by Lea Coll
“Isn’t it super shady that Brad leaked the file or that someone under his authority stole it and leaked it?” I asked.
“I think so, but who knows what people will think? You just never know,” Ashley said.
“It does seem shady,” Stella said. “Like I said, I told Bob not to go with the story. It was so long ago too. But he said sheriff’s races get nasty like this and it was his job to cover it. Bob is my editor,” she said to me.
“It’s okay as long as it’s entertaining reading for people, right?” Ashley asked, sounding disgusted.
“I don’t know. Maybe it wasn’t Brad. We don’t really know who did it or why. We should probably wait to come to any conclusions,” Samantha said, always coming across as the voice of reason. To me, it seemed like Samantha had to search awfully hard sometimes to find the good in people.
“Does Luke know about the story?” I asked, concerned. I didn’t want to be the one to tell him, that was for sure, but I worried about his reaction. I wanted to be there for him when he did find out. That thought scared me. I’d never been close enough to a guy to be there for him during something this important.
Stella looked at me in the rear view mirror, and said, “Yes, Bob called both Brad and Luke and told them it would be in the paper tomorrow so they could comment on it if they wanted.
“Did Luke comment?” I asked.
“He said it was a long time ago, he’s been trained on that particular issue, and he intends to ensure that his officers continue to be advised of the issues surrounding juvenile interrogation and arrest,” Stella said.
“What about Brad?” Ashley asked.
“Well, he’s definitely using it to his advantage. He said Luke didn’t follow the law and basically went rogue. He doesn’t have the citizen’s best interests at heart, etc.” Stella explained as she turned the car left into the outlets. There weren’t many options for shopping in Chestertown. So it was the outlets or go all the way to the city.
I wanted to text Luke to see how he was taking the news, but I didn’t have time right then to come up with an appropriate response for the situation. I wanted to think about what I should say and since we were parking, I would need to do it later. I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t even in town at that moment to go to him. It would have to wait.
AS I WALKED UP THE stairs to my apartment later that night carrying my new dress and shoes, I ran smack into someone on the landing right before my door. “Omph,” I said as we collided. The person reached out a hand to steady me so I wouldn’t fall down the steps. Once I regained my balance, I took a step to the side to see who it was. I had definitely seen this man before but couldn’t place him.
“Justin Moore,” he said with his hand out for me to shake.
“Oh right. You’re the owner of the building?” I asked, returning his handshake. He literally crushed my hand with his shake. What was this guy trying to prove?
“Yeah, my mom owns it and I’m managing it for her now,” he said, not looking me in the eye.
My door was shut but I had a bad feeling about this. “Did you go into my apartment?” I asked, as I noticed he was holding a set of keys in his hands.
He had the decency to look guilty about it. “Yeah, I was making sure everything was good in the apartment.”
“Why? I didn’t call to say anything was broken.”
“It’s in the lease. I can come in and inspect it at any time,” he said.
“I will check out the lease again. I doubt it’s that broad,” I said annoyed. I didn’t like him coming into my personal space when I wasn’t home. “Did you need to talk to me about something?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want this apartment rented out. So when the lease is up you need to move. I don’t intend to extend the lease.”
“Okay, thanks for the heads up. Next time call me or leave a message to get back to me. I don’t appreciate you coming into my apartment.”
He looked pissed. I didn’t think he was used to people standing up to him. Plus, if he was going to be a creepy landlord who randomly came into my apartment when I wasn’t around, I didn’t want to continue living here anyway.
“You have someone else to rent it to then?”
“What? No. I just want this space for myself.”
“Oh, okay then,” I said. I unlocked my door, “bye then.” I hoped he would leave so I could shut my door. Just then, Luke jogged up the stairs.
“Hey man, what are you doing here?” Luke asked Justin.
“I own this building. I have every right to be here,” he said snidely. Justin turned towards me and pointed a finger at me. “I told Ms. Ryan she needs to find a new place to live once the lease is up.”
“Well, you’ve said what you came to say. Now it’s time to leave,” I said.
“I can drop by whenever I want. It’s in the lease agreement,” he repeated as he turned to leave.
I waited until he was gone and then I gestured for Luke to follow me into the apartment.
“What was that about?” Luke asked, as I shut and locked the door.
“He doesn’t want me here. He gave Samantha a hard time about it when I moved in, but Bev signed off on it.” I draped my new dress over the island stool back and placed my purse on the island. I dropped my shoe bag on the floor.
“Right,” Luke said, nodding his head.
“I don’t like that he was in my apartment when I wasn’t here,” I said, as I pulled my shoes off and left them by the door. It had been a long day. Work and then shopping.
“What are you talking about?” Luke asked, his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched.
“He said he went in the apartment before I got home. He claimed that he can inspect the apartment at any time,” I said looking around for the lease agreement in my office paperwork. Finding it, I pulled it out to read. “It’s pretty standard clause in a lease but it has to be reasonable. You can’t just drop in any time,” I said as I read the applicable section.
“Maybe he was looking for a violation, an excuse to kick you out,” Luke said, looking around to see if anything was out of place.
“It doesn’t look like he touched anything. You could be right. You said he’s a bully right?”
“Yeah, he was in school and hasn’t changed much since then.”
“Well, hopefully it doesn’t happen again. I may need to get one of those cameras so I can see when he’s entering.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“I definitely will need to move out if he does it again. I don’t like a man coming in here when I’m not here.”
“No, I don’t like it either.”
“So, did you come here to talk about something in particular?” I was thinking he wanted to talk about the story coming out in the paper.
“I wanted to talk to you about the list you sent me, the disgruntled clients?” Then he took a deep breath and leaned on the counter. “After tonight, I think Justin needs to be on the list too. He doesn’t want you here for whatever reason. The texts to your phone tell you to leave town. It fits,” he said thoughtfully.
“It does,” I admitted sitting down on the couch. “He would have my number from the lease agreement and he would know my license plate number too.”
Luke nodded. “I’m putting him on the possible list along with Eric Sweeney and Neil Boone. Neil took notice of you in a different way, he flirted with you. Maybe he felt like you rebuffed him and got pissed. It doesn’t necessarily fit with telling you to leave town though. Both had your phone number.”
“Plus I represented Neil after the first text. I don’t think I talked or met with him prior to that text. I’d have to re-check my notes about that.” I sat down on the couch. “What about the guy who stole the AC units?” I asked. I’d placed him on the list along with anyone who complained about the outcome of their case.
“Well, he wasn’t as upset with his case, right?”
“Right, he got weekends in jail so he didn’t lose his job. He was upset with me the f
irst time we went to court but seemed better at the end. I also haven’t received any threats since his case was resolved,” I explained.
“He’s a slim possibility for me but we can keep him on the list,” Luke said, shifting on the couch.
“Did you want anything to drink?” I jumped. I’d completely forgotten my manners when he’d walked in.
“Sure, a beer if you have it.”
As I handed him the beer and sat down on the couch, I asked, “So, what’s next now that you have a list of possibilities?”
“I can question them a little and then we wait and see if you get any more messages. I don’t really have much to go on right now unless one of them confesses or they mess up,” he said, sounding frustrated. “In the meantime, you need to be careful. I don’t know if this will escalate, but no walking home alone from bars or restaurants at night.”
“The pub is only two doors down, Luke,” I said.
“Like I told you before, bad things happen here too. You need to take the threats seriously.”
“I will,” I said. I took a deep breath. “So I heard about the news story coming out in the paper tomorrow.”
Luke’s eyes shot over to mine, “Oh that,” he said, with a big sigh. “Honestly, it’s shitty. My personnel file should never have been leaked in the first place. Plus it was so long ago. I made a mistake, which is unforgiveable, but it would never happen again.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you. Do you have any idea who leaked your file?” Luke took his job seriously and he had to be mortified that he’d made such a big mistake. I knew he would never forgive himself even though he was new when it happened.
“I assume it was Brad Campbell. He had the access to my file as Chief Deputy and he would do something like this. He doesn’t fight fair.”
“Yeah, that’s what everyone keeps saying. What are you going to do about it?”
“I made a statement that will be included in the story for tomorrow, that I’m committed to proper training for my officers so nothing like that happens again. It was a long time ago and I’ve learned from my mistakes. I can only hope that people see past what Brad is trying to do. It’s all smoke and mirrors. He played with the statistics to make it look like I’m less experienced, that I’m not as tough on certain crimes.” He saw my questioning look and said, “Yeah, his second commercial attacks my stats on crime. He makes it look like I have only a few drug arrests. It’s not accurate.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“I can do my own commercials invalidating everything he says in his commercials or I can just fight on my platform.”
“You might have to do a little of both,” I said, considering everything he said.
“Tomorrow I’m going to the businesses and talking about my platform and I’ll answer any questions people have about that old case and the stats. We have the fundraiser in the evening, which I’m looking forward to,” he said rubbing a hand down my back.
“I’m looking forward to it too,” I said leaning in closer to him.
He smiled at my remark. “Like I said the other night, though. I’m going to be busy on the campaign trail for awhile. Also, Brad is breathing down my neck at work because he can. He’s my direct supervisor, unfortunately. He’s all over me about these theft cases. I’m worried he’s going to attack my lack of arrests.”
I couldn’t tell if he was telling me in his own way that he didn’t have time for a relationship or he was just stressed out with everything. “Well, you got a conviction for the guy who stole the AC units.”
“That’s true. We still haven’t figured out who’s stealing kegs from the pub. We finally convinced the owner to put up surveillance cameras if the criminal is dumb enough to try it again. We also had bleachers disappear from the school.”
“First of all, that’s not an easy thing to steal and secondly, why would anyone steal them?” I asked completely perplexed.
“Maybe it was a prank? I don’t know who would have a truck big enough to move them though,” Luke said. He looked exhausted all of a sudden. “Well, I have a big day tomorrow. I will pick you up at six, okay?”
I smiled and got up to walk him to the door. He pulled me in for a hug. I wrapped my arms around his waist and breathed in his scent. I tipped my head up to see his face and leaned down to place a chaste kiss on my lips. As much as I wanted more from Luke, I knew it would be difficult to get into a relationship while he was working on his campaign. He was stressed out and exhausted.
As he lifted his head, he said, “Don’t let Justin bully you.”
“I won’t.”
“I wish Samantha would stand up to him too,” he said.
“Yeah, I saw how he interacted with her when I moved in.” I said.
“I defended Samantha in high school when he made fun of her. She never stood up to him. She would just take it. It used to drive Jack crazy.”
“Yeah I can see that,” I said thinking about how Jack looked at Samantha.
I SMOOTHED THE GOLD COCKTAIL dress down and twisted from side to side to see the effect of my dress and open-toed black shoes with a little platform under the ball of my feet in the mirror. I’d placed half of my hair in a bun and let the rest cascade over my shoulders. I liked the way it looked. With my hair up in the front, I could show off my chandelier earrings.
I heard a knock at the door so I went to answer it. As I pulled open the door, Luke’s eyes raked over me from head to foot. “You look beautiful,” he said, as he grabbed my hand. My eyes were trained on his as he guided my hand to his lips for a kiss.
I broke the moment by looking down at his outfit. He was wearing a black tuxedo. He looked amazing in it. “You look hot yourself,” I said appreciatively.
“After seeing you in that dress, I’d like to spend time with you alone, but I’m the man of the hour at this thing.”
“You sure are the man of the hour.” I smiled. I felt a sense of anticipation of things to come tonight as I grabbed my clutch off of the island and walked back to the door to leave.
I was worried about climbing up into his truck with my dress and heels, but he had brought his cruiser. “Sorry it’s not very romantic,” he said, catching my look. “But I didn’t want you to have to climb up into that huge truck of mine in heels and a skirt.”
“That’s very considerate of you,” I said. It was not a hardship to watch him drive his patrol car in a tuxedo. It was an interesting paradox.
“What?” Luke asked catching me watching him.
“I’m trying to decide if you’re sexier in your uniform or a tux,” I admitted. I was not usually so forward, but Luke was bringing it out of me.
“Are you now?” he asked, his lips tipping up in a knowing smile. “What’s the conclusion?”
“Hmm, undecided.”
He pulled up in front of the three-story brick building that housed the Chestertown Inn and Restaurant and handed his keys to the valet. “Is this like coming home for you?”
“It was home for a few weeks when I first got here, but I never ate in the restaurant,” I said, taking his hand to get out of the car as gracefully as I could in my heels and dress.
The brick building stood three stories high with a white deck on the upper levels. There was a restaurant on the bottom floor with potted plants at the base of the porch columns.
I placed my hand in the crook of his elbow to walk in. The grand staircase was in front of us and the event room where we would be meeting was to our right. We barely made it to the threshold of the event room before Luke was bombarded with people wanting to talk to him about his ideas for the sheriff’s office.
I pulled him down towards me so I could whisper in his ear, “I’m going to get a drink and meet up with Ashley and Samantha.”
“Okay, don’t go far,” he said, as he kissed me on the forehead. I sighed. I was ready for his undivided attention, but it wasn’t going to happen now. This was work for him.
I scanned the room where round tables
were set up in front of a stage with a podium. There were several campaign posters on the podium and on the walls. There was a busy maroon pattern covering the rug and dark wood paneling adorned the walls, which gave the whole room a cozy feel. There was a bar to my right, where I found Ashley and Samantha talking, so I walked over to them. “Thank God you guys are here. I think Luke will be busy all night.”
“Not much of a first date,” Ashley said.
“Tell me about it. I had high hopes for this dress,” I said, pulling the skirt out for inspection. It was a shiny gold, fitted on top and flared out at the bottom. I definitely felt like I stood out in it.
“The night is still young,” Ashley said, taking a sip of her white wine.
“Hey guys!” Stella said, literally flouncing over to us. She wore a bright yellow dress with a tote over her shoulder and a notebook in her hand. “I’m working tonight,” she said, by way of explanation. “I followed Luke all day to get the scoop on his campaign. Then I went to the office to type everything up, ran home, changed, and now I’m here. I will be happy when elections are over.”
“That does sound like a lot,” Ashley agreed.
I grabbed a glass of wine from the bar, and asked, “How did Luke do today?”
“He was in his element. I think he’s used to listening to people coming up to him and giving him advice on how to run the town. So this was no different,” she explained.
“Was there any fallout from the story in the paper today?” Ashley asked.
“There were definitely some questions about it. I think Luke handled it fine though. He was young when that happened. Several people also questioned why his personnel file was leaked.”
“That’s good,” I said. I felt Luke come up behind me.
“How are you doing?” He asked, leaning down to whisper in my ear.
“I’m good,” I said looking up at him. He was so handsome in his tux. The whole night made me feel like the popular girl in school going to prom with the quarterback. I felt proud just to be in his vicinity.