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“Lucinda and Niall have their own reservations about this deal Row decided to go for. I have nothing to do with it.”
“He already signed the contract.” I smiled, putting the final nail in her coffin. Her body wilted with dread. “And if that’s the case, then I’m going to have Sheriff Menchin go directly to them. Hope they have good legal representation. How lucky are you?” I stepped forward, wiping invisible dust off her shoulder. She flinched. “So many wrongdoings around you, and yet you are totally innocent. I’m sure your track teammates, Tucker, Lucinda, Niall, and Sanders are going to be totally on board with your version of things.”
I made a move to open the door. Her hand came clamping down on my wrist. Desperation clung to her face as she tried to tug me back to her. “No, wait.”
I popped an eyebrow. “Yes?”
“How do I make all of this…go away?” Her nose twitched. “Give me a number.”
A number? She thought I could be bought? “Nine one one.” I laughed.
“Oh, come on.” She rolled her eyes. “Be serious.”
“I am serious. It’s not about money.”
“Everything is about money.”
I turned to walk away again. She slid between me and the door, blocking my way.
“I want you to know,” I said slowly, “that I will not be intimidated again. If you try to hurt me like you did when we were teenagers, I’m going to break every bone in your body in self-defense.”
Having these words come out of my mouth had a healing effect on me. They made me feel powerful and strong, a woman who didn’t need a Prince Charming—who was her own savior.
Allison licked her lips nervously, raising her palms in the air. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk. How do I make this disappear? Obviously, I’m not going to jail.”
Why was it so obvious? Her rich white woman privilege was through the freaking roof.
“You can’t make this go away.” I shook my head. “This is not an uncomfortable headline. This is about people’s lives. Your entire existence, you’ve been running people over to get your way. Well, I’m not letting you off the hook. Your best shot is to come clean to everyone in town, tell them what you did to Row, and then to back off, face the consequences.”
She looked disgusted, like I had just suggested she bathe in dog vomit on national television. “Why would I fess up if you are not offering me anything in exchange?”
“I am offering you something in exchange,” I said. “If you confess to what you did to Row and me, I will spare you the humiliation of outing you and Tucker in public. You’ll be known as a thug, not a hussy. That’s the best and only offer I will give you.”
“You’re crazy if you think I’ll go for it.”
I shrugged, making my third attempt to reach the door. She sighed, knocking the back of her head repeatedly against the wood. “I could be thrown into prison.”
“You’ll fit in there better than you think.”
“You don’t understand.” She pushed a hand into her hair, raking her fingers through her luscious locks. “You really don’t. I couldn’t…I couldn’t let Row’s deal go forward.”
“The deal wasn’t your fault as a mayor.” Why was I comforting her? She was Satan’s formidable adversary. “Yet you had people put a dead coyote on his property, send him hate mail, slash his tires. He thought the entire town was against him. Did you do all of those things yourself?”
“No!” she said desperately. “I…I… Lucinda’s stepson…”
It hadn’t been Lyle. Or Randy. Or any of Row’s suspects. It had been an out-of-towner. All this time, he had been tormented by a man hired by Allison.
“It’s a good deal,” I continued, trying to wrap my head around what had made her do something so stupid and dangerous. “You’re evil, but you aren’t stupid. Surely, you knew once the dust settled on this thing, people would see there were benefits to the mall and the hotel too.”
“It wasn’t just about the backlash.” She shook her head, her tears falling freely now. “I could’ve handled that. My dad wanted the deal to fall through so that GS Properties would buy his lots.” She sniffled, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her dress. “He’s in a dire financial situation. Some of the investments he made were…not smart, to say the least. I wanted to back Row off from selling so my dad could get a shot at saving his own skin. He’d been in contact with this Blackthorn guy, trying to sway him to buy his lots. Part of the reason he went bankrupt is because he spent so much on my election campaign. He bled money to make it happen.”
I took a jagged breath and closed my eyes. I was definitely not feeling sympathetic toward her. “Row has his own business to take care of.”
Allison waved a hand, growling tiredly. “Row is TV gold. His name precedes him. He’d have made the money back in six months if he passed on the deal. He’s on the fast-track to becoming a billionaire, and nothing can stop him, least of all me.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice. “That’s why I tried so damn hard with him. He was another option out of the financial mess I put my family in when I ran for mayor. The man wouldn’t budge. Just as well. He’s…not nice.”
“No, he isn’t,” I agreed. “He is something better than nice—he is kind. He won’t tell you what you want to hear. Actually, he’d rarely do that. But he’d always do right by you. And what about Tucker?”
“Tucker isn’t nice either,” she snorted.
