She smiled—that full-face smile he'd glimpsed at the bakery yesterday, the one that made her eyes crinkle at the corners. "Deal."
She walked away, toward the town hall, disappearing through the front doors without looking back.
Ronan stood in the square, watching the building's windows.
Three weeks until the centennial. Three weeks to investigate, gather evidence, and determine whether Blossom Springs was a hub or a coincidence.
Three weeks to figure out what Lila Bennett had noticed that she wasn't telling him.
Three weeks to keep his distance from a woman who made him want to close it.
His phone buzzed. Caleb.
Meeting go okay?
Ronan typed back:
She's smart. Suspicious. And she's noticed something about the property records.
Something she told you?
Something I saw in her files. Margin notes. Questions about irregularities.
A pause. Then:
Interesting. Can you get access?
Another pause.
Working on it,
he typed. And left it at that.
He walked to his rental car, parked on a side street where he'd have a clear view of the town hall exits. Old habit. Always know who's coming and going.
He sat behind the wheel and didn't start the engine. Just watched. Thought about Lila's sharp eyes and sharper questions. The way she'd said, “I haven't figured you out yet,” like it was a challenge she intended to win.
She was going to be a problem.
The dangerous kind.
The kind you didn't see coming until it was too late.
Chapter Two
Lila's phone buzzed at six-fifteen the next morning.
She reached for it without opening her eyes, knocking over the half-empty water glass on her nightstand. The cold splash against her wrist woke her faster than the alarm would have.
"Wonderful." She grabbed a t-shirt from the floor and mopped up the water, then squinted at her phone screen. Three missed texts from Delia. One voicemail from Mayor Weston. And an email from the county clerk's office, flagged urgent.
She opened the email first.
Ms. Bennett, this is to inform you that three permit applications associated with your office have been flagged for documentation review. Please contact our office at your earliest convenience to discuss.
She read it twice. Then threw back the covers and headed for the shower, her mind already racing through the implications.
Someone at the county clerk's office had noticed. Three permit applications flagged for review. All three were tied to properties along the waterfront, all three with documentation gaps she'd been quietly tracking for months.
