Free A Good Kind of Trouble (A Trouble in Twin Rivers Novel Book 1) by Ellie Ashe Page B

that point had begun dodging her visits. He finally agreed to let her bring in a legal consultant to assist on the project. But that approval meant nothing if she couldn't find anyone who actually worked with public bond financing who was willing to help her.  
    "Then, last week, I tracked down a visiting law professor who had experience with this area of law and he agreed to look at a sample of the paperwork to see if it was something he could help me decipher," Lindsey explained. "By now, the box of paper has grown to two boxes because I keep getting copies of contracts in the mail from an anonymous person, or letters that direct me to request new documents."  
    Ben picked up another of the contracts. "Who is sending them?"
    Lindsey shook her head. "I wish I knew."  
    Another letter had shown up a few weeks earlier, telling her to request additional contracts, and she had dutifully fired off a public records request letter to the city.  
    "The city's deadline to give me those copies was today. I was going to pick them up and bring them to the professor during his office hours today.”  
    Instead, she had ended up in a holding cell, dependent on the man she had once pepper-sprayed to get her out of jail.  
    The cell phone in her bag rang, startling her out of her thoughts. She retrieved the phone and she saw Kath’s number on the screen.  
    "Lins, are you okay?" Kath asked when Lindsey answered. "You didn't tell us that things were so bad. You never mentioned a stalker."  
    Ben stood and left the room, giving Lindsey some privacy. She heard the bedroom door shut softly behind him. Lindsey shut her eyes. She should have told Kath about the string of mishaps, but it would have triggered her friend’s protective instincts and she would have insisted that Lindsey move into her house to keep her safe.  
    "I'm sorry, Kath," she said. "I didn't want to worry you guys."  
    Kathleen sighed. "I'm glad you're staying at Ben's tonight. Dave told me you were being chased through the park. Who is this guy? Does the newspaper know you're being harassed like this?"  
    Lindsey assured her friend that the newspaper was aware, and that she was being careful. But it felt like a lie. The newspaper didn't care or didn't believe her. And she didn't know how to guard against harassment from an unknown source. She promised to call Kathleen in the morning and thanked her friend for taking care of Steve. After placing the phone back in her bag, she picked up the last contract Ben had explained and reread it, keeping his explanation in mind.  
    “Still Greek to me,” she muttered.  
    But it wasn’t quite as indecipherable anymore. She could see through some of the densely worded jargon now and she had a vague sense of what the clauses were attempting to accomplish. She breathed a deep sigh of relief. She had been starting to doubt her intellect, but if what Ben said was true, these contracts were designed to keep the truth hidden in plain sight.  
    Ben emerged from the bedroom. He’d changed out of his suit and returned to the living room in jeans and a worn t-shirt with his law school’s name emblazoned in fading letters across his chest. A very nice chest, she noted, trying not to stare.  
    “I’m going to run over to Dave’s and get your overnight bag. I’ll pick up something for dinner on the way back. I won’t be long.” He paused, his brow furrowed as he gave her a long look. “Are you sure you’re comfortable staying alone?”
    “I’ll be fine.”  
    She’d been staying alone at home most every night for the last few months, unless she spent the night in Dave and Kathleen’s spare room. She had no idea why he was helping her, but she was grateful that there was someone who saw the things she had started to fear were imaginary.

Chapter Eight

    Ben was glad for the mountain of paperwork between he and Lindsey. It was a buffer, a demilitarized zone, where they didn't have to relive their past mistakes. Well,