I was pretty sure that was an insult but I decided to let it go. “Yeah.” I stuck out my tongue in Eliot’s direction. “I’m suddenly the good one ... other than that whole being a suspect in a potential murder thing.”
“Speaking of that, what’s Ludington’s condition?” Eliot smoothly redirected the conversation, another of his strong skills.
“He’s no longer in a coma,” Jake replied, seemingly happy for the conversational reprieve. “The doctors are cautiously optimistic, but they’re not saying he’s out of the woods yet.”
The information bolstered me. “That’s good. I guess.” I frowned as I struggled to think through my feelings. “I never thought I’d see the day when I was hoping for Tad’s full recovery.”
“You and me both,” Jake lamented. “The thing is, he’s not awake yet. He’s no longer in a coma, but he hasn’t regained consciousness for more than a few minutes.”
“Does Jacobs have people sitting outside of his room?” Eliot asked.
“Yeah. Why?” Jake’s expression darkened. “Don’t go over there. You’ll only get in trouble. No good can come of it.”
“We won’t,” I reassured him quickly. “We’re not idiots. Well ... sometimes I’m an idiot, but I don’t feel like being one today.”
He tugged on his ear, a reaction I remembered from our time together as teens. He didn’t believe me. He also didn’t want to push things too far. Finally, he heaved out a sigh. “I need you to be careful, Avery,” he said. “If you push Jacobs too far ... .”
“She’ll be fine,” Eliot reassured him. “She’ll be with me.”
“Yeah, but I’m not sure she hasn’t been a bad influence on you,” Jake complained. “You were never known for blindly following the rules, but you’re not stupid. I’m pretty sure you guys are doing stupid stuff.”
“If we’re so stupid, why haven’t you caught us yet?” I challenged.
“I didn’t say you were stupid. I said you were doing stupid stuff. As for catching you ... .” He trailed off and narrowed his eyes at Eliot’s grin. “If there’s something I should know you have to tell me. I can’t help if you keep me in the dark.”
Eliot sobered. “You can’t help at all. Not on this one. I’ll take care of her. I’ll keep her out of trouble.”
“See, I’m not sure we’re not looking at the opposite scenario. I think it’s highly likely that she’ll drag you into trouble.”
Eliot shrugged. “If she does, it will probably be worth the trip. I’m sorry we can’t help you, but we’re on different sides of this one. You have a job to do as the sheriff. I have a job to do as her boyfriend. I won’t fail her. That’s where we are.”
Jake let loose a sigh and rubbed his stomach. “I think I’m getting an ulcer.”
I reassured him. “We have everything under control. Trust us.”
“I’ve never been so terrified in my life.”
“WHAT’S THE PLAN HERE?” I asked Eliot an hour later as we walked into the hospital. “He said Tad was awake. That doesn’t mean we can waltz up to the seventh floor and start questioning him.”
Eliot’s eyes were keen as he scanned the lobby. “I have a source here. She can help us.”
Suspicion rolled through me. “She?”
His lips curved as he slid his eyes to me. “Is there something you want to ask?”
Was there? I didn’t consider myself the jealous type. Sure, Fawn always annoyed me because she threw herself at him during her tenure in his shop. I wasn’t insecure about him leaving me for her or anything, though. He wasn’t the cheating sort. Still, he seemed cocky and I wanted to take him down a peg or two ... or three.
“Of course not,” I replied, blasé. “I have complete and total faith in you. I mean ... you would never use your looks to flirt with someone for information, or trade on a previous relationship in a way that was disrespectful to me. You know that would drive me crazy, which means I would force you along for the ride.”
He held my gaze. “See, I can’t tell if you’re putting me on or not.”
“I’m perfectly fine with whatever is about to happen. Just remember, if you’re allowed to flirt for information, so am I.”
His lips curved into a scowl. “I didn’t agree to that.”
“Oh, it’s a double standard, is it?”
“Yeah, and I’m fine with it. No flirting for you.” He grinned as he put his hand to my back and prodded me toward the elevators. “Let’s head up to the seventh floor.”
I balked. “What if the state troopers are there and recognize us?”
“We have to risk it. I know my chick is here and she’ll give us an update on Tad’s condition if we can find her.”
“Your ‘chick?’”
“Oh, don’t start.” He made a face as he pressed the button for the seventh floor. “You and I are walking a fine line between teasing and fighting. I don’t want to cross it.”
“Fine, but I’m totally going to flirt with the next guy I see if you’re not careful.”
“Go nuts.”
“UGH. I TAKE IT BACK.”
The first guy I saw on the seventh floor was eighty and had his hands in his pants. He sat in the lobby staring at the clock, apparently without a care about making a spectacle of himself.
Eliot snorted. “If you want to flirt with him for information, you have my permission.”
“I don’t need your permission ... and he doesn’t have any information. I ... .” I forgot what I was going to say when a comely brunette — she was a good four inches taller than me and had boobs the size of cantaloupes — sidled in our direction. She’d been heading the other way until she saw Eliot and performed a complete one-eighty to cut us off.
“Long time no see, handsome,” she gushed as she slid in front of me and threw her arms around Eliot for a friendly greeting.
I folded my arms over my chest and glared at him behind her back. He met my gaze, winked, and then carefully extricated himself from the embrace. “Brynn, you’re just the woman I was looking for.”
“I wish.” She batted her eyelashes. “You haven’t been looking for me for quite some time. I miss the old days when you would call me and we’d have a lost weekend.”
Ugh. I was totally going to lose my breakfast. “And how long ago was that?” I asked, drawing her attention.
“Too long.” Her expression reflected curiosity. “And you are?”
“This is Avery Shaw.” Eliot’s hand automatically went to my back. I wasn’t sure if it was meant as a proprietary move to let Brynn know he was taken or a proactive stance to make sure I didn’t grab her by the throat and wrestle her to the ground. She may have been bigger than me, but I fight dirty and enjoy it.
“Ah.” Realization flitted through her eyes. “This is the girlfriend.” Her smile turned rueful. “I’ll have you know that you’re the reason I spent three months eating ice cream and cursing every reporter I saw on the television.”
I frowned, confused. “That’s a normal day for me. I’m not sure I understand.”
“Eliot and I used to date ... kind of,” she hedged. “It was more of an intermittent thing, nothing serious. When one of us was bored we called the other. The last time I called him he told me he was in a relationship with Macomb County’s top reporter. I was understandably jealous.”
What was I supposed to say to that? Should I apologize? Should I do my victory dance? Should I smack her in the face and run really fast so she couldn’t retaliate? I was genuinely at a loss. “Um ... okay.”
Eliot snorted at my reaction. “Brynn and I were never serious.”
“And yet you and Avery clearly are.” She stared so hard I felt distinctly uncomfortable. “I guess I never saw you as the settling down type.”
“I don’t know that I ever saw myself that way either,” Eliot admitted. “It’s worked out pretty well, though. We live together. We have a cat. She doesn’t cook ... or pick up her shoes. Life is perfect.”
“Well, good for you.” Br
ynn smiled. “I’m guessing this isn’t a coincidental visit. You need something.”
Eliot nodded without hesitation, glancing over his shoulder to make sure we were alone. Tad’s room was down the adjacent hallway and we were well out of sight of the state troopers guarding him. “What’s the deal with Tad Ludington?”
Brynn’s eyebrows hopped. “I guess I should’ve seen that coming. I saw the coverage of what happened the other night. I saw you in the background. I didn’t put it together at the time, but his shooting makes you look guilty.”
“I would gladly take the onus of the attention,” Eliot countered. “Avery has a long history with Ludington. She was with me at the time of the shooting, though. I swear she wasn’t involved.”
“I believe you.” She flashed a grim smile. “I don’t know what I can tell you. He’s out of the coma, but semi-conscious. They have him on heavy drugs for pain, so he spends most of his time sleeping.”
“Have the cops questioned him?” I asked.
“They’ve been in there, but I don’t know if they’ve been able to get information out of him. He wouldn’t be coherent. I don’t know that he’s tried to speak. Even if he did, he would be slurring his words and rambling. Any information he gives them would be suspect.”
“Which means he can’t clear you yet,” Eliot muttered, rubbing his chin. “That ... sucks.”
“You’re assuming he would clear me,” I pointed out. “It’s just as likely that he would lie and say I was guilty just to stick it to me.”
“He’s petty enough to do that,” Eliot agreed. “He’s also a survivor. If he has an enemy determined enough to want to kill him, he’ll want that person off the street. If it’s his wife, he’ll especially want to put the screws to her. He has a financial interest in how that relationship officially comes to an end. You might be an enticing target, but he’s not going to gloss over it if she’s the guilty party.”
“I hadn’t considered that. I ... .” I lost my train of thought when a familiar figure rounded the corner and pulled up short. She obviously wasn’t expecting to see us and I would’ve preferred not seeing her. “Fawn,” I said grimly.
Eliot jerked up his head and scowled when he realized who had joined the party. “Well, great.”
Brynn’s eyes went wide. “I take it things are about to get ugly.”
“They are,” Eliot agreed. “You should go now.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you the information you were looking for,” she said pointedly, smartly covering her tracks.
“No problem.” Eliot’s smile was wan. “We had to try.” He moved in front of me when Fawn decided to intercept us. He expected trouble and wanted to make sure no punches were thrown. “We were just checking on Ludington,” he volunteered.
“You were just checking on him?” Fawn’s tone was haughty. “I’m sure you were checking to see if you could slide in and finish the job. Well, I won’t allow that. If I have to step in front of the gun and take this bullet myself, I will.”
Well that was over the top. “What gun?” I asked, bewildered. “We don’t have a gun.”
“Only because the cops confiscated it from your car. They told me all about it. You should be ashamed of yourself, going after a man just because you disagree with him politically. Of course, he told me the other part, about how you’re still pining for him after all these years. You need to let it go.”
“Oh, geez.” I rolled my eyes so hard it was a wonder I didn’t topple over. “The only thing I want from him is my faked orgasms back. That’s on me for trying to bolster his ego.”
Eliot shot me a quelling look and raised his hands in a placating manner. “We’re not here to cause problems, Fawn. Avery didn’t do this. I think deep down you know that.”
“I don’t know that.” She shook her head. “I don’t know that at all. She’s hated him as long as I’ve known her. I heard her tell you she wouldn’t allow him to win this election. I didn’t think she would go this route to make sure it wouldn’t happen, but I guess that’s on me, because I underestimated her.”
“Oh, don’t be an idiot,” I groused. “I didn’t mean I was going to kill him, only that I was going to allow him to embarrass himself publicly so that he lost on his own. That’s what I always do.”
“If you say so.” Fawn lifted her chin higher. “I think this whole thing is karma really. For you, not him. He did nothing to deserve this. Now he’s going to win the election because of what you did. That’s justice.”
I was way behind. “He’s going to win the election? How do you know that?”
“The new polls are in.” She waved the sheet of paper she held. “He’s ahead now. You’ve made him a martyr. I want to thank you. Now I’m going to be a county commissioner’s secretary. That’s much better than the job I used to have.” She gave Eliot a pointed look. “As for you two, you should go. If you don’t willingly leave, I’ll call the troopers over here and you can explain yourselves.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Eliot grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the elevator. “We just wanted to make sure he was okay. We’ll be on our way.”
“That would be best.” Fawn’s eyes landed on our linked fingers. “I know it’s not my place to tell you this now that I no longer work for you, Eliot, but you really should cut her loose. She’ll do nothing but drag you down.”
“It was never your place to say anything of the sort,” he countered. “As for us, don’t worry. We’ll be fine. Focus on your boss. Someone wants to kill him, but not us.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“And that’s why you’ll be blind when the real threat shows. Keep your eyes open, Fawn. This isn’t over.”
18 Eighteen
Our run-in with Fawn had unintended consequences. I knew exactly where I wanted to go next.
“Are you sure about this?” Eliot leaned against his truck in front of the Garvey Insurance Agency in Sterling Heights an hour later. “I think this might be a bad idea.”
He was entitled to his opinion ... even when it was wrong. That’s what I told myself as I tried to rein in my temper. He was doing more than just serving as a chauffeur. He was helping, or at least trying to.
“Leona Garvey was polling ahead of Tad for the county commission seat until he was shot. She’s bound to have some feelings on the subject.”
“I don’t doubt it. Like you said, though, she was polling ahead. Why would she want to kill him?”
“I didn’t say I thought she was a suspect.”
“Then why are we here?”
I shrugged. “Maybe I simply like talking about local politics. Have you considered that?”
“Numerous times. You’re a strange and marvelous creature. You find fascination in the oddest of things. But you demanded to come here for a reason, and I want to know what that reason is before we head inside.”
Ugh. He wasn’t going to let it go. I knew him well enough to recognize that. “Fine.” I threw up my hands in frustration. “A scenario popped into my head when Fawn mentioned Tad suddenly surging ahead in the polls.”
“I’m waiting.”
“What if Leona was one of the people he was blackmailing?”
He furrowed his brow. “How would that work exactly? It’s not as if she dropped out of the race or anything.”
“No, but he might’ve instructed her to do that if he lost.”
“If she were to win and then immediately quit, would he be named county commissioner in her place?”
I shook my head. “No. The county Democrats would get to name a replacement to finish out the term, or at least serve until a special election could be held.”
“So then how does your idea hold?”
“It doesn’t.” He was right. It didn’t make sense. “Unless she was supposed to back out at the last second.” I brightened considerably. “If she waited until the last day before the election and then backed out, he would win by default.”
“And you think that’s wha
t we’re dealing with?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“I don’t remember seeing her name in the files you photographed. Admittedly, we still haven’t been through them. We need to free up some time to do that.”
“And we will. The thing is, Tad was shot in his home. Wouldn’t it make sense for the person who did it to grab his or her file after pulling the trigger? Why leave a big manila envelope pointing at them?”
He was quiet for a moment, contemplative. “I get what you’re saying,” he said finally. “I don’t know this woman. Do you think she’s the sort of person Tad could dig up dirt on?”
“He managed to dig up dirt on me and I’m pure as the driven snow.”
Eliot made a face. “Let’s not go crazy. You’re not evil or anything — at least as far as I’m concerned — but you’re hardly without blame. You’ve done some weird things in your life. That’s only one of the reasons I like you.”
“Aw. That’s kind of sweet.”
He smirked. “I agree that it makes sense for the person who shot Tad to steal his or her file — if that file exists. But I’m worried you’re locking yourself into a hunch that may not be correct. I mean ... what if Tad simply ticked off a neighbor? What if it’s the wife? What if it’s someone else entirely?”
“I can’t live my life with what-ifs,” I argued. “We need a direction to look. Leona is a direction. We should be able to rule her in or out pretty quickly.”
“How well do you know her?”
“Well enough to warn you that she’s probably going to be snotty with me.”
“That goes for half the politicians in this county. I can handle that. She won’t freak out and pull a gun, will she?”
“Unlikely. Never say never, though.”
“Ugh. I hate it when you say things like that.”
LEONA’S SECRETARY, A BUBBLY BRUNETTE, didn’t recognize me. I thought about letting Eliot schmooze her to get us into Leona’s inner sanctum, but I figured that could backfire on me. Instead, I volunteered my name and sat in the waiting area like a good little girl. Leona herself came up to collect us, and she looked more curious than anything else when she arrived.
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