stepping back as if the guy had hit her, while a little bell dinged in Clay’s head. “Who bought them?”
Clay knew, instantly. David Fox had been talking to this guy and, when Clay saw him at the beach, he’d heard Fox use the name Tomlinson on the phone.
“Can’t say, ma’am, but both neighbors closed this afternoon,” the banker said.
The bastard had stolen the land right out from under her. Clay was next to Lacey in a flash, his hand on her back.
“That’s not possible. I haven’t been informed—”
“I’m informing you now.” He pulled an envelope from his breast pocket. “The owners have asked me to return your deposit on both lots, along with my client’s apologies for the inconvenience.”
“Who is your client, Mr. Howell?” Clay demanded. As if he didn’t know.
“The buyer prefers to maintain anonymity.” He handed Lacey the envelope, added a nod good-bye, and headed back to the parking lot, as efficient as a process server.
“Lacey,” Clay said, gripping her arm. “I know who did this to you.”
She looked up at him. “Who?”
“David Fox.”
She just shook her head. “I can’t believe anything you say anymore.”
“Well, you better believe this, because I’m right. He had a meeting with Tomlinson at Barefoot Bay. I was there, I heard the conversation, I heard him use the name Tomlinson. And I just saw him talking to this banker guy in the parking lot less than ten minutes ago.” He took her hand, pulling her around the corner to see if he could spot Fox again, but he’d disappeared. “Your ex is the client Howell is protecting. He has the money, the motivation, the need to control you.”
She held up her hands to stop him, the check in one fist, the affidavit in the other, and an expression of pure distrust on her face. “Please, Clay. Just leave.”
“Lacey, I heard him say ‘Mr. Tomlinson’ on the phone, and I just saw him talking to Ira Howell. I swear I did, Lacey.”
“Mommy! Are you out here?”
Lacey’s face registered a flash of horror. “I want you to leave,” she said in a soft whisper.
“Leave? The island? No, Lacey, I’m not.”
“Lace? You out here?” a woman called.
“Leave!” She gave him a little push. “I need to be with my family.”
“Meet me at Barefoot Bay tonight, Lacey.”
Her jaw dropped. “You have got to be kidding.”
“I’m not kidding. And I’m not leaving this island. I’ve never walked away from any challenge, and I’m not about to start with a woman I care about as much as you.”
“A woman or a job?”
Both. “Meet me tonight at the beach at Barefoot Bay. We’re not done, Lacey.”
But the look in her eyes said they were.
Chapter Twenty-one
Seriously, Lacey? You’re going to believe the accusation of a known criminal over the father of your child? A man who claims to have heard me use a name on the phone twenty feet away?” David lifted his feet onto the ottoman and locked his hands behind his head. “I think you have bigger problems than trying to pin that deal on me.”
Lacey glanced at the kitchen, where Tessa and Zoe were making food with Ashley, giving Lacey the quiet moment she’d been waiting for since they’d returned from the town hall. Jocelyn had texted that she was going back to the hotel for a “client emergency,” so Tessa and Zoe had returned to the house with Lacey.
“Clay heard you say his name.”
“But he didn’t actually see me talking to anyone.”
“Why would he lie about this?”
David let out a hearty laugh. “Why wouldn’t he lie is a better question. Lacey, I really hope you have this cougar fantasy out of your head now.”
Irritation stung at the words. “Well, you’re not a liar, David, and I notice you haven’t directly answered the question. Did you or did you not meet with Mr. Tomlinson at the beach when you ran into Clay?”
He let out a long, slow, put-upon sigh that sounded so much like Ashley when she was trapped and in trouble. “I did meet with him, that’s true.”
“Why?”
“I thought I could help you.”
“How could meeting with Mr. Tomlinson possibly help me?”
Another sigh of resignation. “By buying the property for you—”
“So you did?”
“—as a gift. To save you the added expense and show you how much I care and want to be involved in your life and your project.”
Why did every word that came out of his mouth sound like bullshit? Because so often it was. “If that’s true, then I can buy the property back directly from