AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ryan folded his arms over his chest. “So what’s the complication?”
“Kaden Vaughn.”
“Who?”
Tate and Ryan ignored the old man. Of course he wouldn’t recognize the name. He still watched reruns ofColumboandM*A*S*H.
“I heard he was in town,” Ryan said. “What’s he doing here?”
“His brother was engaged to Vanna Zimmerman.”
Ryan stared at Tate in disbelief. “Holy shit.”
That was Tate’s reaction. How bad did his luck have to be for the bitch to have a world-famous television star looking for her?
The judge looked peevish as he glanced from Tate to Ryan. “What’s going on?”
Once again, they ignored him.
“He doesn’t know anything, but having him around is going to keep people talking,” Tate pointed out the obvious. “The sooner we can convince him to return to Hollywood, the better.”
Ryan shrugged. “It’s a small town. It won’t be hard for you to make a stranger feel unwelcome. And I can make some calls to Grange. I have enough influence to make it hard to remain in the area.”
“Good.” Tate paused, dreading the need to reveal the second part of his bad news. Being the messenger sucked. Unfortunately, it had to be done. “And then there’s the matter of Lia Porter.”
Ryan had started to turn away, obviously assuming the meeting was finished. Slowly, he turned back.
“What about her?”
“She claims she saw a woman running through the dark one night on her way home from a party.” Tate kept his tone nonchalant, as if it was no big deal. “Now she’s convinced the skeleton is the remains of that woman.”
Ryan made a strangled sound, his beefy face turning red as he glared at Tate in disbelief.
“She saw Vanna the night she died?”
“It might have been Vanna, but who knows if it was the same night? The woman was in and out of Pike a dozen times. She was always sticking her nose in where it didn’t belong.”
“Yeah, but if Lia starts talking about what she saw, people are going to wonder who she was and why she was running. And if it was Vanna . . .”
Tate ground his teeth together. When he was young, he’d been short and chubby and dirt poor. The kids had teased him mercilessly until he developed the ability to charm them with sappy compliments and empty promises. People were utter schmucks. He used that talent for manipulation to earn a place on the student council and, later, to run for class president. He’d become addicted to power at an early age and by the time he was thirty, he was mayor of Pike.
Still, there were times when he considered the pleasure of packing his bags and disappearing to a small island with lots of sand and sun.
“We need to convince Lia that what she saw had nothing to do with Vanna Zimmerman.” He allowed his companions a glimpse of his ruthless inner core. “Got it?”
“I don’t like this.” The judge looked like a petulant child.
Tate swallowed a curse. “Do you think any of us do?”
“I have to go.” The older man stomped to the door and disappeared from the office. A few minutes later, they could hear his Cadillac reversing out of the driveway.
“I don’t trust him.” Ryan strolled to the window to watch the judge drive away. “He’ll do whatever is necessary to save his own ass.”
Tate snorted. He didn’t trust either of the men. But it was too late for regrets.
“We stay strong and all of this will blow over.”
Chapter 7
