“You can call him Reg if you want,” Abby said, smiling. “I think it’s cute.”
“Abby, stop picking on her,” Gabe said quietly as Doreen continued to sob into his shirt. “John and Reggie aren’t likely to back down easily, anyway. Even if the windows are broken, I bet they’ll manage. Whoever broke their windows is lucky Reggie didn’t get ahold of them.”
“I wish he had gotten ahold of them,” Doreen said vehemently. “Because if I do, they’re going to pay dearly!”
“Don’t you go taking the law into your own hands,” Lanie said. “I heard one of you almost took a shovel to some protestors.”
“I would have only used the flat part,” Doreen said defensively.
Abby had just gotten Diane settled down to the point where the older woman had stopped sobbing and started worrying about the stain she’d left on Abby blouse. She took a handkerchief out and began to dab at the tear stains when Abby noticed the front door to McGradys open. John Troutdale, Reggie, and the sheriff came out though none of them looked pleased. Abby saw the sheriff reach up to his shoulder and take ahold of his mic, then heard his voice from the corresponding mic on Lanie’s shoulder.
“Lanie, can you send Abby and Gabe over? I need to talk to them about those protestors that were at Calamities the other day. Also, get the specifics from Diane and Doreen on that protest, if you can?”
“Will do, sheriff,” Lanie said, then when she’d signed off, she gestured across the street to Gabe and Abby. “The boss awaits.”
Abby and Gabe nodded, then extracted themselves from Diane and Doreen before heading across the street.
Chapter 27
“You two act like you’ve just been called to the principal’s office,” John said, grinning at them as they approached. He looked immaculate in his out-of-place tailored suit and coifed hair, but his eyes easily held enough warmth to allow him to blend in anywhere he went. Despite standing amongst the shattered glass on the sidewalk, he didn’t look bothered at all.
“He’s right,” the sheriff said. “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. I just want to get the names of whoever was in that protest group that was in front of Calamities the other day. No one actually reported it, but now I need to know specifics.”
“What do you need to know?” Gabe asked.
“Who was in on it,” the sheriff said. “Also, if they were all local or not. Were there any of those Foundation people involved?”
Abby watched Gabe purse his lips as he thought about his answer. “Yes, I think there might have been one or two. They were in the back and I didn’t think much of it, but they were there. There were only about eight or so townspeople, and I think I remember all of them.
The sheriff nodded and readied his pen. “Go ahead with the names, Gabe. I’ll follow up with them later. Do you think you could recognize those other fellas if you saw them? Or describe them?”
Gabe shrugged. “I’m not clear in my mind about the two Foundation guys, but do you really think some of our people did this?”
The sheriff didn’t answer, but his look said he wasn’t sure. Instead he beckoned Gabe to follow him while he stepped away, leaving Abby with John and Reggie.
“So,” Abby said, looking sadly at the broken windows. “Is the New Year’s Eve party going to be cancelled?”
John shook his head. “Not on your life. If it’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s not to let the jerks win. We’ll just board up the windows with something colorful and it will be fine. They didn’t get inside, so everything is still good there.”
“Yeah!” Reggie grinned and cracked his knuckles. “I wish they had gotten inside so I could’ve caught them. It would have been worth a little damage to put a hurting on them.”
“Did you see who it was?” Abby asked.
Reggie’s fierce countenance fell. “No. No I only heard them run. I got the door open and they were already almost out of sight but I can tell you they weren’t local shop keepers. Not the way they ran.”
“What makes you say that?” Abby said, looking up and down the street and wondering what Reggie had seen.
“The way they ran,” Reggie said. “They didn’t look like teenagers, and they didn’t look like sedentary shop keepers. Trust me, I’ve seen plenty of people running away from me. If I were a betting man, I’d say for sure they were the same type of folks that came walking into McGradys with that Don guy.”
“I’m still not sure what we’re dealing with,” John said, frowning. “It feels a little like a protection racket mixed in with something else, but I’m not sure what it is.”
“Would it help to know that all of the workers doing improvements around town are handpicked by the Foundation?” Abby said. “Or that only some of the grant money has come through? We were talking to protestors outside Calamities, and only two people had received money. The rest were still waiting for approval, but their work had already begun.”
John blinked. “Are you kidding?” He asked carefully. “These people don’t have money in the bank for this work? Do you know if they’ve signed contracts?”
Abby shook her head, making John frown further and look at Reggie. “We should let the sheriff know. If they have contracts, he might want to take a look at one of them to make sure it’s real.”
“Take a look at what?” the sheriff said, walking back up to them with Gabe in tow.
“Abby just told us that all of this work is being done by contractors who were handpicked by the Foundation. Also, that only some of the people have actually received the money for the grants.”
“Where did you hear this, Mrs. Morgan?” The sheriff asked sourly.
“From the protestors outside of Calamities,” Abby said. “Only two of them had received money. The rest had not. Al Green told us that the Foundation was threatening to pull out of the town if they didn’t finish organizing Don’s Association. That’s why they were protesting. John was wondering if the contracts were legit.”
The sheriff squinted his eyes and then mumbled something impolite under his breath. “That’s a fine kettle of fish,” he said. “I think I know who I need to talk to next. Al Green, you said? Over at the hardware store?”
Gabe nodded. “Yep. I don’t think he was as keen on the Association after we talked to him, either. He might be willing to show you his contract.”
“All right,” the sheriff said, then tipped his hat as he started in the direction of the hardware store. “Thanks for the lead, I’ll talk to you folks later.”
Abby watched him go with a sinking feeling in her stomach. The town hall was only in a few days. Abby hoped the sheriff and mayor could gather enough information to talk the town out of this Foundation. It was going to be hard. Free money was always difficult to turn down, but they had to try.
If it wasn’t too late.
“Oh, jackrabbits,” Abby breathed softly, hoping she was wrong.
Chapter 28
The mayor banged the gavel down on the podium for silence. Behind him, a huge banner with the Red Pine Falls High School mascot grinned out at the large assembly. The picture looked odd, because instead of making a new sign, the school had painted over the guns the mascot had held, and instead had him holding a lasso. Combined with the fact the figure closely resembled an old cartoon character with fuzzy red hair and a bulbous nose, the lasso that had replaced the guns just didn’t look right.
Beside the mayor and seated at two long tables on the stage were the rest of the town council. On the right, Don Buckshire sat closest to the podium with Ruby Anderson, Francine Carthridge, and John Tillsdale. To the left was the mayor’s empty seat, then Joe Forsyth, Earl Huygens, and Gini Moore.
“This looks good,” Hazel whispered from the other side of Gabe as the room began to slowly quiet. “If they have to vote on something, it looks like four councilmembers are on Don’s side, but with the mayor, they will have four votes against. Whatever happens, they can’t do anything with a split vote. They need a majority.”
�
��That sounds good, but why does Don look so happy?” Abby asked as she watched the man in question sit with his hands crossed in front of him. In fact, the man was practically grinning. Ruby and Francine both looked pleased as punch as well, though John Tillsdale continued to sit without showing much emotion. Abby wondered if the man was not as on board as he seemed or simply didn’t prefer to show much emotion in general. She had known people like that, but didn’t know John well enough to say.
“That I don’t know,” Hazel said as she frowned in thought. “Either he’s got a hard case of stupid, or he’s got something else up his sleeve.” Robert Carrington who was sitting next to Hazel nodded but didn’t vocalize his thoughts.
“I’m voting for stupid,” Becky broke in from the other side of Abby. “He’s not bright enough to come up with anything that the mayor or sheriff couldn’t figure out.”
“Don’t forget about Senator Clark,” Abby said. “I don’t think any of this is Mr. Buckshire’s idea. He’s just riding the senator’s coat tails. When he came into McGradys with those three men, he didn’t seem to be entirely in control.”
Becky was just about to answer, but by that time the crowd had finally quieted down and the mayor started to speak.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” the mayor began. “It’s good to see all of your faces and I sure hope you all had a good holiday. I know I had to let my belt out a few notches.”
Abby looked around, watching as a few faces in the crowd nodded at his words, but far more of them didn’t respond. Instead, they looked tense and unhappy. Abby couldn’t blame them. The strife in town had escalated, and while no one was hurt, it had resulted in violence. Broken windows and graffiti were big city problems, not small town, Red Pine Falls problems. It had taken many of the townspeople by surprise.
“Folks, I’m going to get right to the meat of the matter, and that is about the Foundation for Urban Renewal that has come to our town. Some of you think it’s the best thing since apple pie, and some of you are not so sure. I’m here to tell you, that I am on the not so sure side. In fact, I'm sure it’s not good for us. Free money isn’t usually free. It costs something, and I’m sure most of you know of the fuss that Senator Clark has had with one of our very own. Hazel Morgan has suffered under him for many years.”
“Maybe she deserves it!” yelled someone from the crowd following by a rumbling of voices.
“Who said that?!” the mayor said angrily in the direction the voice came from, but whoever had said it didn’t come forward. After a moment, the mayor waved his gavel in the direction the voice had originated. “This is exactly my point. Turning on each other? Hating each other? Protesting each other? What has gotten into you people? This is just one of the costs of this so-called free money.”
“Mayor,” Don Buckshire spoke up. “You can’t fault people for wanting to improve their lives or their property, can you? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! It’s a redistribution of money from the wealthy for the improvement of small communities such as ours. Why are you so hostile toward us all?” Don finished with waving his arms at himself and then opening them expansively toward the crowd.
Once again, Abby could hear soft murmurings and even some sounds of agreement from the people gathered in the fold-up chairs. The mayor turned and shook his head angrily at Don. “Don’t you try making this about me against the rest of you, Don.” He turned back to the crowd. “These workers so many of you are using for your improvements aren’t local. They're from out of state and while that in and of itself is a warning sign, the real problem lies in the fact that the contracts you’ve all signed put you in liability for payment. There is no stipulation or connection at all in the contract stating the Foundation owes these workers a nickel. You do. If the Foundation pulls out, you are left holding the bag.”
“That’s why we need the Association!” came a woman’s voice that Abby recognized. Rachel Clawson, one of Mabel’s daughters. Abby remembered meeting her in Butters during Becky’s murder investigation. “If we have the Association, then that will guarantee the Foundation stays. If everyone doesn’t sign up, then they’ll back out and we’ll all be in trouble!”
“Who said so?” the mayor asked. “Who knows this is a fact? This whole thing has happened so quickly and so many of you applied for these grants without asking the questions you needed to ask! Who here can answer truthfully of what the situation really is?”
“I can,” said a slick, well-practiced voice from the back of the hall. A voice that Abby recognized all too well. She turned, and as she expected, saw the tall, well-built form and smarmy smile of Senator Clark standing at the back of the hall. There were several suit-wearing assistants with him, but for the most part they blended into the background like gray wallpaper. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I’m sorry to interrupt but my good friend Don Buckshire told me you were having some issues with our grant money? I’m here to clear up any questions, if I can.”
The murmuring the townspeople had been doing erupted into a loud rumble, drowning out anything anyone else had to say. Abby watched as the mayor tried to speak, but ended up banging the gavel several times until people quieted down.
When he’d gotten the room to quiet enough, the mayor met the senator’s eyes and shook his head. “So, you’ve come here to watch the fiasco you’ve caused us?”
“Not at all,” said the senator as he walked down the aisle toward the stage. “In fact, I’m here to try to help settle and smooth things over. The Foundation is here to help communities such as yours, not cause it further grief and pain. Mayor Tomlin, this was not our intent. However, as I am sure you understand, having an Association to watch over and guide people toward using those funds to the best advantage of your community isn’t too unreasonable?”
“So you can control how the money is spent?” Mayor Tomlin said angrily. “Doesn’t that defeat the whole point of having a town council and mayor if you are suddenly in charge?”
The senator put on a good impression of being shocked before chuckling and shaking his head. He walked up the stairs to the side of the stage as he did so, approaching the mayor like a father would an errant teenaged son. “Not at all, Gil. Not at all. The Foundation's only requirement is to have an Association in place, but we wouldn’t have any say or membership in it. That would be completely against the purpose of the Foundation. No, your Association was put together and would be run only by people within the town. I believe yours was proposed by Don Buckshire? Neither I nor any of my people have anything to do with it.”
“What about these workers doing work before grant money is issued? What happens if the Foundation backs out?” The mayor asked.
The senator stopped a few spaces away from the mayor as he stood on the stage, spreading his hands as he shrugged. “Exactly what you’d expect to happen. The people who have the work being done will be liable for it.”
Many people in the hall gasped, some even standing up as they called out in anger or disbelief. Rachel Clawson spoke again over the hubbub, her sharp voice piercing and clear. “That’s thousands of dollars we don’t have!”
The senator turned and nodded, but held his hands up to silence people once again. “Yes, and if you had let the Association develop, then this would have been handled. Unfortunately, because of the interference that Don has received, the Association has not been able to advise you or assist you through the process.” He shook his head sadly. “The only pressure the Foundation can leverage to stem any further damage is by stopping the grants entirely. Otherwise it could become catastrophic!”
“You can’t blackmail us!” the mayor said over the once again erupting crowd. “I won’t have it! I can’t stop people from taking the grant money, but by God I swear as the mayor of this city that this government won’t have anything to do with this Association or your Foundation!”
Everything went quiet as everyone absorbed what the mayor had just said. You could hear a pin drop as Abby watched the senator turn slowl
y and give the mayor a subtle smile. For whatever reason, the mayor had just played into exactly what the senator had hoped.
Don Buckshire stood up, almost falling over in his leap from his chair and leveled a finger like a cavalry blade. “I call for an immediate Vote of Confidence against Mayor Gil Tomlin!”
Like clockwork, Francine Carthridge rose next to him and with an almost evil grin shouted. “I second the motion!”
And then the entire hall erupted in chaos.
Chapter 29
The mayor sat in shock, and looked as if he’d been poleaxed while everyone started screaming at each other. Senator Clark had retreated to the side of the stage, keeping his face reserved and expressionless as he watched the goings on, though despite his best efforts to remain stoic, it was clear the man was pleased. He met Abby’s gaze for half a moment, and she could almost feel him gloating across the distance.
It was clear the mayor wasn’t going to be able to get the crowd under control until the sheriff half-ran onto the stage and whispered urgently into his ear. For a moment, Abby wondered if the mayor wouldn’t be able to rally, but he finally seemed to shake himself and then blink before pounding the gavel on the podium once again. Even then, the sheriff had to let out a sharp whistle to get everyone’s attention.
Silence descended once again, but it was a pregnant thing that seemed to be full of fear. Mayor Tomlin looked around at all of the faces arrayed before him, but to Abby, it looked like he’d aged twenty years. He’d shrunk in on himself, and his voice didn’t hold the same note of command it had a few minutes earlier.
“Is this what you all want?” the mayor asked quietly.
Becky stood suddenly and put her hands on her hips. “Heck no!” she said before looking around herself at everyone. “What kind of wacky weed are you all smoking? The mayor has been good to us!”
Dead Reckoning and Murderous Intent, A Red Pine Falls Cozy Mystery (Red Pine Falls Cozy Mysteries Book 4) Page 11
