“Who else did you think I was going with? Sadly, much like you, I have very few friends who are the same gender. I thought about golfing with a few of the women I know, but I didn’t think you’d like that.”
I thought back to what Lauren told me about the women at the aquarium throwing themselves at Eliot. “I trust you.”
Eliot’s eyes widened with surprise. “Of course you do. Everyone knows that – for whatever reason – I’m completely addicted to you.”
“Yes, and we’ve all been talking behind your back, Eliot,” Jake supplied. “We’re trying to decide which mental hospital will be the best fit for you.”
“Don’t worry,” I offered Eliot. “I’ll be your straightjacket of love.”
Eliot chuckled as he shook his head. “Now that is a frightening image.” I recognized the moment he decided to change the subject. “What have you guys been doing today?”
“Just hanging out and shampooing each other’s hair,” Lauren replied breezily. She kept her hands on her laptop and did her best to avoid Jake’s curious and insistent stare.
“You should’ve gone with the tampon talk, Avery,” Jake suggested. “I’d be more likely to believe that.”
“Eliot told me that didn’t work any longer, so I had to up my game.”
“So you went with shampoo?”
“And pillow fights.”
Despite the serious nature of the situation, Jake’s lips curved. “That was a nice touch.” He sat at the table, keeping Lauren to his right and me to his left. “I know you’re up to something, though. I think it would be better if you told me what it is.”
I flicked my eyes to Eliot as he unpacked our lunch. He seemed relaxed – much calmer than the previous night when he tried to serve as a human shield – but I was naturally suspicious that he didn’t spill the beans to Jake during a morning of male bonding.
“Didn’t Eliot tell you what I was working on?” I challenged.
“Eliot has a hard and fast rule that he won’t narc on you,” Jake replied. “I tend to disagree with that rule, but he refuses to budge. Why do you think I’m asking you?”
That was a good question. “I thought maybe you were asking in case you thought I might slip, thus allowing Eliot off the hook for betraying me.”
“Yeah, you’re not dramatic at all.” Eliot kissed the top of my head as he slid a Mexican dish in front of me. “Mini burrito dinner from Paco’s.”
Oh, man. He really did know the way to my heart. “Fine. I don’t suspect you of betraying me.”
“I was never worried.” Eliot slid the same meal in front of Lauren. “You’re not a vegetarian or anything, are you?”
Lauren shook her head. “No. I love Paco’s. Are you sure you bought enough?”
“I live with Avery. I bought extra entrees so she has something to snack on later.”
“Oh, well, if you’re sure.” Lauren vigorously dug into her lunch, sliding her laptop away from Jake in case he got curious. “I like how you guys don’t care about eating healthy food. That’s how I roll, too. If it says ‘gluten-free’ then it’s not for me.”
Eliot chuckled. “That sounds exactly like something Avery would say.” He handed Jake an entrée and then settled on the other side of the table between Lauren and me. I couldn’t help but notice that Lauren didn’t move to shift the laptop away from Eliot. She clearly didn’t see him as a risk.
“I happen to think that Avery is a genius,” Lauren offered, her eyes twinkling. “It’s sad that her genius isn’t recognized appropriately.”
Eliot laughed so hard he choked on his burrito. “I see you’ve been brainwashing your new friend in my absence,” he rasped once his throat cleared. “It’s good to know that you’ve been productive.”
“Yes, well, I’m nothing if not predictable.” I licked my lips as I watched Lauren and Jake stare at one another. Neither said much, but they didn’t break the link. Hmm. “So how was your golf day?”
I shifted my eyes to Eliot and found him watching our guests, too. “What?” he stirred and dragged his eyes to me. “It was good. I won.”
“It’s always good to win.”
“It is.” Eliot’s attention drifted back to Lauren and Jake. “I’m a big fan of winning.”
“You and me both.”
“YOU’RE MAKING THAT STORY up!” Lauren playfully slapped Jake’s arm as they sat together on the patio couch and drank margaritas. They appeared lost in conversation – looking only at one another – and instead of being uncomfortable, the interaction was completely relaxed.
I stood in the kitchen watching them through the screen door as I waited for Eliot to make us drinks. “So, should I give up my reporter ways and become a matchmaker or what?”
Eliot cocked an eyebrow as he handed me a blue drink. “I think that’s probably a mistake.”
I wrinkled my nose as I lifted the cocktail concoction and sniffed it. “Why is mine blue?”
“Because I added blueberry flavoring. That’s your favorite.”
It really was my favorite. “And you made it especially for me?”
Eliot cast me a sidelong look. “Yes, but if you’re going to make a big deal about it I’ll take it back.”
“No.” I moved out of his reach and sat at the kitchen table, inhaling the scent one more time before taking a sip. To my surprise, it was delicious. “This is good.”
“I’m glad to see you trust me without tasting first,” Eliot said dryly. “Don’t you want to join our guests on the patio?”
“In a minute.” I patted the empty seat next to me. “I want to spend some quality time with you first.”
Eliot wasn’t about to fall for that. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“I think you’re the smartest man in the world.”
“Oh, I must be stupid to fall for that.” Eliot let loose a heavy sigh as he sank into the chair. “How was your day really?”
“Uneventful,” I replied, turning serious. “We picked four of the most obscure amounts from the documents I found and tried searching for those dollar amounts specifically. We figured that would be the easiest way to track the political candidate we’re dealing with.
“I spent hours going through Tad’s documents online yesterday because he was the obvious choice given what happened to Brucker, but I came up empty,” I continued. “We widened the search to all the county commission candidates and came up with nothing.”
Eliot ran his hand over my back as he considered the conundrum. “Have you considered that they’re not county commission documents?”
I stilled. “What do you mean?”
“It’s a primary, Avery. It’s not a simple county commission election. They added the commission race because that other guy got sick – or died, I can’t remember which – but there are a lot of other elections going on.”
Well, crud. He had a point. “I didn’t think of that.” I snagged the stack of documents from the counter and flipped through the first few pages. “I’m not sure that fits, though,” I said after a beat. “I mean, these documents seem to indicate that whoever this is brought in a little more than a million dollars through fundraising.”
“I don’t understand what you’re getting at.”
“You don’t need a million dollars to run for office in a city or township,” I explained. “Most of those races are two people and there’s almost always a clear winner before the ballots are issued. Even in a place like Warren – where there’s tons of infighting and a lot of voters – no one is raising a million bucks to fund an election campaign.”
“Huh.” Eliot rubbed his chin, considering. “You’re right. Isn’t a million dollars a lot to spend on a county commission race, though?”
“It is, and the commissioners only make like, thirty-two grand a year for part-time work. A million dollars is a lot unless you’re running for governor … or queen of the universe.”
“I think you could win that title on charisma alone, dear.” Eliot flashed a smile before
taking the packet from me. “You couldn’t find any of the dollar amounts on the website?”
“Not one.”
“Not even this one for nine thousand, nine hundred, ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents?”
“That was the first number I looked for.”
“Do you know what’s funny about that number?”
“It’s right below the ten thousand number that most people believe triggers an IRS investigation.”
Eliot’s eyebrows hopped up. “That’s exactly what I was going to say. However … what do you mean ‘most people believe?’ I thought that was the number.”
“It’s not. The number is really eleven thousand, although usually utilized for gifting money to children. I know because it was a thing in a money-laundering case I covered about three years ago.”
“So you don’t think the number is on purpose?”
“Oh, I think the number is on purpose. I simply think whoever donated it didn’t realize that eleven thousand is the real number. That shows they’re new at this.”
“And what, exactly, do you think this is?”
That was a good question. “I don’t know.” I rolled my neck and shifted my gaze to Lauren and Jake as they laughed on the patio. “The more I think about it, the more I’m starting to wonder if this isn’t bigger than I initially envisioned.”
“I know you don’t want to hear it, but you have no idea what you’re dealing with. These papers could be from something else entirely.”
“It says ‘campaign funds’ on top of the tally sheet. What else could it mean?”
“That doesn’t mean it’s this election,” Eliot argued. “It could be a previous election.”
“I guess.” I shifted on my chair. “I don’t believe that either. It only makes sense for them to be part of this election.”
“Okay, let’s say I believe that – which I’m not sure I do, but we’ll pretend,” Eliot said. “Why would someone drop paperwork that could possibly get them into trouble?”
“You’re assuming we’re dealing with an intelligent person. If it’s Tad, we know that’s not the case.”
“Avery, I know you want it to be Tad, but you have no evidence that it really is him.”
“I don’t. He’s the candidate that makes most sense, though.”
“Because his aide died?”
“Because his aide was murdered,” I clarified. “Not only was he murdered and dumped in the river, but the first thing Tad asked about was any documents Brucker might have been carrying. He called them strategic plans, but we both know that he’s a liar, so it’s far more likely that it was these documents.”
“These documents were found by the Italian restaurant. That’s a good twelve blocks from where the body was found.”
“Yeah, but whoever killed Brucker dumped him in the river to wash away evidence. Heck, whoever it was probably thought that the body might drift miles out of the way before being discovered … if it was ever discovered at all.
“The Clinton River is running slow right now because of the lack of rain,” I continued. “Brucker washed up downtown because he was snagged by one of those boat moorings. It was a fluke … and yet it seems the killer should’ve realized that was a possibility.”
“You seem to think the killer is a novice,” Eliot mused. “You also don’t appear to believe it’s Ludington.”
“Tad made a fuss when he heard about the body.”
“That could’ve been an act.”
“He’s not that good an actor. You’ve met him. He can’t control the way he reacts. If he killed Brucker, he would’ve been nervous … or maybe even panicked. He was more upset about his election plan going missing.”
“Maybe he really did lose his election plan.”
“What kind of strategic plan do you need for a county commission campaign?” I challenged. “It’s not even an important position. Granted, this one is more important than years past because it could change the balance of power on the board, but it’s not a money position.
“Most people run for county board to use it as a stepping stone to higher office,” I continued. “This election shouldn’t be a big deal, and it most definitely shouldn’t require a million dollars to run for the seat.”
“So you’re basically saying you think we’re dealing with something big, but you have no idea what that something is,” Eliot said. “You’re convinced Ludington is involved, but not a murderer. You’re also convinced that whoever killed Brucker was a novice and not a professional. Do I have that right?”
“Basically.”
“And that means you’re going to obsess about this until you come up with answers and you’ll want those answers by Tuesday’s election.”
“You know me well.”
Eliot smirked. “I do. I’ll help you as long as you promise not to do anything stupid.”
“I never do anything stupid. Didn’t you hear Lauren? I’m a genius.”
“You’re … something.” Eliot leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “We’ll figure it out.”
“We will,” I agreed. “I’m a genius, after all. I can’t risk my prized reputation by not figuring it out.”
“You’re going to let this genius stuff go to your head, aren’t you?”
I shrugged and pointed toward the patio. “Do you see that?”
Eliot nodded. “They seem to enjoy talking to one another. That doesn’t mean you’ll get your way.”
“Oh, I’ll get my way.” I was more convinced than ever that was true. “I wanted a double date and I got one without even trying. My powers are growing. Pretty soon, I’ll be unstoppable.”
“Oh, geez.” Eliot rubbed his forehead. “The only thing growing is your ego … and I’m pretty sure that’s already unstoppable.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait to see who is right.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
That made two of us.
17 Seventeen
“What’s the plan?”
Eliot slid a plate full of eggs, hash browns, sausage links and toast in front of me the next morning before taking the spot to my right. Sundays were generally reserved for rest – and football … and video games … and Outlander … and The Walking Dead … and pizza – but we had plans to hit the festival hard and early.
I didn’t expect Eliot to waste his day hanging out with me, but he was intent on doing exactly that.
“Well, for starters, I have to find a piece that’s going to hit the front page,” I supplied, sipping my juice. “I told Fish I’d come up with one for yesterday and I fell flat.”
“You only fell flat on the story. In the matchmaking department you were batting a thousand.”
I smirked. “That did go particularly well, didn’t it?”
In actuality, it went better than expected. Jake and Lauren spent more than an hour getting to know one another on the patio. Eliot and I joined them – briefly – before disappearing inside and amusing ourselves with a round of Lego video games. Eliot wanted us to amuse ourselves a different way but I drew the line at doing that with guests in the house … even though the guests had almost no interest in us whatsoever.
When Jake made his way back into the house, he was sheepish. He placed the glasses he and Lauren drank from in the sink and made a lame excuse for having to leave. I had opened the window and listened to Jake and Lauren’s conversation while playing – Eliot admonished me but was too lazy to get up and shut the window – so I knew they were heading out to dinner. That’s not something Jake owned up to before leaving, but the guilty tilt of his shoulders told me everything I needed to know.
Lauren profusely apologized for not being able to help before disappearing through the front door. I paused my game long enough to watch them through the window. They had their heads bent together and appeared to be deep in conversation before pulling out and heading west for dinner. It seemed my matchmaking skills were even better than I’d envisioned … which was saying someth
ing, because I was a genius in my own mind in that department.
“I have to say that I’m impressed,” Eliot admitted, dunking his toast in his egg yolk. “I thought for sure you were wasting your time, yet they seemed pretty enamored with one another. I wouldn’t change your career or anything, but you did a good job yesterday.”
“Yeah.” I wrinkled my forehead as I considered the pairing. “I kind of wish they could’ve waited for a week to become infatuated with one another.”
Eliot made a face. “Why?”
I shrugged, noncommittal. “I don’t know.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to change your mind.” Eliot was incredulous. “Avery, you’ve been fighting for this for weeks, and now suddenly you’re against it? I need an explanation.”
“I don’t have one.” That wasn’t true. I simply didn’t have an explanation that didn’t make me look bad.
“Are you jealous?”
Eliot’s expression was hard to read – anger with a dash of worry and annoyance, perhaps – but I offered up an eye roll and a “well, duh” expression to make him feel better. “I’m not jealous.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“If I tell you, you’ll think less of me.”
“I don’t believe that’s true.”
“Oh, well, I happen to know it’s true.”
“And you happen to be a doofus.”
I was dumbfounded. “Who uses the word doofus anymore? I mean … that was barely an acceptable word in the eighties.”
“I won’t let you distract me.” Eliot extended a warning finger. “Tell me why you’re suddenly against Jake and Lauren getting together or I’ll assume it’s because you’re jealous.”
Ugh. He was such a woman sometimes. “Fine.” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “If I tell you, I don’t want to hear any crap about it. Can you promise me that?”
Eliot immediately started shaking his head. “I can promise you’ll never hear the end of it if you don’t tell me.”
“You’ve been spending too much time with me. That’s something I’d say.”
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