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“This is illegal,” I say. “You can’t hold me here.” Isn’t this kidnapping or something? I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know. But this has to be a crime.
I’ve heard chatter around town that Thompson is corrupt. I didn’t expect that he’d stoop to this, though.
He glances up at me. “When I first heard rumors a few months back that Davis was planning to run for mayor, I won’t lie, I felt threatened. I mean—he’s a Westbrook. This town loves the fucking Westbrooks. At first, I told myself the rumors couldn’t be true. He’s too young and inexperienced to be doing this. But then that pompous little shit picked up the election paperwork from city hall today. He wants to run for mayor. And I can’t let that happen.”
Davis picked up the forms today?
My chest constricts. That’s the big news he’s going to tell me tonight. Davis’s big news is that he’s finally running for mayor!
Now I’m crying again. For a whole different reason.
I’ve ruined everything for him. Before it’s even begun.
The mayor goes on. “Months ago, we started trying to dig up dirt on Davis.” He glances at Tonya. “But we kept hitting dead ends. The guy is squeaky clean. It’s almost repulsive. But then, Tonya suggested that I start looking into you, Alana. And, oh, what a goldmine. Dysfunction galore. How you worked your way into the Westbrook family is a mystery to me. Why Davis would be associated with the likes of you is mind-boggling. But that’s neither here nor there.”
He motions to the documents clenched in my hand.
“Our research was on the right track and it revealed some interesting and incriminating information about your family, about their character, as you can see. But today at that gas station, you handed me the final nail for the coffin of Davis’s political aspirations. A misdemeanor, caught on camera!” His grin widens.
“My sister is just a young mother trying to feed her child. She’s not some dangerous criminal.” Shit. I probably shouldn’t be saying this to him. I shouldn’t be admitting to anything.
“I don’t fucking care. Politics is all about optics. In the court of public opinion, nothing about this situation is a good look for Davis.” He shakes his head with fake pity. “You find yourself between a rock and a hard place, Alana. If you try to come clean, you throw your sister under the bus, her ass gets tossed in jail, and her kid—who knows what happens to that snot-nosed sucker?!”
I bolt out of my seat. “How dare y—”
“Sit. The fuck. Down.”
Mayra takes a brisk step forward, her hand on her service pistol as a threat. Reminding me that I don’t have any power here.
Slowly, I lower into my seat, glaring down at the bastard, hating every minute of this.
“If you take the fall for your sister, you’ll get charged with shoplifting. It will be the talk of the town. The young veterinarian. Wife of Honey Hill’s golden boy. Alana Westbrook. Criminal. Petty thief. It would be scandal. And Davis could just kiss his squeaky clean reputation goodbye.”
My heart quickens. “Don’t bring my husband into this!” I bark. He needs to leave Davis out of this. “None of this has anything to do with Davis.”
The man rolls his eyes to the ceiling and shakes his head like I’m a stupid little girl. “This has everything to do with Davis.” The mayor goes on. “You think the people of Honey Hill will elect a man who’s married to a documented thief?” He points to my mug shot again. “Alana, as long as Davis is hitched to you, he has no shot of winning this thing. I’ll make sure of it.”
I’m nauseous. I’m dizzy. I think I’m about to puke.
“So, I’ll offer you an out. I could make all of this go away”—he snaps his fingers—“in the blink of an eye. No charges. No one sees this mugshot. You get to walk out of here tonight and go home like nothing ever happened. You get to keep letting the town think you’re some upstanding citizen. All of this will be buried.”
My head is spinning so fast.
“But if you try to fight me, I will methodically ruin you…and your sister…and your husband. If Davis runs for mayor, I will bury him with this information.”
I think about Davis. About Stacey. About Louis.
It’s on me to protect them all.
This is Honey Hill. They say nothing exciting ever happens around here. But right now, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
He eyeballs me. “What’s it gonna be, Alana?”
I look him dead in the eye and swallow. “What do you want me to do?”
His eyes gleam. “Simple. Convince Westbrook not to run for mayor of this town.”
* * *
