Snoops in the City (A Romantic Comedy) Page 23

  "Heard what?"

  "I could fill you in but it'll be more fun to let Honoria tell you."

  Grady glanced around the emptying office building. He saw no sign of the mayor. "You're not making sense, Hector."

  The agent nodded to an empty office at the back of the room. "Sit in that office and give me a minute. It'll make wonderful sense soon enough."

  Grady didn't have to wait more than five minutes before Hector appeared with an audio tape and a tape recorder.

  "This is a copy.” He waved the audio tape at Grady. "The U.S. Attorney needed the original to present as evidence tomorrow when he convenes a special session of the federal Grand Jury."

  "I thought that happened today,” Wade said.

  "It did, but he wants one more indictment."

  Hector cracked his gum and popped the tape into the recorder, obviously enjoying himself.

  "Ready for this?" he asked, his finger on the play button.

  "Would you play it already?" Grady said impatiently.

  "Gladly," Hector said and hit play.

  "City Hall doesn't have any openings. As I told you before, that’s not a problem.” Honoria Black's deep, almost masculine voice was instantly recognizable. “I can create a job for you and call it temporary. When a permanent position becomes available, I'll move you into it."

  Grady wondered if he were listening to a jobs-for-cash scheme. He'd heard of other corrupt administrations that fattened their coffers that way. He wondered how Hector had gotten this tape.

  "Did you bug the mayor's office?" Grady asked.

  Hector put a finger to his lips. "Shut up or you'll miss the good part."

  "I'm the mayor," Honoria Black said on the tape, probably in response to a question Grady had missed by interrupting. "I can do anything I want."

  "You must want something in return," came the reply.

  Grady recognized the second voice, too. It belonged to Tori. He gripped his thigh with the hand that rested on it so hard that his knuckles whitened. He scarcely breathed as he listened to their exchange.

  "That's the way of the world," the mayor said. "I scratch your back, you scratch mine. What I want you to do isn't so hard. I'll even bump your salary up a grade or two if you're successful."

  "What exactly is it that you want me to do?" Tori asked as though she were eager — eager — to comply.

  "You're probably aware that some of my top people were indicted today," the mayor said. "Grady bribed all three of them. We believe he's planning to testify against them. And that, my dear, is where you come in."

  "I don't understand."

  "I know you and Grady had a bad breakup. Here's your chance to get back at him."

  The tape contained only a few seconds of silence after her declaration. To Grady, it felt like an eternity.

  "Get back at him how?" Tori asked.

  "I need you to say that Grady threatened the members of my administration if they wouldn't take the money and give him the contract he wanted."

  "Threatened? How?"

  "The usual way. Exposure. My City Clerk is cheating on his girlfriend. My Planning Director has a drug problem. And my Chief of Staff doesn't want anyone to know he's gay."

  "You're saying Grady found out these things and used them to pressure your employees to give him what he wanted?"

  "You catch on fast," the mayor said. "What do you say? Will you do it?"

  "Yes," Tori said.

  Hector switched off the tape, oblivious to its effect on Grady. Shock had rendered his body immobile but his mind whirled.

  "What do you think of that?" Hector asked with undisguised glee.

  "I don't believe it," Grady said.

  "It's legit. We got the mayor on tape, soliciting false testimony in exchange for employment." He pointed his index finger in the air and then shot it to the floor. “She’s going down.”

  "I meant I don't believe Tori sold me out," Grady said slowly, choosing his words carefully, meaning every one.

  "What are you talking about, man?

  "The things Tori said on the tape, about agreeing to lie about me, there has to be an explanation." Grady's conviction grew stronger as he talked. "Tori must have known you'd bugged the mayor’s office. She must have been playing an angle."

  "Back up a minute." Hector's black eyebrows drew together to form a line that reminded Grady vaguely of a caterpillar. "Didn't you learn anything in all these months of working with me? No judge would allow us to put a bug in the mayor's office. Hell, that conversation didn't even take place at City Hall. They were in the lobby of some hotel."

  "Then where was the bug?"

  "In Tori's purse," Hector said. "The minute the mayor called and asked her to meet, she phoned our office and offered to tape the conversation. She said she had a feeling the mayor was up to no good."

  "It was just like I said," Grady said, his voice thick with emotion and wonder. "Tori didn't betray me."

  "Damn right she didn't," Hector said. "That girl of yours is no traitor. She's a hero. She's the one who brought down the mayor."

  CHAPTER T HIRTY-SEVEN

  "Okay, disco ball. The last time I came to you for advice, I had to ask the question three times before you got the answer right. Let's shoot for a better percentage than that."

  Crossing the index and middle fingers of her left hand for luck, Tori held the tiny silver ball from the key chain with her right hand and shook.

  "Should I go after Grady and make him believe I love him?"

  Her breath was in her throat when she turned over the ball and read, No way, Jose.

  "What?" The word exploded from her. "What kind of rotten answer is that?"

  Shaking her head in disgust, she manipulated the silver ball until it came free of the key chain.

  "You know what, dude, you're not hip anymore.” She tossed the ball in a perfect arc so it fell in her kitchen trash can. "With the answers you've been giving lately, I don't need you."

  She didn't care what the ball advised. She'd make Grady listen to her, even if she had to tie him to a chair first.

  So she'd messed up. Everybody did. That didn't mean she didn't love him. Or that he couldn't trust her.

  She emerged from her apartment into the gathering dusk, spotting Mrs. Grumley about to enter her own place.

  "You better not have that rat in there," Mrs. Grumley called. "All I need is one more reason and you're out of here."

  Tori's spine straightened. She tramped up to the older woman.

  "I don't care what you do. You know why?" Tori didn't wait for Mrs. Grumley's reply. "Because I know what I want and it's not to live here. Do you hear that? I don't want to live here anymore."

  "Yes, you do," Mrs. Grumley said. "You're terrified at the thought of me throwing you out."

  "Not anymore. I'm tired of dealing with you. So there," she said, barely resisting the urge to stick out her tongue.

  Mrs. Grumley's lower lip trembled. "That wasn't a very nice thing to say."

  "You haven't been nice to me."

  "That's different. I'm an old lady. I'm allowed to be mean. You're young. You need to respect your elders. Besides, if you leave, who will I pick on?"

  "You enjoy picking on me?"

  "Picking on people is what I do," Mrs. Grumley said. "You're an easy target, because you never stick up for yourself."

  "That stops now," Tori said defiantly. "From now on, I'm going after what I want."

  She'd been a ditherer all her life but this time she was absolutely certain of what she wanted.

  She wanted Grady.

  She couldn't pinpoint the exact time she'd realized it, perhaps because the knowledge had come to her gradually. Or possibly because she'd wanted him from the start.

  But she'd been aware of how she felt when Mayor Black had tried to get her to sully his reputation. She'd smiled and nodded, all the while wanting to throttle the mayor for daring to try to hurt him.

  She'd silently vowed then and there that she'd make Gr
ady believe she loved him. She'd teach him how to trust. Asking the disco ball its advice had been a formality.

  Thirty minutes later, she stood at Grady's front door repeatedly ringing the doorbell. Nobody answered even though signs indicated that Grady was home. A light shone in the back of the house, and she heard voices. Loud, raised voices.

  Her stomach flip flopped, and her blood ran as cold as chilled water from a refrigerator dispenser.

  The FBI had handed out indictments in Operation Citygate earlier today. The indicted parties had until tomorrow to surrender.

  One of them could be inside Grady's house right now, trying to carry out a vendetta.

  Her heart hammered in concert with her fruitless bangs on the door. She strained to hear what was going on inside the house. The voices seemed to grow in volume but she couldn't make out what they were saying.

  "Please, oh, please," she pleaded, her eyes lifting to the sky. "Please let Grady be okay."

  She ran around the side of the house, the heels of her shoes sinking into earth damp from one of the afternoon rainstorms that were so prevalent in Florida.

  Grady's backyard was small, with a screened-in porch taking up most of the available area. She yanked on the patio door, surprised to find it unlocked.

  The voices sounded even louder at the back of the house. Rushing to the glass-paneled rear door, she pounded on it and called Grady's name. Nobody answered.

  "Where would he keep a key?" she asked aloud, trying to think over the pounding of her heart.

  Standing on tiptoes, she ran her shaking fingertips along the door ledge. Then she stooped down and lifted the door mat. She would have checked under the flowerpot if there were one.

  "Damnit," she said.

  She thought about calling 9-1-1 only to realize she'd left her cell phone in her car. She'd have to waste precious seconds retrieving it unless she could figure out how to break into the house.

  A broom rested against the wall nearest her. She picked it up, flipped it so the wooden end was toward the door and rammed the paneled glass. It shattered. Barely waiting until the glass settled, she reached inside to unlock the door and push it open.

  She rushed into his house, saw a flash of something at her feet and screamed.

  "Meow," the something said.

  "Gordo," she exclaimed, her heart beating so hard she thought it might have punctured her chest wall. "Where's Grady? Is he in trouble?"

  The voices had grown louder than ever, but she noticed something strange. One of them talked about an eighty-percent chance of precipitation and the balmy temperatures they were enjoying. Another laughed and said something about life in the tropics.

  Groaning, she realized the voices originated from the clock radio on Grady's kitchen counter.

  She shut off the radio, feeling silly for having overreacted and only now realizing she'd invaded his privacy. Again.

  Her heart had only begun to slow when she heard a key turn in the front door.

  ***

  WHERE WAS TORI?, Grady wondered as he entered his house. Since listening to the tape of her and Honoria Black, he'd been desperate to find her.

  He'd taken a rain check on the happy-hour drink with Hector Rodriquez and hurried to her apartment. She hadn't been there, but her landlady had, pleading with him to talk Tori out of leaving.

  The possible meaning of the landlady's request had nagged at him during the drive back to his place. Was Tori planning to leave Seahaven? To leave him? After the way he'd doubted her, he wouldn't blame her.

  He kicked off his shoes, ran a hand over the back of his neck and stood stock still.

  Somebody was inside the house.

  He knew it as surely as he knew Gordo would have greeted him if that weren't the case.

  He grew quiet, not daring to move, and listened.

  The floor in the kitchen creaked.

  An oversized yellow-and-red golf umbrella rested against the wall nearest the door. He grabbed it and moved stealthily toward the back of the house. Taking a deep breath for courage, he burst into the kitchen with the umbrella raised.

  A woman screamed, backed up against the stove and grimaced. Not just any woman. Tori, her reddish-brown hair tumbling around her shoulders, looking as lovely as she had the first time he'd seen her. He lowered the umbrella.

  "I know this looks bad, but I can explain," she said, talking fast. "I heard voices and came around back to investigate when nobody answered the doorbell. I couldn't get in so I broke the glass on your door so I could—"

  "I believe you," he interrupted.

  "—check on you, but the voices were coming from the radio.” She kept on talking. “And then I heard you at the door and thought maybe if I snuck out the back and came around the front then you'd believe. . ."

  She suddenly stopped talking, tilted her head quizzically and stared at him. "Did you say you believed me?"

  He nodded.

  She looked puzzled."You don't think I'm here to snoop on you?"

  "Nope.”

  "You've got to admit it looks bad, you finding me inside your house."

  "Tori, I said I believe you," Grady repeated, then scratched his head because he couldn't tell what she was thinking. For all he knew, he’d killed her love for him. "Aw, hell. I might not have the right to ask you this, but please don’t leave Seahaven."

  "Who said anything about me leaving Seahaven?"

  "Mrs. Grumley. She wants you to stay."

  "Why?"

  "Hell if I know."

  "I don't mean why does Mrs. Grumley want me to stay. She explained that already." She paused, and a crease appeared between her eyebrows. "I meant why do you believe me?"

  "I heard the tape with you and Mayor Black."

  "Aaah.” She managed to put a wealth of sadness in the single syllable. "Special Agent Rodriquez told you what I did."

  "That's just it," Grady said, shaking his head. "He didn't tell me until after I'd already listened to the tape. Before then, I did as you asked. I listened with my heart rather than my ears."

  Her eyes filled with tears. "I said you should see with your heart rather than your eyes."

  "Same thing.” Grady put his right hand on his chest. “Because when I heard that tape, my heart knew you wouldn't betray me."

  "Of course I wouldn't." Some of her tears brimmed over, and she wiped them from her cheeks. "I love you."

  "And I love you," he said with a heart that was full of her.

  They met each other halfway, careful not to step on Gordo. The cat had been staring at both of them, her head swiveling back and forth as though watching a tennis match.

  "And now I'm going to prove one more thing to you," she said before she reached him. "I never lied about being attracted to you."

  Her arms came around his neck as she pulled his willing mouth down to hers. She put her heart into her kiss, baring it to let him know once and forever that she was exactly what she seemed: The woman who loved him.

  They finally surfaced for air, with neither of them able to speak for long moments. Then Grady managed to laugh.

  "It's a good thing I believe you. Otherwise, I'd think you said all that because of Margo's plan."

  "Margo Lazenby? You met with her?”

  "She's quite persistent, my grandmother is, which you probably already know," he said. "She tracked down my cell number when she couldn't get in touch with you. I had a call from her about an hour ago, asking if I knew where you were."

  Tori frowned. "Why would she want to talk to me? I've already resigned from the case."

  "It has nothing to do with the case," he said. "It has to do with Lazenby Cosmetics. She said it came to her in a flash this afternoon that you would be the perfect choice to help her run the cosmetics company. She says you have flair and style."

  Tori's mouth dropped open, because here it was. Finally. The perfect job. The road to independence. The career she'd been waiting for her entire life, and all this time it had been right under her nose.
<
br />   Of course there was a snag.

  "Too bad it can't work out.” She tried to sound nonchalant but failed miserably. "Everybody knows Lazenby Cosmetics is a family business. Look at the lengths Mrs. Lazenby went to find you."

  "What's your point?"

  "That leaves me out.” She attempted a smile. "I'm not family."

  "That's the other reason Margo called.” Grady traced her cheek and the line of her jaw with aching tenderness. "She wanted to know if there was a chance you would become family."

  Tori's heart clutched. It was hard for her to get the next words out, "What did you tell her?"

  "I said I hoped so but I couldn't answer until I asked you to—"

  "Yes! My answer is yes!" She peppered his face with enthusiastic kisses.

  Laughing, he hugged her tighter and asked, "How can you be sure what the question was going to be?"

  "Haven't you been paying attention?" She grinned up at the man she'd follow into the future. "To get what you want, you've got to have a little faith."

  ###

  More eboo ks by Darlene Gardner:

  The Misconception (A Single-Title Romantic Comedy)

  The sperm donor she hired has gone AWOL, so who's the man in her bed? A misunderstanding of biological proportions.

  Bait & Switch (A Single-title Romantic Comedy)

  After switching places with his identical twin to catch a criminal, Mitch is the one who's hooked - on his brother's girl!

  Sound of Secrets (A Single-Title Romantic Mystery)

  Is he reaching out from the grave to ask her to solve the mystery of his death? A romantic mystery with ghostly overtones.

  An Innocent Man (A Romantic Mystery)

  When evil invades her town for a second time and a little girl is missing, she needs to team up with the man she loved and betrayed to find the truth.

  Baby It’s You (A Short and Sweet Romantic Comedy)

  If she won’t entertain the notion that love is in the air, how can she possibly believe it started in the crib?

  Clash of Hearts (A Short and Sweet Romantic Comedy)

  She can’t decide whether to cold-cock him or kiss him.