Trust Me, page 5
“Sorry I’m a few minutes late,” she said. “You did get my email, didn’t you?”
Ezra held up the phone and nodded. “Yeah, I got it.”
“Oh, good,” she said with a relieved smiled. “I’d hate to think of you sitting here waiting for me all this time.”
“Nope. I’m good,” he said. “Just wondering what this is all about.”
She pointed to the counter. “You mind if I get a coffee first? My morning has been ridiculous.”
He stood. “I’ll get it.”
Her perfectly arched eyebrows dipped with her frown. “You sure?”
Could he blame her for being suspect? For the past four months he had not extended her a single bit of courtesy. Ezra could practically see his mother shaking her finger at him from heaven. When it came to Mack, his behavior of late did not reflect his upbringing.
“I’m sure,” Ezra answered her. “What can I get you?”
“Large coffee. Black.”
She reached for her purse, but he waved off her money.
“I’ve got it,” Ezra said. He went up to the counter and returned a couple of minutes later to find her typing furiously on her phone.
“Give me just a minute,” Mack said. “I promised my assistant I would get her these instructions before she leaves for lunch.” She typed in a few more words then set the phone on the table. “Thank you,” she said, smiling as she picked up the cup he’d placed in front of her and took a sip.
That was the second time she’d smiled at him since she got here. It made the hairs on the back of Ezra’s neck stand on end.
“Thanks again for agreeing to meet with me,” she started.
“No problem,” Ezra said. “I assume you called because you’re ready to confess?”
“Confess? What is this, church?” she said with a light chuckle. “I have nothing to confess. I was telling the truth when I told you I have nothing to do with Starlight Enterprises. It was all Carter.”
His lips twisted in a skeptical smirk. “Come on, Councilmember Arnold. You can do better than that.”
“You can stop calling me that, Ezra. You knew me long before I was a member of the city council.”
True, but he needed that professional buffer. With the buffer, his mind wouldn’t be so quick to wander to places it sure as hell shouldn’t be wandering, like how she could make a simple navy skirt and peach button down shirt look like sex.
Don’t go there.
Ezra rerouted his thoughts, bringing them back to this woman who very likely had used her influence on the city council to put money into her own pocket. It was his job to expose such corruption. That’s what he should be thinking about right now.
“You were right,” Mack continued. “My ex-husband has an interest in Starlight, but I had no knowledge of it. He hid it from me.”
Bullshit.
“Do you really expect me to believe that?” Ezra asked.
“It’s the truth. When you mentioned the company’s name at Griffin and Indina’s the other night, something about it sounded familiar. I remembered running across documents with that name in some of Carter’s old paperwork that’s been sitting in my condo, but I didn’t know exactly what it was about. I thought it was maybe work for a client.”
She held her hands out. “Think about it, Ezra. This is a community property state. If I’d known about Carter’s interest in Starlight, don’t you think I would have brought it up during our divorce proceedings? Why would I knowingly allow him to hide one of his assets?”
Dammit, why was she making so much sense right now?
“So you really didn’t know your ex had an interest in Starlight Enterprises, even though the two of you were married for what, ten years?”
“Fifteen,” she said.
“Really?” He jerked his head back. He didn’t realize it had been that long.
“Yes,” she confirmed with a nod. “Carter and I were married for fifteen long years, and if you think it’s impossible for me not to know everything my husband was involved in, think again.
“Carter and I both had very demanding careers. We kept our business dealings separate, not only for financial and tax reasons, but also simply because it was too complicated. I didn’t have the time or desire to be concerned with his practice once we got it off the ground. I had my own career to worry about.”
She folded her hands on the table and released a heavy breath. “I confronted Carter with the paperwork tying him to Starlight Enterprises yesterday.”
Ezra leaned forward. “What did he say?”
“He was typical Carter. Cocky. Arrogant. He’s built a career out of making sure his clients get all they can in a divorce. He knows every trick there is.”
“So why did he hide this from you?”
She shrugged. “Because he could. Who knows, he probably hid all kinds of money from me. I just so happened to learn about this one because you found it.” Her mouth twisted up in a small smile. “So, as much as it pains me to say this, thank you for being so tenacious.”
Ezra made a production of looking toward the ceiling and over both his shoulders.
“What are you doing?” Mack asked.
“Searching for the four horsemen. Always thought I’d die before you ever thanked me for anything.”
She shook her head as she huffed out a laugh. “Don’t get me wrong, that apology was not easy. But I believe in owning up to my mistakes, and I now realize it was a mistake to accuse you of investigating me for no reason. You had just cause.”
“Councilmember Arnold, I didn’t want—”
“Mack, or even Mackenna if you still want to be formal,” she said.
“Mack,” Ezra corrected. “This was never personal. I’m an investigative reporter. As a member of the free press, my job is to root out corruption. That’s why I became a journalist.”
“I understand that,” she said. “And I also understand that your work is a vital part of our democracy. We need people like you to hold politicians accountable.”
Ezra put his hands up. “That’s all I was trying to do.”
“So, does this mean you’re done investigating me?” She leaned forward and Ezra’s eyes automatically zeroed in on the small gap in her shirt. He saw a bit of white lace and, within an instant, his pants became uncomfortably snug.
“Um, yes,” he said. He tore his gaze away from her chest and looked her in the eyes. “If you truly didn’t know anything about Starlight Enterprises, there’s nothing more for me to investigate.”
No matter how much he tried to dismiss it, Ezra couldn’t deny the melancholy that suddenly overwhelmed him. He didn’t want to stop learning about her. His reasons for investigating Mack had nothing to do with his personal feelings toward her, but as he’d probed into her professional life, he’d learned things that left little doubt about the kind of person she was.
Now that the cloud of suspicion had been lifted, he could acknowledge the admiration he’d begun to feel toward her. She worked hard for the people of her district, especially the children. She was still a politician, but maybe—maybe—she was one of the very few good ones out there.
She stuck her hand out to him. “We’re good here, right?”
Ezra stared at her hand for a moment before clasping it. “We’re good,” he said.
“Maybe the next story you write about me can focus on the work I’ve done as a member of the city council,” she said as she rose from the table. Ezra quickly stood. “It’s not the juicy political scandal you were hoping for, but I think it’s important.”
“I’m sure there’s a juicy political scandal out there somewhere,” he said. “But I can do a write-up on the work you’ve done for District D, as well.”
“Maybe we can set up a meeting sometime in the near future,” she said with yet another smile.
Three genuine smiles from Mackenna Arnold.
Guess he shouldn’t bother to pick up his clothes from the dry cleaners. The end of the world must be near.
“You’ve got my email,” Ezra said. “I’m ready whenever you are.”
She dipped her head in a brief nod before leaving the coffeehouse. Ezra knew he had a list of things to do today, but for the life of him he couldn’t remember a single one. He sat back down. He needed a few minutes to process everything that had just happened in the last fifteen minutes. Now that his investigation into Mackenna’s wrongdoings was officially over, he needed to think about his next steps.
* * *
Mack directed her attention to the large monitor fixed to the wall just to her right, where the proposed amendments to the city budget stood out in bright red font. She’d known this afternoon’s budget meeting would get heated. Anthony Accorso, the council member from District A, adamantly opposed cuts to his district’s recreation department.
Mack understood his frustration, but there were more important items on the council’s plate than using taxpayer money to build a new splash park for an area of the city that already had several public swimming pools. She sat back and listened as two of the council members went back and forth, knowing already that the budget item would not be approved.
The door opened and Mayor Lucien Warner, along with the deputy mayor, entered the room. The mayor usually presided over the budget meetings, but he had been delayed by an emergency call with the governor. Mayor Warner nodded toward the council members before taking his seat at the long polished walnut table that faced the raised dais where the council sat.
The discussion over the splash park lasted another ten minutes before Cecil finally banged his gavel.
“Councilmember Accorso, while we can appreciate your desire to provide this attraction to the people of your district, it is simply not in the budget for this year. We must move on to the next item. However, before we do, I’d like to acknowledge Mayor Warner, who now joins us. Mayor, we hope you had a productive call with the governor. We’re just about to move into the budgetary concerns surrounding the criminal justice system.
“Speaking of those budget concerns,” Cecil continued. He then motion for one of the deputy clerks to come forward. “We have a slight change to the amendments you were previously given.”
The deputy clerk distributed several stapled papers to the council members, the people present at the mayor’s table, and the one citizen who’d been brave enough to sit in on this afternoon’s meeting.
“I move the council accepts—” Cecil started, but Mack cut him off.
“Excuse me, but can we please have a few minutes to look over these new changes?”
Mack ignored his pinched expression and went back to perusing the documents she’d been handed. She squinted at the small print, frowning as she caught what had to be a mistake. Mack picked up the original budget amendments and compared the two documents.
She raised her hand. “I’m sorry, Councilmember Washington, but there seems to be a mistake regarding the budget for the DA’s office. The operating budget has been reduced by…” Mack paused to do the quick math in her head. “By nearly fifteen percent.”
“That isn’t a mistake, Councilmember Arnold.”
Her mouth fell open as she looked over at Cecil. “What is the justification for reducing the DA’s budget by such a significant amount? Their department is stretched thin as it is.”
“The reduction is specifically for the Internal Affairs department,” Cecil said. He pointed to Mayor Warner. “Some of us, including the mayor, believe that the DA’s office has more pertinent objectives to focus on.”
“Excuse me?” Mack screeched.
Cecil banged his gavel. “Councilmember Arnold, we will not have a repeat of the last council meeting.”
“You will if you think I’ll approve this budget cut,” she said.
Mayor Warner spoke into his microphone. “Cecil, if I may speak,” he started.
Mack turned her attention to her mentor. She did her best to keep her face neutral, but inside she was pleading with him not to break her heart by siding with this ridiculous move.
“The DA’s office spends enough time as it is conducting witch hunts on its own department,” Lucien started, and Mack was certain she heard her heart crack in two. She barely heard the rest of his explanation. It was as if he spoke from the other end of a long, foggy tunnel, his words muddled by the silent screams suddenly rioting through her brain.
She could not believe this was the same man who had a framed copy of a front-page news article celebrating his takedown of several corrupt detectives years ago when he worked as an assistant district attorney. What had happened to him? Why was he now coming out as a proponent of less scrutiny for public officials? Something didn’t add up.
“With all due respect, Mayor Warner, the Internal Affairs and Public Integrity divisions both serve a very important role in ensuring the constituency that public servants are being held accountable,” Mack said. “It is imperative that we dedicate resources to these departments.”
“Of course, of course,” the mayor said. “It’s very important that the DA’s office polices itself.”
“Yet you support this budget reduction?” she asked.
Cecil cut in. “Councilmember Arnold, we are here to discuss the entire budget. Can you save your argument for when we get to this particular line item?”
Mack put her hands up. “Fine, I’ll wait.”
As they worked their way through the budget amendments, Mack’s attention remained on Mayor Warner. He, at times, seemed disinterested, gazing off at the empty space in front of the table where he and his staff sat. He would occasionally focus on whoever was speaking, but his attention seemed to again drift, as if he had something more important than the city budget to think about, or had somewhere else to be.
The council got so caught up on a discussion about the proposed cuts to the new traffic safety cameras—the budget item the lone citizen had apparently come to discuss—that they had to table the rest of the budget meeting until next week. The moment Cecil banged the gavel, bringing the meeting to a close, Mayor Warner rose from the table and walked straight out of the council chambers, not saying a single word to anyone.
Tremors traveled down Mack’s spine.
Something wasn’t right here. This was not the man she knew. Mack didn’t want to speculate on what could be behind the mayor’s odd behavior, but asking her inquisitive mind not to search for an answer was like asking the sun not to rise in the east. And the more she thought about it, the more troubled she became by the answer that was all too obvious.
When she added up the changes she’d observed in him over the previous months—siding with big business instead of the common citizen, his complete reversal on so many issues, and now favoring less scrutiny by the DA’s office? There was only one conclusion that made sense.
Lucien Warner, her mentor, her friend, must be involved in some type of corruption.
A sharp pain twisted in the pit of Mack’s stomach as she walked to her car, which she’d finally gotten back from the mechanic. She settled in behind the wheel, but couldn’t bring herself to turn over the ignition. She was too distracted to drive.
What other explanation could there be for the mayor’s bizarre behavior of late? It wasn’t as if a corrupt politician was some kind of anomaly. These days, it seemed more common to find someone who wasn’t on the take than the reverse.
But Lucien? The most upstanding man she’d ever known?
In her internal war over whether or not she wanted to run for mayor, the only thing stopping her was her loyalty to her longtime mentor. But if Lucien Warner was involved in some type of misconduct, not only would she not hesitate to put her name in the ring for mayor, Mack would do everything humanly possible to win.
She knew firsthand what happened when local officials cared more about lining their pockets than serving their constituents. Her family had been forced to leave her great-grandfather’s land, having it ripped from under them for the sake of a new highway that now ran through her small northern Louisiana hometown. A highway that hadn’t been needed, but that Mack later learned had been a financial boon for the contractor who’d built it. A contractor who happened to be a friend of her small town’s local mayor. Their lives had been upended by the same man her grandmother had spent her Saturdays going door-to-door to help get elected.
If Lucien had turned his back on the citizens of New Orleans in order to make a buck, then he’d better get ready for a fight.
“Not so fast,” Mack whispered.
Before she made any decisions about running for mayor, she had to know if Lucien was really involved in some kind of corruption. How she would go about doing that, she had no idea.
Maybe you should get Ezra on the case.
Mack snorted a laugh, but then she sat up straight.
“No.” Mack shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
The idea was ridiculous, wasn’t it?
Yes, of course it was ridiculous. Ezra Holmes would help her off a cliff, or into a jail cell. He sure as hell wouldn’t help her look into whatever was going on with the mayor.
Or…maybe he would.
Back at the coffee house, Ezra said he would be on the lookout for the next big political scandal. If the mayor really were into something underhanded, it would be the story of the year.
Mack shook her head as she started the ignition up and put the car in drive.
“Don’t be a fool, Mackenna.”
Inviting Ezra Holmes into her world was just asking for trouble, and Lord knows she didn’t need any more of that in her life.
Chapter 4
Mack released a massive sigh of relief when her phone dinged with a text message from Ezra, saying he was at the streetlight at St. Charles and Louisiana Avenues, about ten blocks away. She’d tried to keep herself busy by grading essays, but the entire time her mind had been fully aware of the minutes that continued to tick by with no answer from the text she’d sent him earlier.
