Chapter Seventeen #5
Rhett straightened. “I hired Whittenhurst as I said. I was led to believe all three properties on the short list his legal team had prepared were for sale. Since Ms. Foster’s property was not for sale, and Ms. Foster was not made aware of a code inspection, I can only assume any person or persons conducting such an inspection trespassed on her property, making such information inadmissible in this arena. Would you not agree?”
Bealer stared intently at Rhett for several moments. “And you were not behind any of this?”
“I was also led to believe the Jupiter property was no longer available,” Rhett responded.
“Well then, why would Mr. Whittenhurst go to—”
“One of the many reasons,” Rhett interjected, “why Mr. Whittenhurst is no longer in my employ.”
Bealer sat back in his chair and exhaled.
“I agree with you as to the inadmissibility of the illegally-acquired inspection information and as such, will drop the code-violation complaint. I cannot however restore the grandfathered status of Ms. Foster’s right to reside at her business property, as the admissible argument-to-void was based on sound legal precedent, case law, and promulgated city code. ”
Rhett sighed and nodded his agreement.
“Thus I render this case complete. The Code Compliance Special Magistrate Meeting will adjourn for a twenty-minute recess.” He banged his gavel and exited the chamber through a door to the right of the dais.
Rhett turned and spotted Delia trying to squirm out of the row behind him, and he latched onto her arm. “Just where do you think you’re going?”
She actually batted her eyelashes and drawled, “Why Rhett Buchanan, fancy meeting you here. I was just on my way out.”
“Mind telling me why you’re at a Special Code Compliance Meeting?”
“Well, I, uh—”
“Why?” He gave her arm a little jerk.
“You’re hurting me.”
“No, I’m not. Tell me why you’re here.”
“I thought I was supposed to meet Daddy here. He’s going to take me to lunch today. Guess I got the wrong meeting.” She gave a half-hearted giggle. “Silly me.”
“No, I think you had the right meeting, Delia,” he said menacingly and watched her eyes go wide. “You and your daddy are up to your eyeballs in this with Whittenhurst, and I intend to get to the bottom of it.”
“Well, I never,” she huffed and struggled to free her arm from his grasp. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“If I catch you within a hundred yards of Lily Foster, I can and will bury you and your father so deep the legal system won’t be able to dig you out.”
“That’s no problem.” Delia sniffed. “I don’t want anything to do with her. It’s you I care about.”
“And I don’t want to lay eyes on you ever again.” He tossed her arm free.
“You can’t mean that, Rhett,” she cried, her drawl all but gone. “You and I are too good together. I don’t believe you.”
“Believe it!” he snapped and started for the chamber doors.
“Rhett, I can explain everything.”
He kept walking without a backward glance.
“You’ll come back to me,” she called after him. “You always do.”
“Even if Rhett lets you off the hook, I won’t,” a seething Aidan Cross informed Delia. “I intend to get to the bottom of this mess you and your sharks tried to involve me in. You can bet on it.”
Rhett smiled grimly and stepped through the chamber doors.
Garrett appeared at his side and thumped him on the back. “Nice job! You saved Lily’s property and got rid of Whittenhurst and Delia.”
“But I lost Lily’s cottage,” he said disgustedly. “We didn’t get here in time.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve made a mess of things for you.”
“That’s not true at all,” Rhett said. “If it hadn’t been for you, Whittenhurst would have coerced Lily into selling sooner or later, and I never would have known.”
The two men strode through the lobby without stopping.
“Why didn’t you turn Whittenhurst in for ethics violations?” Garrett asked when they stepped outside. “Why didn’t you tell them Whittenhurst was trying to steal the property himself? He went after a property you hired him to acquire. That has to be a conflict-of-interest rap.”
Rhett stopped to face him. “Whittenhurst is too sharp an attorney and would squirm out of any ethics violations with a hand slap. Me firing him, on the other hand, has far worse repercussions for him. A man like that has more pride than is healthy for one human being and an ego to match. Word will get around that I fired him, and BDC has friends all over the world, so the story will definitely get around. Stigma like that for a man like Whittenhurst is worse than a prison sentence.”
Garrett sighed. “I sure hope you’re right after what he did to Lily.”
“Standing there next to Whittenhurst, I had all I could do not to throw him out of the chamber on his ass,” Rhett said.
“I caught up with Lily out here.”
A stab of hope sped up his heartbeat, and he locked eyes with Garrett.
His friend grimaced. “She wouldn’t speak to me, just took off. Tammy and Rob did too, but I tried to get them to stay. No one from Bloom & Grow was here to see what you did.”
“Damn,” Rhett grumbled. “Let’s go. I’ve done enough damage for one day.”
He turned toward the parking lot and froze. Tammy Waynette waited on the sidewalk.
She stepped forward. “I came back to the Council Chamber. I was afraid Garrett was telling the truth.”
Garrett leaned in. “I told Tammy you didn’t know what Whittenhurst was up to.”
Rhett met her gaze. “I didn’t. I only found out this morning.”
She nodded. “I heard everything. Thank you for what you did for Lily.”
“I wasn’t in time to save her cottage,” he said grimly. “She won’t be allowed to rebuild.”
She smiled. “No, but she’s needed a place of her own for a long time. She’ll be all right.”
“Tell her—”
“Tell her what, Rhett?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. It wouldn’t matter.” He stepped around her. “If you’ll excuse me.”
“I’ll catch up in a minute, Rhett,” Garrett called after him and moved to Tammy’s side.
“Oh no,” she said, staring at him, “I don’t like that look in your eye.” She turned to go. “And I know I don’t want to hear whatever it is you’re about to tell me.”
Garrett pulled her back. “Now just listen to me for one minute.”