Dylan came over and handed me a cup of coffee. He sat down beside April and motioned for me to sit. I tried to ignore the pang in the pit of my stomach as they sat so close to each other. “Don’t worry, it’s plain coffee this time,” he said, pointing at the cup in my hand.
I took a sip. It was plain old coffee. Black. The bitter taste felt good on my tongue. “Thanks.”
“So, you talked to Eli?” April asked in a hushed tone.
“I did.” Their bodies leaned in closer, as if expecting a bombshell. “He didn’t do it.”
“What? That’s impossible,” April said. She was rightfully agitated, but the truth was the truth. I played the recording of my conversation with Eli. “Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know. If what he said is true, then we have another suspect on our hands. The problem is, I have little to go on.”
“Maybe you can find out what construction company did the renovations and start there?” Dylan said.
“Yes. I thought about that, but Eli doesn’t know which company did it. Maybe we could ask Jake. Is he around?”
“No, he has the day off today. Besides, I’m worried that it might be a sore spot for him. He was all grumbles about that story in the paper about the theater,” Dylan said.
Then it hit me. A project like this had to have been approved by the town council. They had to have all sorts of records at city hall. “Okay. I think I know how to find out without Jake. I’ll keep you posted,” I got up and pulled my phone out of my bag to call city hall. I had them connect me to the mayor’s office.
“Mayor Sawyer’s office. Sarah speaking,” the voice was perky and peppy on the other end.
“Sarah, hi. It’s Lainey Boggins. I came in the other day to interview the mayor?”
“Yes, I remember. You want to set up another interview?”
“Actually, I was hoping you could do me a favor. I’m… investigating something and I need your help.”
“Oh, an investigation? I love a good mystery. How can I help?” Her voice sounded even more perky, which I didn’t think was possible. I asked about the documents for the new theater project, explaining as much as I could without going into too much detail. “Yes, we have documents, but I can’t send them to you directly. You’re welcome to come and look at them here, though,” she said.
“Great. Can I come right now?” I asked.
“Of course. Oh, this is going to be so much fun.”
I hung up the phone and gathered up my bike. It seemed to sigh at me as I pushed on the creaky pedals. Come on, bike. Don’t quit on me now.
✽✽✽
The bike didn’t quit. It carried me all the way to city hall, where I made my way up the steps and up the elevator to the mayor’s office. Sarah was already on her feet and waiting for me at her desk.
“Are we looking into construction company corruption?” She asked, wide eyed with enthusiasm.
“No. Is that a thing? Do you have some kind of information?” I asked.
“No. Just a thought. Those guys always seem shifty to me,” she said.
“Sarah, where can I put these?” A man in overalls and large boots carried a stack of boxes from Mayor Lockwood’s office.
“Just put them in a stack by the elevator, Clyde,” she said, pointing at the cleared lounge. The couch and coffee table were pushed back. Clyde put the boxes down and went back into the office. I heard his voice bellow instructions to a crew of men.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Moving day. At least for Brian Lockwood’s things. We’re having them shipped to his house today,” she said.
“Is Esther moving into his office?” I asked. It seemed like something she would do, but after that dinner with Dylan and his family I wasn’t so sure.
“No. She said that she’ll move in if she wins the next election, which really surprised me. I would have thought she would jump at the chance to be in that office.”
“She’s full of surprises,” I said. “Now, about those building documents?”
“Yes.” Her eyes widened, and she beamed. “I pulled them out for you. They’re in conference room six. I’ll take you there.”
We got into the elevator and rode it up to the next floor. She took me through the maze of corridors into a conference room. The large, oval table was littered with boxes.
“Are these all the documents just for the theater?” I asked.
“Yup,” she said, excitedly.
“That’s a lot of boxes,” I said.
“Yup.” Her words were like a Labrador retriever waiting for me to throw her a ball. I was going to tell her as politely as I could that I didn’t need her help, but now I was glad to have her here. “What are we looking for, exactly?”
I couldn’t find a good way to be vague about it, so I told her about my investigation. I was tired of keeping it in. If it meant catching a killer, I would tell the whole world. I told her everything up until my conversation with Eli Johnson earlier.
“So, essentially, we’re looking for a nameless, faceless man with a rough voice who fought with Brian Lockwood.” I watched her excitement wane. To her credit, she stayed to help.
We each picked a box and ruffled through the documents, not knowing what we were looking for. “I can’t believe someone could kill Mayor Lockwood,” Sarah said. She had taken a stack of papers from the box and was scanning every sheet, looking for some kind of clue. “He was just the nicest man in the world.”
“Even nice men have skeletons in their closets. Thanks for helping. And for taking this seriously. I’m not sure how much I can trust the cops with David Minetta possibly being involved.”
“Of course. Like I said, I love a good mystery. But do you really think Chief Minetta could have something to do with this?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“Well, I don’t think the police around here would know what to do with a murder investigation, anyway. Except for maybe Nick DeLuca. I hear he’s seen some crazy stuff in the city,” Sarah said.
“I’m not surprised. He’s the one who believes me the most, and it’s not saying much,” I said.
“I don’t blame him.” She leaned in closer whispering even though we were the only two in the room. “Apparently, his partner was murdered, and they never caught the killer. They say he almost went crazy trying to solve that case. That’s why he moved to Aurora Heights. To get away from all that stuff.”
“Who says that?” I asked. I shouldn’t have cared so much, but it explained a few things about DeLuca and his aversion to doing any real detective work.
“Oh, just people around town. You know how they gossip around here,” she said, the cheery brightness coming back in her voice. “At least he’s nice to look at.”
“I guess. If you’re into that sort of thing.” Which I wasn’t. Really.
We ruffled and shuffled through pages of notes and building plans until I finally found a proposal document from a construction company in Vancouver. Courtesy Construction was the approved builder. I found a name—Kevin Jones—and a phone number attached to it. I pulled out my phone and dialed the number while Sarah looked on, anxiously.
“Hello?” The voice said on the other end. It was what I would consider a rough one.
“Hi. My name is Lainey Boggins. I’m calling from Aurora Heights.” I gave the man my spiel and asked a few generic questions before jumping to the big ones. “Was Brian Lockwood at the site any time during the construction?”
“A few times, sure,” Kevin said.
“Did you ever argue about anything?” I asked.
“No way. Brian Lockwood was the nicest man I’ve ever met. I was sorry to hear he passed away.”
“Did any of the crew have any issues with him that you knew of?” Come on, give me something.
“I don’t think so. I didn’t see him talking to the crew all that much.”
“You didn’t see him ever arguing with anyone on site?”
“No. Like I said,
he only came a few times,” he said.
I hesitated for a moment. Was this the man who made that donation to Lockwood’s mayoral campaign. Something in me told me this wasn’t the time to be tactful. “What about the contributions you made to his election campaign?”
Silence. My heart sank as I listened for the click of his hanging up. Instead, I heard a heavy sigh on the other end. “Look, the man promised me jobs, okay? That’s all I’m saying.” And there was the click.
“Okay, thanks for your time,” I said to no one on the other end. I tossed my phone onto the conference table and slumped into a chair. “Nothing. He hung up,” I said to Sarah.
“Oh, darn,” she said, her exasperation matching mine. We sat there in silence for a few moments, regrouping and collecting our thoughts. “I’m not surprised. Then again, he doesn’t have a motive to kill the mayor. Why would he kill the man who promised him jobs?”
She had a point. Maybe we were looking at this all wrong. “Who would have argued with Lockwood the day before the theater construction?” I said out loud. Sometimes, it was good to hear your own thoughts out loud to see just how stupid they sounded. This, however, didn’t sound so stupid. Not to me. Sarah perked up and dug through her box again. “What’s up?” I asked.
“What if it was someone from a rival construction company?” Sarah said. She took out paper after paper and piled them in stacks.
“Maybe. But why would they be mad at Lockwood?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe he owed money to someone who was a construction worker. You know,” Sarah leaned in and whispered again, as if she was convinced that the walls literally had ears. “Brian Lockwood had a bit of a gambling problem. What if he borrowed money from the wrong person? And that person worked for a rival construction company that he made the same deal with?”
“I don’t know, Sarah. Don’t you think that’s reaching?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “You got a better idea?”
“No. Okay, let’s see who else put in a proposal for the project.” Sarah had already built a stack of papers that could fit into a box all by themselves. She emptied one by moving papers into another and handed the box to me. “Are you serious? This will take days to go through,” I said.
“What can I say? It was a lucrative project. Listen, Lainey, I’d love to help you more, but I’d better get back to my desk. I’ve been gone way too long.” Sarah packed up the rest of the papers and put them into boxes.
“Okay. Listen, I know I’m not supposed to take anything, but I might be here all week.”
“Well, they’re not supposed to leave the building, but if it helps solve a murder, I won’t tell anyone,” Sarah said.
I helped Sarah put the rest of the boxes back to where they belonged. I made my way down and out of city hall, only to realize that I had no way of carrying the heavy box on my bike. I shoved the papers into my bag, stuffing it full until the seams were straining. I abandoned the box and rode back home, hoping that the heavy bag contained some kind of clue.
Chapter 27
A sea of building proposals overtook my grandmother’s house. Papers were in stacks on the coffee table, laying on the couch and in random piles on the living room carpet. I had been reading through every proposal from companies across the country. I had called every one of them and asked if anyone knew Brian Lockwood. Most didn’t recall the name. I was officially on a wild goose chase.
“Why don’t you take a break from all this… mess. You’ve been at it all afternoon,” Grandma said. She looked at me through worried eyes from the doorway between the kitchen and living room.
I sat on the floor among the papers with my phone beside me. I had been calling building companies and asking if anyone knew Mayor Lockwood personally. Most of them had never even met the man. Now, as dinner time was approaching, most people weren’t even picking up the phone.
“I guess I could use a break,” I said with a long, disappointed sigh. “Maybe I’ll go for a walk and clear my head. Want to come along?”
“I’ll just get dinner started. You run along,” she said. She went back into the kitchen where pots and pans immediately clanked around.
I had hoped for some company; being alone with my thoughts was not a good idea for me right now. All I could think about was finding that man with the rough voice. I wasn’t even sure I was looking for a construction worker. I was grasping at straws.
I pulled on an old pair of canvas shoes and headed out to the trail behind my grandmother’s property. It was a narrow dirt road that led to the hiking trail among the trees and rocks of the mountains. The cool evening air felt refreshing as I walked along the trail, dodging rocks and old tree trunks in the golden light. Somewhere in the distance I heard a dog barking, which only added to the cacophony of birds chirping and wind rushing through the trees. I was worried that I would be alone with my thoughts, but out here in nature you’re never truly alone. This walk was just what I needed to clear my head.
Padding along the dirty road, I admired the scenery—the trees had just turned their leaves into a brilliant emerald green. I reached for my phone to take a picture but realized that I had left it back at the house.
Then, as I was still admiring the trees, my foot caught on something and I went tumbling forward. I landed with a hearty thud and my face firmly planted in the dirty path. I tripped on an old tree trunk protruding through the rusty brown dirt. Pain shot through my ankle. I rolled up the leg of my jeans to find it swelling.
I tried to stand but the pain of bearing weight on my foot made me fall down again. I was alone on a mountain trial. With no phone. And it was getting dark. Crap. What was I thinking? There were bears on these trails!
“Help!” I yelled aimlessly into the void. The sky was already turning a murky blue. The wind had picked up, and the temperature had already dropped. I’m going to die out here. “Help!” It was no use, though. I should have turned back when I had the chance.
I could still hear that dog barking from earlier, which meant that someone was still around. Unless it was a stray. Then I’d probably be dinner. The bark was getting closer. My heart hammered faster. I yelled louder, but the louder I yelled the closer the barking got. Okay, Lainey. Shut up before you get yourself eaten.
The source of the barking came hurling down the path in front of me. It was a large German shepherd, happily bouncing on the trail. Its shiny coat was too shiny for a stray. It galloped down the path with its tongue hanging out, stopping every few feet to bark at someone. The dog seemed nice enough, but the man the dog barked at was another story. He was tall with broad shoulders—the muscles enveloping a large frame that showed through the black, hooded thermal shirt he wore. He ran behind the dog, keeping a steady pace in gallant, confidant gallops like an athlete training for a marathon. I wished his face wasn’t covered by the hood on top of his head, so I knew who this handsome stranger was.
The dog ran up to me and licked my face and sniffed at my ankle. He took turns barking at his human, licking and sniffing. Uneasiness crept up my spine as the black-hooded stranger approached, but with such a friendly dog he couldn’t be that bad, could he? “Lainey?” The stranger said. My heart sank. I recognized that voice.
“DeLuca?”
He slipped the black hood off his head, revealing a mess of dark hair and olive skin behind it. He was breathing heavily, but stood with his hands on his hips, tall, confident and strong, showing off his muscular body under that thermal shirt and black jogging pants. I suddenly hated myself.
“Are you the one that’s been screaming bloody murder out here?” He bent down and sat beside me on the trail. His dog sat next to him, happily lapping at his face.
“No, I’ve been screaming for help. What are you doing out here dressed like a burglar?” I shot at him.
“I’m running with my dog in my running gear. Obviously. What are you doing out here?”
“I’m… same. Running. Alone.” No way was I going to tell DeLuca of all people
that I sprained my ankle looking at leaves. That’s just asking for humiliation.
He raised his eyebrow in suspicion at me as his gaze lingered at my tennis shoes and jeans. He smirked at the golf ball growing at my ankle. “Yes. I can tell you’re a regular marathoner.”
“Whatever,” I huffed and turned away, hoping he would just get up and leave me, but the dog licked at my face and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“That’s enough, Rex,” he said, pulling the dog away.
“Rex? Really?” I shot him an amused look.
“What’s wrong with Rex?”
“Nothing. It’s just that Rex is exactly what a cop would name his dog. You’re such a cliché,” I said with a small laugh.
“Do you want my help or not?” He barked as he got up on his feet.
“Yes,” I said with a reluctant sigh.
I felt him snake an arm around my waist. He held me tight against his strong body as he pulled me up. I tried to stand on my foot but yelped as pain shot through it. I tried to hobble down the path with DeLuca holding me up, but the pain was too much.
“All right, enough of this,” DeLuca said. I felt my body lift as he swept me into his arms. He carried be down the trail, winding through tree roots and rocks while Rex happily bounced along ahead of us.
Warmth emanated through his thermal shirt and spread into my body as I clutched at his neck. I felt his steady heart beating gently against my ears. He smelled like a pleasantly comforting mix of sweat, soap and nature.
By now, the sky was well on its way to darkness; the first stars of the clear night were already sparkling in the distance. I hated how thankful I was for him to have found me and I hated how safe he made me feel. This was DeLuca, after all.
“You live just at the start of the trail, don’t you?” He said.
“Yes. How did you know?” I asked.
“Your grandmother. I see her on the trail sometimes on my runs. She tries to invite me over, but I always decline.” I wasn’t surprised. It was her not-so-subtle way of flirting, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.
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