Chapter 9

Jarrod took Libby back to work, leaving her there shaking with the speed with which things were happening, but with a squeeze of her hand meant to be reassuring. "I'll be back at the end of the day and let you know where things stand," Jarrod said. "Assuming, of course, you feel well enough to make it until the end of the day."

His eyes asked if she was feeling ill again, but she nodded. "So far, so good," she said. "If I need to leave, Mr. Luce will certainly be here when you come back and we can talk tomorrow."

Jarrod went on his way then, the first stop being the real estate broker's office where he put in a contract on the house Libby chose. It was for about 5% less than the seller was asking for, but the broker said, "They might take it. They wanted a fast turnover. Now, how about that land you bought across the river? Are you ready to put it on the market?"

Jarrod laughed. "Not on the open market yet. I have a few people to talk to face to face. You might say I'm going to broker that land myself."

"I might be interested in buying it myself," the broker said.

Jarrod raised an eyebrow. "Make me an offer."

He spent the rest of the day that way, talking to men he knew might be interested in the property he bought from Libby, getting initial offers and happily telling men that he already had a better offer, when he had one. That usually prompted a higher offer. By the time Jarrod made his last stop at Ben Gordon's, he had a solid offer for very good money that would just about cover what he needed to repay the personal loan he took out to buy a new house for Libby plus what he paid for her equity and for buying out Ben Gordon's mortgage. Libby's property was turning out to be the keystone to commercial development in that area, and people wanted it.

He enjoyed the heck out of telling Gordon about the offer he had on the table. "I have to tell you, Ben," Jarrod said, "that if you make an offer, I probably have more than one man willing to make a higher one. It's been that productive an afternoon for me."

Gordon sighed, but smiled a nasty smile. "Jarrod, you're an astute businessman and you know I am too. Bidding wars are not for me. You know I'll make you an offer and it will be a final one."

"Make it a good one," Jarrod said, "because if it's not substantially above the offer I already have I'm going to keep shopping the property."

Gordon made him an offer. Jarrod shook his head.

"Ben, you know me as well as I know you," Jarrod said. "That's not 'substantially above the offer I already have.' If you want this property, be serious about getting it."

Gordon looked like he was chewing on it.

But he was chewing too long. Jarrod got up from the chair in front of Gordon's desk. "Think harder and faster, Ben. I'm going to keep shopping. I'll make my decision tomorrow morning."

"I just offered you more than you have now," Gordon said.

"Not enough more," Jarrod said. "And by the way, I'm still waiting for that mortgage release. I don't think you want to run afoul of the business community or the law by holding it hostage."

"You'll have it tomorrow," Gordon said.

Jarrod nodded a good-bye thank you and left.

He went straight to the mercantile but Mr. Luce there told him that Libby had begun to weaken and gone home two hours earlier. She said she'd see Jarrod here at the shop in the morning. Jarrod wasn't surprised. Libby had been pushing herself by planning to work all day, and he knew the stress of all the rapid changes weren't good for her either. But he had her safety in mind. He was going to get her through this, to a better life.

Jarrod knew shopping the property across the river around was going to upset Ben Gordon, and probably one or two other men he'd talked to as well. He didn't want Libby to get stuck in a bidding war that Jarrod knew could turn ugly. The men he had talked to were all rich and powerful, and that land was key in the fight for the future money from the development possibilities on the other side of the confluence of rivers at Sacramento. Jarrod didn't want to be exposing anybody but himself to any chance that strong arm tactics might come about.

As the day closed and the sun began to set, Jarrod took dinner at his local club and then decided he was too tired to do anything other than head back to his hotel. He thought about sending a telegram back to the ranch to bring them up to date, to let them know the money had arrived but he'd be up here a bit longer. He decided he would do that in morning and headed down the street to his hotel.

Somebody grabbed him as he passed an alley and pulled him in. It was dark and Jarrod never even got a look at whoever was suddenly beating him up, but he took two hard blows to the gut and one to his left eye before going down. Trying to get up but failing, he heard a voice say, "Be careful who you sell to, Barkley - the bigger the man, the bigger your problem," and then whoever had grabbed him left.

His breath knocked out of him, it took a few moments for him to get up. He was shocked by the sudden attack, but not surprised. He just wished he knew who was behind it. It could have been Gordon but it could also have been someone else. He was surprised, in a way, that the messenger who had just pounded on him didn't give him a better idea of who it was he was supposed to be selling to, but it was folly to think he would come out and give a name. Maybe some indication of who was behind the attack would come later.

Jarrod finally got to his feet and was able to move, his breath coming back. The first place he went was to the nearest police station, only a block from the hotel. He put in his report but declined medical attention. He knew he didn't have enough information to give the police for them to start looking for his attacker, but Jarrod was preparing for the future. This might not be the last time he'd be beaten up on.

By the time he got to his hotel and looked in a mirror, he had a nice black eye on his pretty face. At least his eye wasn't swelling shut – at least not yet. He got some ice to put on it and lay down for a while, his ribs beginning to hurt, too. But whoever hit him didn't do a lot of damage, and Jarrod knew that was on purpose. In a way, he was surprised they left any damage that was visible, but then, he supposed whoever was sending the message wasn't sending it just to him. Other potential buyers were to get the message too when they saw Jarrod.

Jarrod eventually got out of his clothes and went to sleep. In the morning his eye wasn't that much worse, still not swollen closed, just bruised enough to be obvious. His ribs hurt more now than they had last night but it still wasn't bad enough to cripple him up. He had been beaten up a lot worse in his life. Jarrod got himself together, drew some suspicious stares when he had breakfast in the hotel café, and then headed for the mercantile to see if Libby had come to work.

She was there, but she looked tired. Jarrod looked at her with worry in his eyes. She looked at him with worry in hers. "You're not well," he said first.

"Neither are you," she said quickly in response.

Jarrod shook his head. "Libby, you don't need a relapse into that pneumonia."

"I just didn't sleep well," she said. "Someone attacked you, didn't they?"

"A lot of people want your old property," Jarrod said. "We need to get you a new home and get you moved pretty fast. I'm sorry it's been such a whirlwind."

"You put the offer on the new house in?"

Jarrod nodded. "I'm going to go check on it now. If it's been accepted, I'll try to get you in there today on a rental basis until closing. I'd like to get you off the property across the river before it turns into another Stone Creek."

Libby remembered how many battles she had to fight over the Stone Creek property. "Whatever you think, Dakota. But actually getting moved today, even if you can get the property – I don't think I can make that happen."

"Danny and I might be able to get you packed today and moved tomorrow," Jarrod said. "You don't need to be going to all that packing and moving effort anyway. You're not recovered enough from the pneumonia, and if you didn't sleep well, that's more worry."

"I'll be all right to work here today," she said. "You just take care of yourself and let me know what's happening when you can."

"I will take good care of you and Danny, Libby," Jarrod said. "I promise you that."

"I know you will," she said, and just then a customer came into the shop. "I need to get to work," Libby said.

Jarrod gave her a smile and left, heading for the office of the broker handling the house sale. He found out quickly that the seller had made a counter offer. Jarrod took it just as quickly, asked about rental and was replied to by the broker dangling the keys in front of him. Jarrod signed the appropriate papers, for himself and as Libby's agent. He paid a week's rent money in cash. Settlement on the sale was set for a week later.

And the broker said, "What kind of offers have you gotten on that property across the river?"

Jarrod told him.

The broker asked, "Is this bidding war what got you that black eye?"

"Apparently," Jarrod said. "Nice one, isn't it? Have you any idea who might have given it to me?"

The broker shook his head. "I've made my offer and I can tell you've gotten better. I'm out of the picture now. I don't care for beating men up or getting beaten up."

"Not a bad philosophy of life," Jarrod said. "I'll be moving the Mathewses into the house tomorrow. And I'm off to see about one more offer on the property across the river right now. Wish me luck."

"I'll just keep my fingers crossed you're in some kind of condition to make that move tomorrow," the broker said.

Jarrod gave him a smile and a twinkle of his good eye.