything else.”

  “What do you mean, ‘He got himself into this’?” Jake said to Kate.

  “They lived together for three years,” Kate said. “Obviously there were expectations there.”

  “Three years,” Valerie said with venom. “I thought—”

  “No, you didn’t,” Will said. “I never told you I loved you, and you never told me. The one thing we had going for us was honesty. Don’t blow that now. Go off with Prescott and have the career you’ve always wanted. This place was too small for you, anyway. You’ve always hated it.”

  “You won’t forget me,” Valerie said.

  “That’s for sure,” Will said, and turned back to the table.

  Valerie turned and walked away, with Donald Prescott trailing in her wake.

  “Sorry about that,” Will said. “Now where were we?”

  “What do you mean, ‘expectations’?” Jake asked Kate.

  “Do you want to fight about this?” Kate said.

  “Oh, hell,” Will said. “Don’t. It’s over. Why should you fight about it? Personally, I’m relieved.”

  “I know you are,” Kate snapped. “It’s the worst thing I know about you.”

  “Hey,” Jake said. “He didn’t ask for any of this.”

  “Yes, he did,” Nancy said. “I’ve got no time for Valerie, but she got screwed on this.”

  “Feel free to discuss my personal life,” Will said.

  “You owed her more than ‘She’s yours’ after three years,” Kate said.

  “He did not,” Jake said. “Stay out of this.”

  “She’s hurt,” Kate said. She looked over at Will. “It wasn’t kind.”

  “I don’t believe this,” Jake said angrily.

  “Being kind to Valerie,” Will explained, “is a waste of time. She only hears what she wants to hear unless you’re so blunt that you’re rude.”

  “Maybe,” Kate said. “But that was brutal.”

  Will looked over at Nancy and she nodded.

  “Okay,” Will sighed and stood. “I’ll apologize.”

  “Are you out of your mind?” Jake said.

  “I didn’t say I’d take her back,” Will said. “It won’t hurt me to say I was a jerk. Maybe I was. We were together for three years. Maybe she deserves a better goodbye.”

  “No, she doesn’t,” Jake said. “She’s a bitch. She tried to run Nancy out of business and you into marriage. She deserves exactly what she got.”

  “Nobody deserves what she got,” Kate said.

  Jake glared at her, and she glared back.

  “Well, at the least the two of you are communicating,” Will said with a slow grin. “That’s more than Val and I ever did.”

  “Communication like this, I don’t need,” Jake said, and pushed his chair back.

  “Where are you going?” Kate asked.

  “Away from you,” Jake said and stalked off toward the bar. Will shook his head and followed him, saying something to him and slapping him on the back before he went out the door to find Valerie.

  “What’s wrong with Jake?” Nancy asked. “He never gets mad, and now he’s been tense all night.”

  “We’ve had a bad day,” Kate said. “I’m leaving day after tomorrow, and we have a few things to work out. Such as whether we’re ever going to see each other again.”

  “Day after tomorrow?” Nancy sat back in her chair. “So soon?”

  “Well, I have this career,” Kate said. “It’s not much, but it keeps me in French Provincial furniture and Kentucky vacations.”

  Nancy looked unhappy. “When are you coming back?”

  Kate sighed. “From the looks of Jake at the moment, never.”

  “He’s not that dumb,” Nancy said. “He’ll get over it.”

  Kate looked over at Jake, hunched over the bar, his whole body still tense with anger. “Not any time soon,” she said. “Not unless I do something about it.”

  “Well, do something about it,” Nancy said. “He may be a big enough fool to throw what you’ve got away, but you’re not.” When Kate didn’t answer, she stole a glance at her. “Are you?”

  Kate stared at Jake’s back. “No,” she said. “I surely am not.”

  At ten, Jake took Kate home in silence.

  “Come down to the lake with me,” she said.

  “I’m tired.”

  “No, you’re not.” Kate could feel her temper rise. “You’re mad at me because of what Valerie did. That’s dumb. Come down to the lake with me.”

  “No.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Good night.”

  “Fine.” She got out of the car and slammed the door. “But I’m going. And when you find my poor drowned body in the morning, you’ll have no one but yourself to blame.”

  She started down the path, and after a few moments she heard him behind her.

  Damn right, she thought. I’ll teach you to sulk, buddy.

  Kate kicked off her shoes and threw her hat on the shore, and then she pushed the boat into the water and climbed in. Jake caught the prow just as she picked up the oars.

  “Where are you going?”

  “The willow. I want to see it at night.”

  He climbed in. “Give me the oars, or we’ll be out here all night.”

  When they got there, Jake rested on the oars without tying the boat up. “How long do you need to look at the willow?”

  “Not long.” She stood up in the boat and took off her vest.

  “Oh, hell. Not now, Kate,” Jake said. “Sit down. You’re going to tip us over.”

  “The thing is,” Kate said, ignoring him, “if I were a man I’d be straightforward about this and just say, ‘Jake, you’re being a real jerk about this because I am not and never have been either Valerie or Tiffany, and you have no right or rea