Page 59 of Lennox Lane

He hated that.

“He said your food bank is blocking a land deal?”

“Not in those exact words, but yes.” Lane crossed her arms. “The developer wants the whole strip. Boutique apartments and retail. Some wellness concept and probably a coffee shop that charges nine dollars for oat milk and cold foam.”

Lennox’s mouth twitched. “Sounds accurate.”

“The problem is this building sits in the middle of their pretty little plan. We have a lease for now, and I’ve been fighting to buy the building outright before the owner caves to pressure.” Her jaw tightened. “Curtis came to suggest that if they found us a new state-of-the-art facility, we should consider moving.”

“You said no.”

“Hell no. They’d move us somewhere pretty and useless. Out by the highway or some industrial park with terrible bus access and no foot traffic. Our people can get here. Seniors walk here. Kids stop by after school. Mothers come after work because the bus drops them two blocks away.” Her eyes flashed. “A shiny building doesn’t feed anybody if nobody can reach it.”

Lennox listened as his anger sharpened with every word. He liked anger when it had a target. It made everything simple for him to handle.

“Did he give you his card before today?” he asked.

“No.”

“Have you had any other contact with his company?”

“A few emails from generic accounts. Marisol forwarded them. I ignored most of them because they were dressed up as partnership opportunities and I could smell the bullshit through the screen.”

“Do you still have them?”

“Yes.”

“Would you mind if I look into Curtis and Bell Community Strategies?” he asked. “And the developer behind them.”

Lane went still. Lennox felt her hesitation. Not because of Curtis. Because of the question. Would you mind?

He watched her register it, watched the irritation soften into something more complicated. Surprise. Approval. Suspicion, because she was still Lane and he was still him.

“Well, look at you,” she said. “Asking before committing cyber sins.”

“I’m evolving.”

“Slowly. Like dial-up.”

“That hurt.”

“It was meant to.”

“Did it work?”

“No. I have fiber optic.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course you do.”

He held up the card. “Can I?”

Lane looked at the card, then at him.

“Yes,” she said. “You can dig.”

“Thank you.”

“But Lennox?”