Killian (Hope City #8) - Kris Michaels Page 0,1

know what a douche he was, she eyed the parcels of information she had.

Tri-County Construction, Apex Construction, and Ganas Construction were the three largest construction companies in Hope City and the main players in 80 percent of the City’s massive rehabilitation effort at the Harbor, and they would be the ones to profit from favors, shortcuts, and people looking the other way… which Perkins Electrical had proved was happening. Her gut told her there was so much more lurking under the surface at City Hall. Davis was dirty, his conversation with her sister Brie sealed that fact. But investigative reporting meant doing the leg work. She glanced at the stack of compact disks that sat on top of her desk. Every committee meeting that Davis attended in the last three years. She had months of research to conduct before she brought this story to her producer. The scope of this report—if it panned out—could make her career. She enjoyed minor celebrity now, but with this tell-all report, she could launch her investigative reporting career into the major markets, or maybe, just maybe, a syndicated national show.

She sighed and slouched in her chair. Staring out of her window, she saw nothing but the thoughts in her mind. A connection was what she was lacking. Discovering the linchpin between Davis and the construction companies was job number one. In order to do that, she’d been talking to City Hall workers where they congregated—lunch trucks, bars, and coffee shops, and she was building quasi-friendships with several clerks in the planning and zoning offices. Some people she talked to clammed up when it came to the day-to-day work they did, especially when she asked pointed questions. The code enforcement offices were the worst, so she was focusing on a way to get close to an inspector or two. But she needed an in, a way to talk with them that didn’t seem like the onus was on them.

She glanced at the notes which listed the construction companies again. She had a way into one of the companies. Ganas Construction. Her sister was marrying Ryker Terrell, who was the half-brother of Killian Ganas, the owner of Ganas Construction. She pulled the folder she’d filled on Ganas Construction. The company seemed to come out of nowhere about five years ago, around the same time Councilman Davis started his work on the Planning and Land Use Management and Economic Development committees. She flipped through the public records filed by Ganas Construction. What she needed now was time to review countless meetings, to see where Davis or anyone else intervened. Had anyone pushed a company or argued for one vendor over the others? Maybe someone rushed through approvals for one of the companies over the others. The time suck would be worth it if she could prove someone at City Hall and the general contractors were in bed together.

And if all three were benefiting from favors at City Hall, all the better to pin the corruption against the wall. The question was did she use her connection to Killian Ganas to gather information? Would the man allow her to see behind the scenes? If she framed it right, perhaps… She tapped her long, red-polished nails against the table. What good was having a source if you didn’t use them?

Her phone rang, and she glanced at it and rolled her eyes. She picked it up and debated letting it go to voicemail, but if she didn’t answer… “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, sweetheart. We are having a get-together tomorrow night, just a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

“What’s the occasion?” Bekki flipped through the folder, half-listening to her mom as she rattled on.

“… and I’ve invited Ryker’s brothers, too.”

Bekki jerked to attention and clutched her phone. “Okay, Mom, I’m going to admit I wasn’t really listening. I was working. One more time, what is this event for?”

“I could tell you weren’t paying attention when I told you I had purple and pink elephants for the yard. That got an ‘uh-huh’ from you.” Her mother’s tone carried hurt in the reprimand.

Her forehead crinkled in confusion. “I’m sorry, blue and pink elephants?”

“Purple and pink, dear. We are having a surprise birthday party for Ryker.”

“With elephants?” Bekki pulled her phone away from her ear and stared at the face of the device for an instant before she asked, “Have you finally succumbed to Alzheimer’s, Mom?”

“There will be no elephants, I said that to get your attention. I can tell when you’re not listening to me. Now, are you going