Headlines & Deadlines (An Avery Shaw Mystery Book 7) Read online

  “I wish he was physically done,” MacDonald said, rubbing the back of his neck. In addition to being our new boss, MacDonald was also Tad’s soon-to-be-ex-father-in-law. He had no love – or even remote like – for the man. It was the only reason I could tolerate him.

  “How is the divorce going?” Fish asked, feigning sympathy.

  Who cares about that? Well, I care, but that was the least of my worries right now. While I was enjoying the prospect of Maria MacDonald bleeding Tad dry in a divorce, I’d been looking for a way to plunge him into a pit of political quicksand ever since he had me busted down to sports a few weeks ago.

  This was my chance.

  “Maria is tired,” MacDonald said. “She and the kids are staying with me, and while I love my grandchildren, that’s a lot of noise under one roof.”

  “When will she get a house of her own?” Fish asked.

  “Once the divorce is settled and she gets a financial payout,” MacDonald replied. “Tad is fighting every order for mediation, though. He’s a … .”

  “Douche?” I supplied.

  MacDonald made a face. “I probably wouldn’t be that crass … but yes.”

  I smirked. “Aren’t you happy I found that release?” I asked Fish. “This is so much better than a senior pageant.” Visions of Tad’s face when I arrived at the news conference were clouding my vision so it took me a moment to see Fish shaking his head. “What?”

  “You’re still going to the senior pageant.”

  “No, I’m not!” He had to be kidding.

  “You can’t go to this conference, Avery,” Fish said. “You and Ludington already hate each other. He’s going to look at you being assigned to it as a declaration of war.”

  Was there something wrong with that? “So?”

  “He’s never going to talk to you,” Fish said.

  “Then I’ll go around him,” I replied. “If he won’t talk to me it just makes him look bad. I have plenty of people willing to talk about him and his motivations. Everyone knows why he has a problem with Jake.”

  “Yes, they do,” Fish agreed. “You’re at the center of it.”

  I faltered. “I wouldn’t say that.”

  “Avery, I don’t care what you say,” Fish said. “Jake Farrell’s ties to you are one of the reasons Ludington keeps going after him. He hates you as much as you hate him.”

  “First, that’s not possible,” I said. “No one hates anyone as much as I hate Tad. Secondly, Jake and I are only friends. Tad’s dislike of Jake has more to do with Jake being hostile to him.”

  “Why is Jake hostile to him?”

  I hate it when Fish puts me on the spot. “I think it’s because Tad is a tool … which explains why he named his new group that. I’m going to have so much fun with this.”

  “You can’t cover this,” Fish said. “We’ll be asking for trouble. Putting you and Ludington in the same room is akin to arming the Black Panthers and Ku Klux Klan, locking them in a closet, and thinking there won’t be bloodshed.”

  “You can’t take this from me,” I argued. “I owe him.”

  “And that’s exactly why this can’t be your story,” Fish said. “I’m sorry.”

  He was about to be sorry. “I want this story.”

  “You can’t bully me into giving you this story.”

  Did he want to place a wager on that? “I want this story.”

  “Avery … .”

  “Give her the story,” MacDonald said, his voice low.

  Fish snapped his attention to the publisher, clearly surprised. “What? Do you realize what you’re saying?”

  “We both know this group is fishy,” MacDonald said. “Ludington is going to be a pain no matter who we send out there. At least if we send Avery he’s going to know that we’re coming after him. I’d rather be upfront about it.”

  I wanted to crow … literally. I don’t know why people say I’m a bad winner. I get the poor loser comments, but I’m a delightful winner.

  “Are you sure?” Fish pressed. “Ludington is going to call here first thing tomorrow to complain about Avery covering the story. Once she starts pulling financial documents he’s going to start calling twice a day.”

  “Forward him to me,” MacDonald said, a wide grin splitting his face. “I’d love to have a long chat with him.”

  Fish blew out a sigh, resigned. “Okay, Avery. You’ve got your wish. Go and take him down.”

  This was turning out to be a great day. A big story with the potential to crush my nemesis falls into my lap, I burn Duncan in the process and he has to cover the senior pageant, and I’m fitting into my skinny jeans and still capable of breathing these days.

  Nothing can stop me now.

  Two

  Mount Clemens is the county seat of Macomb County. Quaint paver streets mark the downtown, along with kitschy shops, diners and bars. Right across the Gratiot Road corridor rampant violence, prostitution, and drugs mar the outlying areas.

  I’d rather deal with all of the ugliness than politicians, so that should tell you something.

  Mount Clemens’ main drag is home to the county courthouse and administration building, and it was the administration building I was heading toward – after a quick stop at the coffee shop next to my boyfriend Eliot’s pawnshop.

  After grabbing my coffee, I was happy to find him balancing the books behind the counter when I popped in. “Hey, handsome.”

  Eliot lifted his head, his shoulder-length brown hair glinting under the light, and met my flirtatious gaze with one of his own. “Hello, Trouble. What are you doing down here this afternoon?”

  “Well, I was supposed to be covering the senior pageant at the college.”

  A wide grin split Eliot’s chiseled features. “Really? That’s worse than sports.”

  I made a face. After spending a week and a half in the sports department I never wanted to hear mention of my banishment again. “Take it back.”

  “Come over here and make me take it back.”

  Eliot oozes sex appeal and it was an interesting offer. I knew we’d be spending the night together later so nothing was going to detour me from the task at hand. “I can’t. I got a different story at the last minute.”

  “I’m almost afraid to ask.” The warmth in Eliot’s chocolate eyes started to fade. He was well aware of my penchant for attracting trouble. I could practically see the visions of mayhem storming through his mind.

  “Guess who is starting their own crime-fighting team?”

  “Batman?”

  “Better.”

  “The Hulk?”

  “Better.”

  “I’m losing interest in the game, Avery,” Eliot said.

  I sighed dramatically. “Tad Ludington.”

  Eliot froze, surprised. “Seriously?”

  “It’s called the Technical Operations and Options League.” I waited for him to catch up. Unlike Fish, he did it quickly.

  “He named his crime-fighting team TOOL?”

  “I know, right? He has to be doing it on purpose. There can be no other explanation.”

  “I don’t understand,” Eliot said, closing the ledger and moving out from behind the counter. “Why would he do something like this? Where is he getting the funding?”

  “That’s a very good question,” I said. “I want to know who funded him and how they managed to slip the creation of this ragtag team of morons through. I can’t wait to start filing for documents.”

  Eliot’s expression was thoughtful. “The county is paying for this?”

  I nodded.

  “He has to know this is something you’re going to jump all over after he got you busted down to … Hell.” Eliot smirked. “You refuse to lose, so this is giving you an option to get a huge win at his expense. It doesn’t make any sense. Are you sure he’s not setting you up?”

  “If anyone else was behind it I would say it has to be a game,” I said. “Tad isn’t that smart, though. The problem is he thinks he’s smart. That’s how I�
�m going to beat him.”

  Eliot didn’t bother hiding his smile, even though it didn’t make it all the way up to his eyes. “You’re going to be careful, right?”

  “They’re politicians at a crime prevention news conference,” I reminded him. “It might throw their whole plan into the toilet if they let him go after me.”

  “Tad is the type of guy who is strung so tight he’s bound to snap,” Eliot argued. “I don’t want him snapping on you when I’m not there.”

  “I’ll be fine, Eliot,” I said, dismissing his concern even as it warmed me. “Tad would never touch me. There will be a bunch of people there. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “Yeah, well I’ve spent enough time with you to know I wouldn’t want to lose you,” he said.

  “That’s sweet.”

  “I’ve also spent enough time with you to know that you could very well be the most annoying woman on the planet,” Eliot added. “You’re going to purposely push him. Please, don’t do anything that’s going to make him want to hurt you.”

  I sucked in a long breath, steadying myself. I was trying to be a better girlfriend these days and avoid doing things that would make Eliot’s head implode if I could help it. I wasn’t sure I was capable of that today, not when I could finally get Tad right where I wanted him. “Eliot … .”

  “Don’t,” he said, holding up his hand. “I know you can’t promise me something that goes against your very nature. It was wrong of me to ask.”

  He was going out of his way not to stifle me. We were both working overtime to compromise. “It’s a news conference in front of a bunch of people,” I reminded him. “I’m going to be perfectly fine. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jake is there.”

  Realization dawned on Eliot. “Ludington is trying to compete with him directly, isn’t he?”

  “That would be my guess.”

  Eliot swore under his breath and then took a moment to collect himself before closing the distance between us. “How late are you going to be tonight?”

  I shrugged. “What did you have in mind?”

  “I’ll take you to dinner if you promise not to get in too much trouble,” Eliot offered.

  “Define dinner.”

  Eliot smirked. He loved it when I negotiated. “I’ll take you to that seafood place on Groesbeck and let you eat as many crab legs as you can stuff in that loud mouth of yours if you promise to get out at a reasonable time.”

  There was no way I was going to pass that up. “Deal.”

  He grabbed the front of my shirt and lifted me slightly, pulling me close so he could give me a quick kiss. “If he threatens you … .”

  “You’ll be the first one I call,” I promised.

  “Okay,” Eliot said, releasing me with a small pat on my rear. “Be good and have fun tearing him a new one. Call me when you have a firm time for dinner.”

  “I’m starting to think this may be the best day of my life,” I said, reaching for the door handle.

  “Because I’m taking you out to a nice dinner?” Eliot asked.

  “That,” I conceded, “and I get to take on Tad. And I got out of the senior pageant and stuck Duncan with it. And I’m going to be wearing this shirt when the television cameras are rolling and I start asking Tad the hard questions. I usually hate the winter, but this is shaping up to be the best February ever.”

  The smile Eliot shot me was small, but sincere. “You haven’t seen anything yet, Trouble.”

  I had no idea what that meant, but I was running out of time so I let it go. “Wish me timely and spot-on insults.”

  Eliot merely shook his head and returned to his ledger.

  AT THE county building, I realized I wasn’t the only media personality to glom on to the fact that Tad was in the middle of a political power play. Three television news vans and one radio car were parked in the lot and I could only assume that meant reporters from Detroit’s big daily newspapers, and several of the small weeklies, were also on hand. It was going to be a circus and that was just how I liked my political news conferences.

  After clearing security, I joined the throng in the lobby. Channel 4’s reporter, Devon Lange, headed in my direction the second she saw me. In addition to annoying and perky, she’s also my cousin Derrick’s girlfriend. I was hoping he was in it merely for the sex when they began dating, but they’d been together almost a year now and I was starting to think it was more serious than he was willing to let on. He wouldn’t date her solely because he knows it annoys me, would he?

  “Hey, Avery,” Devon greeted me with a stiff tilt of her head. She doesn’t like me any more than I like her. “I figured you would be the one stuck with this story.”

  “I volunteered.”

  Devon wrinkled her nose. “Because it’s Ludington?”

  “Among other reasons,” I said. “I also didn’t want to cover the senior pageant at the college.” There was no way I was going to tip my hand to how big this story would ultimately be.

  “Well, this is definitely better than that,” Devon said.

  We lapsed into uncomfortable silence for a few moments. We usually run into each only on assignment and at family dinners. Derrick is a buffer at the dinners and I’m often overtly mean on assignments, because … well … I like it. We weren’t used to having to fill our own conversational gaps.

  “Are you and Eliot doing anything special for Valentine’s Day?” Devon asked, turning the subject to what I’m sure – in her mind, at least – was a safer topic.

  “I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “We haven’t really talked about it.”

  “Does that mean he’s not getting you anything?”

  “I … don’t know.” I have no idea why women get so worked up about a Hallmark holiday. If Eliot agrees to buy a six-pack and watch the Star Wars trilogy I’ll be a happy camper.

  “Did you buy him anything?”

  No. Wait, am I supposed to buy him something? This is our first Valentine’s Day together. What if he’s expecting a gift? How should I answer this? “I bought him something amazing.” When in doubt, lie. It’s the easiest option. I didn’t want her whispering my private business in Derrick’s ear so that it gets back to Eliot. That wouldn’t be good. Now I had to buy him a gift, though. Good grief. What do you buy the guy who has everything?

  “What did you get him?”

  “It’s private.”

  “Is it a sexy gift?” Devon wasn’t going to let this go. That much was obvious.

  “What did you get Derrick?”

  “I can’t tell you that,” Devon replied.

  Oh, it wasn’t so funny when the shoe was on the other foot. She probably hadn’t bought him anything either. “Well, if you’re stuck on gift ideas, he’s a big fan of chocolate and flowers.”

  “Those are gifts for women.”

  “So what?”

  “I got him a manly gift,” Devon said.

  “Old Spice?”

  “No.”

  “Lumber?”

  “No.”

  “Porn?”

  “What is wrong with you?” Devon erupted. “I’m trying to have a nice conversation with you.”

  “Hey, it’s not my fault Derrick is a porn freak,” I said. “You’re the one dating him. You should get him what he likes.”

  “I can’t talk to you,” Devon said, making a face. “You’re … evil.”

  “I try really hard to live up to my reputation,” I said, releasing a relieved sigh when I saw movement behind the columns at the back of the lobby. “I think he’s coming out.”

  “That’s my cue to return to my cameraman.”

  I didn’t bother saying goodbye. I would have to see her at family dinner, and that was weighing on me – especially given this Valentine’s Day bombshell. If I get naked and wrap a bow around myself, does that count as a proper Valentine’s Day gift? I’m so out of my depth here.

  Luckily, I couldn’t continue to dwell on my Valentine’s Day inadequacies, because Tad wa
s moving to the microphone in the center of the room. He wore an expensive suit, his black hair slicked back, and he was doing his best to appear prim and proper.

  His dark eyes scanned the room and he looked pleased … until his gaze landed on me. That’s when he scowled and I knew my happy day wasn’t over quite yet.

  “We’re going to get started now,” Tad said, clasping his hands behind his back and leaning into the microphone. “As most of you know, my name is Tad Ludington. I’ve been a faithful Macomb County servant for the past two years. While I adore the political arena, my true love has always been keeping this county safe. With that in mind, when all the tumult was going on at the county board in the fall, I knew that I wanted to do something important with my life.”

  I raised my hand even though I knew Tad was nowhere near finished with his speech.

  “Ms. Shaw, if you could hold all questions until the end of the news conference, I would appreciate it,” Tad said.

  I ignored him. “Isn’t it true you ran for re-election to the county board and only decided on this plan of action when you lost one of the coveted seats?” What? Why stand on ceremony? I enjoy messing with him and I have a lot of questions so I might as well begin doling them out.

  “I … .” Tad scorched me with a look. “While I did run for re-election, I’ve always been interested in public safety.”

  Well, that was a non-answer if I ever heard one. “Are you saying you would’ve quit your post and started playing with your … TOOL … even if elected?”

  “I … what?”

  “You just said that you wanted to get involved in public safety,” I said. “You inferred this was in the works back in the fall. I’m curious about whether you decided to be a slave to public safety because you lost the election or whether you planned on winning the election and then leaving your constituents surprised after the election to start your new endeavor.”

  If looks could kill I’d be dead. Of course, that pleased me, so I made sure Tad could see my smile from twenty feet away.

  “Ms. Shaw, we have a planned presentation,” Tad said.