Chapter 75 Terry’s New Blackmail
“We can go into my room, I guess,” Luke grumbled as he showed Terry into his guest quarters. “Though by talking with you, I’m probably just offering you more material for your next media fest.”
“What are you complaining about?” Terry scoffed. “The media didn’t even get to you.”
“I just want to know what you have planned that’s scarier than the media.”
“It’s funny you should ask...” Terry strolled to the other side of the room, turning to look slyly back at him.
There was something sexy about her. Maybe she was wearing less makeup than usual, bringing out her real features, but he was determined not to fall for it this time.
“As far as Hallie is concerned, the only thing scarier than the media is mama and daddy. If she was to look bad in front of them...”
“How are you going to make her look bad?” Luke asked impatiently.
“Ha! You think she’s so innocent, don’t you? That I have to come up with some plot to make her look bad? Well, guess what, little Miss Perfect is not so squeaky clean. Far from it.”
Luke raised his eyebrows. “Let me guess, she once got a parking ticket?”
“You’re getting warmer,” Terry said in a sing-song voice. Her perfume soothed his senses as she came closer to him, a little too close.
“Whatever you think she did, it’s probably not true,” Luke said. He didn’t like that they were talking about this at all. He wanted nothing to do with gossip about something bad Hallie had supposedly done.
Terry kept up her teasing tone as she circled him like an attractive shark. “What if I were to tell you she once got in trouble with the law? You wouldn’t believe me, would you?”
“Just spit it out,” Luke said, “what do you think she did?”
“It’s not what I think,” she said, pulling out her phone, “It’s what an officer of the law clearly remembers. Let me play this recording for you...”
She pressed some buttons on her phone, and Luke heard a recording that sounded like it was made in a restaurant or a bar, with music playing in the background.
First, it was Terry’s voice asking if Hallie had really been caught shoplifting and how old was she when it happened.
Then a voice Luke recognized as Rob, the police officer, came on: “Sixteen, maybe seventeen.”
Then Terry’s voice, sounding eager: “Where did you catch her?” Rob replied: “I didn’t ‘catch’ her. She was apprehended at the store and I was called to the scene.”
Terry pressed ‘pause’ on the recording as Luke stared at the phone in disbelief.
“This is probably some kind of scam,” he finally said. “I don’t think it’s real.”
Terry shook her head sadly like a teacher disappointed with her dull student. “Everyone thinks she’s better than me. Even you, who should know us pretty well by now... Well, guess what, mama and daddy are going to be shocked when they find out Hallie is not so perfect.”
“Why are you telling me?” Luke wondered.
“I’m giving you one last chance to convince Hallie that the ranch should be mine,” Terry said firmly, “You didn’t take my previous ultimatum very seriously, so maybe you really are over-confident. I wonder if you’ll be so blasé about Hallie’s wellbeing?”
“Are you blackmailing me again?” Luke pronounced, trying to sound bored. “If that’s all you got, I am extremely uninterested.”
“You can play it cool,” Terry said, “but I know deep down you really care about Hallie. And you wouldn’t want this news to leak out. Just think about what I’ve said...”
She left the room quietly, and Luke barely noticed because he was deep in thought.
He had to do right by Hallie this time. Kissing Terry had been a huge mistake; he’d learned that the hard way. Obviously, Hallie thought of Satan as being an innocent little lamb compared to her sister.
Luke could not give in to her demands. At the same time, he knew he had to tread carefully. If Hallie was to perceive him as conspiring with Terry in any way, he might never get out of Texas in one piece.
Luke decided to be honest, or at least partially honest. He had to make sure Hallie was forewarned about what was coming, or else she would see him as a traitor and hate him forever, if she didn’t already.