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I come down to earth a little and lean forward again. “Sorry. Guess I kind of buried the lede on that one. Town zoning laws prohibit any chain stores or franchises from setting up shop in the center of town. They wanted to keep it cute and touristy and unique, so the zoning is tightly regulated.”
The Chief leans forward in his chair now, his expression thoughtful. “So if it’s a corporate chain or franchise or whatever, it wouldn’t be legal for her to set up shop there.”
“Right.” I nod. “My guess is that she’s banking on them not finding out until it’s a done deal. They might fine her or something, but they probably wouldn’t make her close down the business once it was open.”
The Chief frowns. “But why take the risk? She could just set up her spa in another part of town.”
“She could,” I agree. “But—and again, this is just a guess—the Addison is in the best location for a business like that. Also, the Addison belongs to the town, and there’s a rule about not being able to sell town property for more than a certain percentage over the assessed value, which is currently a lot less than the market value.”
“So the Addison is in a great location to boot and a bargain to boot,” the chief summarizes.
“We just have to hope no one else realizes how good a bargain. But there’s more. VivaVentis does not have a good reputation. They go into towns and make a lot of promises about tax revenue and jobs, but they never hire as many people as they say they’re going to, they make their workers pay an arm and a leg for ‘training,’ they hardly ever pay more than minimum wage, they run local places out of business, and they pull a bunch of accounting shenanigans so that they don’t even end up contributing much tax-wise. They’re kind of a nightmare.”
The chief lets out a long, low whistle as he leans back. Triumph fizzes inside me. I’ve impressed him, I can tell.
He nods slowly at me. “Good work.”
I admit it: I drink in the look of new-found respect in his eyes. It feels good to be an object of admiration for a man like the Chief. I may not have Scarlett’s perfect legs, but at least I can bring some IQ points to the table.
“So, how will this work?” he asks. “Are you just going to go to the town council and tell them what you’ve found?”
Something snags in me. Once Scarlett is out of the picture, the Chief and I will be enemies again.
Well, so be it. At least the Addison will go to one of us and not some ugly corporate company that’s just here to take advantage of the town.
“Actually, I’m thinking it will go over better if we both tell them,” I reply.
“Why’s that?”
“Um…” I remember my last formal meeting with Walden and my first encounter with the Chief. “I don’t have a great track record of getting my point across without losing my temper,” I admit.
He blinks innocently. “Oh, no kidding?”
I ignore him. “Besides, if we both go and present a united front, we won’t look like we’re just acting out of self-interest. We’ll be representing the best interests of the town.”
He rubs his chin thoughtfully. “Makes sense. And when are we going to make this grand pronouncement?”
I consider this. “Might be tricky to pin down more than one of them at a time. Walden is the only one who works full-time for the town. The others have real jobs. Usually, the only time they’re all in the same place is at one of the monthly meetings.”
“Send them an email? That way they all get the news at the same time.”
“In person would have more impact, but you’re right,” I agree. “Email’s the best way to make sure they all know and it’s part of the public record, too. I’ll write something up to come from both of us, and I’ll talk to my friend Lucky.”
“The barista?”
“She was just helping Joyce out that day. Her real job is public relations.”
“Handy. Okay, boss. Sounds like we have a plan.”
“Yeah. I guess we do.”
We both sit back, satisfied, and for a moment neither of us says anything.
“You know as soon as we get Scarlett out of the way, we’ll be enemies again?” I point out because I’m nothing if not good at ruining the moment.
He rubs his chin and chuckles, a low, sexy rumbling sound. “I don’t know how to break it to you, Wilder, but I don’t actually think of you as my enemy.”
I’m simultaneously struck by his easygoing confidence—and okay, yes, that kind of confidence is very sexy—and also a little insulted. “You don’t even see me as a threat, do you?”
