Page 4 of Suspicion

Collateral.

He didn’t know how he felt about taking another human being. Or perhaps to be clearer, he didn’t give the ethical issue any thought. Ella Bennett was a surety, the closest thing to a guarantee Tucker had that her father would cough up the money he owed. It had been years, after all, that Bennett’s debt had stood.

It was time for Tucker to be paid.

He didn’t intend to hurt the girl. He’d feed and keep her warm, but she was his until her father paid his debts, and Tucker had little in the way of a conscience left to pity her fate.

“You heard me.”

He had no intention of playing games with his new property. It was bad enough that instead of amassing the cash he was due, he was now responsible for the woman panting in front of him. He hoped she wouldn’t be more trouble than she was worth, though judging by her panicked responses, he already knew the answer to that riddle.

Women were always trouble.

“No.” Shaking her head, she sent her dark blonde hair flying. “You said I was yours, but that’s ridiculous. I don’t belong to anyone. I don’t even know who you are!”

“So, you did hear me.” He blew out a breath.

Her theatrics were exactly what he’d feared. Tucker had a good solitary life in the wilderness. He didn’t need anyone, let alone a member of the so-called fairer sex, to complicate things.

Frustratingly, though, Bennett had left him with little choice. The man was a ghost and damn near impossible to find, but when Tucker had finally pinned him down, his foe’s finances were in a heap of trouble. The four million in adjusted currency that Tucker was due was nowhere to be found in Bennett’s bank accounts or available from his other assets.

That absence had led Tucker to the inevitable conclusion—if Bennett couldn’t pay up, then he’d pay another way. Tucker had been in favor of breaking half the idiot’s bones, one by one and in chronological order, but the groveling man had instead presented the idea of his daughter.

Watching her frightened green eyes, Tucker recalled the conversation with the sniveling man.

“Where’s my money, Bennett?” Tapping the toe of his huge black boot against the flooring in Alexander’s office, Tucker’s finger caressed the gun’s trigger. He didn’t like guns anymore and had no intention of shooting the bastard, but using Bennett’s own weapon against him was too good an opportunity to miss.

“It’s like I said.” Bennett gasped for air. His bloodied and broken nose made the usual route for air all but impossible. “I don’t have it yet, but I will get it, Tucker. I promise.”

“Oh, you promise?” Tucker laughed at the shallow vow. Bennett’s promises were worth less than his failing businesses. “Well, why didn’t you tell me before? I could have saved myself a journey here.”

“I mean it.” Bennett threw his head back in an attempt to stem the flow of blood from his nostrils. “I’m good for it. I just don’t have it yet.”

“Then my original plan continues.” Tucker chuckled as he waved the gun over Bennett’s head. The advantage of having already knocked him to the ground was that it wouldn’t take much effort to keep him there. “I’ll break a bone for every thousand you owe me, but don’t worry, when the pain gets too much for you to tolerate, I’ll pistol whip you to sleep. We can start again when you’re ready.”

“Wait!” Lifting his palm, Bennett urged for patience. “I have a contingency plan.”

A contingency plan? This ought to be good! “Go on…” Tucker could do with a laugh.

“What about my daughter?” Bennett met his eyes, finally giving up on controlling the blood loss. His white shirt was already completely ruined.

“What?” Tucker snapped. Why was the man who owed him bleating on about his family?

“You could take her as a warranty.” Bennett’s breath was ragged as he implored from his knees. “An assurance that I’ll get you your money.”

“Your daughter?” Tucker couldn’t believe how low Bennett was prepared to stoop to save his own sorry ass. “Why would I want to take your daughter?”

“She’s all I have.”

If he didn’t know him better, Tucker might have thought Bennett’s voice wavered with emotion, but he was sure that wasn’t true. Bennett was a worm. Only a spineless piece of trash would offer his own child to a man like Tucker Bowman.

“You want me to take your child as collateral?” Even Tucker couldn’t believe Bennett’s lack of ethics.

“Just for a while.” Bennett shrugged, spitting out a mouthful of blood behind him before he turned back to his antagonist. “Until I can get the money to you.”

“How long?”

Why was he even considering going along with the absurd plan? The last thing Tucker needed was another person at the cabin, let alone a whining, spoiled princess raised by Alexander Bennett, but something about the plan chimed with him.

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