Page 39 of The Last Love Song
She didn’t want to bring any more trouble his way, though. So no matter how nice it felt to have him offer to help, she needed to figure her way out of this mess herself. First, she’d interview the mayor and see how close he was to launching his app for catching cyberbullies. If that didn’t work…?
She’d go straight to the source: J. D. Covington. She’d never wanted to speak to him again after breaking up with him, but if that’s what it took to make him call off his dogs, then she had to try.
Chapter Ten
Lights from tendifferent cameras flashed in Zach’s face as he fielded questions about the state of Heartache’s finances, the town’s infrastructure and why it took so long for an “accounting error” to come to light.
Sam was at his side. Most of the town council members were in attendance, although from the shocked expressions on their faces, Zach knew he’d caught them off guard. Only Harlan Brady and Rodney Baker, two of Mayor Finley’s closest advisers, seemed to have known about the missing funds.
Sam pinch-hit for Zach on some of the questions, answering anything that might benefit from the point of view of law enforcement. Zach tried to focus and do his job, but his thoughts constantly returned to Heather and what she must be thinking. She sat with her two brothers and her sister-in-law Bethany in the back of the room. Sam had invited the Finleys in case they wanted to make a statement, and Scott Finley had read a terse “we stand behind our father” paragraph, but did not take questions.
Heather had not met his eyes once, her expression fixed as a mask. Calm, neutral. And it stung to know she blamed him for not giving her more warning. Hell, maybe she blamed him forthe investigation in the first place. He didn’t know, since she’d shut down on him last night on the tense ride back to her house.
“We need to hire an outside accounting firm,” Tiffany McCord interjected, her strident voice grating along Zach’s every nerve as she rose to repeat a point she’d already made.
All the camera lenses focused on her. The only benefit of hearing her shrill demand for a fourth time was that—with the cameras off him for a moment—he could swear beneath his breath and roll his eyes while he pretended to look at the floor.
“How can we trust the current administration to investigate something that has been willfully overlooked for over a year?”
Wasn’t she a part of the current administration? He hadn’t expected to be flayed by the town council, especially when he’d lent Tiffany his support for her grand opening just the day before.
“Ma’am…” Sam cut her off. “If you’ll take a seat, we have time for a few more questions from media members only.”
Tiffany did not sit.
“This question is for themayor.” She tossed Sam an even look. “When I was running a Fortune 500 company, we would have considered it a conflict of interest to allow a town sheriff to investigate the books for the mayor who is his friend.”
Sam tensed. He was probably the only guy in town who hated this kind of drama more than him.
“Heartache is a small town, Mrs. McCord. I’d like to think we’re all friends.”
“Family first.” She repeated Mayor Finley’s slogan with a mocking air. “But at what cost to the rest of the town?”
“Sam and I aren’t related,” Zach reminded her, standing. “If there are no more questions…”
“I have one.” A staffer from the local radio station raised his pen in the air, the only guy in the room taking notes on paper while everyone else thumbed a record button on theirelectronics. “Mayor, a more pertinent conflict of interest might be your relationship with Mayor Finley’s daughter. Can you tell us the nature of your relationship with Heather Finley?”
Heads swiveled as people turned to look at Heather. Zach carefully did not.
He cleared his throat. “I value Ms. Finley’s volunteer work with the town’s recreation department. I consider her a friend.”
Sam reached in front of Zach to yank his microphone away.
“No more questions,” the sheriff said. “Thank you for attending and we’ll keep you updated as new details come to light.”
More camera flashes. A few observations from around the room that Zach couldn’t help overhearing.
“They looked like more than friends yesterday?—”
“It was a mighty friendly fishing outing?—”
Zach stepped out of the conference room into his office, Sam close on his heels, while a deputy took care of clearing the town hall and shutting things down.
Damned if Zach’s first instinct wasn’t to go to Heather and see how she was holding up, but he knew that would only add to the flap about their “relationship.”
“I hate this.” He dropped into the huge leather chair he’d inherited as part of the mayor’s office.
“The quicker we find the money, the quicker we’ll put this situation behind us.” Sam checked his phone and scrolled through messages. “At least it’s public knowledge now.”
