It occurred to Jenna that Ben had drunk nothing but water tonight. And that night at The Harbor House, while she’d been drinking wine, he’d ordered club sodas. “You don’t drink,” she blurted. “Alcohol, I mean.”
“You’re right. I don’t drink alcohol,” he said.
Embarrassed silence flooded the little patio while everyone looked everywhere but at Ben. There were only a few reasons people abstained from alcohol. Ben wasn’t religious. Maybe he simply didn’t like the taste. Or maybe he was into healthy living, except, then why the cigar? Or maybe…
What was wrong with her? Would she never learn to keep her big mouth shut?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“You haven’t.” He took another puff of his cigar, not offering up any explanations. Not that he needed to, but it would have eased some of the tension she’d created with her insensitive remark.
“So,” Steve said, “it looks like the rec center is right on schedule.”
“I hear the city is planning a big opening day celebration,” Kitty added brightly. “With costumes and everything.”
This new change of subject was exactly what she wanted to talk to Steve Pappas about. “How involved are you with that project?”
“Other than looking over the expense accounts, not much. Tom Donalan is the man in charge.”
“Any problems?”
“No, and please don’t tell me there’s another ghost haunting the building,” he joked.
“Nothing that sinister. I was curious. So you look over all the financials yourself? Have you ever found anything out of the norm?”
There was silence. Only this time instead of everyone avoiding her, now they were all staring. What? Had she said something wrong again?
“Maybe I should check on the girls,” Kitty said.
“Good idea,” said Viola. “I’ll join you.” On her way back inside the house, she threw Jenna a look that made her think, yes, she’d definitely said something wrong.
“Oh!” Jenna said, finally getting it. “I’m not accusing your company of any kind of wrongdoing. No, I would never do that. It’s Doug Wentworth I’m after.”
“Wentworth?” Steve looked confused. “What does he have to do with my company?”
Ben lay down his cigar and looked at her like he was interested in her answer.
“Nothing specifically.” She hesitated, but she was among friends here and it wasn’t as if she was making a formal accusation. Not yet anyway. “I shouldn’t say anything but I’m pretty sure he’s embezzled money from the city and according to my investigation he was spending an awful lot of time looking over the accounts from the rec center, so naturally, that piqued my interest.”
“Your investigation?” Steve said. “I’m confused.”
“It’s not anything official, but a friend of mine is doing a forensic audit as we speak. She’s giving me a call sometime this next week. We’ll see what she comes up with, but I’ve already given Zeke Grant a heads up.”
Steve was on the edge of his seat. “And you think that Wentworth might have used the rec center in a scheme to defraud the city?”
Jenna nodded.
“By padding the expense reports on the materials,” Steve finished logically. He shook his head. “If that little shit did anything to make my company look bad—”
“The second half of the game is starting!” Kitty yelled from inside the house.
Gus put out his cigar. “This game is too tight to miss a minute of.” He stood from his seat and caught Jenna’s eye. “I never liked Wentworth, but be careful what you say about him around Larry. He and Bruce Bailey were the ones who pushed to hire Wentworth in the first place. That’s why he’s been so hard on you. He doesn’t like to admit he made a mistake, and since you’re the one who took Wentworth’s place, you’re a constant reminder that he messed up.”
“Thanks, Gus. I’ll keep that in mind.”
She and Ben were the last to get up to go back inside, leaving them alone on the patio. He blocked her from going through the door. “Are you crazy?” he demanded. “You can’t go around accusing people of embezzlement. Especially when you don’t have any proof.”
“I didn’t actually accuse him. I said I thought he might have embezzled money from the city. And