NEVER CON A CON MAN
An Arizona High Country Mystery
BY
SUZANNE FLOYD
COPYRIGHT
This is a work of fiction. All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author. The town of Pine Mountain is a composite of many small towns anywhere.
Copyright November 2017 by Suzanne Floyd. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, save for inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without the written permission of the author. www.SuzanneFloyd.com
Cover by Bella Media Management
I dedicate this book to my husband Paul and our daughters, Camala and Shannon, and all my family. Thanks for all your support and encouragement.
“Once Lost, now found. Eternally thankful!” Our Daily Bread
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHAPTER ONE
Hiding in the shadows of the auditorium, Max watched his big brother give the town the bad news. It wasn’t going very well. Everyone knows I’m a screw-up, he thought, so it’s easy for people to assume I’m also a thief. But I’m not. Disappearing made it look bad, but he didn’t have a choice.
What had started out as a game, turned real and nasty when he discovered the money was missing for real from the town’s accounts. Confronting his gaming partner was when it turned nasty. It was either run, or die. He was prepared to die if necessary. He’d made his peace with God. But he didn’t want to die with Jim believing he had betrayed him again. He had the evidence to prove he was innocent, but who would believe him?
Scanning the many faces in the crowded room, his gaze settled on the one person who would give him the benefit of a doubt before jumping to conclusions. At least he hoped she would. Getting the proof to her might be a problem though. He had to find a way before he was caught, either by the police or the embezzler. It would be better to be caught by the police. His nephew was now the Chief of Police. But would he listen to my story?
His ribs ached from the pummeling he’d sustained at the hands of a man he’d thought of as his friend. Now he knew better. He had everyone fooled with his mild manners and refined talk. When things didn’t go his way, or when he was cornered, he was just as evil as everyone else. He hadn’t realized his lover was playing him for a fool. He gave his head a shake. How he’d let her con him that way. Well, two could play that game. He’d been a con man most of his life, now he’d see who was the better con artist.
His thoughts were wandering, he needed to concentrate, or things would get even worse. Slipping away into the dark, he hoped he could see the only person who could help him before it was too late.
~~~
“The town coffers are tapped out.” Mayor Jim Cox stood on the stage of the big auditorium. His statement was met with stunned silence. Pandemonium broke out with the next statement. “We’re going to have to raise taxes.” I cringed at both of those announcements. There must have been a better way of putting that. But my former step-father wasn’t always the most diplomatic guy.
“How did that happen?” “You can’t do that.” “Where did the money go?” Everyone was talking at once.
Standing behind the table at the front of the room, Jim looked all official. His white hair was perfectly groomed, his shirt starched so stiff I was surprised he could move. As mayor of the small town of Pine Mountain, it was his duty to report to the citizens what was happening. It was also his duty to make sure the town was run properly. Right now, neither of those things was going very well for him.
“Settle down, folks.” He pounded the gavel on the table without any result. Finally a shrill whistle brought the silence he had been hoping for.
“How did this happen?” With order finally restored, people were taking turns asking questions. I couldn’t see who asked the question. The meeting was being held in the high school auditorium in order to fit everyone in. The room was packed to capacity.
From my vantage point at the side of the room, I surveyed the crowd. It wasn’t just citizens of Pine Mountain attending the meeting. People who lived outside the town boundaries were in attendance as well. This would affect everyone, not simply those living within the town limits. Jim had been pushing to annex some of the outer areas. This wasn’t going to help his cause.
“The matter is being investigated,” Jim stated. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead. The tight control he held on his temper was beginning to slip. As much as he enjoyed his position as mayor, he didn’t like being in the hot seat. “Until we can get it sorted out, we need to have funds to run the town.”
I felt sorry for him. He truly loved this town, and wanted to do what was best. Of course, some people would say I’m slightly prejudiced since he is one of my step-fathers. Former step-father, that is.
“Who took the money?” Several people nodded their heads at the question.
“I’m not really sure. As I said, this is an ongoing investigation.”
“Where’s Max? Maybe he can explain what happened to the money,” Dennis Baxter stood up to ask his question. Dennis and his wife Darlene owned DD’s Diner, the small café in town. “As town treasurer, shouldn’t he be here tonight?”
“Um, well, that’s another thing. I don’t know where Max is right now.” Jim swiped at the sweat that had started running down his face. His starched shirt was beginning to wilt. Max is Jim’s younger brother, and a screw-up. Jim had been covering for him for as long as I’d known them. My heart broke for him now.
There were more shouted questions from all corners of the room. After another shrill whistle, people began to settle down. Jill Davidson’s whistle worked better than pounding the gavel on the table. Jill and her twin sister had been my best friends when I lived here before. I’d always wanted to whistle like that, but you can’t teach someone to whistle.
“I promise we’ll get to the bottom of this,” Jim said. “Until that happens though, we need to get some funds in the town treasury.”
“You can’t increase taxes without a special election.” Bud Walker spoke up this time. The roots of most of those present went as deep as Jim’s. No one wanted more taxes, but they didn’t want the town to default either. I wasn’t sure how Jim and the town council were going to handle this.
“How do you expect the town services to continue without funds to pay for them?” Jim asked. He was getting agitated. “As it stands right now, some of the nonessential town services will have to be cut.”
I released a pent up sigh. Nonessential services like the library. As the recently hired head librarian, that meant I might be out of a job in the very near future. Darn you, Max. I was selfishly thinking only of myself. This went a lot farther than my little corner of the world.
“We’re open to any suggestions,” Jim said, bringing my thoughts back to the room. So far, the other four members of the town council hadn’t said a word. People grumbled, but no one had a good solution to the problem.
“Find Max and you’ll find the money. If he hasn’t ga
mbled it away, that is.” I looked around trying to see who was speaking. I didn’t recognize the voice. “Everybody knew you shouldn’t have given him the job of handling the town’s money. He never could keep his hands off of what wasn’t his.” Jim’s face was crimson with the tight control he had on his temper now.
“Until the investigation is finished, you can’t pin this on Max,” Jim snapped. “We don’t know what happened. If you don’t have anything constructive to add, Wally, keep your mouth shut.”
Of course it would be Wally Miller, I thought. There had been bad blood between Wally and Max going as far back as high school. He certainly knew how to carry a grudge. It wouldn’t matter to him if this hurt Jim and the rest of the family.
Nothing had been resolved by the time the meeting was adjourned. The treasury was still empty, and no one was willing or could afford to pay more taxes. As a relative newcomer and an outsider to boot, it wasn’t my place to pass judgment, or make suggestions.
As Wally headed to the door, he glared at me. I assumed he had been opposed to Jim hiring me as well. Wally didn’t like anything or anyone related to the Cox family. I guess that included me. “Find Max and you’ll find our money,” he growled. Did he mean I should find Max?
~~~
“I screwed up. I underestimated him. How did I get roped into this?” He knew exactly how it had happened. He never was a good judge of character. This time his lack of good judgment could land him in prison, or worse.
His thoughts were spinning out of control, and he felt sick to his stomach. He’d let his good sense be overruled by the need for fast cash. He tried to tell himself he was doing this for their future, but that wasn’t the complete truth. He’d let himself be conned into believing no one would catch on to what they were doing. Now he was in a real jam. He shook his head. She could talk the devil out of hell, she was that good.
He thought he’d covered his tracks, but what if he hadn’t? What if Max was better than she was? What if he was caught? He didn’t want go to jail. She wouldn’t come to his rescue that was for sure.
He drew a deep breath, letting it out slowly. I have to remain calm, he told himself. I need to maintain the perception of innocence. He slipped out the side door as soon as the meeting broke up. He couldn’t pretend to be calm any longer.
~~~
Waiting until everyone had left, I slowly made my way over to Jim. “Um, Jim, is there anything I can do to help?” I stepped up to the table where he sat with his head in his hands.
“Well, hi there, kiddo. Thanks for coming tonight. Sorry it was such a downer.” He tried to put on a happy face.
“Do you know where Max is? What really happened to the money?”
His broad shoulders slumped. “I can’t answer either of those questions. I wish I could. I don’t want to believe my little brother would embezzle the town funds, but what else am I supposed to think? He’s gone, and so is the money. If I find out he did this, I’ll shoot him myself.”
It was a typical Jim reaction. His temper flashed in an instant, but it never lasted more than a few seconds. He slumped back against the chair, his temper already fizzled out.
I knew he didn’t mean what he said. If it turned out that Max had embezzled the funds, Jim would do whatever he could to help him out of the mess, even if it meant replacing the money out of his own pocket. That meant he would have to hock everything he owned, including the hardware store and ranch that had been in his family for four generations. He hadn’t said how much money was missing, but I assumed it was a great deal.
“The worst part is Wally,” he added softly. “He’ll never let me forget this stain on our family name if it turns out Max is to blame.”
“I’m sorry, Jim.” I didn’t know what else to say.
He drew a deep breath, letting it out slowly. I’d only been back in Pine Mountain for six months, but the small town meant a lot to me. It was the one place I’d lived the longest while growing up.
My mom had married Jim when I was ten. The five years we lived here held many happy memories for me. It was the longest stretch I’d lived in one spot until I graduated from high school. Because my half-brother Tim was Jim’s son, I had kept in contact with him.
“What are you going to do? How are you going to be able to pay the town’s bills?”
“You don’t have to worry about it, Holly. I’ll figure something out.” Again his shoulders slumped, and his face got red. “I guess you do have to worry about it. If we can’t afford to pay our bills that means we can’t pay salaries either.” He huffed out a breath. “I’ll make sure you get paid, even if I pay you myself.”
“No, Jim. I don’t want you to do that.” He started to argue, but I held up my hand. “It wouldn’t be fair to the other employees who lose their jobs if I get to keep mine. I have a nice nest egg saved up. I’ll get by until you get this figured out.”
He stood up, giving me a warm hug. “I always wished you were my daughter, not just my step-daughter. I’m glad you moved back home.” He gave another sigh as he sank back into his chair. “We’ll get this thing figured out,” he assured me again. “Until then, the town will get by. I’m afraid I didn’t handle things very well tonight. I just wish Max hadn’t disappeared at the same time the money did. It makes him look guilty even if he isn’t.”
Max is ten years younger than Jim. When I first lived in Pine Mountain, he came and went like the wind. The last time he came back, it appeared that he had turned his life around. That’s when Jim gave him the job as town treasurer. Now he felt responsible for the missing money. If Max took the money, I suppose he was.
“Hey, how’s your mom doing?” I accepted the subject change. “I heard she got married again.” I wasn’t surprised that he knew about that. Tim would have kept him informed. “Last time I talked to Tim, they were getting ready to move, but he didn’t say where.”
“Mom’s fine,” I said. “They’re living in Florida for now. Tim’s pretty excited about that. He loves the beach.” At thirteen, Tim was just discovering girls. The fact that they wore bikinis at the beach certainly didn’t hurt. “I’m not sure how long they’ll be staying there though. I’m sure when the first hurricane hits, Mom will be ready to pull up stakes.” I kept hoping she would finally settle down.
“Well, tell them I said hi,” Jim said. “Ted sounds like a nice guy. Tim seems to like him.” He paused for a minute, releasing a heavy sigh. “That’s more than I can say about his feelings for Jane.”
Jane is Jim’s third wife, and Tim wasn’t crazy about her. He’d spent almost a half hour grumbling about her after his last visit with his dad. I couldn’t blame him though. She was a little hard to get close to.
“How is Jane? I didn’t see her here tonight.” In fact I hadn’t seen her in town for more than a week.
“She’s visiting her mom in Denver with the baby.” It surprised me that she took Hannah with her, but I kept that thought to myself. Most of the time, Jane pawned the eleven–month-old-off on anyone willing to babysit. In the six months I’d been in town, I’d spent almost as much time with her as Jane did.
“They should be home next week,” he added. “I miss her, them,” he quickly corrected. Who did he really miss? My money was on the baby. From my perspective, it didn’t look like this marriage was going to last. My heart went out to Hannah. The children of divorce were always the ones to suffer the most.
I’d been surprised when Jim married someone only a few years older than me. It surprised me even more when Jane got pregnant within months of the wedding. She didn’t strike me as the motherly type. I had tried to make friends with her, but she hadn’t been interested. Unless she needed a babysitter, of course.
Standing up, Jim gathered his papers together. “Thanks again for coming tonight, Holly. I’m glad you decided to move back. I’ve missed you. I’ll do my best to make sure you don’t miss any paychecks.” Placing a kiss on my cheek, he turned to leave.
My heart went out to him. It couldn�
��t have been easy giving this kind of news to the town. He knew everyone would blame Max, and by extension, they would blame him. The fact that Max was also missing didn’t look good.
I pulled my sweater closed when I stepped outside. The wind whipped my reddish-blonde hair into my face. The night air had a bit of a chill to it at this time of year. In the White Mountains of Arizona, fall came earlier than it did in Phoenix where I’d spent the last few years.
“Hi, Holly. How’s Dad doing?” Giving a start, I whirled around with my hand over my heart to keep it from jumping out of my chest. I hadn’t seen the tall figure leaning against the side of the building.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” The smile playing around his full lips said just the opposite. Drake had always been a tease, and I had been his favorite target. Two years older than my twenty-four years, Drake is Jim’s oldest and one of my many former step-brothers. He pushed away from the wall, stepping up beside me. After a hitch in the Air Force, he’d settled in Pine Mountain. He was the police chief now.
During my early teens, Drake had been my first crush. Even without any blood ties between us, it always felt a little creepy to let it go any farther than a crush.
“I didn’t see you inside. Why didn’t you come in? I thought you’d want to be there for your dad.” I frowned up at him. At five feet ten, he was several inches taller than my five foot three, so that I had to tilt my head back to look at him.
When he shrugged, I tried not to notice how the material of his uniform shirt tightened across his broad shoulders. Apparently my crush hadn’t ended when I moved away.
Not what anyone would call conventionally handsome, he had a commanding presence. He filled out the uniform better than most men would. Even when we were in school, he had spent hours working out in the gym. Now the muscles in his arms and chest rippled each time he moved. The bump on his nose spoke of a fight he’d been in as a teenager; a fight he started defending me.
Never Con A Con Man (An Arizona High Country Mystery Book 1) Page 1