Page 49 of The Price of Scandal

Daisy pointed a manicured finger at the bongo player in the corner of the room—a previous negotiation when residents decided they didn’t like Daisy’s gavel. He riffed out an attention-getting beat, and the residents took their seats. There were no tacky folding chairs here. No, town hall attendees settled into swiveling cushioned clamshell-style chairs in a range of teals and turquoises. We’d discovered people were less likely to jump to their feet and argue when they were comfortably seated.

“Okay, Bluewaters, first up on the agenda is feeding Steve. The Joneses are heading to Greece for a week and need someone to cover for them,” Daisy began.

17

Derek

“Want some popcorn?” Jane shoved the greasy bag in my direction. I helped myself to a handful and watched the entertainment unfold. She’d invited me to Bluewater’s Town Hall so I could get a peek at outside-the-boardroom Emily Stanton. Or so she could continue the time-lapse interrogation she’d begun upon my coming on board.

Both were spectacularly entertaining.

“Where did you say you went to college again?” she asked as if we’d been interrupted in the middle of a conversation.

“Florida State. Who’s Steve?” I asked.

“Resident disabled alligator. Lost part of a front leg to a boat prop. They found him in a lagoon when development started. He couldn’t survive in the wild so they let him stay. They have a deal with him. One rotisserie chicken a day as long as he doesn’t eat anyone’s dog,” Jane explained.

“You’re not serious.”

“I most certainly am. Be nice to me or I’ll feed you to him.”

I would definitely require a photo of Emily feeding her pet alligator, I decided. “Interesting.”

“Just because those gals are worth a few billion collectively doesn’t mean they don’t have big-ass hearts,” Jane insisted. “The whole community follows suit. That guy over there who doesn’t know how to button his shirt?”

I followed her finger.

“Mr.Point Break?”

“Yeah. He’s a 3-D prototyping guru. He made Steve a new prosthesis.”

I cleared my throat. “How does one attach a prosthesis to an alligator?”

“One spikes the son of a bitch’s breakfast with enough sleepy time meds to send him off to alligator nap town for three hours,” Jane explained.

“Fascinating.”

“So, you gonna flash the boss your wang again?” she asked, shoveling more popcorn into her mouth.

I glanced in her direction, but Jane’s attention was on the spirited debate about fresh coconut delivery going on at the front of the room.

I cleared my throat. “I’ve been relegated to the No Touching Zone.”

She snorted. “Gonna have to work harder than a smooch in a closet if you want to win the boss over.”

“She told you?”

“She didn’t have to.” Jane picked up her diet soda and took a noisy slurp. “But she did anyway.”

I laughed.

“She doesn’t let many people close enough for canoodling. The fact that she didn’t kick you in the balls proves that there’s interest there.”

“Does it now?”

She shot me a bland look. “Don’t act like you’re not salivating over her.”

“She’s a fascinating woman,” I admitted.