“Wait,” I say, breathlessly, and I can hear Kirstin sliding to the side behind me, finding a place along the wall. I force myself to look away from Evan, looking at the mayor instead. One thing at a time. “Is the meeting adjourned?”
“No,” Carp says from the front of the room, a smile playing over his lips. “It is not.”
“Wonderful.” I stop, taking a second to breathe, reaching into my pocket for my phone. Waiting for Greg to get to the house felt like an eternity. The entire time my little EV powered up the side of the mountain, I thought we were going to be too late. Walk into an empty meeting hall. “Because I have evidence that will prove McKay Capital Management is behind this entire thing.”
There’s a satisfyingly dramatic gasp throughout the room, and I can’t stop the smile from crossing my lips. In the front of the room, a tall man in a drab gray suit stands up, turning to face me.”
“Who are you?” he asks, tucking a clipboard under his arm. “What do you have to do with any of this?”
“I’m Amy Callaghan,” I say, “leader of the acquisitions team at McKay.”
The guy sways, shrinking back a bit, looking worried.
Good. He should be.
“Formerleader of acquisitions,” I clarify, looking over at Evan when I say it, watching the flicker of surprise that plays over his face.
God, I’ve missed him. There are bags under his eyes, and he looks more gaunt than the last time I saw him, but it doesn’t matter. I just want to run to him, scoop him up in my arms, and squeeze him to my body.
I want to go back to the cabin with him. Let him touch me. Let him help me find my quiet.
But I have to make sure he gets to keep his land first.
“This is an audio recording I took today of a conversation between me and my boss, Don. He’s the one who first sent me to Granite Peaks, told me to go up to Evan’s property and said there was a fallen tree that had caused an accident.”
I tap the button on my phone, and somehow the little speaker is mighty enough to ring through the room. Or maybe everyone is just holding their breath to be able to hear it.
Don’s voice comes out strong, slimy,“Think about it; what makes better use of the land—one tiny cabin, or a ski resort that everyone can enjoy?”
Then, you can hear me asking,“How did you do it? I worked on it for weeks, and I just never found an in.”
I glance at Evan, wanting to tell him with my expression that it was a lie, but he’s not looking at me. He’s staring at the man from the state, his expression carefully blank.
“You’d think for a town trying to raise all sorts of money for some restoration project, they’d be more pleased about the generous donation I offered to make.”
Carp’s jaw tightens, and the state guy goes a bit pale, his eyes darting to me. “McKay tried to bribe the town council?”
“I can neither confirm nor deny,” I say, tapping to pause it, my heart skipping along in my chest. “But I can play the tape for you.”
He works his jaw. “Go on.”
I tap the button to play it, and Don’s voice comes through again, that little self-righteous laugh he does making my skin crawl, even from a hundred miles away.
“Anyway, we had to go for a different angle when you didn’t find that first tree. Guess he cleaned it up pretty quick. So, we made sure to find a more remote part of the property. Another fallen tree. This time, he was down in the town long enough that we could… document everything appropriately.”
Evan’s face shows a barely contained rage. I glance at the council, find Beverly gripping her pen so hard I’m shocked it hasn’t split in half.
“So, it’s down to the state now?”
“Yup. When the council wouldn’t play along, we went over their heads. We’ve made an offer to the state already, on hold for when they put the property up. Nobody else is even going to have a chance at it.”
I catch Brendon mouth,What the fuck?to Kendra.
“Very clever. All your idea?”I ask on the tape, and it’s like everyone waits to hear what’s next. Don’s voice sounds again, putting the final nail in the coffin:“Sure was.”
CHAPTER 31
EVAN
