by Rachel Lacey
“He’s the one who hacked my website.”
“How the hell do you know that?” he demanded.
“A friend of a friend is a private investigator who specializes in cyber stuff. He checked into it for me.”
“Fuck.” He slammed his fist into the steering wheel.
“So who is he?” she asked.
“I really can’t discuss it with you, but since, as you probably know, the information you’ve gotten isn’t admissible in court, he’s connected to the fraternity. And I don’t want you going anywhere near him. No phone calls, no protests outside the frat house. Are we clear?”
“Don’t go all alpha cop on me.” Her tone snapped with irritation. “I don’t want to go to his house. I just thought you might want to know in case, you know, it helped solve the case.”
“Let me call you back.” He hung up, an uneasy feeling churning in his gut.
There was no reason for Justin Wendell, or anyone at Omega Chi, to hijack Olivia’s website. This had nothing to do with their chicken mascot or any kind of stupid prank. People didn’t do shit like that without a motive, and Pete needed to know what it was. Justin’s last words had been haunting him ever since he left the frat house.
“Funny thing, you asking about this. I would have figured you guys at the sheriff’s office would be thanking us.”
At the time, it had made no sense. But now an uncomfortable suspicion had taken hold in his gut. On a hunch, he turned to the laptop in his cruiser and pulled up Linburgh’s bio on the sheriff’s office’s website. Sure enough, he was a Carolina University alumnus and a member of Omega Chi. A search of the fraternity’s website listed Donny Linburgh as a longtime supporter.
Funny how Linburgh’s name kept popping up where Olivia was concerned, except he didn’t think there was anything funny about it. He’d been out to the Halverson plant a number of times and never gotten the prickly feeling he’d felt when he visited the Omega Chi frat house.
His gut said the frat boys had indeed been behind all the vandalism at Olivia’s place, but it had little to do with their chicken mascot and everything to do with Sheriff Linburgh. If Pete’s gut was right, Linburgh had asked, or even paid, his buddies at Omega Chi to hassle Olivia in an effort to shut her up, all to keep his good favor with Halverson Foods before the election.
And that meant Linburgh had broken the law. He’d dirtied his nose to win the election, that no-good piece of scum. Pete would spend the rest of the day gathering what evidence he could. Tomorrow morning he’d pay a visit to the district attorney’s office.
Linburgh wasn’t getting away with this. Not on Pete’s watch.
* * *
Olivia and Maggie volunteered together until the shelter closed, walking dogs and cleaning out their kennels. Olivia helped another couple pick out a dog to join their family. She’d done it several times now, and while it wasn’t part of her duties as a volunteer, no one at the shelter seemed to mind. Plus, it was fun.
“Wow,” Maggie said, as they headed for the front door. “That was kind of horrible and awesome at the same time.”
Olivia nodded. “It can be hard seeing all the homeless animals, but I like to think of the situations a lot of those dogs came out of, being abused, or starved, or homeless. Now they have kindness, a warm bed, and access to food and water.”
“That’s true.” Maggie opened the passenger door of the Prius.
“It’s not for everyone.”
“But it doesn’t bother you.”
Olivia shrugged. “I wouldn’t say that. But it’s a hell of a lot better than what goes on at the Halverson plant, so that puts it in perspective for me, I guess.”
Olivia drove them back to her house, and Maggie played with Bailey for a bit before going home. Olivia felt twisted in knots inside over her relationship with Pete and his sister. She wanted them both to stay in her life. And yet she feared she was fighting a losing battle.
The next morning, she got up, got dressed, and headed to the Dogwood Thrift Store for her first day of work. The owner, Bruce Henneby, was an older man and not much of a talker. He showed her how to work the register and gave her a rundown on the workings of the store, then retreated to his office in the back.
There was a steady stream of customers throughout the day, and Olivia enjoyed helping them. She rearranged a few displays and dusted off a tray of antique earrings that looked like they hadn’t been touched in years. All in all, it was a good day. She’d be happy here until something better came along.
And oh how sick she was of waiting and wondering what that something better would be, in her personal and her professional life. She was ready for all of it, now.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Pete stepped out of the courthouse and placed his hat on his head. He’d just finished a second day of meetings with the district attorney and his staff. He’d presented a variety of evidence of the sheriff’s dirty doings, and the district attorney’s office was assembling a team to further investigate.
If it was true, if the sheriff had broken the law to stay in good favor with Halverson Foods ahead of the election, well, at the very least, he needed to be removed from office. He might even face jail time.
Pete had also passed along Olivia’s tip about Justin Wendell to a colleague at the SBI. Wendell was an Information Technology major at Carolina U, and if he was already using his skills to break the law, he needed to face charges as well.
When Pete got off work, he headed straight to the rec center to coach the boys’ soccer. They’d found their footing together now and worked easily through drills and a practice game. Even Zach seemed to have lost some of his bad attitude.
Pete showered and changed at the rec center, then drove to Olivia’s house. He needed to bring her up to date, and he needed to do it in person. But when he got to her house, she wasn’t there.
He called her cell. “Where are you?”
“In your living room,” she answered, sounding annoyed.
“In my…what?” He rubbed his brow.
“You gave me a key, once upon a time, and you never asked for it back.” The sound of Timber barking carried over the line.
“Okay.” He remembered that. Vaguely. “And why are you at my house, exactly?”
“Because I hadn’t heard from you, and I want to know what’s going on with the case. Two days ago, you said ‘let me call you back,’ but you never did.”
“Well, as it happens, I’m at your house right now,” he told her.
“Then come home.”
“On my way.” He hung up, trying not to feel irrationally turned on by the thought of Olivia lounging on his couch, doing God knew what. And also a little bit pissed that she’d used that key and let herself into his townhouse like this. They weren’t even seeing each other anymore, technically. Hell, he had no idea what he and Olivia were doing.
When he got home, he found her with her feet up on the coffee table, brows furrowed, blogging her heart out.
“I gave you that key to use while you were staying here,” he said.
She rose from the couch, brown eyes snapping. “Oh, so I’ve overstepped the bounds of our dysfunctional relationship. Is that it?”
“I—” He shook his head. It was pointless to argue, not now. Not when he’d been the one to complicate things by showing up on her doorstep the other night after he’d already walked away. “Forget it. Look, I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch. I can’t discuss the case with you until things are resolved, but I’m pretty sure I know what’s going on and who’s behind it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Duh. Justin Wendell. Which you wouldn’t know if I hadn’t found it for you.”
“Justin was most likely hired by someone else.”
Her eyes widened. “Someone at Halverson?”
“I really can’t discuss an ongoing case. You’re going to have to trust me.”
“I do,” she said. “Always with police stuff.”
But not with her heart, which was smar
t because he’d probably break it.
* * *
The rest of the week passed uneventfully. Olivia worked days at the thrift store and came home to work on rebuilding her online presence. She’d posted messages on several local Facebook groups inviting people to “like” her new page and had over two thousand followers by Friday, which was a lot, but far fewer than she’d had originally.
Oh well.
If Halverson Foods had hoped to shut her up, they must be sorely disappointed. She taped a follow-up segment for the Channel Two news, talking about how she’d been vandalized and her website hacked. When it aired Friday night, she had a rush of new traffic to her website and Facebook page.
Take that, Halverson Foods.
She wouldn’t stop until they faced the music, no matter how long it took or how hard she had to work. She was midway through a new blog post when her phone rang, an unknown number with a 212 area code. Wasn’t that New York City? She didn’t know anyone in New York.
Frowning, she answered. “Hello?”
“Hi, is this Olivia Bennett?”
“This is Olivia.”
“Olivia, this is Jane Samms from the Tri-State Animal Welfare Coalition. You applied earlier this month for a position as our Director of Marketing and Publicity.”
Olivia’s mouth fell open. She’d completely forgotten about the afternoon she’d applied for a bunch of random animal rights jobs all over the country. “Oh, wow. It’s nice to hear from you.”
“Your résumé caught our eye so we’ve been reading up on your efforts there in North Carolina for the last few weeks, and, Olivia, we are more than impressed,” Jane said.
“Really?”
“Yes. I’d love to do a phone interview with you, if you’re still interested, that is.”
“Oh, well yes. Sure.” Olivia drew a deep breath. Was this actually happening?
“Great,” Jane said. “I’m sure we’re both busy people, but since I have you, is now a good time?”
Olivia spent the next hour talking to Jane. They talked about Olivia’s efforts against Halverson Foods, her legal background (she’d made it halfway through law school after all), and in depth about her fund-raising and social media experience. Jane wasn’t fazed by her recent arrest, and in fact, they shared a laugh about it. It was probably the best, and by far the most interesting, interview she’d ever had.
“Thank you so much for your time today, Olivia.”
“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.”
“You have a way with people, and with animals too, it would seem,” Jane said. “We’d love to have you visit our office here in New York, and if you think it’s a good fit, the job is yours.”
“Oh, my God.” She sank to her knees in the middle of the living room floor.
Jane was still talking, discussing salary and benefits, and Olivia pressed a hand over her mouth. This was the job she’d always dreamed of. A real paying job doing what she loved, advocating for animal rights. She’d be putting all of her talents to work.
And New York? New York! She’d never been, but she’d always wanted to. The big city sounded exciting and terrifying and wonderful.
“I don’t know what to say, Jane. Thank you so much. This is absolutely amazing.”
“The office is very casual, everyone brings their dogs to work with them. You’d be spending a lot of time networking with local rescues. We run several large benefit events each year that you would be in charge of organizing. And of course social media.”
Of course social media. Olivia grinned. “It sounds perfect. I do need to think about the logistics of it, moving to New York.”
“Absolutely. Take the weekend to think it over, and let me know on Monday if you’d like to come up and visit us or if you have any other questions I could answer for you. We’d be honored to have you join our team.”
Olivia hung up the phone in a daze. She jumped up and hugged Bailey, then danced in a circle around the living room.
Her dream job. This was it!
Reality started to filter through her euphoria, and she sank back down on the carpet. Her friends, her family. Pete. She had so much here in North Carolina. Could she leave it all behind to chase her dreams in the Big Apple?
Could she convince Pete to take a leap of faith and follow her to New York?
* * *
Olivia bellied up to the bar with a cold beer. Beside her, Merry took a long drink from her own Blue Moon.
“So what is your gut telling you?” Merry asked.
Confused and conflicted and with Pete working late again on whatever secret thing he was doing to close her vandalism case, Olivia had turned to Merry for help. “My gut says this is the dream job I’ve been waiting for. It’s perfect. It’s that mythical paying job in animal rescue.” She sipped from her beer. Behind them, Merry’s dad’s band played bluegrass over the noise of the bar.
“How’s the money?”
“About what you’d expect when working for a nonprofit: not great. But neither you or I have ever been in it for the money.”
Merry nodded. “True. So let’s talk about the real issue here: you moving to New York.”
“Yeah.” Olivia gulped beer and closed her eyes. “Me moving to New York.”
“I object vehemently on the grounds that Cara moved to Massachusetts earlier this year, and if you leave too, I’ll be seriously out of friends. So there, you can’t go.” Merry set her mug down with a solid clunk.
It reverberated through Olivia’s chest, compounding the ache that had been there since she got off the phone with Jane. She’d make new friends in New York, but… “I know. I don’t want to leave you either.”
“Or Pete,” Merry said.
She stared into the amber depths of her beer. “Or Pete.”
“Where do things stand with you two right now?”
“I’m in love with him.” A lump rose in her throat, and she swallowed painfully.
“Oh, honey.” Merry touched her shoulder. “Did you tell him?”
She shook her head. “But I will, before I go. If I leave. I want him to come with me. Or I’d stay if he’d fight for me.”
“You’d give up your dream job for him?”
Olivia scoffed. “Not to stay home barefoot and pregnant. But to stay here in his hometown, in my hometown? I would. If he asked me to.”
Merry stared pensively into her beer. “Hmm. I hope he’s man enough to ask.”
“Me too.” And she was terrified that he wasn’t. “And if he’s not, then maybe New York will be the fresh break I need to get over him.”
“No offense, but I don’t quite see you as a city girl.”
“I’ve lived in Dogwood my whole life. The city always sounded exciting though. There’d be so many other vegetarian crunchies like me. I could see myself doing it.”
“But what about hiking? Meditating? You love to be outside in nature.”
“I hear Central Park is nice.” She polished off her beer and signaled the bartender for another.
“It is nice. I visited one summer during college,” Merry said.
“So what should I do?” Olivia heard the note of desperation in her voice.
“Well, first you have to have a serious talk with Pete. But ultimately you have to follow your heart, wherever that leads you.”
And yet, Olivia had a sinking feeling she’d be leaving her heart behind with Pete here in Dogwood. He called just before she and Merry left The Watering Hole, and her heart jumped into her throat.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“At The Watering Hole with Merry.”
“I need to see you.”
“Well, Merry and I rode over together, so I could have her drop me off at your place, if you want, when we leave.”
“I’ll come pick you up.” He sounded intense, even more intense than usual, and it sent a little zing up her spine.
She hung up and looked at Merry. “Now or never, right?”
Merry squeezed her shoulder. �
��Go for it, girlfriend. He’d be stupid to let you go.”
Ten minutes later, Pete strode into the bar. He’d obviously been home to change since work and now wore a navy blue Henley shirt and jeans. “Hey.” He bent to give her a quick kiss.
“Hey yourself.” She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent, no longer cinnamon but fresh and minty like aftershave.
He nodded toward her friend. “Merry.”
“Hi, Pete.”
“You ready?” he asked Olivia.
“Yes. Bye, Merry. Thanks for the ride, and the chat.”
Merry raised her beer in Olivia’s direction. “Anytime. Good luck.”
“Thanks.” She hooked her arm in Pete’s and followed him out to his SUV, parked around the corner on Pine Street. “You’ve been working late this week,” she said, as she climbed into the passenger seat.
He nodded. “Big things are going to happen on Monday.”
“Really?” Monday was a big day for her too, the day she would call Jane back to give her decision.
“I can’t say much more than that, but I think you’ll be pleased with how everything pans out.”
Oh how she hoped she would, with his news and hers. He turned the SUV toward his townhouse. His jaw was set, as if he’d already picked up on the fact that she had something important to say.
Neither of them spoke as he parked in the driveway. The night was cool, the sky above glittering with stars. She followed him through the house—past one very hyper shepherd—to the back deck. Pete busied himself lighting a fire in the fire-pit. They were in sync that way, needing fresh air and open space, especially when important things needed to be said.
Her heart was pounding as she watched him, tears already gathering behind her eyes. It was going to suck if she professed her love, and he turned her down, and then she still had to let him drive her home.
Poor planning, Olivia.
The story of her life.
He spread a blanket across the ground in front of the fire, and they sat on it, side by side, shoulders touching, absorbing the warmth of the flames. She stared into their flickering depths. “I got a job offer today.”