Can't Stop the Feeling (Whispering Bay Romance 6)

“Why is Grandma crying?” Rachel asked, confused.

“Because she’s so happy,” Ben said, feeling his throat go tight.

“Grown-ups are so silly!”

He was about to agree with her when his cell phone pinged. It was Zeke Grant. “Hey. Listen, man, thanks again for including me last night in Vince’s arrest.”

“Not a problem,” Zeke said gravely. “But I have some news. And you’re not going to like it. This morning when Wentworth went to the courthouse to be arraigned on the new charges, he somehow managed to overpower a guard and escape. And that’s not all. He’s got a gun. There’s an APB out on him, but I’m not taking any chances. I’m heading straight to city hall right now. And you should, too.”

* * *

Jenna was the last person to walk into the boardroom. Everyone else was already seated, including Mimi and Pilar who looked at her with dual expressions of hope on their faces. Gus gave her a weak smile of encouragement. Denise tried to act as if she didn’t exist.

And Larry…well, Larry was his usual self. No smile. No greetings. “Let’s get this over with,” he huffed. “Are you going to resign or not?” he demanded of Jenna.

“Not so fast,” Mimi said. “Have you checked the news? Vince Palermo has been arrested for defraud

ing the city, along with perjury and whatever else Zeke can get to stick. So right now we have more important things on our plate than worrying about whether or not the city manager might have committed a misdemeanor by trespassing on city property. Which, I might add, we have absolutely no video evidence of.” She winked at Jenna.

Now it was Pilar’s turn. “Since Vince has confessed to bribing Doug Wentworth into giving false testimony, we can throw that whole undue influence suit right out the window. The new attorney representing Nora plans to go with an entirely different angle. She’s still offering to split the land, but their suit isn’t nearly as strong as it was before. We can fight them. If we want. Or not. But this new development might change the way some of us feel.”

Denise looked like she was about to cry. “I don’t understand. Doug seemed like such a nice boy. Why would he lie? And under oath!”

“Money, Denise. It’s what makes the world go ’round,” Larry quipped.

“May I say something?” Jenna stood. “First, I want to apologize for everything that happened at the last meeting. Despite the fact that there’s no evidence of my trespassing on city property, the fact is, I did trespass and I want to be charged just like any other citizen of this town.” She let that sink in a bit. “I also want to add that since I have absolutely no relationship with the new attorney representing Nora Palermo, I no longer have a conflict of interest.”

“So what does all that mean?” Larry asked, scowling.

Mimi gave Larry a sweet debutante smile. “Why, Larry, I think it means that Jenna would like to vote now.”

* * *

“Boy, I wish I had a picture of Larry’s face when that vote came in!” Pilar crowed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him speechless before.”

Mimi looped her bag over her shoulder. “I say we celebrate, Whispering Bay style. Lunch at The Bistro. On me.”

“Sounds good,” said Jenna. Except she really wanted to call Ben to thank him again. If it hadn’t been for the work he and Gavin had done to expose Vince as Stuart Malloy, today’s city council meeting wouldn’t have ended on such a personally satisfying note. Plus, there was something else she wanted to tell him, too. Something that couldn’t wait any longer. “I just need to run by my office to make a quick call to Ben before we head out.”

“Sure,” said Mimi. “We’ll wait for you out in the lobby. Make it quick. I’m hungry!”

“You’re always hungry,” Pilar grumbled.

“I am eating for three, you know.”

Jenna smiled as she listened to the two of them squabbling as they walked away. She opened the door to her office and grabbed the cell phone off her desk. The door shut behind her. She whirled around. Doug Wentworth stood there in his orange jumpsuit. He had a gun in his hand.

“Hello, Jenna. Surprised to see me?”

Hell, yes. “How did you get in here?”

He smiled, all smarmy-looking with his perfect white teeth. Too bad his soul was darker than soot. “First things first. I have to insist that you put down that phone.”

Since he had a gun pointed at her, this was a no brainer.

“Good girl. To answer your question, when I first came to work here I hid a key to the back door behind some bushes near the parking lot. In case I ever needed to get inside without anybody knowing. Lucky for me it was still there.” The way he said it was like he was expecting her to admire his sneakiness.

She tried to keep her voice steady and cool. “How did you get out of jail? And where on earth did you get that gun?”