Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Mina was nearly coming when she woke up.
She sat with a start, sweat beading on her forehead, finding her breath shallow. Her hand was still in her panties, her index finger gliding over her clit at just the perfect pace.
Why stop? she asked herself.
She was already so close that her legs were quivering. There was no sense in easing off now.
It had been those damn dreams she’d had all night that set her off. All night long, reveries of Jackson and Slater holding her close had invaded her sleep. They seemed so real that it was as if they’d actually happened.
Especially that last one.
The one where Jackson was slamming her hard from the front while Slater railed her from behind. Shit! It had been wonderful, and she was disappointed to realize it had never actually happened.
Evidently, her body had realized she needed something. A consolation prize, if you will. Because she’d woken up in the middle of “the act,” putting just the right amount of speed and pressure on her feminine pearl to get her there.
She brought her left hand up, under her shirt, and tweaked her nipple. That was all she could handle. She came with a climactic shudder.
As she lay in the bed, collecting herself, her mind stayed focused on the two cowboys. The night before had been amazing! They’d bought her outfits, stuffies, and a few other odds and ends. But the best part had been the way they’d looked at her with those adoring gazes. There was so much affection in them.
Or there seemed to be.
Was that possible? They barely knew her. Yet it seemed as if they’d hit it off. Like she could already tell they were moving toward… something.
That brought up another burning question.
Say it was possible that they were already crazy about her… Was it possible that the three of them could be… a thing?
Did real life work that way or was that only something that happened in romance novels?
Mina didn’t have any answers. But she knew one thing: she had to see Jackson and Slater today. That burning desire could not be satisfied until she was at least in their presence again. After that, well, who knew?
She yawned and stretched before wiping the sleep away from her eyes. Between being hot and bothered by those cowboys, and the weird scurrying noises she’d heard last night, sleep had been a bit fitful.
That was as to be expected, she figured, being her first night in a new place.
Those strange noises hadn’t freaked her out too badly. They weren’t made by a human. And for all she knew, it was a branch scraping across outside wall or something. But it sure sounded like it came from the third floor and that it was, perhaps, an animal.
She hoped there weren’t any mice in the building, but with an old structure, it made sense that there could be.
Her phone rang, pulling her from her thoughts, and she hoped it was one of the cowboys calling, even if it was just to say good morning. They’d exchanged numbers last night and she’d already resisted the urge to text them. She didn’t want to be too obvious.
But the lockscreen revealed it to be Sheriff Quinn Hardin. She had his number from when she’d gone through the interview and hiring process with the town council.
“Hello?”
“Good morning,” the sheriff said. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No. I’m up,” she answered.
Though that wasn’t technically true, she realized. She was still lying in bed. But she was awake, and that was close enough. The last thing she was going to do was tell him that she’d laid there touching herself for a few minutes.
“Well, as I said yesterday, you’ll probably find out everything on your own so I might as well loop you in. We’re having a meeting at City Hall with Mr. Sparks, the town attorney, and some of the council members. It’s in an hour. You want to come?”
“Do I? I’ll be there!” she said excitedly.
That, combined with the horse running down Main Street, would make for a good, exciting first edition of the paper.
“Alright. We’ll see you then.”
She thanked him and ended the call. Springing from the bed, she looked at her new stuffies who sat atop the dresser and said, “I’ve got to hurry!” She looked at some of the new outfits that were sitting next to them. She’d been so tired last night that she hadn’t even hung them in the closet yet. “Hmm.” She tapped her lips as she thought about it. “I better dress professionally,” she decided.
She ran to the bathroom to start readying for the day.
It was time to hit the ground running as Big Cedar’s newest reporter!
* * *
An hour later, Mina was in City Hall along with the sheriff, Joe, Marsha, and a man who’d introduced himself as Doc Worden. The three full-time firefighters were there, too, though not in any official capacity. Walker, Cane, and Austin were all ridiculously hot and Mina wondered what their story was. She made a mental note to find out later.
The last person to arrive for the meeting was a woman who introduced herself as Alejandra Aguilar. She was a tall, gorgeous Hispanic woman who was dressed sharply and professionally.
Mina prided herself on being a good judge of people, a skill she honed during the course of her journalism career. She instantly liked Alejandra and could tell she was whip-smart. It made sense that she’d been hired as the town’s general counsel.
After introductions, they got down to business and Alejandra spent a few moments reviewing the documents she’d been presented with by Hugo Sparks.
“See! My claims are valid,” he said.
She cleared her throat, looked up from the papers she held, and shot him a sharp look that could have ripped into his flesh had she kept it aimed on him a second longer. “I’m still looking over this.”
He seemed to possess the good sense not to press it again, Mina noted, because he fell silent and waited for the attorney to read through everything.
Mina looked around, trying to read the mood of everyone. The overall sentiment seemed to be one of curiosity, if their expressions were any indication.
Finally, Alejandra put the papers down, took off her readers, and leveled a pointed gaze at Hugo.
“Of course, I will verify all this at the district court.”
“I would expect nothing less,” he replied. “And you’ll find that I’m on the up and up.”
“We need to discuss this,” she said next. “Privately.”
Hugo stood with his back against the wall for a moment. Finally, as if getting the hint, he pushed off and headed for the door. “Let’s set up another meeting for in the morning.”
“That should be enough time,” she said. “I can meet at ten if the town council can.”
The others agreed and the real estate developer left without another word. Once the door had closed behind him, Quin was the first to speak up.
“I’m at a loss as to what’s going on here.”
Most of the others nodded in agreement, Mina noticed. She hung loose in the back, where she could see everyone. The small room felt a little cramped, but the atmosphere was less oppressive now that Hugo Sparks had left.
Standing at the front of the room, near a lectern, Alejandra explained. “It’s complicated. But long story short, some of the properties the city took over have tax liens attached to them.”
“What do you mean?” Joe asked.
“Well, take the newspaper office, for example. The city acquired that property because the original owner has long since passed and you never found a rightful heir. Correct?”
“Yeah,” Joe admitted. “We went through a lengthy court process and the judge finally declared it property of the town.”
“That’s right,” Alejandra said. “But the judge missed something. This guy… Mr. Sparks… found a loophole. Back property taxes were owed. Years’ worth. Technically, those have to be paid to settle the account, or the property goes to auction to settle the debts.”
“How come we’re just finding out about this?” Quinn asked, clearly shocked by the revelation.
Mina pulled out her phone and started tapping some notes into it. She cursed herself for not asking if she could record the meeting. It was imperative that she capture everything just as it was.
“I wish I had been your attorney back when these properties were acquired,” Alejandra stated bluntly. “Not to sound arrogant, but I’m confident I would have caught this.” She shrugged. “In all fairness, it wasn’t just the attorneys who missed it. The judge didn’t notice, either.”
The mood in the room seemed heavy, and Mina felt the weight of it.
Part of her feared she was being selfish. She’d just moved to Big Cedar. That newspaper was her dream! The office was now her home. Would it be torn from her?
She felt awful for the entire town, too. This seemed to have huge ramifications. But just how huge?
“How many properties are we talking about?” she asked.
The attorney looked remorseful, as if it upset to deliver bad news, as she responded, “The newspaper office, this lot where City Hall sits, though the building was added after the property was acquired, and even where the fire station and sheriff's office is.” She shook her head and sighed. “Of course, those buildings were added after the fact, too. If the city were to lose the property, that would create a whole complicated mess of who owned the structures.”
Marsha gasped.
The firemen shook their heads in disbelief.
Doc Worden growled, “This is bullshit.” He looked at Mina. “Sorry about my language, honey.”
She smiled. Everyone knew she was a Little, despite the fact that she was wearing “big girl” clothes right now. As a reporter, she’d heard a lot worse than bullshit , though. She didn’t go into all that now. She just nodded to indicate it was quite alright.
“It is bullshit,” Alejandra agreed. “But, if this proves true, it is the law. And though it is a total dick move, Mr. Sparks would be within the law to raise this issue.”
Mina looked around the room to see that everyone was hanging on the attorney’s every word, just as she was.
“Now, we have several options. One, we file some injunctions to try and stop him. Or at the very least slow him down. Jam it up in the courts while we come up with a plan.”
Mina tried to gauge everyone’s reactions. The firemen nodded at the idea. Marsha didn’t look so sure. The others remained stoic, as if simply waiting to hear all the options before passing judgement.
“Option two,” Alejandra continued, “we pay the taxes and just be done with it. Though they’re way past due, surely a judge would understand. I mean, it’s a judge who missed this in the first place.” She shrugged. “There’s a good chance they would dismiss it entirely since the city technically owns the property now. But my guess is, they’d just rule that Big Cedar needs to pay the back taxes.”
“How much are we talking?” Joe asked.
“About four hundred thousand,” the attorney said.
Joe let out a low whistle.
“How much is in the town savings?” Cane asked.
Joe scoffed. “Not that much.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Probably a hundred and fifty grand. A little over.”
“Can we get credit?” Marsha asked.
“We can try,” Joe said.
“You can hold an election,” Alejandra said, “and try to get general obligation bonds approved. Raise the funds that way. Of course, that takes time and, well, if a judge denies our request to delay…” She shrugged. “First step is filing that. Let’s slow this thing down.”
“Thanks, counselor,” Quinn said. “You know, the thing I don’t get, is say the property goes to auction. It isn’t guaranteed Mr. Sparks puts in the winning bid.”
“True,” Alexandra said, “but he sees opportunity. He’s a vulture. Probably scours court records and property deeds just looking to acquire things cheaply.”
“And he’s not alone,” Mina said. The words shocked her as they left her mouth. She hadn’t intended to speak her thoughts aloud, but they’d just slipped.
Everyone turned to face her.
Sheepishly, she explained. “One of the rules I’ve learned when it comes to almost any story I’m chasing is to follow the money. I bet y’all there’s a whole group of people behind Sparks. Like investors or something. And they see all the potential down here.” Her confidence and excitement grew. “They want to own Big Cedar! And I’m going to find out who they are!”
Everyone was grinning.
With a look of approval in her eyes, Alejandra said, “I bet you will do just that.”
Mina beamed with pride.
“I’ll get going with this in court,” Alejandra said. “The first step is verifying. The second step, if it turns out to be true, is filing for a dismissal or slowing it down. This is a long, complicated process that will take a while.”
“So there’s no need to panic yet?” Marsha asked.
“None at all,” Alejandra told her.
Everyone agreed on those next courses of action, but it was clear to Mina that folks were worried.
It was also clear to her that they had every right to be.
Big Cedar was in danger.