A Good Kind of Trouble (A Trouble in Twin Rivers Novel Book 1) (24 page)

"I won't," Lindsey said. "But what if I want to interview his client for my story?"

Lara’s thin lips pinched together in a tight line. "Call Bear directly, don't go through Derry. But if you do get a face-to-face interview, talk to me first. You need to take some precautions. Record the interview. Take a photographer so you have a witness. He's threatened to sue you once. Let's not give him any ammunition."
 

Lara handed her a card. "My cell phone is on the back. Call if you run into trouble."

"There is something else," Lindsey said.

Lara exhaled loudly and checked her watch.
 

"It's sort of related," Lindsey said. "I've been trying to get copies of some bond documents for a story on the stadium and sewer plant bonds, but I'm getting stonewalled by the city. I understand you went to law school with Teri Schulman. Do you think you could help me with that?"

Lara tilted her head to one side and her dark bobbed hair swung in a perky fashion that belied her very serious expression. "Teri Schulman? You mean Teri Derry?"

"Teri Derry? You mean, like Frank Derry? The attorney who just tried to get me thrown in jail?" Lindsey asked. "She's related to him?"
 

"They're married, though I can see why she wouldn't take his last name. Can you imagine going through life as Teri Derry?" Lara Petrie's laugh sounded so much like her fictional black-and-white doppelgänger that Lindsey was almost surprised that the attorney in front of her was in color.
 

Lindsey’s brow furrowed as she sorted through the connections. "Think you can help me?"

"E-mail me what bond documents you want. I'll take care of it," Lara said.
 

"Thanks, again," Lindsey said, but Lara Petrie was already stalking off in her sensible pumps, heading back to the office.
 

She hadn't expected the rather strange lawyer to do much for her in court, but Lara had come through and saved her from Frank Derry, who was married to the city attorney. The city attorney who was stonewalling her on the bond contracts, which if approved by the city council, would provide the money for Frank Derry's client to build the stadium.
 

Why hadn't she known that Teri Schulman was married to Frank Derry? Granted, she'd only been on the city hall beat for a few months, but a good reporter learned those connections. Especially one who was also covering the ValCorp bid for the arena construction. Would her mother have missed that connection? Or would Liz Allen have unearthed that piece of information on her first day on the job?

Lindsey’s eyes stung with unshed tears of frustration. All her life, she’d only wanted to be a reporter, be like her parents. Follow the money. Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. All of the old journalism clichés, she truly believed them. It was a tradition she was proud to be a part of.
 

But here she was, failing at just covering a city hall beat. Just once, she’d like to shock her unflappable parents by breaking a story that would make them proud. She wanted Liz and West to feel that pride tinged with jealousy that she still felt every time her dad’s paper won another national prize or when her mom won accolades for a groundbreaking interview.
 

Who was she kidding? At this point, she’d settle for keeping her job.
 

Lindsey's head pounded from trying to unravel the connections between the arena players and she leaned back against the wall, her eyes closed. She opened them a moment later and saw Dani Carter hurrying down the hall toward her.
 

"Oh, thank God I found you," Dani said. She was out of breath, her face flushed, and her light brown hair was escaping from its ponytail.
 

Lindsey put her hand on Dani's shoulder to calm the intern. "Take a deep breath and tell me what's going on."
 

Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Dani gulped down air, her eyes wide and serious.
 

"It was terrible. Charlie and I—we followed you like we planned, and we saw the guys following you, so we followed them and you were right. They went back to the private investigator's office and I got photos of one of them and then Charlie jumped one of the guys—"
 

She took a ragged breath, but Lindsey stopped her before she could continue. "Charlie jumped someone? Like, physically? Is he okay?"

That wasn't part of the plan. Dani and Charlie were just going to drive behind her and see if anyone was following her. No one was supposed to get hurt. What had she done? How could she have dragged her only two newsroom allies into this mess?

Dani nodded. "He's fine. But then the other one snuck up on me and I panicked and sprayed him, but he wasn't who I thought he was and it was terrible because he was really cute and it turns out that he's not with the investigator. He's a lawyer. And I pepper sprayed him. I feel so terrible."
 

Lindsey tried to keep up with Dani's rushed description.
 

"Wait. You pepper sprayed someone? A lawyer?"

Dani gulped more air, on the verge of a panic attack. "Yes, and he was just trying to help you and I'm so sorry!"

Ben.

Oh hell
.
Not again
.

Lindsey burst through the front door of the Hogans' house, her stomach twisted from stress. It was only 5 o’clock, but Dave's car was in the driveway. He never went home early, but that was exactly what his secretary told her when she'd tried to call him at his office. She’d barely been able to stay at work the rest of the afternoon after Dani had told her what happened. But Sam had kicked a short assignment her way and she wasn’t in a position to refuse work. Instead, she’d gritted her way through the brief story, all the while wondering and worrying about Ben.
 

The house was quiet as she dropped her messenger bag on the floor of the entryway, but she heard a murmur of voices from the backyard. Cutting through the kitchen, she caught a glimpse of Dave in the back yard.
 

She pulled open the sliding screen door and hurried out to the patio, skidding to a stop when she saw Ben standing next to the pool. Her breath caught and her heart pounded at the unexpected sight of him. God, she really needed to get over this. Why had she refused his help? Oh, right, she was being an idiot.
 

"Oh," she said once she was able to breathe again. He didn't look like he'd been maced again. In fact, he looked damned good. The top few buttons of his dress shirt were undone, he wasn't wearing a tie, and his shirtsleeves were rolled up. "You're okay."

Ben glanced down and Lindsey noticed his slacks were dusty and his shirt smudged with dirt. He grinned at her and her heart flipped. "Yes, mostly okay."
 

"Dani said she Maced a lawyer who was helping me," Lindsey said. "I thought it was you. But you're all right?"

Ben smiled at her as she approached and her step faltered. She sat on the settee to avoid making a greater fool of herself. Ben sat next to her and draped his arm behind her shoulders. It had been too long since he'd held her. He still smelled delicious.
 

"I'm fine. My coworker on the other hand, is probably just now opening his eyes," he said.
 

She felt a stab of guilt that only increased when Dave gave her a reassuring grin. "Not your fault this time, Lindsey."

"Well, actually it kind of is. I gave Dani my pepper spray."
 

"Gordo will be fine," Dave said, rising from the lounge chair. He patted Lindsey's shoulder as he walked by. "I'll get another round of drinks."
 

He discreetly slipped into the house, leaving Ben and Lindsey alone in the courtyard.
 

"I still feel responsible," Lindsey said, edging away slightly from Ben's body lest she touch too much of him. Once she started, she'd be unable to stop herself. That much she knew.
 

He pulled her back close to him and she found herself right up against him.
 

"How's the arena story going?"
 

Lindsey twisted her hands in her lap. Sam didn't want her telling anyone in the newsroom what she was working on, but she could talk to Ben about it, right? Probably not, but she doubted that Ben would be talking to the paper's news editor anytime soon.
 

"Sam blew a gasket when he saw Jeff's story on Sunday. He's put me back on the story, but no one is supposed to know."
 

Ben met her gaze and she leaned in, an involuntary reaction to her attraction. Catching herself, she quickly straightened up and continued. "Why were you at Lonnie Corcoran's office? Charlie said you were following me."
 

"Dave mentioned that you weren't being followed any longer. I wondered if maybe they just hadn't switched cars and tactics. Something you clearly figured out, too."

She nodded. She’d told Charlie about the tan car after she'd spotted it a couple times, figuring the conspiracy theorist wouldn't immediately dismiss her suspicions as more paranoid delusions. He hadn’t dismissed her idea. He’d taken it and run with it. He had devised the plan to follow Lindsey and see what the tan sedan was up to. His plan worked well, if you didn't count Ben's coworker's injuries. She never should have gone along with it. Though in her wildest dreams, she never thought Charlie would physically attack someone in defending her.
 

Ben's arm around her shoulders kept her nestled against his body, her breast brushing the hard wall of his chest and sending sparks of electricity through her body. She tried to focus, but the physical contact was distracting. Why was he keeping an eye on her? Did it have something to do with the arena and his law firm's work?

"Can I ask you something? Did your firm handle the site selection process for the arena?"
 

Ben was silent for a long moment before he finally spoke.

"I don't believe Stanton & Lowe was involved in that. It's a large firm and I work in a different department than the municipal law section," he said.
 

Lindsey’s brow wrinkled at how carefully he was choosing his words. "Could you find out?"
 

Ben shifted, pulling his arm from behind her so they were no longer touching. Despite the late afternoon heat a chill ran through her.
 

He fixed her with an intense stare. "If I did learn something and it was related to one of the firm's clients, I couldn't tell you anything. Not even to confirm whether the firm represents or has represented someone."
 

She raised her chin.
Oh, damn
. He knew something. Something important. She needed to know what it was. She'd just broken a direct order from Sam and shared a confidence with him. But here he was, giving her the party line. He was blowing hot and cold—one minute acting as her protector, making her knees weak with his smile. Then the next, pulling back and protecting his law firm and probably his no-good clients.
 

"I won't use your name," Lindsey said.

Ben shook his head. "It's not a matter of being an anonymous source. I could be disbarred if I were to reveal a client confidence."
 

She sank back into the chaise, confused and frustrated. Ben leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Right next to her, but he felt so far away.
 

"If you were to tell me what you were working on," he said slowly, "I could tell you if you were about to publish something incorrect."
 

That was something, but she still didn't like it. He was asking her to divulge her investigation, and there was no guarantee he wouldn't pass that information on to his clients. Damn his upstanding, Boy Scout tendencies. He'd probably feel obligated to warn the people who were making their fortunes off corrupt city officials.
 

On the other hand, what if he was right? What if she were chasing ghosts and not Bear O'Bannion? If she got this story wrong—especially something this big—it would end her career.
 

She laid her hand on his arm, feeling the tension under her fingers. She reached up to brush away a smudge of dirt on his cheek. He grabbed her hand and held it. His face was so close, it was all she could do to not lean in another few inches and kiss him, once again feel his lips against hers.
 

"I need to tread very carefully here, Lindsey," he said. "I don't want you to get this wrong. But don't ask me to break the rules."
 

She nodded and he leaned in to close the few inches, his lips brushing hers lightly at first, then with greater insistence. Her resolve to stay independent, to do her job on her own, melted and she leaned into him. She ran a hand up his chest, his neck, and then his face, feeling the slight five-o'clock shadow on his strong jaw. He pulled away slightly, but kept one hand behind her neck, his lips trailing kisses along her jaw to her ear. His breath caressed her cheek when he spoke.
 

"And I don't think we can see each other anymore," he said.

Chapter Twenty

Lindsey dropped a stack of manila folders on the conference room table and faced Sam across the gleaming mahogany expanse. Next to her, Dani fidgeted with the cuffs of her white button-down shirt and cast an anxious glance at Lindsey. Sam's presence could intimidate seasoned reporters, but it terrorized interns who weren't used to his bluster. Lindsey sympathized, remembering the anxiety she'd felt as a new reporter working for Sam Wagner. And she'd had a lifetime of hanging out in newsrooms and watching no-nonsense and sometimes mercurial editors.
 

Lindsey smiled and gave Dani a quick nod, opening the folder with her copies of the documents they were going to present to Sam. She'd been up way too late the night before trying to piece together all the pieces of the puzzle surrounding the arena, the bonds, and the unbelievable good luck of someone who gambled on the property purchases. Not like she had something else to do with her evenings, since Ben had dumped her—again. She raked a hand through her hair and blew out a frustrated sigh.