I nodded to the mayor as he slid into the booth. “Jim John.” This wasn’t going to be a fun conversation.
Our waitress poured coffee into the mayor’s cup and then refilled mine. I ordered an omelet and hash browns, with a side order of bacon to go, Daisy’s reward for being a good dog. She was tied to a post right outside the window where I could keep an eye on her. It hadn’t taken her long to locate me, and her gaze was fixated on me.
“The meeting went well. Pretty much how I expected,” Jim John said after ordering sausage and a double stack of pancakes.
I managed not to roll my eyes. The man had been ready to throw me to the wolves if it came down to it. “So we’re good?”
“Of course. What’s going to happen to your old partner? He really flipped out, didn’t he? ’Course any man that bangs another man’s wife deserves what’s coming to him.”
Ironic he should say that considering what I now knew. “I don’t know.” No way was I going to talk to him about Jack. Whatever I said would be all over town by the end of the day.
The waitress returned with our food, and I waited while Jim John poured an ocean of syrup over his pancakes.
“I wanted to catch you up on a few things,” I said. “An e-mail came in this morning from the DA. They’re not going to charge Gertie Jansen. Said she acted in self-defense.”
He nodded. “I got that e-mail, too.”
Figured he probably had, but that really wasn’t my agenda for this meeting. “You good with that?”
“It is what it is.” He shrugged, then dived back into his pancakes.
That didn’t tell me what he really thought, but I let it drop. Personally I couldn’t have been happier that Gertie wasn’t headed for a trial. There were two issues we needed to discuss, and I debated which one to bring up first. Both were going to make for an unhappy mayor. I decided to save his daughter for last.
“We need to talk about Captain Moody.” That got his attention.
He set his fork down on his empty plate. “About?”
“He’s dirty. I know it and you know it.” I pushed my plate aside. Jim John glanced around as if worried that our conversation would be overheard, but I’d kept my voice low. No one was listening to us.
“I know no such thing. He told me you’re out to get him. That you’d manufactured fake evidence against him.”
No surprise that Moody had been bending the mayor’s ear. “I don’t have to manufacture anything where he’s concerned. He’s been stealing from the department, probably for years. What are you afraid of, Jim John?” I hoped he’d level with me, but I didn’t expect him to.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” His gaze shifted away.
“He knows about your secret daughter, doesn’t he?”
His face paled as he glanced around us. “This isn’t the place to have this discussion.”
“No problem. I’m going to drop Daisy off at the station. I’ll meet you in your office.”
“Not there either. Just follow me. You can bring the damn dog.” He threw a few bills on the table and walked out the door.
We ended up at the city park, sitting at a picnic table near the creek. There was no one else here this early in the morning, so I let Daisy off her leash, knowing she wouldn’t venture far.
Jim John leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “What is it you think you know?”
That his secret wasn’t as secret as he thought. “Three years ago Moody somehow found out that you’d had a brief affair and that you have another daughter. Her name is Isabelle Bradley, and she’s ten years old. He’s been blackmailing you ever since.”
Jim John sucked in a breath, then blew it out. “How’d you find out?”
“Moody doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut. He told Jansen a while back, and Jansen told his wife.” Jenny’s father had hinted that Jim John had skeletons in his closet. He’d also hinted that since Moody and Jansen had been tight, Jansen probably knew. So I’d paid Mrs. Jansen a visit early this morning. I didn’t even have to ask her what she knew. Her life with Jansen came pouring out. The mayor’s secret had been among the many things she’d told me.
“What if she tells anyone else?”
“Gertie won’t say anything, but I have to wonder who else Moody’s blabbed to.”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen… my affair with Sarah.” He buried his head between his knees.
