Page 30 of Stranded with the Billionaire
“Come on Jack,” Frank grinned. “We’re going to collect that reward on you.”
“It’s Jake,” Jake corrected the man then wondered why he cared. Help was literally a few dozen feet away. Finally, someone would go and rescue Sara. A profound feeling of relief swamped Jake as he made his way up the icy sidewalk to the building, escorted by Frank and Larry.
“Hey Justin!” Frank yelled in the empty front lobby. “We’d like to collect a reward for capturing this guy.”
Larry rolled his eyes. “Not for capturing him. He’s not wanted or anything. It’s a reward for finding him because he was lost.”
“What is going on?” A tired looking man in a brown uniform came forward with a yawn. “There’s no need to yell.”
Jake decided to take charge of the situation before it got out of hand. Stepping forward, he offered a hand in greeting to the officer. “Jake Ramesly. I’ve been missing since Tuesday after our plane crashed on the mountain. I believe the gentlemen with me are expecting a reward which I’m sure my family will be happy to provide once I can contact them.”
Justin shook Jake’s hand, sizing him up. “You’re that billionaire from the news that’s gone missing? I’ll need to see some identification.”
“Absolutely,” Jake pulled out his wallet, handing over his license. “There’s still another person from the plane in a cabin not far from here. She has an injury and needs to be rescued.”
Justin frowned as he typed in some information from the driver’s license into the computer. “You’ve got an unpaid parking ticket.”
“Excuse me?” Jake didn’t see how that was remotely relevant. “There’s a person still missing on the mountain and you’re worried about a parking ticket?”
“It’s in violation of the law,” Justin typed a few more words with his index finger only, taking his time.
“I’ll be happy to pay the ticket,” Jake growled. He couldn’t think of why he would have a ticket unless it was an extremely old one since he now used a driver and company car nearly all the time. “How much is it?”
“With the late fees and interest…” Justin trailed off as a woman in uniform entered the station.
She raised an eyebrow at the gathering. “Can I help you?”
Larry pulled off his woolen hat, causing his hair to stand on end. “Hello Sheriff Terrywittle.”
Frank mumbled a greeting as well, shuffling a little behind Larry as if to shield himself from the lawwoman.
“Look,” Jake interrupted. “I’m happy to pay the ticket. However, I think it’s a little more important to get a plan together to rescue Miss Hawkins.”
“Justin are you trying to scam this man out of money?” Terrywittle frowned. “I told you that if I caught you doing that trick again you’d be cleaning the cars for the next month.”
Justin sighed. “He’s loaded. He could have spared a little change for our petty cash.”
“Knock it off,” she pinned Jake with a hard look. “Who is Miss Hawkins?”
“The other passenger on the plane,” Jake explained, tamping down his frustration. What kind of town was this?
“His plane crashed,” Larry supplied helpfully. “He’s they guy from the news with a reward out on him.”
“I’m not wanted,” Jake said dryly as Terrywittle eyed him with suspicion. “My family appears to have put up a reward for my safe return.”
“Identification?” she asked firmly, holding out her hand.
“Your deputy has it,” Jake responded.
“It checks out,” Justin sourly replied, holding out Jake’s driver’s license for the sheriff’s perusal. “It’s a nice reward also. Too bad it goes to these two bumpkins.”
“Hey, we found him,” Frank said hotly.
“Frank, I thought I told you not to come into my station again unless it was an actual emergency,” Terrywittle said mildly as she inspected the identification. “Mr. Ramesly, welcome to Carvers Bend.”
Jake gratefully took his drivers license back as she offered it to him and shook her hand. “Thank you.”
“If you’ll have a seat, I’ll grab a local map and we can pinpoint where your travelling companion is,” Terrywittle moved to a filing cabinet.
