Page 137 of Always Be an Us

Declan

Nate Huntley's eyes flare open.

His throat bobs and his shoulders tense. His right eye also twitches when he said, "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

In hindsight, he’s a terrible liar. Whoever hired him should have hired someone else because all his tics tell me I’m on the right track.

"You made a mess in my office because you were trying to frame it as a break-in or robbery when in fact you were simply getting pictures of the building plans. Isn’t that right?"

His eye twitches even more.

"Who put you up to this?" I say. "Who hired you?"

"No one hired me." His eyes fly wildly across the room. "You’re insane. Where's Jensen?"

"Not here. But even if he were here, do you really think that old man can protect you from me?" I lean forward and Nate backs away from the cell immediately but not before I grab his shirt through the railing and shove him forward against the bars. I smell the bitter scent of metal and fear, and smile without humor. "Tell me who hired you."

"No one hired me. I already told you why I broke in."

"What’s your endgame? You guys delay the progress of the hotel until what? Until I give up and leave? And then what? You go to jail just to get rid of me?"

Nate's lips tighten and he looks away, but he doesn’t have to answer because my mind is already working.

"Or maybe you don’t plan on going to jail?" I cock my head. "That means whoever is behind this has the power to get you out of trouble."

That narrows my options considerably.

It could be the mayor, but the man didn’t show any sign of animosity toward me, and he didn't put up any opposition to my plan to demolish the Pink Hotel.

According to my father, it was the mayor who approached him and pushed for the sale anyway, hoping that revitalizing the town would help his reelection efforts.

He has nothing to gain from this.

Of course, it could be someone else using the mayor, but I don’t know enough about the town dynamics to make a judgment of that quite yet. I need more information.

"What’s going on here?"

The question announces Jensen's arrival. I didn't hear the door open or close, probably because I was caught in this intense back and forth with Nate that drowned out the sound of anything else.

I release Nate, taking a step back as he backs all the way to the opposite wall.

"It ain’t visiting hours, bud," Officer Jensen says.

I open my mouth to tell him that I can't wait for visiting hours, but a light bulb goes off in my head.

Instead, I ask, "Do you keep a record of all the visitors that have been here to see Nate?"

A quick glance at Nate shows a panicked expression that he quickly tries to hide under mere annoyance. Again, I’m on the right track.

"What do you need it for?" Officer Jensen asks.

"I’ll let you know once I see it."

Jensen hesitates for a second, then nods and walks back around the corner. I glare at Nate, trying to tease out more information from his expression until Officer Jensen returns holding a notepad in his hand.

Nate has only received about ten visitors since he's been here. Most of the names I don’t recognize but two of them I do.

Poppy Moon.

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