Honor Bound. Julianna Morris
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a memorandum from the mayor and saw in big, bold letters across the top, “Full Disclosure.” He read further and narrowed his eyes.
In the interest of keeping the public fully informed about the Police Department’s efforts to catch the dock murderers, all details of the investigation are to be released to the media. We cannot appear to be less than candid.
“Excuse me,” Ben said tightly.
He crossed to City Hall and took the stairs two at a time. The day-shift officer assigned to guard the mayor jumped to attention. “Sir?”
“Take a ten-minute break, Officer Mullen.”
“Uh, yes, sir.”
Mayor Stone looked up as Ben threw open his door without knocking. “Yes, Police Chief Santoni?”
“I just read your memo.”
“Being open and honest is the best policy.”
“That isn’t good police work.”
The mayor put his fingertips together with an air of exaggerated patience. “So far your ‘good police work’ hasn’t resulted in an arrest.”
“Giving up one of our few advantages won’t change that. It’s standard to keep certain details of an investigation confidential. Do you want to be responsible for making our job harder?”
Stone scowled. He might not be brilliant, but he wasn’t a dumb politician. “If you really think it’s important, we’ll do it your way. At least for a while.”
“I appreciate your support,” Ben said, a hint of irony in his voice.
“I’ve always supported the police department. Naturally it was easier when my brother was the police chief. He did such a splendid job for this community, the crime rate was practically zero.”
Right.
The Stone brothers at the helm of Sand Point.
Small-town nepotism at its finest.
Only the crime rate hadn’t been “practically zero” under Frank Stone’s lazy management, it had been increasing. The majority of the infractions were misdemeanors like vandalism and shoplifting, but little had made it into official reports. The issues were simply written in the dispatcher’s log; it was easy to have a clean record when you didn’t keep any records.
“Chief, I’m wondering about your late arrival this morning. If the position is too much for you to handle, I’m sure Frank would be willing to come back,” the mayor added with a thin smile. “He doesn’t have child-care responsibilities or other distractions to take him away from his official duties.”
Ben returned the smile with one that was equally insincere. “I wasn’t late. I was conducting an investigation. Since the detectives the city hired are so inexperienced, it’s necessary for me to supplement their efforts. I’m managing my responsibilities just fine.”
Uneasiness crept into Phillip Stone’s eyes, though it was hard to tell why. “We’ll see. What have you learned about the death threats against me?”
“The lab hasn’t found fingerprints or DNA on the letters, including the latest one.”
“Are the threats credible?”
Ben hesitated. “I doubt it, but crackpots aren’t always this careful. They usually leave evidence behind, that could suggest that this is a professional.”
“I suppose that’s something else you don’t think should be released to the media. People are very upset that their mayor is being targeted.”
Though Ben had yet to detect any genuine public concern for Stone’s health and well-being, he didn’t say so. “That’s understandable.”
“Good. Then I’ll see you at the press conference.”
“I wouldn’t miss it.” Ben gritted his teeth as he left. Phillip Stone talked about playing things down, but his press conferences were making everyone more nervous. Maybe they were about generating publicity for his upcoming reelection campaign, or maybe they were a way to throw doubt on Ben’s ability. The mayor claimed he had confidence in his new police chief, yet in private he seemed seriously pissed that the City Council had hired an outsider instead of his brother.
Local politics.
To think he’d believed that life in Sand Point would be simpler than in Los Angeles.
THAT DEPENDS ON WHAT you’re hiding.
Ben’s words kept hammering in Kelly’s head. He didn’t really think she was involved in Harvey’s and Simon’s deaths, did he? Mitch hadn’t owned a gun and she’d never even touched one herself. Besides, what would she have to gain? No one would kill two people just to sell a few more books.
Kelly locked herself in her office and took out her cell phone. “Henry?” she said when he answered, her voice higher than normal.
“Kelly, are you all right?”
“Not really.”
The story came spilling out. She didn’t want to get between Ben and his uncle, but she needed someone to listen and she couldn’t let Henry and Gina learn about Griffin Bell’s identity from Ben. At least her husband’s family already knew; she’d insisted on paying her father-in-law’s recent medical bills and they’d asked where she’d gotten the money, thinking she was putting herself into debt for them.
“It’s okay,” Henry soothed at the end of her frantic explanation. “The police have to explore every angle, no matter how ridiculous.”
Kelly recalled Ben’s expression—angry, but not necessarily suspicious. She might have overreacted…perhaps because deep down it hurt that he might even wonder if she was involved. His distrustful nature had been a problem even when they were children. The day they’d met he’d assumed she was trespassing in his uncle’s yard; it hadn’t occurred to him that she had a right to be there. It was the side of Ben that she disliked the most.
Sometimes it was hard to believe the way she’d behaved that last summer, so crazy in love she was ready to break every rule she’d ever made for herself. The way Ben had kissed her, touched her, every breathless, heart-pounding moment of being in love for the first time…the temptation had been nearly irresistible.
God, she wouldn’t go back to being eighteen for the world.
“I would have explained if he’d said he wanted to question the author of the books,” she said slowly.
“I know you would have. And your novels are terrific. Gina and I will be fighting over who gets to be president of the Griffin Bell fan club.”
“Please don’t make a fuss.”
“You deserve a fuss. Kelly, honey, why did you keep it secret?”
She sighed. “I didn’t plan to, but the manuscript for Deep Water sold right after Mitch died. It was so unimportant in comparison to losing him, and I just couldn’t get excited without him there to share it with me. Later, with all the sex in the stories, I realized everyone would think of Shanna and figure it was a case of ‘like mother, like daughter.’ Sand Point is so conservative. The whole thing escalated with the murders and I kept hoping they’d be solved and my novels would be forgotten. Especially by the mayor. You’ve heard him talk about the books as if they’re pornographic.”
“Phillip Stone pretends babies are found under cabbage leaves.”
She let out a choked laugh. “Yeah. He’ll probably fire me when he finds out I wrote them.”
“He doesn’t have the authority,” Henry said firmly. “And he can’t afford to offend Max Lawson’s daughter-in-law. Max would run for office again if it meant protecting you, and Phillip knows he wouldn’t stand a chance against Max. Stone only got in because