Can't Stop the Feeling Page 25

“It means that Vince is currently behind bars on all kinds of charges, from defrauding the city of Whispering Bay to perjury. He admitted that Wentworth never went to see Earl about his will. That was all made up for the undue influence angle.”

  “So Doug did lie in his deposition!”

  Ben nodded.

  “Which means that…”

  “My case against the city is no good.” He shrugged. “With this new evidence, I expect that Pilar will withdraw her acceptance of Nora’s offer. Nora, by the way, claims to have no knowledge of her husband’s activities.”

  “And you believe her?”

  “She probably suspected that Wentworth was lying, but she didn’t know anything about their little company. You should have seen the shock on her face when Vince got arrested. At first he tried to run, but we caught him.”

  “We? You were there?”

  “Zeke Grant is an okay guy. He let me tag along. I was supposed to stay out of the way, but I got a little excited.”

  “I don’t understand. I get that Doug and Vince were in on the scam against the city, but why did Doug claim that he’d tried to influence Earl? Why confess to something he didn’t do?”

  “Why else? Money. Vince promised Wentworth a nice little chunk of change if he won his suit. He even bribed one of the guards to wipe the records clean so there was no evidence of him visiting Wentworth in jail. Vince couldn’t tell us enough. He’s anxious to cut a deal before Wentworth starts talking. He’s going to be arraigned on the new charges first thing this morning.”

  “Wow. I mean, wow.” Jenna began to pace again. “This is crazy.” She stopped and looked at him. “But how does this all affect you? I mean are you still representing Nora? Or is she dropping her suit?”

  “Nora is no longer my client. I’m leaving Martinez and Martinez. One of the other partners is going to pick up her case.” He paused. “Even though she probably can’t prove undue influence anymore, there’s still the nurse’s deposition, so she still has a decent shot of getting some of that land. This suit isn’t going to go away.”

  He was leaving the law firm? “What are you going to do? Spend more time with your company?”

  “Gavin is now the CEO of Roar. I’m going to be a full-time dad. That is, if Rachel will have me.”

  “Oh, Ben…that’s awesome.”

  “You think so?”

  “Of course she’ll have you! She’s crazy about you. But what about your mom? I thought she was going to adopt Rachel.”

  “Wentworth wasn’t the only thing you were right about, you know. Carl and I had a long talk yesterday. He asked my permission to ask Mom to marry him. I said yes, of course.” He frowned. “I had no idea that was still a thing, but apparently it is because that’s twice now in the same week.”

  She wasn’t sure what he meant by that but she smiled anyway. “I’m glad. Your mom is a neat lady. I hope she gets the happy ending she deserves.”

  “What about us?” he asked quietly. “Do we get that, too?” His gaze was direct and vulnerable in a way she’d never seen before.

  She couldn’t deny this feeling in her gut telling her to give him another chance. He was it for her. But right now everything felt too raw.

  “I’m grateful for everything you’ve done tonight. But it doesn’t change the fact that a lot has happened between us. All I can say is…maybe. Right now I don’t even know if I have a job to go to anymore. It’s all too much.”

  He nodded. “I understand. But you need to understand something, too. I’m not going anywhere, Jenna. My life isn’t in Miami. It’s wherever you are. I’m going to be right here waiting for you. And this time, I’m going to be that guy that’s good for you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Ben had only seen his mom cry a handful of times in his life. He’d always hated seeing her tears but he didn’t mind these, because they were happy ones. He popped open a bottle of champagne and handed her and Carl a glass.

  “Congratulations, you two.” He raised his own glass in salute. “May you have a long and happy life together.” He took a small sip of the champagne. It was cold and fizzy and the smell did nothing to arouse disgust or anything else negative.

  Mom and Carl stood arm-in-arm, grinning like a couple of love-struck fools. “Oh, sweetheart, I never thought I could be so happy!”

  Rachel ran through the living room with a red balloon in her hand. “Grandma’s gettin’ married!” She ran in a circle, then when she’d made herself dizzy, flopped down on the couch. “Can I be the flower girl?” she asked just a few seconds later. Her powers of recovery were impressive. He’d have to up his workouts if he hoped to keep up with a four-year-old.

  “You can be the ring boy,” Carl said with a wink, making Rachel giggle.

  “Can I? Can I really be the ring boy?”

  “You can be anything you want,” Ben said.

  “Yay! Is Grandpa Carl going to go down to Mami with us?”

  All three adults looked at one another. It was time to tell Rachel everything. “Grandma and Grandpa Carl are going to stay in Hopalinka where their store is.”

  “Oh. They won’t be going to Mami with us?” she asked sadly.

  “No, but that’s okay, because you’ll still see them a lot. Rachel—” he cleared his throat “—how would you like to live with me all the time? Right here? In Whispering Bay?”

  “In this house?”

  He smiled. “No, not in this house. We’ll build another house. Maybe not so fancy, but it will still be nice, and you’ll still have your own room.”

  “And go to my school here?”

  “Yep. You can go to your school here.”

  “Will Jenna come and visit us?”

  “I hope so.” He paused. “Yes, she’ll come and visit,” he said with more confidence. “I bet she’ll even watch Annie with us again.” No matter what happened between the two of them, Jenna would never disappoint Rachel. She was too big a person. “There’s something else. I’m your uncle, and I’ll always take care of you, but I’d like to be more than that. I’d like you to be my little girl.”

  Rachel was still for a long time. Then she said in a small voice, “Daddy and Mommy aren’t coming back. Grandma told me that. And so did the other nice lady. The one I went to visit in the office with all the toys.”

  “No, honey, they’re not coming back.”

  “They’re in heaven.”

  “Yes, they’re in heaven.”

  Rachel smiled, like she’d just thought of something. “Uncle Ben, I’m gonna be just like Annie! And you’re like the real Daddy Warbucks!”

  “Oh, this is going to be an epic cry,” Pat said, handing around a box of Kleenex. Even Carl needed one.

  “Why is Grandma crying?” Rachel asked, confused.

  “Because she’s so happy,” Ben said, feeling his throat go tight.

  “Grown-ups are so silly!”

  He was about to agree with her when his cell phone pinged. It was Zeke Grant. “Hey. Listen, man, thanks again for including me last night in Vince’s arrest.”

  “Not a problem,” Zeke said gravely. “But I have some news. And you’re not going to like it. This morning when Wentworth went to the courthouse to be arraigned on the new charges, he somehow managed to overpower a guard and escape. And that’s not all. He’s got a gun. There’s an APB out on him, but I’m not taking any chances. I’m heading straight to city hall right now. And you should, too.”

  * * *

  Jenna was the last person to walk into the boardroom. Everyone else was already seated, including Mimi and Pilar who looked at her with dual expressions of hope on their faces. Gus gave her a weak smile of encouragement. Denise tried to act as if she didn’t exist.

  And Larry…well, Larry was his usual self. No smile. No greetings. “Let’s get this over with,” he huffed. “Are you going to resign or not?” he demanded of Jenna.

  “Not so fast,” Mimi said. “Have you checked the news? Vince Palermo has been arrested for defraud
ing the city, along with perjury and whatever else Zeke can get to stick. So right now we have more important things on our plate than worrying about whether or not the city manager might have committed a misdemeanor by trespassing on city property. Which, I might add, we have absolutely no video evidence of.” She winked at Jenna.

  Now it was Pilar’s turn. “Since Vince has confessed to bribing Doug Wentworth into giving false testimony, we can throw that whole undue influence suit right out the window. The new attorney representing Nora plans to go with an entirely different angle. She’s still offering to split the land, but their suit isn’t nearly as strong as it was before. We can fight them. If we want. Or not. But this new development might change the way some of us feel.”

  Denise looked like she was about to cry. “I don’t understand. Doug seemed like such a nice boy. Why would he lie? And under oath!”

  “Money, Denise. It’s what makes the world go ’round,” Larry quipped.

  “May I say something?” Jenna stood. “First, I want to apologize for everything that happened at the last meeting. Despite the fact that there’s no evidence of my trespassing on city property, the fact is, I did trespass and I want to be charged just like any other citizen of this town.” She let that sink in a bit. “I also want to add that since I have absolutely no relationship with the new attorney representing Nora Palermo, I no longer have a conflict of interest.”

  “So what does all that mean?” Larry asked, scowling.

  Mimi gave Larry a sweet debutante smile. “Why, Larry, I think it means that Jenna would like to vote now.”

  * * *

  “Boy, I wish I had a picture of Larry’s face when that vote came in!” Pilar crowed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him speechless before.”

  Mimi looped her bag over her shoulder. “I say we celebrate, Whispering Bay style. Lunch at The Bistro. On me.”

  “Sounds good,” said Jenna. Except she really wanted to call Ben to thank him again. If it hadn’t been for the work he and Gavin had done to expose Vince as Stuart Malloy, today’s city council meeting wouldn’t have ended on such a personally satisfying note. Plus, there was something else she wanted to tell him, too. Something that couldn’t wait any longer. “I just need to run by my office to make a quick call to Ben before we head out.”

  “Sure,” said Mimi. “We’ll wait for you out in the lobby. Make it quick. I’m hungry!”

  “You’re always hungry,” Pilar grumbled.

  “I am eating for three, you know.”

  Jenna smiled as she listened to the two of them squabbling as they walked away. She opened the door to her office and grabbed the cell phone off her desk. The door shut behind her. She whirled around. Doug Wentworth stood there in his orange jumpsuit. He had a gun in his hand.

  “Hello, Jenna. Surprised to see me?”

  Hell, yes. “How did you get in here?”

  He smiled, all smarmy-looking with his perfect white teeth. Too bad his soul was darker than soot. “First things first. I have to insist that you put down that phone.”

  Since he had a gun pointed at her, this was a no brainer.

  “Good girl. To answer your question, when I first came to work here I hid a key to the back door behind some bushes near the parking lot. In case I ever needed to get inside without anybody knowing. Lucky for me it was still there.” The way he said it was like he was expecting her to admire his sneakiness.

  She tried to keep her voice steady and cool. “How did you get out of jail? And where on earth did you get that gun?”

  “This is my security to get out of here and that’s all you need to know.” He waved the gun at her desk. “What is this?”

  “What? My desk?”

  “What?” he mimicked. “Where did this new-fangled piece of ergonomic shit come from? The city council would never have approved this in the budget.”

  “I paid for it myself.”

  “What happened to my old desk?” When she didn’t answer right away, he aimed the gun at her head. “Tell me where it went.”

  “Okay, but…you have to promise to leave right away.”

  “I’m the one with the gun, remember? I’ll leave when I’m good and ready.” A trickle of sweat ran down his forehead. He wasn’t as confident as he wanted her to think.

  “The desk is in the storage room in the back of the building.”

  He stilled. “The one behind the employee break room?”

  She nodded.

  “Fuck!” He began to walk around the room, waving the gun in the air and ranting. “How the hell am I supposed to get in there without anyone seeing me? Everything would have been fine if your stupid boyfriend hadn’t poked his nose where it didn’t belong. I would have served another couple months, tops, for that burglary charge. But now I’m looking at a minimum ten years. Ten fucking years! There’s no way I’ll last in prison for that long.” He turned and narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m going to have to take you hostage.”

  Mimi and Pilar were waiting for her in the lobby. If she didn’t show up soon, they’d come find her and then Doug would have three hostages. She couldn’t let that happen. “Ten years does seem like a long time,” Jenna said, trying to sound sympathetic. “I mean, it’s not like you killed anyone.” Uh-oh. She shouldn’t be giving him any ideas. “Let me help you get to the storage room.”

  The door to the office opened. “Jenna! Zeke just called and—” Pilar spotted Doug and for a second, she froze. Then she turned and tried to push Mimi back into the hallway to safety, but Doug was too quick. He shoved them both into the room and slammed the door shut.

  “Well, well, look who’s joined the party,” he sneered.

  Mimi’s gaze zeroed in on the gun. “Doug, please don’t do anything you’re going to regret.”

  “Yeah,” said Pilar, “It’s not too late to turn yourself in.”

  “Shut up, you stupid bitch.” He threw his head back and laughed. “Man, that felt good! Do you know how many times I used to say that to you in my head? All those city council meetings I had to sit there and listen to you go on about what I could and couldn’t do. I used to daydream of getting up in the middle of one of those speeches and strangling you.” He pointed the gun at Mimi. “Both of you as a matter of fact. Because whatever this one says, you just agree with.”

  Mimi paled.

  “If it hadn’t been for you poking around at my old job, none of this would have happened in the first place.”

  “You’re right,” Mimi said. “I should have never done that.” She grimaced like she was in pain.

  “Are you okay?” Jenna asked her.

  “I’m all right.” Mimi caught Jenna’s eye. Her gaze slowly made its way to the large handbag strapped around her shoulder. She was trying to tell Jenna something. What? Did Mimi plan to hit Doug over the head with her purse? Did she want Jenna to grab the purse? Jenna slowly shook her head signaling that she didn’t understand.

  “So how are we going to do this now?” Doug asked. “I won’t be able to keep an eye on all three of you if we go to the storage room. And I can’t leave someone back here, or you’ll call the cops.”

  “Maybe if you tell me what you want out of your desk I could get it for you,” Jenna offered.

  “Right. Like I was born yesterday.” He grinned. “How long did you use my desk before you got this new one here?”

  “About a month.”

  “How does it feel knowing that all that time you were sitting there sweating your ass off crunching nickels and dimes there was over two hundred grand right under your nose?”

  “Two hundred thousand dollars,” Pilar said incredulously. “Hidden inside your desk? You’re kidding. Where did you get that kind of cash?”

  “Where do you think? The tooth fairy gave it to me.” He laughed at his own little joke. “That money represents four years of hard work, both here and at my old job. And I’m not going anywhere without it.”

  “You mean four years of embezzling money and defrauding the p
eople who trusted you,” Pilar spat.

  “I can help you,” Mimi panted. “I know how to help you get to the…oh!” She doubled over in pain.

  “Oh my God,” Pilar said. “Mimi’s going into labor.” She gave Jenna a look. Jenna gave her a little nod back.

  “This can’t be happening!” Mimi cried dramatically in a very un-Mimi-like way. “The twins aren’t due for another two months!”

  “Doug,” Pilar pleaded, “please. You have to let Mimi out of here. She can’t have the babies this early. She needs to get to a hospital so they can stop her labor.”

  “You two must think I’m a complete idiot to fall for that trick,” he said, but he looked uncertain.

  “Babies born at thirty-two weeks gestation, especially twins, have a much higher incidence of time spent in the neonatal intensive care unit,” said Jenna. “A baby’s lungs are one of the last organs to develop. They won’t be able to breathe on their own for long once they’re born. Not if they don’t get expert medical care.”

  “Shut up!” he screamed. “I can’t think with you yapping those idiotic facts in my face.”

  “That does it, Wentworth,” said Pilar. “You better let us out of here right now or there’ll be hell to pay. If anything happens to these babies, Zeke Grant won’t rest till you’re locked up for life.”

  Doug looked like he was about to be sick.

  “Look, Doug, how about we do this,” Jenna suggested. “We’ll all go to the storage room, all four of us. You can hold the gun to my back if you want. Once we’re in there, you can get the cash out of your desk, then leave. We don’t care where you go or what you do, as long as we can get Mimi and her babies the medical attention she needs.”

  “Okay, okay. That’ll work. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just want my cash so I can get out of this stinking town. Now all three of you, single file so I can see you. Go down the hallway away from the receptionist’s desk. And, listen, no funny business. You got it?”

  “We got it,” Jenna said.

  Pilar went first, with Mimi in the middle and Jenna behind them. Doug followed. He shoved the gun in her side and whispered in her ear, “You’ll be the one getting it if anything goes wrong. Understand?”