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Birdie couldn’t help it. The green-eyed monster held her by the throat. She raised an eyebrow. “Tati, huh? Sounds like a stripper name.”
“It’s funny you should say that as we met at a strip club.”
Now, her skin was nearly smoking with the fiery heat of jealousy. “You went to a strip club? Let me get this straight. The illustrious, stalwart Mayor of Wayward met with an exotic dancer at a strip club?”
Flynn interrupted, “Tati isn’t a stripper. She’s a P.I. A highly respected private investigator. I’m going to be her assistant.”
“And I’m sure you’ll do an outstanding job,” Birdie assured him without taking her accusing eyes off of a smiling Lucas. “Well, what do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Mayor?”
Lucas crouched down in front of her. “What I have to say is, I would sell my soul to the devil if I thought it would help me save yours.”
* * *
Lucas wasn’tone to speak in romantic terms, but when looking into this woman’s bottle-green eyes and knowing her heart, probably better than she did, the words seem to flow so much easier than expected.
As a result, more tears erupted. Instinctively, as he’d seen her do over the course of time, and then later Mia, she pulled the sleeve of her cover-up down to her palm and held it tight as she wiped her tears away. As if unable to form words, she shook her head staring at him, obviously confused as to what to do with this heady information.
He thought he’d help her out. “I love you, Birdie Wellborn-Shepherd. Nothing’s going to change that. So get used to it.”
He felt her small hands squeeze his with a mournful look on her face. “I don’t want you to love me. People who love me get hurt.”
One dimple came out of hiding along with an unrepentant grin. “Loving you is worth the risk. Besides, if we get hurt, we’ll heal one another.”
He watched her grapple with this pronouncement, her hands squeezing and manipulating his as if doing her best to dare to believe.
Flynn stepped forward. “I must insist that we speak of Ms. Tatianna Northrop with the upmost of respect. She’s a kind woman with an unimpeachable character.”
Lucas and Birdie looked up with surprise as this man, who had hidden behind a simple persona for so many years, was emerging as quite the orator.
“You’re absolutely right, my friend. She’s quite the lady.” With quite the appetite. “Allow me to share with you the information the remarkable Tati shared with me.”
Lucas gave an overview of his meeting with Grant and Tati. And the supposed unimpeachable P.I.’s efforts to find dirt on the Shepherds. In the process of doing so, how she was exposed, kidnapped, and put into an induced coma to conveniently get her out of the way of their plans to poison Marshall, leaving them free to help themselves to his assets and holdings.
Bird slowly melted onto the sofa. “They killed him?” she whispered.
Lucas responded with a slight nod. “I’m sorry, Bird. From what Tati shared, it sounds that way.”
Lucas winced as Birdie’s hand went to her chest as if a dagger of heartrending guilt sliced through her sternum. “They killed him. That sweet, kind, wonderful man. Pearl’s soul mate and her best friend. Every day, when he was ill, I went into his room to check on him, with the complicit help of Dr. Hillsboro, who had been slowly and systematically extinguishing the life from his body.”
Flynn, seemingly uncomfortable with extreme emotions, awkwardly patted Birdie on the shoulder. “I wish I could have gotten to know Marshall, um, my father. Mother and Errol forbade me to ever speak to him.”
Lucas handed her a tissue as Birdie replied, “I’m sorry, as well, Flynn. You would’ve liked him. Very much. And I’m sure he would’ve liked…loved you, too.”
Now Flynn was battling what must have been his special form of grief, clearing his throat and coughing into his hand.
While Lucas found himself dealing with the need for swift and painful revenge.
Interrupting his thoughts, Birdie clutched the tissue in one hand and asked, “What could be in Maisie’s diary that could possibly help to indict Errol and Ariana?”
Flynn answered, “A list of unscrupulous contacts who owed them favors based on questionable transactions. Comprehensive details outlining each deal, including the dollar amount down to account transfer information. They had so many people in various industries who owed them favors and therefore ripe for extortion, they had to keep a tit-for-tat list.”
Birdie and Lucas stared at Flynn, shocked to hear such an articulate explanation.
Thinking through all of this, Birdie turned hopeful and then further confused. “All of this is in Maisie’s diary?”
Lucas took this one. “According to Tatiana, the thumb drive was supposedly taped to the back cover.”
“Who would have done that?”
