Wedding Takedown

by Geri Krotow

  “This isn’t just about the mayoral election being rigged. It’s clear the votes were fraudulent—look how many of the people who voted don’t actually reside in Silver Valley.”

  “So they got fake IDs?” Kayla was stymied as statistics and political science weren’t her favorite subjects in college.

  “Either that or when different locals voted, the votes registered more than once. And look at this.” Mica opened a text document titled Truth. Kayla quickly read it.

  “Meredith’s saying that someone hacked into the voting system and allowed a substantial number of fake votes for Charbonneau.”

  “Yes.”

  “So it’s what we thought. The election was rigged. And the mayor is getting ready to pass some shady legislation that will be advantageous to the big businesses in town that support him, while crippling the little guys who don’t jump on his bandwagon.”

  “That’s what I see. But I’m a physical-education teacher, not an accountant or systems expert. I have no idea how these things actually happen.”

  Kayla didn’t, either, but knew who would. “I don’t understand why Meredith didn’t go directly to the authorities.”

  Mica snorted. “The entire staff, if not the town and county seats, are corrupt. There’s at least one bad apple in each, if not more. Meredith knew she’d be run out of her job and ridiculed if she reported it too hastily, to the wrong person. She said that since Mayor Donner had been kicked out it was awful working for Silver Valley. No one knew who to trust. The new mayor kept Meredith as a sign of good faith, that she would provide continuity between the two administrations. When she realized what was really happening, though...” Mica sniffed, wiping her eyes. “She was going to call a friend in the FBI the next week. Before...”

  “We’re going to make sure that whoever’s responsible for her death is caught, Mica.” At Mica’s puzzled expression, Kayla covered her tracks. “I mean SVPD and Detective Ortega. I’ll get this to him. If it’s the new mayor, he’s as good as caught.”

  “I can’t believe such scum can get away with something like this. That they even think they can.”

  “Even the mayor of an average town in America can let power go to his head.”

  “Maybe he’s compensating for something...” Mica said, even as distraught as she was.

  Kayla laughed. “You’ve got that right. Let me get this to Rio, Detective Ortega, and I’ll let you know what happens.”

  “I don’t need to know how it happens, Kayla. I only need to know that he gets it and that they catch the bastard who murdered my sister.”

  * * *

  “Meredith had the goods on him, all right.” Claudia’s voice was quiet behind Rio and Kayla as they all huddled around a computer screen at Trail Hikers headquarters. After Kayla had called Rio about Mica’s visit, he’d told her to meet him at the TH headquarters with the flash drive.

  “Are you going to arrest him tonight?” Kayla wished she could be there to see Tony Charbonneau’s usually overconfident smug expression change to horror when he realized the jig was up.

  “No. We have this evidence, and it definitely incriminates the mayor and most likely his assistant, Mickey, in electoral fraud and a bucket load of other charges, but we still can’t tie them directly to the murder.” Rio’s reasonable tone indicated this wasn’t his first rodeo.

  “Rio’s correct. We have to get the killers, and hard evidence on them.”

  “But the longer we wait, the better chance that the mayor will know someone else has the goods on him. Don’t you worry about him taking off, disappearing overseas or something? And we know the mayor is at least peripherally involved. And then there’s Gloria. She’s in this somehow.”

  “If we were certain he has a large sum of money stashed offshore, sure. But he doesn’t as far as we know, and his type is in it for the power and glory. He’ll never give up his office without a huge fight.” Claudia spoke with certainty. “I’ve seen this time and again with political criminals. Mostly during my time in the military, granted. But military or civilian, it makes no difference when it comes to the bad guys who are power hungry. What slips them up is their greed. It looks like our mayor got too greedy after winning the election. Now he thinks he’s going to push through ugly legislation that could turn Silver Valley into a haven for people like him—sleazy, power-hungry criminals.”

  “Gloria’s nothing more than an opportunist.” Rio’s voice was as assured as Claudia’s. “She married Charbonneau because she perceived him as the powerful, rich man she needed to take her places.”

  “Agreed. Trail Hikers did a thorough background check on her and she’s from a seedy neighborhood in northern New Jersey. Her mother left her when she was very young, and her father had a string of women throughout her life. She moved out when she was seventeen, working as a shampoo girl in a strip mall. Gloria earned her cosmetology degree and met Tony when he regularly came into the barbershop she was working in. He was still legally married to Cynthia’s mother when they began their relationship. He’d never bothered to file for divorce when she took off years earlier. She was a drug addict with mental illness.”

  “How do you get all of this information?” Kayla asked it as a question but it was more of an afterthought. “I thought it took ages to get this kind of detailed data.”

  Claudia’s expression remained neutral. “It’s one of the advantages of being a government shadow agency. We have connections to intelligence that SVPD, with all due respect, doesn’t.”

  “One of the many reasons I’m grateful for Trail Hikers. I wasn’t its biggest fan in the beginning but if it helps us bring these bastards to justice any sooner, saves one more life, it’s worth the extra effort having a second job takes.” Rio kept scrolling through the spreadsheet and Kayla had no doubt that he was absorbing every detail. Rio’s ability to multitask astounded Kayla, and while she felt comfortable creating an intricate floral arrangement while taking an order for a prom wristlet and watching the shop’s front door for new customers, her daily tasks didn’t involve saving lives.

  “Why don’t we turn these files over to our data analysts for now? You both have work to do and our time is dwindling.”

  “What, exactly, am I supposed to do at the rehearsal dinner and wedding, besides observe?”

  Claudia motioned to the seats in front of her desk. “Keep talking, and listening.” She pressed a button somewhere on her computer and within two heartbeats her receptionist was in the office with them. “Take this to IA and tell them I need a full summary of their findings ASAP. This op has priority.”

  “Sure thing, Claudia.” The young woman disappeared through the thick, soundproof door. Kayla knew that IA was Information Analysis, the busiest department in Trail Hikers. There were analysts trained in varying levels of cybersecurity, intelligence and data analysis, along with dedicated database experts. Rio had mentioned that if SVPD had an iota of the power that existed in the Trail Hikers IA department, there’d be little chance of any criminal ever escaping justice in Silver Valley—or all of Central Pennsylvania for that matter.

  “Kayla, we brought you in here because we trust you, and you have the perfect background to handle the kind of cases the Trail Hikers take on, due to your upbringing overseas. We ran background checks on you because of your proximity to the Female Preacher Killer case, so we know you’re able to hold a clearance. Since you’ve found yourself in the middle of the murder of the mayor’s assistant, it’s useful to us that you can stay close to the family in your role as a florist. We believe that both the FPK case and this murder are connected, whether directly or more tangentially, to the infiltration of Silver Valley by the former members of the True Believers. The FPK wasn’t tied to the cult, but the churchgoers who tried to bring charges against your brother were represented by a former cult member. Although thanks to Rio’s concentrated efforts, that’s history now.”

  “You really believe they’re trying to set up in Silver Valley, don’t you?”
<
br />   “It’s not what I believe that’s the issue, Kayla. It’s the evidence and facts that tell the story. Rio, what’s your take after looking at a bit of the data?”

  “It looks like simple accounting data. Until IA gets into it, I can’t be certain, but I’m thinking they’re going to discover that the new mayor and a few of his closest confidants have not only been elected illegally, but that former Mayor Donner was kicked out of office on false charges. It will tie back to the True Believers, just like the case against Keith and the SV Fire Department did, though I don’t know how yet. We have to work from what we know of how they operate. The True Believers make it easy for themselves. They don’t try to brainwash someone like you—” he looked at Kayla and Claudia “—or me, but rather, they exploit the weak. Those already on the fringes of participating in regular, everyday society as we understand it.

  “In the case of the Charbonneaus, they’re too strong to ever believe the evil nonsense someone like Leonard Wise preaches. But they are power-greedy and liable to fall for a chance to start a legitimate political career. They wouldn’t hesitate to take funds from them and use their help to get Tony elected. Of course, now Tony owes them.”

  “How did they get residency and set their sights on Silver Valley? Why not another town in the state or back in New Jersey?” Kayla wished they’d never come to Silver Valley.

  “We don’t know all of those answers yet, Kayla, but you and Rio may find them out in due course. What I need you to do is keep listening, keep observing and stay alive. I’d like you wired for the wedding. Rio will handle it. The rehearsal dinner will be too scattered and the venue too noisy, but you may capture some significant conversations while you’re placing the flowers at the house.” Claudia’s face bore no evidence of the long hours this was forcing all of them to put in and Kayla silently wondered how the woman managed to do it. “Where will I get wired? Here or at SVPD?”

  “Here, or even better, at my place. If you’re seen going to and from SVPD by anyone, it will definitely put the Charbonneaus on the defensive.” Rio put his hand on her forearm. “Which could get you killed.”

  Kayla didn’t miss that Claudia noted the personal gesture, but unlike a place such as SVPD, or even her floral shop, it didn’t seem out of place in Claudia’s office. It was as if the CEO of the secret agency trusted her agents no matter how part-time Kayla was to the agency.

  “I’ve got the world’s best training, remember? I understand that it’s preliminary, though, and that I’m not a full-blown agent. I won’t take any unnecessary risks. I’m not going to get killed and we’re going to take these losers down.” She never thought she’d ever say those kinds of words about a wedding, but so be it. Her childhood had taught her to be adaptable in many difficult situations, and her recent training empowered her to continue in the same manner. And if worse came to worst, Kayla had the small pistol she’d wear at both events this weekend.

  CHAPTER 16

  “I’d say it’s been a successful night.” Kayla was next to Gloria, who stood apart from the crowd at the Serenity Inn’s bar. They had moved from the dining room after dinner was cleared.

  “Yes. Thank you again for finding those gavels. Charles was touched. Did you see him smile?”

  She hadn’t, but wanted to keep Gloria talking. “Yes, he’s so happy to be marrying Cynthia.” She thought he was getting screwed, since Cynthia was all about Cynthia, but it wasn’t her concern. “And it’s so nice to see how his children have all accepted her so warmly.”

  Gloria snickered. “Don’t let it fool you. Those kids are all on the fast track to stellar law careers like their father. They don’t like Cynthia but they don’t want to upset their father, and the source of their security.” Gloria’s face was twisted into a shrewish expression.

  “They seem friendly enough to me.” The judge’s children were adults, with the youngest graduating from Dickinson College with a political science degree. Coincidentally, Cynthia attended law school there. Did Cynthia spend time with Blackwell’s youngest or any of the other two kids? She didn’t see it, unless it helped Cynthia get closer to their father.

  Cynthia looked over her shoulder from a rotating stool at the bar and spied Kayla speaking to Gloria. Within seconds she was with them, her makeup still perfect and her low-cut black cocktail dress highlighting the perfectly round shape of what Kayla assumed were C or D cups. Like the rest of her, they’d probably been bought.

  “What are you still doing here, Kayla? We don’t need any more flowers tonight, that’s for sure.” Cynthia took a swig from a drink that looked like a gin and tonic with a lime garnish, but she certainly wasn’t acting intoxicated.

  “I was checking in to see if you need anything else tonight. If not, I’ll see you in the morning. I’ll be at the house by eight to check on the work Jenny did tonight.”

  “Don’t wake us up if we’re still sleeping.” Cynthia took another sip. Gloria looked uncomfortable, as if she’d rather be anywhere else but next to her stepdaughter.

  “Regardless of when you get there, please feel free to come into the house in the morning. I’m having a breakfast and brunch catered up until thirty minutes before the ceremony. Help yourself to a meal and, of course, coffee.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate that.” She had no intention of having a cozy brunch with the Charbonneaus, but she might be able to use the excuse to do additional investigative work inside their home.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go,” Cynthia said, giving Kayla a pointed stare as if to say You need to go, too. Kayla wasn’t sure what bothered Cynthia about her, but something obviously did, right from their first meeting at the mayor’s house. Kayla walked back toward the bar.

  “It’s not you, you know. She’s mean to everyone she works with and even her closest friends.” Gloria spoke as if she’d recited the words several times.

  “I’m sure it’s just wedding jitters.” Kayla wasn’t sure of that at all, but wasn’t about to express her real thoughts. “I’ll collect the centerpieces and deliver them in the morning if you’d like.”

  “Oh, no, I only want what we’ve planned for tomorrow at the house. I don’t care what happens to these.”

  “Okay, then, see you in the morning.” Kayla had hoped to use cleaning up the flower arrangements as another way to extend her time at the rehearsal dinner. At least she could ask Molly if it was okay to leave the flowers on the tables. As she walked past the bar toward the kitchen’s swinging doors, she took note of who was still at the function. Charles Blackwell was at one corner of the bar with a few men and their wives, all about the same age. She’d seen his children depart right after the cake had been cut. Cynthia held court with her bridal attendants, who were mostly her age and from New Jersey. Gloria stood next to Tony, at the end of the bar with Mickey, Sylvia and a few other people Kayla figured were extended family members.

  Molly was in the midst of cleanup in the kitchen, looking frazzled. She smoothed out her expression when she saw Kayla approach. “What can I do for you?”

  “Nothing, I just need to know if you can use the flower arrangements. They don’t want them and I’d hate to see them go to waste.”

  “Yes, we can definitely use them for a catered tea tomorrow. It’s a ninetieth birthday celebration and since the local assisted-living facility is throwing it, they’re on a tight budget.”

  “Wonderful. Do you need me to move them to another room?”

  “You don’t have to. One of the busboys can do it in the morning.”

  “No, really, I’d like to. You’ve been so nice to work with, as always.” Kayla was thrilled that she’d garnered more time on site. At least this way she’d be obviously doing a real job instead of loitering.

  “Well, then, okay. If you place them on the banquet table in the other room, we’ll get them on the tables in the morning after we put the linens down. Good luck with the wedding tomorrow. They’re an interesting family to work for, aren’t they?”

  “
Very much so. Anything crazy happen while you’ve been here?”

  She nodded. “Crazy is the theme for this entire event. It was such short notice, which is fine, but then Mrs. Charbonneau kept calling with different requests for food and table placement. For a rehearsal dinner! I can’t imagine how nuts it’ll be tomorrow.”

  “So you dealt mostly with Gloria?”

  “No, not entirely. Cynthia was here a few times, and one thing she asked that no one else ever did was how late we’re all used to staying after an event. She was concerned that the party would go too late. I guess she’s worried about people being hungover at the wedding tomorrow.”

  “It doesn’t look to me like anyone’s over-imbibing.”

  “No, but if they stay here another hour, they definitely might. They’ll probably be on their way soon enough, though.”

  “True. Thanks again for your support, Molly. I’ll get the flowers moved.” Kayla left the kitchen and noticed the people at the bar had left. Only the mayor, Cynthia and Charles remained. She wondered where Gloria was, but simply made a beeline for the first two flower arrangements, not wanting to draw attention.

  She lifted one heavy arrangement in each hand. Once in the dimly lit corridor between the event rooms, she took care to keep from spilling the water out of the shallow dishes.

  The other room was equally dim and she set the arrangements on the long rectangular table nearest the door. As she turned to leave, she heard murmurs and froze. They weren’t the overspill of voices from the bar. Someone was in the room.

  She turned around and surveyed each corner of the room. Empty. But off to the left, beyond the buffet table, was an alcove that she remembered led into the kitchen a different way. Since there was no event in this room, no one was using that entrance to the kitchen.

  Almost on tiptoe, she walked closer, straining to hear voices.