Page 5 of The Beachside Cafe 4
“We are investigating the disappearance of Doug Lent.”
The councilman suddenly chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t know anything about that. I’m sorry. I don’t know what Arnie told you but-”
“We are aware that you weren’t involved in his disappearance,” Cameron said. This surprised Jaymee. She wasn’t aware they weren’t holding O’Rourke in suspicion anymore. She avoided glancing at him, which would surely have been seen by O’Rourke. “Right now we have other things we’re worried about. The ties that bind you to Doug are going to be investigated, you must know that your misdeeds would come to light.”
O’Rourke clenched his jaw noticeably. Jaymee’s heart raced. Was he the kind of politician that had people killed when they were about to be exposed?
“So what is it you want? Are you going to continue his blackmail? That what your plan is here?”
“We aren’t going to blackmail you, O’Rourke.”
“Then what are you doing here? What do you want from me?”
“I want you to cease your donations to IDL and stop taking side deals for special interests. Do what you promised to do and follow the will of your constituents instead of making yourself rich. You think you can do that?”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then it will all be exposed for everyone to see. If the paper is biased and won’t print it, we’ll take it to all the small magazines and make up flyers exposing you. We’ll paint the town with it. We’ll start a couple lawsuits. I am worried about my investment in this town because of some of the decisions you’ve made. If I find out that you’ve taken another bribe, you will be exposed. That’s the deal.”
“That doesn’t sound like much of a deal for me,” O’Rourke said. “What kind of reward do I get from this?”
Cameron smirked. “You get to stay out of jail. What you’ve done is a federal offense. I am a rich man, O’Rourke. I can make sure my representation in court is better than yours. I really don’t think it would be that hard.”
“Are you sure you want to take on that kind of opposition, Mr. Smith?” O’Rourke asked, narrowing his eyes. Jaymee’s heart began to pound so hard, she was light of breath. She tried not to look as fearful as she felt.
“I’m not worried in the least,” Cameron said with great confidence. “And it won’t matter anyway because we will make sure you are exposed and ripped apart in the press. You have influence but not that kind of influence. I suggest you stop doing what you’re doing and start doing what’s right.”
O’Rourke’s jaw clenched again. His narrow eyes stared directly at Cameron. “I supposed you’ll be looking over my shoulder everywhere I go, will you? There are laws against stalking and harassment, you know.”
Cameron nodded. “Neither of which I am doing or would be found guilty of by a court of law. Especially not with my lawyers. That is a very simple charge to get off of. Besides, I get charged for anything and I’ll tell everyone what you’ve been doing. You’ll be run out of office and they’ll never let you run again.”
O’Rourke looked like he wanted to beat Cameron to a pulp. Instead, he gritted his teeth and grunted defeatedly. “All right. All right. But I’ll have you know, none of my policies have hurt anyone. I’m not trying to hurt anyone.”
FOUR
Assessing Brian O’Rourke Pt. 2
Jaymee was relieved when she and Cameron left the room. Cameron reached behind him when they mixed in with the crowd and took her hand. It sent a gentle tingle up her arm that soothed her taut nerves somewhat.
Once they were outside in the daylight, Jaymee felt like she could breathe again. She gave him a wide-eyed stare as they stood outside on the steps of the courthouse.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” she said softly. “You threatened a politician!”
Cameron gave her a cool look. “He’s corrupt. No better than anyone else. No politician is supposed to be a leader. They are supposed to represent the people that voted them in. Too many of them manipulate the system until they are as wealthy as they can be. I’m all for making money and finding creative ways to do it. But not through theft.”
“I never realized how easily people can be fooled,” Jaymee replied, looking off into the distance, thinking about how disappointed she was.
Cameron began walking down the steps toward his Jeep. His back was stiff and Jaymee could see he was still in aggressive mode from his confrontation with the politician. She hurried after him.
“You didn’t tell me you weren’t suspecting him of Doug’s disappearance,” she said as she jogged beside him. He glanced back and noticed she was hurrying to keep up with him. He slowed his pace, a reluctant look on his face.
“I’ve been doing some digging. Might as well tell you it was Alex who helped with all this. You probably already figured that out.”
Jaymee nodded. Cameron’s right-hand man, Alex McDaniels, had the mind of a genius and the energy of hummingbird. He owned and operated his own laboratory right there in Grand Bay. He was instrumental in examining the vials of liquid found in suspicious places and discovering what the contents contained. There were three vials found so far and all three held a complex mixture of compounds that would render the person injected with it paralyzed. The second effect of the chemical was different in each vial.
It was because of these vials and the information they’d received from Carmine, who had worked as a research assistant at IDL, that Jaymee and Cameron began to suspect the large company was involved.
“So what brought you guys to that conclusion?” she persisted.
