Page 14 of The Last Love Song
“I hope it’s good news, Sam. I don’t have time for more problems in this town.” Zach didn’t like the vibe he picked up. He’d convinced Sam to come back to Heartache and take the sheriff slot after Zach had been appointed mayor.
Not just because they were friends, either. He’d always hoped they’d find Ellie’s stalker who’d escaped Sam that night long ago.
Sam hadn’t been tough to convince. Ellie, on the other hand, hadn’t been pleased to be left behind in San Jose.
“You asked me last week to look into the rumblings on the town council.” Sam shoved his hands in his pants pockets, taking in the wedding breakfast festivities.
“I did.” Zach’s gut knotted. “I don’t like rumors and gossip BS.”
“Some of the council members believe there’s money missing from the town coffers. Last month, one of the temporary accounting clerks found an error in a ledger when they were transferring the data to digital formats.”
Zach swore under his breath. Multiple times. His eye shot to Heather as she moved through the party guests, exchanging words with almost everyone she passed.
She would have been a great mayor. And now—after a few heated touches they’d shared last night and this morning—he knew she would have been an incredible date. Or more. The chemistry there had him buzzing from the other side of the lawn.
But he’d thought she’d been hiding something. What if it was something a whole lot darker than he’d imagined?
“That’s not the worst of it.” Sam’s voice yanked Zach back to the matter at hand.
“Worse than missing money from the town’s books and a restless town council secretly looking for answers? Why didn’t anyone come to me?” His head throbbed. He hated scandal and secrets. “And how the hell can things go downhill from there?”
“Apparently, the accounting problem dates back to Mayor Finley’s term. Two of the older council members hadn’t reported it because they feared Mayor Finley knew about the missing money and never reported it.”
Zach’s head shot up. “What are you implying?”
“Not one damn thing.” Sam shook his head. “You know me better than that. I don’t deal in implications. I’m reporting the nature of the whispers you’ve been hearing lately. I spoke to Rodney Baker, the council’s oldest member, at length. ”
“Shit.” Zach knew Sam well enough to be one hundred percent sure he had his facts straight. No doubt that’s why his gut sank.
“Exactly. That beautiful woman you were just talking to? Rodney Baker thinks her father knew all about the accounting issues. According to Baker, Mayor Finley was supposed to be ‘looking into it’ before he died. Baker never reported it after the mayor’s death because he never could hunt down any error in the books anyhow.”
“Until last month when the clerk discovered it,” Zach clarified.
“Correct.”
Zach couldn’t sit on information like this for more than a day or two. It needed to be made public so the town could figure out what had happened. Zach was willing to bet the Finley family would soon be embroiled in scandal.
As for Heather? It was a hell of a way to get his wish, but he knew for a fact she wouldn’t be going anywhere to chase her dreams when her family threatened to become front-page news.
Chapter Four
Megan Bryer tooka deep breath and reminded herself of all the good reasons for taking extra work like this catering job on the weekends.
She needed the money. She couldn’t afford the kind of college she dreamed about without some cash of her own to put toward it. And a good college would take her far away from Heartache and all the annoying people at her high school.
She hurried past the canopy where her classmates from Crestwood High were playing video games on a giant projection screen. They looked comfortable sprawled out on a ring of pillows.
“Nice shoes, Megan,” one of the girls in the circle called as she texted on her phone.
Laughter all around.
Megan ignored them, refusing to look over. Her black off-brand tennis shoes were fairly standard for waitressing, although hers did have a hole in the big toe. When worn with black socks, it hardly seemed noticeable.
“Would you call that a sneaker or a sandal?” another girl whispered just loudly enough to make sure Megan could hear.
More laughter.
Okay, maybe the big toe hole was kinda visible. But who would comment on it besides a drippy teenager with nothing better to do than make fun of people and spend their rich parents’ money?
