“Yours,” Chey said, looking directly at him and the other two councilmen who had been standing with Hammond earlier.
Hammond took her arm. “Be careful,” he warned, but for the first time, he looked truly worried. He clearly wasn’t expecting her to stand up to him.
“I believe you’ve threatened me enough for one day,” she told Hammond, then slid her arm free and looked at the surprised faces of their little gathering. She held her hand up when Wyatt stepped forward. “I got this,” she told him, and he must have seen something of her current mood in her eyes because he stepped back . . . and smiled.
Chey looked at the council members who were not involved, at the mayor, and at Vivi, Grant, and Addie Pearl, and said, “It seems Mr. Hammond here is very concerned that your proposal must go through today. To the extent that he cut the power to my house to delay my arrival, then ambushed me by my truck, threatened to destroy Wyatt’s career, and possibly harm myself, Vivienne, Hannah, or Avery, along with our farm, if I didn’t agree to shut our proposal down.”
All eight faces, Wyatt’s included, went momentarily slack as what she’d said hit home.
“Now see here,” Hammond interrupted, his face turning red, “I will not have you slandering my good name with these ridiculous assertions and bold-faced lies.”
“The only lies being told are the ones you threatened to tell the media in order to get Wyatt’s fan base to turn against him.” She looked at the group. “I am a firm believer in the rule my aunt taught me at a very young age. The best way to find out what’s going on in the dark is to shine a bright light on it.”
Henry stepped up. “Ms. McCafferty, I’m not sure what in the world would prompt such an outrageous display,” he said, all benevolent kindness and avuncular understanding. “Now, I’ve known Paul Hammond my entire life, and I can state—”
“—that you are in on this, too?” Chey finished for him. “Good, at least we have that on record.” She then looked at the other two men standing there. “I don’t know what you’ve got going on with your little side deal, and frankly, I don’t want to know. The amount of sweat dripping off Mr. Hammond’s brow out in the parking lot would indicate that he needs an immediate influx of cash and this deal is where he’s going to get it. How much do you three stand to make?”
“That’s enough,” Hammond shouted, then immediately lowered his voice when a hush fell over the part of the crowd closest to them. “I don’t know what kind of medication you’re on, but you’ve clearly messed up today’s dosage. You sound a little off your rocker, sweetheart. So, I’ll just say this once: cease this sad little display right now, and I won’t drag you into court. Clearly you’re under enough strain as it is.”
“No,” Chey said, turning on him, her expression as fierce as it had ever been. “You cease. You cease threatening me and the people I love, and this place that I love. You said I underestimated you?” She gestured to the field full of people. “No, Mr. Hammond, I’d say you’re the one who underestimated me. Look what we’ve been able to do in just a few weeks.” Then she gestured to the media trucks. “You said you’d pay someone to pretend she’d been assaulted by Wyatt, or defrauded by him, and use the media to spread those filthy lies. Well, I can use the media, too. But not to spread lies and filth. How about I call one of those journalists over here and ask them to dig into your financial dealings with Pantheon, and everyone else associated with this deal. See what they can find out.”
“That will be quite enough.” This from Henry, who now looked rattled. “Let’s call the sheriff over here and see if he can escort Ms. McCafferty into town, where she can make a full statement, following proper protocol. We’ll let the police do their job and investigate your claims,” he said, sounding kind, but Chey saw the cold depths in his dark eyes. He was not happy with her. Not one bit.
Good. She wasn’t too thrilled with him either at the moment.
He looked at Chey. “Now, I’m willing to just overlook all of this if you want to go on home and take care of whatever it is you’re struggling with.” He looked at Vivi and Grant, who both still appeared a little shell-shocked by what had so rapidly unfolded. “Perhaps you could help her out? I’m so sorry for the burden you’ve clearly been under, my dear,” he said to Chey. “All of this must have taken a far bigger toll on you—”
“There’s no toll, Henry,” she said. “Except the one you’re about to pay.” Chey merely turned toward the media trucks, put two fingers in her mouth and—Hammond yanked them back out.
“Don’t you dare,” he threatened, the red in his face darker still as rage consumed him.
She turned on him before Wyatt could get between them. “No, don’t you dare. Did you honestly think you could hold this whole town hostage to get yourself some tidy pay out? Let’s talk about what you’ve gotten yourself into, because desperation is not a good look on you.”
People were starting to pay attention to their little group. Even a few reporters at the end of the media line were looking their way. Hammond saw this and turned on her. “We were one week away from getting it all done,” Hammond hissed, his composure finally breaking down completely. “One week.” He jabbed a finger in her face. “And you have to come in here with your idiot ideas and get everyone all riled up. One week, and we’d have had this all sewn up. But no—”
“Paul.” This from Mayor Fielding, who’d finally snapped to it. He turned to Henry and the other two men. “Whatever is going on here, let’s take a step back, maybe table all this for now, and sit down somewhere and get to the bottom of—”
“No,” Hammond spluttered. “This has to go through today.” His gaze swung to his three compatriots. “Sign the damn contracts, Henry. Jesus Christ, just sign the fucking contracts. Don’t you understand? We’re going to lose goddamn everything.”
One of the councilmen standing next to Henry started to back away, shaking his head. “This isn’t how it was supposed to work,” he murmured, looking more than a little distressed.
Henry turned to him. “Carl, don’t let her rattle you, she’s just—”
“She’s not the one rattling me, okay?” he said, his voice rising. “It’s one thing to help grease the wheels a little in return for a favor here or there—we all do that.”
The mayor turned then. “What did you say? What wheels are you greasing? We don’t do that. Not in this—”
“Shut the hell up, Carl,” Henry hissed. “This isn’t the place for—”
“No,” Carl said, looking like a man who had come to a decision. “No, I won’t. This was wrong and I should never have let you bully me into it, Henry. You can tell my wife whatever you want about my, uh, extracurricular activities. It’s not worth going to jail for.” He swung back to Mayor Fielding. “It’s a kickback scheme,” he began. “We help smooth the permit process and maybe look the other way when some materials being used aren’t exactly what’s stated in the contract, and we get gratis office space in the lodge. We can lease it out and keep the rent as payment—”
Henry grabbed Carl’s arm and jerked him around. “What in the ever-loving hell are you doing?” he hissed.
Carl yanked his arm free, only to have Hammond lunge at him and tackle him to the ground. The third councilman began to back away, only to have Henry lunge for him, and seconds later, a full-on brawl erupted between the men.
Wyatt and Grant started to step in to try to pull the men apart, but the mayor waved them back as the sheriff ’s deputies rushed over to take control of the situation.
In the end, the media swarmed the melee as all four men were arrested on assault charges. As they were being cuffed and taken away, Mayor Fielding said, “Officers, could you please detain Mr. Hammond, Mr. Bassett, and Carl Thomas until I can come down and give my statement? Your detectives may want to have a little chat with Mr. Thomas regarding the statements he made to me today. I’ll be in to give my full account shortly and things can proceed from there.”
“You will be very sorry you did
this, Tom,” Henry snarled as one of the officers started to walk him to the waiting cruiser. “I’ll be calling my lawyer, and you can expect a very nasty, very expensive set of lawsuits, both against this town and against you personally. I take my position on the council seriously, and—”
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll be seated on this council any longer, Henry. Or you two, either,” Fielding said, looking at Carl and the other man, who were also now in custody.
“We’re elected officials, Tom. You don’t have the power to—”
“One of the various codes—I’ll have to go look it up to get the exact number—allows me, if any council member behaves in a manner that is considered a direct threat to the well-being of the town or any individual residing in the town, to demand your resignation, and you have to tender it. Then there’s the statute—I’ll get the exact verbiage—but essentially, if you have acted unethically or defrauded us, you’re also done. You can expect a letter to that effect to be coming your way as soon as I get it drafted.”
“It’s not just Henry you have on your back, Fielding. I’m not going to take this lying down,” Hammond started in as he was being led away. “I’ll bury you in lawsuits and cost you every dime you’ve ever made.”
“Oh, I think we will all be calling our lawyers, but let’s wait and see on who will pay for what,” Fielding said.
“Your word against ours, Tom,” Henry said, looking more than a little desperate now.
“With all these witnesses?” Fielding said. “Hardly. Not to mention Carl there has already confessed.”
“Wait,” Chey said, and motioned to Peli, who climbed through the bushes and handed Chey a little memory card to the very shocked expressions of their collective little group, as well as the men being hauled away.
“It’s all on there,” Peli said.
“Awesome,” Chey said, and grinned. “Thank you.” She quickly trotted over to one of the police officers. “I think this will give your investigators a great place to start,” she said, then walked back to the group.
The reporters all raced back to their news vans, and it looked like there would be quite a parade heading to the sheriff ’s department. A few remained behind, looking anxious to speak to the mayor about what had just unfolded.
“Separate cars,” Fielding called out, and the sheriff ’s deputies nodded. “The last thing we need is time for them to concoct some wild story,” he muttered. He looked deeply troubled by what had just unfolded, but appeared to do his best to shake his worry off as he turned back to Chey, Wyatt, Vivi, and Grant. “Well, I expected today to be exciting, but I admit this wasn’t how I thought it would play out.”
Wyatt pulled Chey close and hugged her, and they both waved to Peli, who headed back to the crowd, camera in tow, where Dom stood waiting for her. Grant had a protective arm around Vivi’s shoulders as well.
“Are you okay, Chey?” Vivi asked, clearly still trying to process the swiftly unfolding events.
She nodded. “Oh, I’m very fine, now.”
Wyatt kissed her temple and said, “The natives are getting pretty antsy out there.” Word had spread through the crowd about the fight that had broken out and the vibe had turned from festive and hopeful to restless and concerned. “I’m going to hop up on stage and get the crowd under control.”
Grant looked at Vivi. “If you’re sure you’re okay, maybe I’ll give him some help.”
Addie Pearl took Vivi’s other hand. “We’re fit as fiddles,” she said. “You all go on and we’ll sort things out with the mayor.”
Once they were gone, Addie, Chey, and Vivi turned to Mayor Fielding.
“What happens now?” Addie Pearl asked.
“I suppose we’ll have to delay the council vote,” Vivi said, looking distressed.
Fielding shook his head. “No, we’re going forward.” Looking resolute, he motioned to the remaining two councilmen. “Something positive is going to come from all this. We’re going to need that to hold on to once all this gets out.” He took a deep, steadying breath, then put a determined smile on his face. “We all reviewed both plans before arriving today, and yours is a solid and much needed solution to our problems.” He turned to Addie Pearl. “Thank you for sending the plans to me. I appreciated the heads-up.”
“I knew calmer heads would prevail, and I wanted your support, Tom. I knew I could trust you to do right by them, and us.” Addie looked at Vivi. “I’m sorry for going around you all, but Tom and I go way back, and—”
“No,” Vivi said. “Of course, we trust your judgment.” She looked at the mayor. “Don’t you need a majority vote—” Vivi began.
Fielding nodded to the two councilmen. “I believe we require a minimum of three members on any given vote, and I have the authority to stand in when needed, so we have our quorum right here. Now, technically, yes, we will have to ask for and process the resignations, then take an actual vote, but I think we’re all in agreement we won’t be working with Pantheon.”
The other two council members shook their heads and smiled, looking a bit dazed themselves by what had unfolded, though not exactly upset by it. It didn’t look as if Henry Bassett was held in all that high regard by his fellow councilmen on either side of the issue.
“We’ll make it official in the next few days,” the mayor said, “but since we’re all here, I say we go tell the good people of our town that we’re going to start turning Blue Hollow Falls green.”
Vivi and Chey both let out a hoot of joy and hugged, then all three of them shook the mayor’s hand before heading over and climbing the steps to the makeshift stage.
Wyatt looked at Chey, who gave him a private thumbs-up. Wyatt looked at Grant, grinned, then said into the mic, “It looks like we have some news to share.”
Wyatt and Grant moved back to make room for the mayor, the council members, Vivi, Chey, and Addie Pearl.
“Mr. Mayor,” Wyatt said. “Over to you.” He handed Fielding the mic.
A tense hush fell over the assembled crowd as the news reporters who hadn’t followed the cruisers drew closer to the stage, microphones outstretched.
“I am very pleased to announce that both projects have been examined and considered, and by a simple majority vote, and the overwhelming support of all of you,” he added, and the cheers started to erupt, “Blue Hollow Falls will soon be enhanced by a wonderful new resort and event center.”
He paused and Chey swore she could feel every collective breath being held until they heard the words they wanted to hear.
“Why don’t you tell them.” And Fielding handed the mic to Grant.
Grant nodded, took the mic, and turned to face everyone. “I’d like to announce that we are now, officially, on the grounds of the Firefly Lodge and Wilderness Resort!”
And the crowd, as they say, went wild.
Chapter Fourteen
“What’s the verdict?” Chey asked as Wyatt ended the call with the mayor and put his cell on the nightstand, then rolled back over to face her. “Were charges filed?”
He pulled the pillow back under his head and tucked her up against his body. “Oh, so many charges,” he said with a chuckle. “Hammond alone has fourteen counts against him, including money laundering, conspiracy to commit fraud, the actual fraud, tax evasion, and well, the list goes on and on. Apparently, he’s been in deep for a good long time. I don’t think even the priciest lawyer will get him off, and I’m not sure he can afford one anyway. Sounds like his buddies on the council will be joining him.”
“Good,” she said. “Well, it’s not good. It’s awful. I can’t believe we had that level of corruption right here in our little burg. I mean, those guys all grew up here; they have families. Some of them have been here for generations. I feel awful for them.”
“Thank goodness Carl Thomas had a sudden bout of decency or who knows what they might have gotten away with,” Wyatt said.
“I don’t think it was decency so much as deciding his wife divorcing him for finding out he�
�d been fooling around was a lesser evil than going to jail. And he might not escape that, either.” She shook her head. “It’s going to sting this entire community for a good long time. I know folks love Mayor Fielding, and he’s handled this about as well as anyone could, with a steady hand and keeping everyone calm, but this happened under his watch. It’s going to take a while to earn everyone’s trust back.”
“True,” Wyatt agreed, “but with groundbreaking on the lodge in just a few weeks, and so much good to come from that, hopefully that will gain a lot of goodwill back for the mayor and the remaining council members. It will help make the road forward easier for everyone. I heard Addie Pearl is considering running to fill one of the vacant council seats. That would be a slam dunk, I’d think. Go a long way toward making folks feel like there’s accountability.”
Chey chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t see them getting anything by Addie Pearl.” She sighed. “I tried to talk Vivi into it, but I think things between her and Grant are happening kind of quickly.”
He rolled forward and kissed her. “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he teased.
She kissed him back. “Not at all, actually. I think they’re really good for each other. Vivi smiles like a giddy schoolgirl pretty much all the time, and Grant looks like he’s walking around on cloud nine.” She wrapped her arms around Wyatt’s neck. “But I suspect that will mean she’ll be traveling west.”
Wyatt lifted back in surprise. “Permanently?”
Chey shook her head. “No, I can’t see that happening. She wouldn’t abandon us, and she loves it here, loves what she is doing. I don’t see her giving that up for anyone. But I can see her working some kind of compromise.”
“What about you?” he said, shifting back to his side and propping his head on his elbow.
“What, would I give up Lavender Blue and Blue Hollow Falls for love?” His expression faltered briefly, but she held his gaze when she answered, and he could see she meant what she said. “I would hope that’s not a choice I’d ever have to make.”
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