A Good Kind of Trouble (A Trouble in Twin Rivers Novel Book 1) (17 page)

"Another happy customer," Lindsey said, moving to a display by the cash register to straighten the stock of shockingly expensive evening bags.
 

"I do my best. I sure appreciate you helping me today. I know you probably have better things to do," Kath said. She gave Lindsey a sly look. "Or should I say, better people to do?"

Lindsey’s face warmed, but she shook her head and laughed. She rarely kept secrets from Kath, mostly because she was a terrible liar. Kath had guessed immediately that Lindsey's overnight stay at Ben's condo wasn’t exactly chaste. She had opted to crash at the Hogans' last night to avoid overstaying her welcome at Ben's. Plus, she wasn’t sure she was strong enough to resist her attraction to him. Yet, she wasn't quite brave enough to go home after the courthouse incident.
 

"Didn't I tell you that you two would hit it off?" Kath asked.
 

“Nothing happened,” Lindsey said, avoiding her friend's gaze and concentrating on lining up a row of sequined clutch bags.

“Then why are you blushing?” Kath said. “Something must have happened.”

“Well, it would have, but we got interrupted,” Lindsey said. The idea of a one-night stand had never really appealed to her, but Ben made her throw out her personal rulebook, apparently. Once again, he’d kissed her and she’d started taking her clothes off without a thought about whether it was a good idea. And the worst part was that she still didn’t know what his involvement was with the arena plan. Had Stanton & Lowe been on the confidential site committee? If so, would he tell her?
 

Kath laughed. “Well, maybe you’ll get another chance. So, is there anything new on the stadium story?"

Grateful for the change in subject, Lindsey told her about the most recent package from her source. She left out that she had discovered who was sending her the contracts. She couldn't reveal her source to anyone. Sam would demand to know Lyle Wilke's identity only if the deputy city attorney was the sole source of information that was going to be publisher or if he were quoted anonymously.
 

"I'm pretty sure whoever is sending me this stuff is trying to tell me that the mayor is sporting a new watch," Lindsey said. "Which means I'm probably dealing with a conspiracy-loving crackpot who thinks that Mayor Darlington's new timepiece is the proof that will eventually crack the Kennedy assassination wide open."

"Or it means that the mayor has recently come into some money or received a very expensive gift," Kath said. "Do you have the photos?"

Lindsey had asked Dani to request a copy of the original photograph from the newspaper's morgue so she could try to get a better look at the mayor's wrist, but the photo didn’t provide any new insight into the big ugly metal watch. She walked over to the store’s counter and pulled her bag from a drawer under the cash register. She withdrew the photo and handed it to her friend. Kathleen leaned over the photograph, squinted, then rummaged in a drawer under the counter until she found a magnifying glass.
 

"It's a Rolex," she said after a close examination of the photo. "One of the new lines, I'd say."
 

"Not a knock-off?" Lindsey asked, peering over her friend's shoulder.
 

Kath wrinkled her nose in concentration. "Hard to say from this photo, but I can't imagine Mayor Darlington shopping in a flea market for counterfeit goods. His wife wouldn't let him. She's one of my best customers."
 

She slid it back toward Lindsey, who picked it up and squinted at the photo. “What does a Rolex cost, anyway?"

Kathleen opened her laptop on the counter and typed a few words into the search engine and then turned the screen toward Lindsey.
 

"It looks like this model," she said.
 

Lindsey glanced at the bulky silver watch displayed in the online ad and gasped. "That much?" she exclaimed. "People pay that much for a watch?"
 

"Or more," Kathleen said, nodding.

"But it's just a watch.”
 

"You're standing in a shrine to conspicuous consumption, so don't knock it," Kath said, gesturing to the racks of cashmere and sparkling displays of jewelry.
 

"Sorry. I just had no idea."

"Have you considered asking your mom or dad for advice about investigating the mayor?"
 

Lindsey felt her shoulders tense at the suggestion. "No. Absolutely not."
 

"Why not?"
 

"I should be able to do my job without parental interference," she said. "Plus, this isn't my mom's style. And my dad would probably steal my story."
 

Kath laughed as the bell on the shop's door chimed. She slipped off the stool and went to greet the customer. Lindsey retreated to the rear of the store to straighten a basket of sparkling accessories, her mind on the mayor and his shiny new watch. She’d read the most recent financial disclosures by the city council members. They were all people of fairly modest means—no super-powered businessmen or high-priced lawyers. A couple, including Rae Waters, had been teachers before getting involved in local politics. Another had been a career city employee. One was a businessman who owned a local chain of sandwich shops. Mayor Darlington had been a city council man for nearly twenty years, a position that paid the equivalent of two Rolexes a year. When he'd been elevated to mayor, his salary increased slightly, but it wasn't the kind of income that supported a splurge like a thirty-four thousand dollar watch.
 

Lindsey went to the back of the store to hang new items that had arrived yesterday. She didn't mind helping Kath keep the store tidy and stocked with the high-priced inventory, but she was useless at sales. She pulled a pale green silk camisole from a box and put it on a padded hanger, shaking it slightly to let the wrinkles fall out. She didn't know the price Kath would put on these sexy little numbers, but she knew they'd sell out before she saved enough to buy herself a set of lingerie. She sighed, imagining the feel of that whisper soft silk against her skin, the thinnest of barriers between her and Ben...
 

Whoa
. She straightened up, her cheeks flushed hot
. Where had that thought come from?
 

She quickly hung the rest of the lingerie and plugged in the hand steamer, trying to focus on her task. In the front of the store, Kath walked the customer toward the counter, stopping to touch a lovely beaded necklace on the display.

She gave her customer an appraising look. "This would look so lovely on you," she said, holding it up so the woman could see it.
 

There was barely a pause before the woman reached out and touched the string of beads. "You think so?" she asked. "Oh, what the hell. I'll take it."
 

A few minutes and a few hundred dollars later, Kath was thanking her departing customer at the door. She crossed the store to where Lindsey was counting packages of lace-topped, thigh-high stockings.
 

Kath held up a pale green negligee that Lindsey had steamed, then hung it on a table-top stand to let the fabric pool on the glass surface. She opened a package of the thigh-high stockings and draped them across the silk fabric. Even though she had just handled both items herself, the evocative way Kath had displayed them made Lindsey want to touch them again.
 

"So," Kath said, drawing out the word, "what are you going to do about Ben?"
 

Lindsey wasn't going to get out of Kath's clutches without spilling her guts, but she didn't want to share how she felt about Ben. In part, because she didn't know how she felt about him. She didn't doubt that he sincerely wanted to take care of her, but she wasn't wild about that thought. In the past six months, she'd completed a couple self-defense courses, taken control of her security, and learned that no one was going to take care of her safety so she had to do it herself. She didn't relish the thought of being the damsel in distress for Ben to rescue now.
 

Plus, her feelings about Ben for the last six months were complicated. In the initial aftermath of the pepper-spray incident, she felt horrible and embarrassed. But after time went on, and he didn't call her back when she tried to apologize, she told herself it was because of his shortcomings, not hers. What kind of guy wouldn't even call her back? Even if it was to tell her to stay the hell away. A jerk, that's who.
 

That explosive chemistry they'd shared while they were making out in his car was a fluke, she had convinced herself. The real test had been how they didn't connect at dinner and how they each behaved after the pepper-spray incident. Chemistry? Sure, they had that. But technically, mixing bleach with ammonia created a chemical reaction. Didn't mean it was a good idea.

But it was hard to reconcile that conclusion with what happened the other night. It was hard to focus on anything but that chemistry.
 

Lindsey sighed, rolled her tense shoulders, and realized Kath was staring at her with concern. "I don't know. It's complicated," she said, hoping to stem Kath's mothering instincts. "We'll see where it goes."
 

The chimes on the door rang out and Lindsey nearly jumped out of her skin. So, she was still a little on edge after the recent run-ins with the stalkers. Kath patted her arm and went to the front of the store.
 

"Oh, hi, Ben," Kath said.
 

A tight fist of delicious tension curled deep in Lindsey’s stomach at the mention of his name. And there he was—tall and beautiful and looking directly at her. Her throat closed and she tried a shaky smile.
 

Definitely complicated
.

"I think we've figured out who your stalker is," Ben said, watching Lindsey hang a silk robe on a padded hanger and attach a price tag. He imagined Lindsey wearing the short wrap, the belt cinched around her waist, her long legs on display. He'd pay any price to see that.
 

"Who is 'we' and who is the stalker?" Lindsey asked.
 

She was stunning in a pale blue sundress that made her look like a summer's day. Her long blonde hair hung straight down to the middle of her back and sparked memories of the way it brushed his skin. She had declined his offer to spend another night with him, opting to stay with Kathleen and Dave last night. He had almost offered her a key to his condo, but then backed off. He wasn't sure what was going on with Lindsey, other than mind-blowing chemistry.
 

Kath and Dave had talked about Lindsey a lot in the six months since that disastrous first date, so in many ways he felt like he knew her, but that day in the courtroom was the first time he'd seen her since then. He couldn't deny the intensity of their attraction, but did he really know her? And how much of the intensity was due to the fact that Lindsey was in near-constant peril. He wasn’t even sure why he was suddenly acting like her knight in shining armor. He was a personal injury lawyer who defended insurance companies. That was no one’s idea of a hero.

"I met with a friend of Dave's, Jude Fields," Ben said.
 

Kath nodded her approval while Lindsey crossed her arms in front of her and narrowed her eyes. "The criminal attorney?"
 

"I believe they prefer to be called defense attorneys," Ben said. "He says the license plate on the SUV in the park belongs to a fleet owned by a private investigator named Lonnie Corcoran. Does that name mean anything to you?"

"No, never heard of him," Lindsey said, shaking her head. "Who is he?"

"He's a private investigator, very successful, but probably a little shady, too," Ben said.
 

"Why would he stalk me?" Lindsey asked, her eyes troubled, a small furrow developing between her eyebrows.
 

"I don't know yet," Ben said. "But it's a start. He's probably working for someone who wants you to stop asking questions about something you're covering."
 

"Is this Corcoran dangerous?" Kath asked.
 

Ben hesitated. "Well, Jude didn't say that. But he did say that Corcoran was unethical and willing to bend or break the law for his clients," he said. "That's troubling."
 

"I can't stay with—" An uncertain expression crossed her face. "I can't stay away from home forever. I'm going home tonight."
 

Bad idea. He couldn't stand the thought of her being alone when someone out there was trying to scare her. At least he hoped that's all they were trying to do.
 

"You shouldn't be alone. We don't know to what extent this investigator is willing, or was ordered, to go," Ben said.
 

Kath nodded and gave Lindsey a sympathetic look. "Sorry, hon, but I agree with Ben. Why don't you stay with us for a few more days? The spare room’s all yours."
 

Lindsey shook her head. "I can't keep staying with you. You've done so much. Even keeping Steve for me."

"Steve's no problem. Dave loves having someone to run with in the mornings," Kath said.
 

"You can stay with me," Ben said, hoping his offer didn't sound as eager as he suspected it did.
 

"No," Lindsey said. "I mean, thank you. Really. But my problems shouldn't be yours. I'm going to go home. I have an alarm system and a dog. I'll be fine."

Ben and Kath shook their heads in unison. Ben caught Kath's gaze and was grateful for the backup.
 

"Absolutely not," Kath said. "You know I was all for the self-defense courses and the alarm and getting a dog. But that was before we knew there was someone really out to get you. There is a limit to what you can do to protect yourself if someone is trying to hurt you. And now we know that is the case."
 

"We don't know they're trying to harm me. Maybe they're just trying to scare me."

If so, that plan wasn't working. From what Ben could see, she was more determined than ever.