Snoops in the City (A Romantic Comedy) (20 page)

"That Pete Aiken," Tori said. "He's really something, isn't he?"

"You know Pete?"

Whoops
. "Who doesn't?"

"Lots of people, I'd think." Ann sipped her juice. "Why did you say he was really something?"

Who knew? Certainly not Tori. Time for an open-ended question. "You haven't noticed?"

"Of course I noticed. You can't miss those little holes. What I wonder is. . ." Ann leaned forward and whispered, ". . . where he got the money to afford it. I thought the divorce pretty much wiped him out, not to mention the gambling."

Tori's antenna went up. Pete Aiken had a gambling problem? And now he was buying something with holes?

"Tell me about it." Tori rolled her eyes and hoped Ann would take her literally. She didn't.

Tori waited a few moments in which the other woman seemed more interested in drinking her juice than talking. Tori finally asked, "How much do you think it set him back?"

"A couple thousand, at least."

"That much?"

"That's a drop in the bucket compared to what he's been spending on the new clothes and the personal trainer," she said. "Personally I think the cost is ridiculous."

"Yeah," Tori said, agreeing to she didn't know what, "considering it comes with holes."

Ann scrunched up her forehead. "What are you talking about?"

"What you're talking about,” Tori answered.

"I'm talking about Pete's hair transplant."

"Me, too," Tori said and thought fast. "You have to have a hole in your head to want one of those."

Tori left City Hall ten minutes later feeling more like Calamity Jane than Jane Bond. However, she did have new information.

Pete Aiken had recently come into some money.

Of course, that could mean anything.

A rich relative could have willed him an inheritance. He could have reconciled with his wife and repooled their money. The Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes could have come calling.

It didn't mean Grady had given the City Clerk bribe money.

Ms. M said rumors about corruption swirled around City Hall, but they were only rumors. Even if Pete Aiken had accepted a bribe, Tori couldn't make the leap that Grady had paid him off.

Yes, Grady supported the mayor and her questionable politics. Yes, he hung out with her supporters. Yes, the city had favored him with numerous contracts over the past nine months. And, yes, he was in line to build another, even more lucrative project.

At most, that was guilt by association. Just as the heated conversation at Mayor Black's party could have been about anything.

She checked her watch and saw that it was nearly time to meet Grady. Suddenly anxious to see him, she decided to head straight to his office instead of going home and changing.

Ms. M was right. She was a good judge of character.

A few hours in Grady’s presence would reassure her that he was who she thought he was: an upstanding businessman with nothing to hide.

The instant Tori peered around the open door of Grady's office and spotted him sitting at his desk, she felt reassured.

Holding a pen in his left hand with his brow knitted in concentration, Grady made notations on the papers strewn across his desk like the hard worker he was.

He'd already demonstrated his strong sense of family, his keen intellect and his amazing ability to make love.

She blushed a little at the last thought, but figured it showed insight into his character. If Grady weren't a selfish lover, it followed that neither was he a selfish man.

Funny, she hadn't noticed before that he was a lefty. She supposed a better PI would have made a note of it. She had, however, observed things about him that other investigators wouldn't.

Such as the golden streaks in his brown hair that caused his tan to appear deeper and the way his upper teeth bit into that sensuous lower lip of his while he concentrated.

Grady Palmer was much more than a handsome face. He was a good man who would never resort to bribery to get what he wanted.

Something so light its weight barely registered stepped on the toe of her high-heeled pump, and she looked down to see Gordo staring back up at her.

"Meow," the cat said, which in Gordo-speak meant she wanted to be picked up.

Tori bent over to scoop the cat into her arms, earning grateful purrs from Gordo.

Grady finally looked up from his papers.

"Tori." His smile started at his lips and traveled to his eyes. Tori immediately felt as though she'd been transported back to the darkened bedroom where she and Grady had made love. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to tell that you need a break," she said, smiling back.

"Do I ever," he said. "Shut the door."

She pulled it closed and started to step deeper into his office. He held up a hand.

"No," he said, still grinning. "Don't move."

She stopped. "Why?"

"You'll see." He got to his feet and came around the desk.

"Now let me have Gordo," he said when he reached her.

She raised her brows quizzically and handed over the cat, which he promptly set on the floor.

"There.” He looked and sounded smug.

"Are you going to tell me what this is all about?" she asked.

"Better. I'll show you."

He pulled her into his arms and claimed her mouth with a mastery that made her knees buckle. It didn't matter. He held her as though he never intended to let her go, sweeping his tongue inside her mouth and turning on her internal generator.

Heat blasted her. Along with it came the certainty that this was where she belonged.

The doubts that had arisen at City Hall vanished like the morning mist as he continued to pour himself into the kiss.

Grady had never been anything other than open and honest. He was one of those straightforward types who was what he was. With Grady, she'd always know where she stood.

He wasn't the one with secrets. She was.

She clung to his shoulders when he broke off the kiss, afraid she'd fall if he didn’t support her.

"Hope you didn't mind," he said, that openness shining through in his eyes. "This is the only spot in my office not visible to the masses."

She surveyed the small room, noticing that a large window took up part of the front wall.

She laid a hand on his cheek, feeling the beginning bristles of his beard. "I definitely didn't mind. But I know somebody else who did."

Gordo alternately clawed at her leg, then Grady’s, emitting protesting meows that grew progressively louder.

"I'm surprised to see her in the office," Tori said.

Grady made a face. "I hope to get to the point where I can leave her alone. She refuses to be ignored."

"It's probably because she used to be ignored all the time.” She lifted the cat once more. "How can you pay attention to her when you're working?"

"Lorelei does that."

"That's right. Your sister works here. Why didn't I see her when I came in?"

"Quitting time's five o'clock. Lorelei's more into leaving early than working late." He frowned. "Although I've seen her here a couple times lately after hours."

"Maybe she's changing."

"I don't know about that," he said. "Lorelei thinks she's perfect just the way she is. The working-late thing is probably an aberration."

"Speaking of working late, you don't have to, right? I thought we could make Gordo happy and stay in tonight. We could go back to your place, get Chinese takeout and. . ."

Her voice trailed off when she noticed a decided lack of enthusiasm in his expression. "What is it?"

"You must not have gotten the message I left on your answering machine. I would have called your cell phone but I don't have the number."

"I've been out most of the day.” She could tell him later she’d been at City Hall, after she found out what was going on. "What did the message say?"

"I have to cancel for tonight."

Disappointment descended over her like a dark cloud. "I thought you finished up the bid package last night."

"I did. Tonight I have a. . . business dinner."

The pause before he said business dinner was nearly imperceptible, but Tori picked up on it.

She looked into his eyes, only to find them shuttered. In a burst of clarity she knew he hadn't told her everything.

"Isn't this kind of sudden?" she asked.

"These things sometimes crop up at the last minute.” His answer sounded evasive. His smile seemed tight when he added, "I'll make it up to you tomorrow."

"I'll hold you to that," she said, feeling her own smile waver.

She managed to keep her suspicions at bay until she was in her car, then she could no longer hold them back.

Grady said he had a business dinner, which on the surface indicated it had to do with his construction company. But what if the business were of the underhanded variety?

While at City Hall, Tori had discovered the community-center bids were due tomorrow morning. If Grady were bribing city officials, the timing was certainly right.

No
, Tori thought, shaking her head. Despite his relationship with Pete Aiken, Grady couldn't be on the wrong side of the law.

Too bad she didn't know for certain that he wasn't meeting with a city official so she had hard information to back up her gut feeling.

"Wait a minute," she said aloud. "I can get the information. I'm a private eye."

She needed to at least attempt to discover who Grady was having dinner with tonight. The only way to do that with certainty was to follow him.

She chewed on the end of her thumb while she drove and thought. She'd proven woefully inept at tailing a subject. Add the fact that Grady knew she owned a silver Beetle, and it spelled disaster. Unless. . .

She swung her Volkswagen into a parking lot, switched off the engine and was immediately plagued by second thoughts. Fishing the key chain with the silver disco ball from her purse, she asked, "Should I do this?"

She shook the little ball, held her breath and turned it over.
Get it on
, read the answer.

Tori picked up her cell phone and dialed.

"Sassenbury here."

"Eddie, it's Tori." She took a breath and rushed ahead. "Remember you said you'd be there for me if I needed help?"

"Sure do," Eddie said.

"I need you to help me follow somebody."

"No can do, cuz. I'm in the middle of something here."

"Tough.” She took stock of her whereabouts. “Because if you don't meet me in Seahaven at the corner of Sassafras and U.S. 1 in the next thirty minutes, I'm calling Ms. M and telling her we're giving back her retainer."

"You don't play fair," Eddie said.

"I'm in my Volkswagen," she said. "We don't have much time so I'll expect you here quick."

"But—"

"I have Ms. M’s cell phone number," Tori reminded him.

"I'll be there," Eddie said.

After she hung up, Tori sat back in her seat and waited. So what if her conversation with Grady hadn't proved he had nothing to do with the shady dealings at City Hall. Following him would.

She hoped.

After he paid a nominal admission fee, Grady walked down the center of the 960-foot Lake Worth fishing pier. A funeral dirge played in his head while the salty sea breeze swept over him. His steps were weighed down by disappointment.

He'd been right about Schlichter. The Planning Director had called back to set up a meet, which could only mean he intended to solicit a bribe. Grady didn't know why he'd expected better from Schlichter. Just because he'd seemed like one of the good guys didn't mean he was.

After hearing through the grapevine that Tori had been at City Hall today talking to the mayor, Grady even had renewed doubts about her.

He'd found himself checking his rear-view mirror for her Volkswagen Beetle on the drive here. He hadn't seen the car, which made him want to give her the benefit of the doubt. Her City Hall connection still nagged at him.

Darkness had already descended on Lake Worth, which was in central Palm Beach County about an hour south of Seahaven, but the lighted pier remained open until midnight.

An old-timer with grizzled whiskers sat on a stool with his finger on his line and his eyes half closed. Ten feet from him a boy of about ten leaned on the railing, intently watching his bobbin for signs of fish biting while his father watched him.

"Catch anything tonight?" Grady asked the boy.

The boy's eyes didn't leave the gently lapping water of the Atlantic. "Not yet," he said before excitedly adding, "but I think I got one now."