Extra! Extra! Dead All About It

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Then they would be risking imprisonment because that’s against the law.”

  I pictured the printed sheets I found under the bushes. Someone had clearly copied them. I couldn’t be sure it was anyone in the clerk’s office, but that made the most sense. “What if someone filed the paperwork because he or she didn’t want to risk jail time but the documents never showed up online?”

  “That doesn’t happen.”

  “But, theoretically, how would that work if it did happen?”

  “It would never happen.”

  Mary was so sure of herself I almost stopped pressing her. That wasn’t my way, though, so I refused to back down.

  “I know your office runs extremely well – it’s like a well-oiled machine really, and clerks everywhere are jealous of how professional your office is – but you can’t tell me that it’s impossible for someone not to hide documents for a candidate. You can’t maintain control of all your employees. A bad one could’ve slipped through.”

  Mary’s expression darkened. “Is that what you’re insinuating? Are you saying that my office colluded to hide financial documents? If so, you’d better prepare yourself, because I’m willing to go to court to prove that’s not true.”

  “I’m not insinuating that at all,” I countered. “I’m merely asking a theoretical question. I’m not pointing a real-life finger.”

  “It doesn’t sound that way to me.”

  Eliot shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other – I saw the movement out of the corner of my eye – but he remained silent. That was good, because I didn’t need him agreeing with Mary and making things worse.

  “Okay, I don’t think I’m explaining myself well.” I chose my words carefully. “I’ve come into possession of some documents that seem to indicate that one of the county commission candidates is lying about the amount of money being brought into a specific campaign.”

  “Which candidate?”

  “I’m not at liberty to say.” Mostly because I had no idea. All I knew was that it wasn’t Tad. That wasn’t enough to go on.

  “Well, without proof, I can’t help you,” Mary supplied. “If you showed me the documents in your possession I’d be able to investigate.”

  “But how would you investigate?” I challenged. “Do you keep the hard copies supplied to you in a file or something?”

  “Well, no,” Mary hedged. “We make copies, but the checks have to be cashed, so that’s the only real hard evidence we keep. Just tell me which candidate you’re looking at and I can pull up the file.”

  I wasn’t comfortable with that … at least not yet. “You’re sure that none of your workers are associated with any of the candidates, right?”

  “My workers are not allowed to voice political affiliation. They’re allowed to vote, of course, but they cannot participate in rallies or local events.”

  “Do you have anyone new to the office? Let’s say within the last four months or so.”

  “No.”

  “And you’re sure none of your employees would work with any of the candidates for monetary gain, right?”

  “Okay, I’ve had enough of this.” Mary planted her hands on the counter. “You’re being purposely vague, but pushing on an issue that could be huge – especially right before an election. If you’re not willing to share information, I’m going to assume you’re on a fishing expedition.”

  “I would never go on a fishing expedition.” I was solemn. “I hate fish, and the great outdoors and I don’t mix.”

  “Yes, your wit astounds,” Mary drawled. “I have a job to do, Ms. Shaw. If you have something you think I need to focus my attention on I’m more than happy to look. If you don’t, then I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

  I considered arguing further – she couldn’t kick me out of a government building for asking questions, after all – but I knew that was a mistake, so I merely shrugged. “Fine. I’ll be around until the election. I hope things go smoothly for you tomorrow.”

  “I’m sure they will.” Mary turned her attention back to whatever document she was perusing, so she missed my dark look. “Have a nice day, Ms. Shaw.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  I waited until Eliot and I were back in the parking lot to unload my frustration.

  “I’ve never liked her.”

  “I don’t know what you expected from her,” Eliot offered. “She has a job to do. And you were kind of vague.”

  “That’s because I don’t know which candidate we’re dealing with. Tad said he had financial documents on all three of his opponents. Heck, he might have them on the smaller opponents, too. I clearly didn’t find everything that Brucker was carrying around because the portion I discovered belongs to one person.”

  “Do you want to search for the rest of the documents?”

  “They’re not out there any longer. People have been roaming the city for days because of the festival. Either a resident found them or a cleaning crew did. They’re probably long gone.”

  “So what do you want to do?”

  “I have no idea. In fact … ,” I trailed off as my eyes landed on a specific bumper sticker. “Hmm.”

  “Ugh. I hate that ‘hmm.’ That means your mind is working and things are about to go sideways.”

  “Not necessarily.” I twirled to study every car in the immediate area. “This is the parking section for the clerk’s office.”

  “So?”

  “So Mary said her employees aren’t allowed to express political affiliation.”

  “So?”

  “So that car … and that one over there … have political bumper stickers on them. One is touting Aiken and the other Justice.”

  “Oh, I see what you’re saying.” Realization dawned on Eliot. “Technically those bumper stickers are against the rules.”

  “They are,” I agreed. “If someone is brash enough to put a bumper sticker on his or her car even though it’s against the rules, they might be willing to do something else, too.”

  “Okay. What are you doing?” Eliot furrowed his brow as I retrieved my phone.

  “I’m going to take photos of the license plates and find out who the cars belong to.”

  “And how are you going to do that?”

  “I’m going to barter sexual favors with you so you’ll run the plates at the shop. That’s the quickest way I know to find the answers … other than breaking into the cars. I don’t think either of us wants me risking that, although I haven’t ruled out the prospect.”

  The sigh Eliot let loose was one of those long-suffering ones that only a truly weary man could muster. “Fine. You have to do something dirty for me, though.”

  “What?”

  “I haven’t decided yet.”

  I shrugged. “Fine. I’m willing to be dirty.”

  “That’s one of the reasons I love you. Come on. Take your photos. It shouldn’t take us long to come up with your answers.”

  Yay! Finally we were getting somewhere.

  24 Twenty-Four

  “I thought you’d be here earlier.”

  Fawn beamed at Eliot as he walked through the front door of the pawn shop. The smile slipped when she saw me.

  “And you’re not alone.”

  “Avery will be with me most of the day,” Eliot said, moving toward his office. “That’s how I want it, and I don’t want any crap about it.”

  “Did you hear that?” I taunted Fawn. “He doesn’t want any crap about it.”

  “That goes for you, too, Avery,” Eliot supplied.

  I scowled. “I’m giving you crap until the end of time. You need to suck it up.”

  Instead of frowning – as I expected – Eliot grinned. “Somehow I think I’ll survive.” He held open the door to his private office. “We have some research to do, Fawn. I’m not sure how long it will take.”

  Fawn was clearly unhappy with the turn of events and jutted out her lower lip. “What if I need you for something?”

  Eliot wasn’t about t
o be manipulated. “Then I’ll be in my office. I’m sure you can run the store while we work.”

  “What are you working on?”

  “Something that’s way above your paygrade,” I answered, giving Eliot a vigorous shove into his office. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re about to narrow our suspect pool.”

  “You didn’t have to shove me,” Eliot said ruefully. “I’m going to get you the information.”

  “I know you are. I simply want it to happen as fast as possible.”

  “That’s not what you usually say.”

  “Yes, but for once, speed is better.”

  “Got it. Let’s see what we’ve got.”

  “HUH.” ELIOT RAN the license plate with the Aiken bumper sticker first. “What do you make of that?”

  I drew my eyebrows together as I peered closer at the computer screen. “You can’t be serious.” The name showing in the top spot on the registration sheet was dumbfounding. “I can’t believe she’d be that stupid.”

  “I’m not sure she’s stupid,” Eliot clarified. “She probably didn’t think you’d go through the employee parking lot and take photos of every car with political bumper stickers. She probably also didn’t realize that you’d have a way to verify the license plates without running them through the state.”

  “Anyone with half a brain would’ve done what I did.”

  “I don’t think that’s true. Your brain works on a wavelength that other brains don’t.”

  “But we talked to her thirty minutes ago,” I argued. “She told us that her employees weren’t allowed to express political affiliation. Then, come to find out, she’s expressing political affiliation. I mean … that’s bold.”

  “I can’t argue with that.” Eliot clicked a few buttons and wrinkled his forehead as he studied the computer screen. “For someone her age – someone who has been in office as long as she has – she seems to have a lot of debt piling up.”

  I stared over his shoulder. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that she has six credit cards and they’re all maxed out. She has several liens attached to her credit report. If I had to guess, I’d say she’s in financial trouble.”

  “Hmm.” I rubbed my chin as I ran the situation through my head. “She makes good money as the clerk. It’s like a hundred grand – a little more – so it’s not as if she should be hurting. Does that say if she’s been spending a lot of money?”

  “No. It’s a simple credit check.” Eliot scratched at his cheek. “I can try to dig up more information, but we don’t have much time. Something like this would generally take a week or two to track down.”

  “We definitely don’t have time for that,” I agreed. I shifted so I faced the window and stared out at the street. The festival would start in twenty minutes. People were already milling about. “I need to talk to Jake.”

  Eliot remained in his chair. “What do you think he’s going to tell you?”

  “I have no idea, but I need some insight from him. We’re too close to the election – you’re right about that – and this might be bigger than I initially thought.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s one thing for a politician to steal money from an election fund,” I offered. “I’m certain that’s what’s going on here. I assumed the candidate was doing something nefarious and pulling one over on the county and voters in an effort to pocket the money. That’s a good story, but it’s not the story of the year.

  “It turns out that it’s possible a county employee helped a candidate, which makes it a better story,” I continued. “Only now it might be the actual clerk – an elected official, mind you – doing the heavy lifting on the lying. That could be the biggest story of the year.”

  “I thought you liked it when you had the biggest story of the year.”

  “I do. But I need help. I also need to make Jake aware of what I found because I’m currently in a position where I could be accused of withholding information from law enforcement if I don’t tell him. I have enough now that things are actionable.”

  “I think he’s going to be angry,” Eliot said. “In fact, I think he’s going to be really angry. Are you willing to deal with that?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “I don’t think you do. I’m relieved you’re going to tell Jake. I think that will cause whoever is after you to ease up.”

  “I think you’re deluding yourself, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

  “So we’ll find Jake.” Eliot appeared happy at the prospect. “He’ll know what to do.”

  He definitely would know what to do. I was fairly certain it would start with screaming, switch to him miming strangling me, and then end with the silent treatment. If I knew Jake – and I did – he wasn’t going to take things well.

  “HOW DID YOU find him?” Eliot stared through the diner window, his lips quirking when he caught sight of Jake sitting in a booth across from Lauren. “By the way, this looks like a lunch date. I hate to admit it – mostly because I know I’ll never hear the end of it – but I think you successfully played matchmaker.”

  The way Lauren and Jake leaned in and listened while the other talked told me the same. “I hate to interrupt their date.”

  “That won’t stop you.”

  “Not even a little.” I pushed open the door and stepped in, waiting a beat for Jake to look up and notice me. When he did, his smile slipped and his eyes flashed.

  “What did you do?” Jake asked, frustration evident.

  I kept a smile in place as I headed toward the table, Eliot close behind. “I thought you’d be happy to see me. I mean … you do have me to thank for your new girlfriend.”

  Jake scowled as Lauren’s cheeks flushed with color.

  “We’re having lunch,” Jake shot back. “I wouldn’t pick out china patterns just yet.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I waved off Jake’s snarky attitude. “We need to talk and you’re not going to be happy when I’m done.”

  “I believe that can be said for almost every conversation we’ve ever had,” Jake said dryly.

  “Yes, well, this conversation is going to be worse. I can guarantee you’ll want to kill me before the end of it.”

  “Maybe I should give you some privacy,” Lauren said, sliding out of the booth.

  Jake didn’t look happy with the suggestion. “You don’t have to leave. I’m sure Avery is exaggerating.”

  Eliot shook his head. “Avery, for once, is not exaggerating.”

  “Oh, man.” Jake slapped his hand to his forehead. “I just know you’re about to irritate me to the point where I’ll consider taking you to jail.”

  “You’re not wrong.” I grabbed Lauren by the shoulders and directed her toward Jake’s side of the booth. “I think you should sit there. In fact, I think you should block the booth exit in case he decides to go after me.”

  Lauren’s eyes widened. “Is it going to be that bad?”

  “I think so.” I rubbed the tender spot between my eyebrows as I slid into the booth seat across from Jake. Eliot sat next to me, slipping an arm around my shoulders as he forced a smile for the approaching waitress’s benefit.

  “We’ll each have two coneys and chili fries,” Eliot said. “Two iced teas, too.”

  “That’s quite the refined palate you’ve got there,” Jake said dryly. He smiled at Lauren while shifting on the seat. I could tell he was uncomfortable. “Okay. What do you have to tell me?”

  “First, I want to talk about you two.” I wiggled my finger in Lauren and Jake’s direction. “I want you both to tell me that I was absolutely right when I declared you were a good match for each other.”

  Jake glared holes into my forehead. “I will say nothing of the sort. What’s going on here is none of your business.”

  “Oh, it’s my business.” I wasn’t about to put up with Jake cutting me off from the information train. We both knew that. “You just happen to be lucky that I have bigger problems than you guys rig
ht now. Once this election is over, I’m totally focusing all of my deductive powers on you.”

  “How is that possible?” Jake challenged. “I thought you were going to be busy going to a baby shower?”

  I stilled. “Who told you that?”

  “Who do you think?”

  “Okay, I’ll add punishing Derrick to my to-do list after the election.” I regrouped quickly. “He’ll wish he’d never tricked me into going to that baby shower by the time I’m done.”

  “I have no doubt about that,” Jake agreed.

  “Do you know the details of that?” Eliot asked, his expression somber as he locked gazes with Jake.

  “I know that someone was tailgating Avery,” Jake replied. “Derrick said she ticked off a bunch of people at the debate when she asked a question about race and took over the entire question portion of the event.”

  “It’s a little more involved than that,” Eliot hedged.

  “Oh, great.” Jake didn’t bother hiding his disgust. “Tell me what you’ve done.”

  “Do you promise not to yell?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “You’re not giving me much incentive to volunteer information.”

  “You wouldn’t be here unless you needed me,” Jake pointed out. “I’m not an idiot. Talk.”

  I looked to Lauren and found her smiling, although the expression seemed chilly and forced. She was probably angry I interrupted her lunch date. Oh, well, she would have to get over it. Life with me is never smooth sailing.

  “Fine. I’ll tell you. Just remember, we’re in a public place and people will hear if you threaten to kill me.”

  “I’m sure I can refrain,” Jake said dryly. “Talk.”

  “Okay. Here goes.”

  I told him everything. I told him about the stack of papers I found in the bushes. I told him about my conversation with Honor, discovering Honor was Elizabeth Justice’s daughter, and then my run-in with Tad over the same situation this morning. I told him about my conversations with Aiken and Justice. I told him about what Mary Winters said and what we discovered in the parking lot. When I was done, Jake was flabbergasted.