Snoops in the City (A Romantic Comedy) Read online

  "There will be other openings," the mayor said. "It never hurts to get that preliminary interview out of the way."

  "When I called yesterday, you gave the impression the job was mine for the asking," Tori reminded her.

  "You must have heard me wrong," Mayor Black said smoothly. "Applicants must undergo a rigorous process before they can be considered for a city opening. You've only started it."

  Tori fought disappointment, feeling silly for having believed her employment at City Hall was both a done deal and the answer to her problems. Not only would she have been in prime position to prove Grady's integrity, she would have been employed, no small feat.

  "What exactly does the process entail?" she asked.

  "Filling out an application and submitting a resume by the closing date of the job posting, to begin with. Secretarial positions, such as the one we just filled, require a typing test. And of course we ask for references and check them thoroughly."

  "I see," Tori said, but she didn't.

  If there weren't a job opening at City Hall, why was she here? With the standardized hiring process, she doubted this interview would suffice if a position became available.

  "When do you forsee there being an opening?" Tori smoothed the skirt of the chocolate-colored business suit that had seen her through too many unsuccessful job interviews.

  "It's hard to say," Mayor Black said, "but then I might get it into my mind to create one. That's the beauty of being the mayor. I can do anything I want."

  "What would make you want to create a new position?" Tori asked.

  "Let's just say I like to surround myself with good, loyal people." Honoria rocked in her chair. "That's why I'm glad for this chance to get better acquainted. All I really know about you is that you followed Grady around the golf course to get him to notice you."

  Tori frowned, not liking the way that depiction made her sound. "That's not exactly the way it was."

  "I knew it. I knew that story was bogus. So how exactly did you meet our young Mr. Palmer? A man as forceful as that must have been the one to approach you.”

  Tori thought about Grady knocking on the window of her car, all but demanding she talk to him. "He did," she said. "He can be very persuasive when he wants something."

  Mayor Black tilted her head. By no means could she be called a beauty, but Tori had to hand it to her hairdresser. A beautician with considerable skill had cut the mayor's short, dark hair to make the most of her coarse features.

  "Isn't it funny you should say that?" the mayor said. "I've often wondered that about Grady. I know he's a go-getter, but how far will he go to get what he wants?"

  "I couldn't say," Tori said. "I don't know him well enough yet."

  "When you do," Mayor Black said, leaning forward and lowering her voice, "you be sure to let me know."

  Thirty minutes later, when the strange meeting with Honoria Black was history, Tori had a nagging feeling the mayor had invited her into her office to pump her about Grady.

  Except that was ridiculous, given Tori's tenuous connection to the man. She felt her face flush when she thought back two nights ago to the way their bodies fit perfectly together.

  Tenuous could be the wrong word, especially because she would have happily connected with him again if he'd been free last night.

  She smiled as she replayed yesterday afternoon's telephone conversation in her head.

  "I've barely been able to keep my mind on work thinking about what we did last night," Grady had claimed in a soft, low voice.

  "Then come over tonight so we can do it again," she'd whispered, shocking herself but not him.

  "I can't." Regret had been thick in his voice. "I have to work late on a bid package."

  "Can't it wait?"

  "Not with the deadline coming up fast. I'll finish it up tonight and we can see each other tomorrow. Believe me, I don't want to spend any more nights away from you than I have to."

  She not only believed him, she believed in him. More than ever, she thought Grady one of those good men that were purportedly so hard to find.

  She'd failed in her mission to infiltrate City Hall, thus blowing her chance to prove it.

  She stopped walking and gazed around at the interior of the grand old building as it occurred to her that wasn't necessarily true.

  She stood inside City Hall at this very minute, with an excellent excuse for being there. She needed to make the most of this opportunity, but how?

  Ms. M had asked her to investigate Grady's dealings with city officials and she'd intended to start with Pete Aiken. Except she couldn't very well sidle up to somebody who knew the city clerk and say, "How 'bout that Pete Aiken?"

  Or could she?

  She lurked outside the City Clerk's office, trying to get up her nerve. Five minutes ticked by while she loitered in the hall, rejecting one opening line after another.

  She still hadn't moved when a small, round-faced woman with frizzy dark hair stepped out of the office and gave her a curious look.

  "Hi," Tori said brightly.

  The woman looked her up and down. "Can I help you with something?"

  "Yes.” Tori belatedly realized the folly of her plan. She couldn't start firing questions at a woman who already seemed suspicious of her. What legitimate reason could she give for skulking in the hall? "You can. . . tell me where the break room is. I'm. . . really thirsty."

  "You work here?"

  Tori shook her head. "Not yet. I was interviewing."

  The tension seemed to leave the woman's body, and she smiled at Tori. "So you got the dry mouth?"

  "Excuse me?"

  "From nerves. Job interviews do that to me, too. I'm due a break now. You can come with me.” The woman led her a short distance to a small, empty room with tables and vending machines. "I'm Ann Dreher. I’m an administrative assistant in the City Clerk's office.”

  "Tori Whitley, wannabe administrative assistant in anybody's office," Tori said.

  Ann laughed and dispensed a jar of orange juice from one of the machines. Tori smiled to herself as she fished some coins from the bottom of her purse and fed them into a soda machine. This PI business wasn't so hard after all.

  She joined Ann at a circular table, trying to remember the chapter in So, You Want to be a PI dealing with interrogation.

  Ah, yes. When trying to bleed information from an unsuspecting party, the book suggested the conversation should flow seamlessly.

  "That Pete Aiken," Tori said. "He's really something, isn't he?"

  "You know Pete?"

  Whoops. "Who doesn't?"

  "Lots of people, I'd think." Ann sipped her juice. "Why did you say he was really something?"

  Who knew? Certainly not Tori. Time for an open-ended question. "You haven't noticed?"

  "Of course I noticed. You can't miss those little holes. What I wonder is. . ." Ann leaned forward and whispered, ". . . where he got the money to afford it. I thought the divorce pretty much wiped him out, not to mention the gambling."

  Tori's antenna went up. Pete Aiken had a gambling problem? And now he was buying something with holes?

  "Tell me about it." Tori rolled her eyes and hoped Ann would take her literally. She didn't.

  Tori waited a few moments in which the other woman seemed more interested in drinking her juice than talking. Tori finally asked, "How much do you think it set him back?"

  "A couple thousand, at least."

  "That much?"

  "That's a drop in the bucket compared to what he's been spending on the new clothes and the personal trainer," she said. "Personally I think the cost is ridiculous."

  "Yeah," Tori said, agreeing to she didn't know what, "considering it comes with holes."

  Ann scrunched up her forehead. "What are you talking about?"

  "What you're talking about,” Tori answered.

  "I'm talking about Pete's hair transplant."

  "Me, too," Tori said and thought fast. "You have to have a hole in your head to want one of t
hose."

  Tori left City Hall ten minutes later feeling more like Calamity Jane than Jane Bond. However, she did have new information.

  Pete Aiken had recently come into some money.

  Of course, that could mean anything.

  A rich relative could have willed him an inheritance. He could have reconciled with his wife and repooled their money. The Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes could have come calling.

  It didn't mean Grady had given the City Clerk bribe money.

  Ms. M said rumors about corruption swirled around City Hall, but they were only rumors. Even if Pete Aiken had accepted a bribe, Tori couldn't make the leap that Grady had paid him off.

  Yes, Grady supported the mayor and her questionable politics. Yes, he hung out with her supporters. Yes, the city had favored him with numerous contracts over the past nine months. And, yes, he was in line to build another, even more lucrative project.

  At most, that was guilt by association. Just as the heated conversation at Mayor Black's party could have been about anything.

  She checked her watch and saw that it was nearly time to meet Grady. Suddenly anxious to see him, she decided to head straight to his office instead of going home and changing.

  Ms. M was right. She was a good judge of character.

  A few hours in Grady’s presence would reassure her that he was who she thought he was: an upstanding businessman with nothing to hide.

  CHAP TER TWENTY-TWO

  The instant Tori peered around the open door of Grady's office and spotted him sitting at his desk, she felt reassured.

  Holding a pen in his left hand with his brow knitted in concentration, Grady made notations on the papers strewn across his desk like the hard worker he was.

  He'd already demonstrated his strong sense of family, his keen intellect and his amazing ability to make love.

  She blushed a little at the last thought, but figured it showed insight into his character. If Grady weren't a selfish lover, it followed that neither was he a selfish man.

  Funny, she hadn't noticed before that he was a lefty. She supposed a better PI would have made a note of it. She had, however, observed things about him that other investigators wouldn't.

  Such as the golden streaks in his brown hair that caused his tan to appear deeper and the way his upper teeth bit into that sensuous lower lip of his while he concentrated.

  Grady Palmer was much more than a handsome face. He was a good man who would never resort to bribery to get what he wanted.

  Something so light its weight barely registered stepped on the toe of her high-heeled pump, and she looked down to see Gordo staring back up at her.

  "Meow," the cat said, which in Gordo-speak meant she wanted to be picked up.

  Tori bent over to scoop the cat into her arms, earning grateful purrs from Gordo.

  Grady finally looked up from his papers.

  "Tori." His smile started at his lips and traveled to his eyes. Tori immediately felt as though she'd been transported back to the darkened bedroom where she and Grady had made love. "How long have you been standing there?"

  "Long enough to tell that you need a break," she said, smiling back.

  "Do I ever," he said. "Shut the door."

  She pulled it closed and started to step deeper into his office. He held up a hand.

  "No," he said, still grinning. "Don't move."

  She stopped. "Why?"

  "You'll see." He got to his feet and came around the desk.

  "Now let me have Gordo," he said when he reached her.

  She raised her brows quizzically and handed over the cat, which he promptly set on the floor.

  "There.” He looked and sounded smug.

  "Are you going to tell me what this is all about?" she asked.

  "Better. I'll show you."

  He pulled her into his arms and claimed her mouth with a mastery that made her knees buckle. It didn't matter. He held her as though he never intended to let her go, sweeping his tongue inside her mouth and turning on her internal generator.

  Heat blasted her. Along with it came the certainty that this was where she belonged.

  The doubts that had arisen at City Hall vanished like the morning mist as he continued to pour himself into the kiss.

  Grady had never been anything other than open and honest. He was one of those straightforward types who was what he was. With Grady, she'd always know where she stood.

  He wasn't the one with secrets. She was.

  She clung to his shoulders when he broke off the kiss, afraid she'd fall if he didn’t support her.

  "Hope you didn't mind," he said, that openness shining through in his eyes. "This is the only spot in my office not visible to the masses."

  She surveyed the small room, noticing that a large window took up part of the front wall.

  She laid a hand on his cheek, feeling the beginning bristles of his beard. "I definitely didn't mind. But I know somebody else who did."

  Gordo alternately clawed at her leg, then Grady’s, emitting protesting meows that grew progressively louder.

  "I'm surprised to see her in the office," Tori said.

  Grady made a face. "I hope to get to the point where I can leave her alone. She refuses to be ignored."

  "It's probably because she used to be ignored all the time.” She lifted the cat once more. "How can you pay attention to her when you're working?"

  "Lorelei does that."

  "That's right. Your sister works here. Why didn't I see her when I came in?"

  "Quitting time's five o'clock. Lorelei's more into leaving early than working late." He frowned. "Although I've seen her here a couple times lately after hours."

  "Maybe she's changing."

  "I don't know about that," he said. "Lorelei thinks she's perfect just the way she is. The working-late thing is probably an aberration."

  "Speaking of working late, you don't have to, right? I thought we could make Gordo happy and stay in tonight. We could go back to your place, get Chinese takeout and. . ."

  Her voice trailed off when she noticed a decided lack of enthusiasm in his expression. "What is it?"

  "You must not have gotten the message I left on your answering machine. I would have called your cell phone but I don't have the number."

  "I've been out most of the day.” She could tell him later she’d been at City Hall, after she found out what was going on. "What did the message say?"

  "I have to cancel for tonight."

  Disappointment descended over her like a dark cloud. "I thought you finished up the bid package last night."

  "I did. Tonight I have a. . . business dinner."

  The pause before he said business dinner was nearly imperceptible, but Tori picked up on it.

  She looked into his eyes, only to find them shuttered. In a burst of clarity she knew he hadn't told her everything.

  "Isn't this kind of sudden?" she asked.

  "These things sometimes crop up at the last minute.” His answer sounded evasive. His smile seemed tight when he added, "I'll make it up to you tomorrow."

  "I'll hold you to that," she said, feeling her own smile waver.

  She managed to keep her suspicions at bay until she was in her car, then she could no longer hold them back.

  Grady said he had a business dinner, which on the surface indicated it had to do with his construction company. But what if the business were of the underhanded variety?

  While at City Hall, Tori had discovered the community-center bids were due tomorrow morning. If Grady were bribing city officials, the timing was certainly right.

  No, Tori thought, shaking her head. Despite his relationship with Pete Aiken, Grady couldn't be on the wrong side of the law.

  Too bad she didn't know for certain that he wasn't meeting with a city official so she had hard information to back up her gut feeling.

  "Wait a minute," she said aloud. "I can get the information. I'm a private eye."

  She needed to at least attempt to discov
er who Grady was having dinner with tonight. The only way to do that with certainty was to follow him.

  She chewed on the end of her thumb while she drove and thought. She'd proven woefully inept at tailing a subject. Add the fact that Grady knew she owned a silver Beetle, and it spelled disaster. Unless. . .

  She swung her Volkswagen into a parking lot, switched off the engine and was immediately plagued by second thoughts. Fishing the key chain with the silver disco ball from her purse, she asked, "Should I do this?"

  She shook the little ball, held her breath and turned it over. Get it on, read the answer.

  Tori picked up her cell phone and dialed.

  "Sassenbury here."

  "Eddie, it's Tori." She took a breath and rushed ahead. "Remember you said you'd be there for me if I needed help?"

  "Sure do," Eddie said.

  "I need you to help me follow somebody."

  "No can do, cuz. I'm in the middle of something here."

  "Tough.” She took stock of her whereabouts. “Because if you don't meet me in Seahaven at the corner of Sassafras and U.S. 1 in the next thirty minutes, I'm calling Ms. M and telling her we're giving back her retainer."

  "You don't play fair," Eddie said.

  "I'm in my Volkswagen," she said. "We don't have much time so I'll expect you here quick."

  "But—"

  "I have Ms. M’s cell phone number," Tori reminded him.

  "I'll be there," Eddie said.

  After she hung up, Tori sat back in her seat and waited. So what if her conversation with Grady hadn't proved he had nothing to do with the shady dealings at City Hall. Following him would.

  She hoped.

  CHAPTER T WENTY-THREE

  After he paid a nominal admission fee, Grady walked down the center of the 960-foot Lake Worth fishing pier. A funeral dirge played in his head while the salty sea breeze swept over him. His steps were weighed down by disappointment.

  He'd been right about Schlichter. The Planning Director had called back to set up a meet, which could only mean he intended to solicit a bribe. Grady didn't know why he'd expected better from Schlichter. Just because he'd seemed like one of the good guys didn't mean he was.