CHAPTER FIVE
The next day, the first person Ashley saw at Bozeman Public Library was Erin Williams. They’d been best friends at college and had kept in touch with each other, even after she’d left for New York.
Erin was helping an elderly man choose some books for his wife. Her laughter echoed across the library and made Ashley glad she’d come here today.
She walked upstairs to the reference area, pulling her baseball cap low to stop anyone recognizing her. She’d always loved the library. With its exposed wooden beams, metal roof, and rows of bookshelves, it was the kind of place she could get lost in for hours.
The second floor hovered over the rest of the library like an overprotective parent. From the balcony, you could see almost every area of the library. It was the perfect place to read or daydream, and an even better place for teenagers to throw paper darts at their friends.
Walking to the far side of the room, she searched for an out-of-the-way computer. She found what she was looking for and sat down. A student was working at a desk not far from her, but apart from them, no one else was around.
With her backpack open, she pulled out the information Jason found yesterday. Only three of the companies had their owners listed on their tax returns, but two others had the date their businesses were registered. With that information, she could narrow her search and hopefully trace the current owners.
An hour later, she felt like banging her head against the wooden desk. None of the online databases had been much help. The information about the registered companies was almost non-existent. She’d searched every website that looked remotely helpful, but she couldn’t find anything.”
“Can I help you?”
Ashley dropped her head to her chest. Erin was standing beside her. She turned sideways and smiled.
“Ashley? What are you doing here?”
“I arrived in Bozeman a couple of days ago. I needed to do some research, so I came to the library.”
“Are you on vacation?”
“Something like that. How are you?”
“I’ll be better once I’ve given you a hug.”
Ashley moved away from the desk and hugged her friend. “It’s wonderful seeing you.”
“It’s great to see you, too. It’s been too long.” Erin touched Ashley’s wig. “Why are you wearing this?”
“It’s a disguise. I don’t want anyone to know I’m here.”
“Are you in trouble?” Erin whispered.
“I could be.”
Erin pulled out a chair and sat at the table. “You can tell me about it later.” She frowned at the computer screen. “What are you looking at?”
“An online corporate database. I’m trying to find the contact details of the owners of five companies. I have the names of three business owners, but the other two are a mystery.”
“Have you searched for them on the Internet?”
“Not yet.”
“Most businesses don’t list their owners, let alone their personal details. Do a general search for the names you already have, then go to Facebook. It’s amazing how much information people leave on social media sites.”
Erin peered over Ashley’s shoulder as she hunted through the long list of results. She pointed to a link. “Try that one. Apart from the names you’ve already found, do you have any other leads?”
“I do, but you have to promise not to tell anyone.”
The smile on Erin’s face faded. “Is this worse than the time you wrote an article about a high-end catering company using ingredients that were past their use-by date?”
“A lot worse.”
“Could you go to prison?”
Ashley pushed a strand of black synthetic hair off her face. “I don’t think so, but the people I’m looking for will be in trouble.”
“That’s good enough for me. What are their names?”
She wrote them down and gave them to her friend.
“A congressman? No wonder you’re worried.” Erin added the names of the three business owners Ashley had already found. “I’ll go to my desk and start looking for any link between these people. Do you want to have lunch together in an hour?”
Ashley glanced at the time. “That would be great. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Happy hunting.”
“You, too.” She gave Erin another hug, then returned to her search results. If there was ever a time when she felt like she was looking for a needle in a haystack, this was it.
She just hoped Erin had better luck than she’d had.
***
An hour later, Ashley and Erin sat at a table at the back of the Lindley Perk Coffee Shop.
“Did you find anything?” Erin asked.
“Not much. Congressman Welsh’s public Facebook page is filled with comments. He has a few regular contributors, but none of those people appear on the Facebook pages of the other people. What about you?”
Erin smiled.
“What did you find?”
“One of the people on the list is Congressman Welsh’s brother-in-law.”
Ashley looked at the piece of paper Erin handed her. “That’s the owner of one of the companies we can’t contact.”
“When I found that connection, I did some research on Congressman Welsh’s family. He has four brothers and two sisters. The man who owns Bryant Construction lives in San Diego, but his construction company’s address is in New York. I wrote down his home address and phone number in case you want to call him.”
“Who are the other people on your list?”
“The names that are underlined are Congressman Welsh’s brothers and sisters. The names directly under them are their partners. Their children are under that.”
Ashley was impressed. “You did all of this in an hour?”
“I’ve been helping people research their family history for years. It’s a lot easier finding someone who’s alive than if they’ve been dead for more than a century.”
Ashley scanned the list. “Is there a way of checking whether the other people on the list have anything to do with the businesses we can’t find?”
“Unless they’re listed on company registration or tax forms, I don’t think so.”
“Wait a minute.” Ashley opened one of the folders she’d brought with her. “These are copies of the news stories I found on the Internet.” She looked through the papers. “This photo was taken at a rally Congressman Welsh attended before the election.” She frowned at one of the pictures. “That can’t be right.”
Erin moved out of the way while a waitress placed their lunch order on the table. After the waitress had left, she leaned forward. “What’s not right?”
Ashley showed her. “Congressman Welsh’s nephew is only fifteen years old. He was listed as the owner of one of the private companies.”
“That sounds incredibly illegal. What’s going on?”
“I can’t tell you.”
Erin frowned. “Why not?”
“The fewer people know about what I’m doing, the better off everyone will be. I’m sorry I can’t tell you.”
“I guess that’s what you get when you’re a big-time reporter.”
Ashley sighed. “I’m not a big-time reporter. I’m still working for the society editor of The Daily Times.”
“And this research is part of what you do each day?”
“No. This is different.”
“You don’t look too happy about that.”
“This story is harder to investigate than I thought it would be.”
Erin bit into her sandwich. “Why are you working on it if it makes you unhappy?”
“It could be the story of my career. If I let this opportunity pass me by, I could be covering gallery exhibitions and charity events for the rest of my life.”
“You do lots of exciting things. Last time we spoke you were going to New York Fashion Week. How was that?”
Ashley smiled. “I didn’t arrive home until after midnight each night, but it was the highlight of my year.”
“There you go—that’s something you’ve enjoyed. You’re not worried about what your dad told you, are you?”
“He was right.”
Erin left her sandwich on her plate. “No, he wasn’t. You always wanted to be a reporter. Going to New York took courage.”
Before she’d left Bozeman, her dad told her she was dreaming if she thought she could make it in New York. Her mom had died six months earlier and hearing those words from her dad had almost destroyed her.
Ashley took a deep breath. “It hasn’t been easy. Even now, I sometimes wake up and want to go somewhere where the air is clean and there aren’t so many people.”
“You could always come back to Bozeman. This story might be the best thing that’s ever happened to you in more ways than one.”
“I’m not moving back here,” Ashley said firmly. “When I said goodbye, I meant it.”
“I’ve heard those same words so many times, it’s almost funny. There aren’t many people who leave Bozeman and never return. We’ve got the fastest growing population in the whole of Montana. If you want to look at different options, you could visit the Bozeman Chronicle’s office. Some amazing reporters are working there.”
“But it’s not New York.”
“Thank goodness for that.” Erin glanced at her watch. “You’ve got fifteen minutes to tell me what else you’ve been doing.”
Ashley laughed. “Work, work, and more work. Bonnie and I go out for dinner a couple of times a week, and if Harry’s home, he comes with us. But that’s about it.”
“I’m so disappointed. I thought you’d be seeing all the shows and enjoying the glitz and glamor of Broadway.”
“That wore off after the first year. What have you been doing?”
Erin grinned. “My life is almost as exciting as yours.” She opened her wallet and showed Ashley a picture of a little girl with black hair and big blue eyes.
“Is that Bethany?”
“It is. My weekends are spent at the park and making chocolate chip cookies.”
Ashley studied the picture. “I can’t believe how much she’s grown. She’s lucky to have a mom like you.”
“No. I’m the lucky one. You’ll have to spend some time with us while you’re in Bozeman.”
“I wish I could, but I’m probably going to leave in the next few days.”
Erin’s eyes softened. “You don’t need to keep running. Stay.”
“I can’t.”
“Can’t and won’t are two different words. If you really do need to go back to New York, I hope you find what you’re looking for.”
Ashley’s bottom lip trembled. After three years of doing everything she could to climb from obscurity to a respected reporter, she was beginning to think she might never find what she was looking for.
***
Later that evening, Matthew parked his four-wheeler beside the barn. He’d fixed the tractor and helped Sean and Nathan move some cattle. The days were getting longer. Between overseeing the hay contractors, making sure the fields were irrigated, moving stock, and fixing fences, no one was arriving home until late.
It didn’t leave a lot of time to spend with Ashley, but with Jason’s help, he hoped she was finding the information she needed.
The cottage’s front door swung open and Ashley appeared on the porch. It would be hard to see her leave, hard not to think of what could have happened if she’d stayed.
She bounced down the stairs toward him. Her smile made him feel sad.
“How was your day?” she asked.
“Hot. We moved a few hundred head of cattle into the northern pasture. Did you find what you were looking for in town?”
Her smile slipped. “I did, and I didn’t.”
“Sounds like an interesting day.”
“It was confusing. I couldn’t find anything that linked Jasmine Alfredo or her treasurer to the companies that were contracted to help The Reaching High Foundation.”
“That’s good, isn’t it? At least you can eliminate them from the people who misused the government funding.” Matthew climbed the porch stairs and took off his boots. “Did you find the owners of the businesses who were contracted to work on the youth center?”
“That’s where it got confusing. Congressman Welsh’s brother-in-law and nephew are listed as owners of two of the companies. His nephew is only fifteen years old.”
“Sounds like a cover-up to me. Did you call Jason?”
“I did. He’ll do some research of his own and let me know what he finds. The other companies are still a mystery. While I was at the library, Bonnie sent through a copy of the financial records for the youth center project. Anyone looking at their audited report would think the project was completed as planned, but there are things missing from the youth center that should be there.”
“Like what?” Matthew headed into the mudroom and washed the dirt and dust off his hands, arms, and face.
“The original plans show a massive learning center, but only half the computers are actually in the building. The rock climbing wall and play equipment are the same. They’re there, but not as planned. When Bonnie visited the center, she was surprised that it’s functioning so well.”
“Have you thought about Jasmine Alfredo’s involvement in all of this?”
“I have, but I’m not sure about how much she knows.”
“If she had nothing to do with the funding going somewhere else, what would she have to gain by stopping you from publishing your article?”
“Her charities are successful because she has a reputation for getting things done. If anyone knew that hundreds of thousands of dollars have been misused, she wouldn’t receive any more funding.”
They walked into the kitchen, and Matthew smiled. “You made a casserole for dinner?”
“Beef Coq au Vin,” Ashley said proudly. “I found the recipe on the Internet.”
“It smells better than my beef casserole. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“If you’d like to mash the potatoes, I’ll check the green beans and carrots.”
Matthew took the milk out of the refrigerator. “No problem. What about Congressman Welsh? Did you find any more information about him?”
“I might have. I had a closer look at his tax return.” Ashley handed Matthew the salt and pepper. “His expenses last year were higher than his income. A lot of that was probably because of his mayoral campaign. Without looking at his bank statements, I don’t know whether he had enough money to pay all his expenses. So while I was in town, I wrote down the names of the newspapers where he seemed to do the most advertising. I called their billing departments.”
Matthew found the potato masher in the back of a drawer. “And?”
“He still has a large amount of money owing to some of the companies.”
“They gave you that information over the phone?”
Heat rushed to her face. “I told them I worked for Congressman Welsh.”
“One of these days you’re going to get caught.”
“I can’t find the information I need without stretching the truth.” Ashley’s cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her bag and frowned. “I’ll just answer this call.”
Matthew turned to mash the potatoes.
“Hi, Bonnie.” There was silence while she listened to her friend. “Okay, but you have to promise me you won’t visit anyone else. Let me know if staying with Harry doesn’t work. We’ll figure something out.” After a few more minutes of silence, Ashley said goodbye and left her phone on the table.
He didn’t know what was going on, but he was done with pretending to be interested in the potatoes. “What happened?”
“My friend Bonnie found a letter that someone slipped under her front door. It warned her to stay away from Jasmine. Bonnie’s staying with Harry. His apartment building has more security than hers. If this is happening now, what’s it going to be like after I’ve published the story?”
“If you’re back in the city, it will be a lot worse.”
Ashley took the colander out of the cupboard and drained the vegetables. “I’ll call Jason tomorrow morning. It’s time to contact the police. We need to see Congressman Welsh’s bank details. If we have proof that he transferred some of the government funding into his personal accounts, I’ll be able to publish the story.”
“Have you called your editor?”
“I did that this morning. He wants to send my story to the newspaper’s legal team before it’s published.”
“I’d make sure you finish the story soon, then. If someone already knows about Bonnie, they’ll find Harry next. It’s only a matter of time before they trace you back to Montana.”
Ashley took a deep breath. “I know, and that’s what worries me.”
Matthew tapped the end of her nose. “You’re not the only one who’s worried. Next time you go into town, I’m coming with you.”
“Okay,” she sighed. “I’ll tell Sean and Nathan what’s happened, too. I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
“It’s too late. You’ve already found information that no one wants you to see. As soon as your story is published, someone will be hurt whether you want that to happen or not.”
Ashley started to say something, then stopped. Her big blue eyes became guarded, and she retreated to wherever she went when she didn’t want to face what was happening.
He took some plates out of the pantry. Depending on how long it took to authorize the search warrants, everyone would have to be careful over the next few weeks.