If Winter Comes by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online Page A

skirt of her simple beige dress as she
fought for control.
     
    “All we know for sure,”
she replied, “is that land was purchased by the city for a new airport. The
evaluation was twenty-five thousand dollars an acre—a steal even though it was
in a sparsely populated section. But the city paid a half million for it.” She
sighed. “It’s not unusual for a realtor to mark up his asking price when he
knows he has a buyer like the city. But Daniel Brown said that the land owner
only received two hundred fifty thousand dollars and that records will bear him
out. The problem,” she added ruefully, “is that when I asked for the records of
the transaction, that icy-voiced little financial wizard promptly called the
city attorney and they refused to let me see the records on the grounds that it
hadn’t been formally approved by the city council.”
     
    “That’s a lie,” Edwards
said.
     
    She nodded. “I know,
and I told the city attorney so. But we did a piece on his department last
month that he didn’t like, and he can quote the obscure law to you verbatim if
you call and ask him.”
     
    “God deliver me from
disgruntled lawyers!” he groaned.
     
    “It doesn’t matter,”
she said. “I’m going to ask the mayor for permission to look at them.” She
smiled. “I think he’ll agree.”
     
    He eyed her.
“Unscrupulous little minx.”
     
    “Me?” she blushed.
     
    “You. Get out of here.
And if you don’t have any luck with Moreland, I’ll get our legal staff on it.”
     
    “No problem.”
     
    She walked out the door
in a daze. Was she trying to get close to Moreland to get information? It might
have been that way at the beginning. But not anymore. She remembered what Edwards
had said about Moreland being involved in what could be the biggest city
scandal since the City Council chairman was arrested picking up a streetwalker.
It couldn’t be true. Not Bryan Moreland. Perhaps Edwards had misunderstood
Brown. She smiled. She’d have a talk with the ex-cop tomorrow. It was about
time she got the whole story firsthand.
     
    Moreland was waiting
for her in his office with a woman she recognized as the new mayor of a city in
a neighboring state: Grace Thomas.
     
    “Grace, this is Carla
Maxwell,” he told the older woman, “with the Phoenix-Herald . She’s going
to do a follow-up on the revitalization.”
     
    “Nice to meet you,”
Grace said with a pleasant smile. She was years older than Carla, a
contemporary of Moreland’s most likely, despite her dark brown hair that didn’t
show a trace of gray. “I’m very interested in the renewal idea. It might be
feasible in my own city.”
     
    “If you’re both ready,
let’s get moving,” Moreland said as he helped Grace on with her plush wool
coat. “I’ve got a budget meeting in two hours, and that doesn’t leave us much
time.”
     
    Carla watched the way
the older woman’s eyes slid sideways to Moreland as he held her coat, and she
wanted to drop her heavy camera on the woman’s foot. It was ridiculous to feel
this surge of jealousy toward the visiting mayor. After all, she wasn’t even
pretty, and she was wearing a wedding ring! But that didn’t stop her from
wanting to push Moreland away from her.
     
    Inexplicably, Moreland
looked up at that moment and caught the expression on her face, and something
darkened his eyes.
     
    She averted her gaze
quickly while Mrs. Thomas went right on talking about her city council woes
without even noticing the undercurrents around her.
     
    Walking through the
streets with Moreland and City Planning Commission Chairman Ed King and the two
other commission members, Carla was impressed with plans to renovate the
run-down area. While Mrs. Thomas pumped King, Moreland dropped back beside
Carla.
     
    “Interesting, isn’t
it?” he asked quietly, indicating the windowless old houses with their sagging
porches and littered yards. Some were deserted, but children played aimlessly
in the yards