Page 47 of Hers to Hold
“You investigate things,” he commented like a dolt. Of course, that’s what ‘investigative’ meant.
She nodded.
He still couldn’t find the words to say. His brain was teeming with questions, each one fighting for dominance.
Kady licked her lips. She pointed to a bench nestled beneath the shade of a tree. “How about we take a seat.” Without waiting for an answer, she led the way. She sat at one end and he the other.
“Are…are you investigating something now?” he stammered.
Kady’s intent stare almost made him regret asking. As though he was supposed to already know what she was looking into. Slowly she nodded. “I…uh.” She cleared her throat and clawed at it with her fingers. After blowing out a breath and squaring her shoulders, she started again. “I moved here a few weeks ago with the expressed purpose of finding my father.”
He blinked. “Your father? That’s…that’s what you’re investigating?”
“Sort of. I took a job with the paper and I got put on…on a case. Drew Callaghan’s campaign financing allegations.”
Wes collapsed back into the bench. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. “You’re investigating Drew? My friend. You lied,” he whispered.
Kady closed her eyes and shook her head. “No. Yes… Well, it’s complicated.”
“No,” he said firmly. His spine straightened and he leaned forward. “It isn’t.”
She, too, angled toward him. “I’m an investigative journalist. Sometimes, we go undercover to get the truth.”
“And whattruthare you searching for?”
“Whether or not Drew is misallocating campaign funds. Funneling the money into his own pocket for his construction business. And…possibly his wife’s,” she ended weakly.
“Kady…”
“And you wouldn’t have called unless he was.”
“No!” He looked around surprised by his own shout. “No,” he hissed. “He’s not. Ourelectricianis.”
“Huh?” Her face scrunched up like she wasn’t sure what she’d just heart. “Your what?”
Wes rolled his eyes. “We hired an electrician. Rankin Electrical. His sister is managing the campaign finances. We hadno ideathey were related. She’s not using her married or maiden name. We figured to hide her relationship with her brother Carl Rankin. Anyway, Carl threatened us yesterday. Overhead that we wanted to get rid of his company and threatened to tell the media we were funneling the money.”
Kady held up a hand. “That makes no sense. He would be outing his own sister. Unless he thinks you guys wouldn’t call his bluff.”
“And that’s exactly what we want to do. We have just over twenty-four hours before we have to pay hush money. Drew and I thought it was a good idea to get ahead of this and come clean to the media. Tell them we didn’t know. Hope he’s not seen as a greedy politician wannabe who’s already asking for forgiveness.”
“That’s a good idea,” Kady said softly. She pulled out her cell and began typing.
“Taking notes?” he asked too sharply.
She stared at him for a second, her eyes remorseful. “Yeah. I’m sending a text to Jimmy. You spoke to him on the phone yesterday. He’s my intern. He’ll pull up information on Rankin Electrical and we’ll run down any leads.”
Wes rolled his shoulders, an uncomfortable tension drawing them up. He was glad someone knew the truth, but would’ve preferred it wasn’t Kady. He struggled as his emotions teetered on the edge of a cliff. “Was any of what you said true?” He met her eyes, searching beyond the journalistic veil to the woman he thought he knew.
“Yes. I was raised by a single mother and I did come here to look for my father—”
“Did you find him? What does he have to do with Drew? Or were you just working at the bakery to get close to him?” His stomach turned and he crossed his arms, chuckling ruefully. “Using his wife… Is that what investigative journalism is about?” He cut her a glance. “Using people to get the story? Did you use me?”
She visibly winced. For a second, he felt sorry for his outburst. And then he remembered what a fantastic liar she was.She’s probably faking it right now.
Kady slipped her phone back into her armband and let out a long sigh. She wet her lips and began. “My father is Gregory Kaye.” She caught his gaze and waited for his reaction.
Wes just stared back.GregoryKaye?
