by K. J. Emrick
Darcy didn’t know what he meant by “rags to riches.” As she understood it, this particular millionaire had come from money, and had basically spent his life spending money. Speaking of which, the nice shiny gold watch on Carson’s wrist must have cost a pretty penny all by itself. The black face had a tiny diamond stud at the twelve, three, six, and nine positions. Darcy had no doubt it was real diamond and not just glass. Somehow she doubted Carson Everly had ever known the “rags” part of that saying. But, as they say, the customer was always right. Taking the mass market paperback from him she brought it to the sales counter to ring up the sale.
“I see you were admiring my watch,” he said proudly. “Gift from my girlfriend. I really think it captures my essence, don’t you?”
Darcy repeated the mantra of businesswomen everywhere, over and over in her mind. The customer is always right… the customer is always right…
Thankfully before she had to give him any kind of answer about the watch or his personality, Cha-Cha came padding out from around the stacks. He stopped and looked up at Carson Everly standing there. Then he sneezed and walked away.
“Cute dog,” Carson said cheerfully as he took out his wallet. “Kind of goofy looking, in an endearing kind of way. So, you’re coming out to vote later this month, right?”
Darcy’s fingers paused over the keyboard of the computer. She turned to look up into his eyes, seeing nothing there except interest in his own question.
Was it possible that this stuffed shirt hadn’t heard about Helen’s death?
“Um, Carson?” she said. “You know what happened to Helen, right?”
He blinked at her, obviously confused. “I heard that she died. Wasn’t that all?”
She felt her expression freeze. If she hadn’t disliked the man before, she certainly did after that comment. Wasn’t that all?
Was he serious?
“Carson, I know you only moved into Misty Hollow a short time ago, but you should know that everyone here is like one big family. When something happens to one of us, it matters to the rest of us. Helen’s dying is a blow to the whole community. If you plan on being our mayor, then that should be the first thing you learn.”
“Right you are,” he said, as if that had been his point all along. “That’s why when I make my acceptance speech after the election I’m going to be sure to thank Helen and all she did for this town. It will mean a lot to everyone. So, you’re going to vote, right? Cast your vote for Carson Everly?”
Darcy didn’t know what to say, or do, that might get through to him. It was obvious that he didn’t have a clue how insensitive he was being. So instead, she made change for him out of the money he handed over, and then put his book into a plastic bag with the Sweet Reads name and motto on the front.
“You know what?” she told him pleasantly. “I think I will vote.”
His smile brightened.
“I’ll vote for Helen,” she explained. “In fact, I’ll get all of my family and friends to vote for her, too. I mean, she was going to win the election easily before she died, so it would be a nice tribute for her to win posthumously, don’t you think?”
This was the first time she had ever seen a chink in that happy expression he wore like armor. His smile slipped to one side, almost as if one of the strings he used to hold it up had broken. “Well,” he snarked, “I’m the only one left on the ballot, so I suppose it doesn’t much matter what you do. In fact, I’m going over to the Town Hall right now to get used to my new office.”
Grabbing his purchase up off the counter, he turned and walked out, whistling to himself as he went. Darcy could almost imagine he had his smile back in place already.
As he reached the door the shopkeeper’s bell rang again and two people, a young man and a young woman, came into the store. They were tourists. Darcy knew that immediately because she didn’t recognize either of them and she knew everyone in Misty Hollow, at least by face if not by name. Carson Everly would have no idea who those two were, either.
Even so, he spread his arms wide and greeted them in that loud voice. He told them both to vote for him come election day and offered to pose for a picture with them. The man smiled at him and took out a cellphone, holding it sideways with the lens facing the three of them. Carson made sure to snug an arm around both of them, flashing that smile.
“Everybody say, winner!” he exclaimed.
They did, and the flash went off, and Carson shook both of their hands. Then he turned and looked directly at Darcy, as if to say she could cast her vote any way she wanted. He had plenty more.
Darcy just shook her head. This was the guy who was going to be Misty Hollow’s next mayor. Fantastic.
After Carson left, Darcy heard the two tourists talking to each other.
“Who in the world was that?”
“I have no idea. Oh, hey. Look! There’s a dog here. Let’s take a picture with him, too.”
Darcy hid a giggle behind her hand. A picture with Cha-Cha was just as interesting for them as a photo opportunity with Carson Everly.
Behind her, the door to the office opened, and Izzy leaned out. “Is he gone?”
“Yeah, he left,” Darcy said with a sad, slow shake of her head. She certainly understood why her business partner didn’t like that man. He never thought of anyone but himself. Even his questions about what other people wanted were really about himself. “I’m just sorry that he’s the only one left running for mayor. That means he’s going to win hands down.”
“Guess that’s true. Too bad.”
Darcy thought about that.
It was true, wasn’t it? Maybe more true than she had realized before this moment.
Without Helen in the picture, Carson was going to win the election. In fact, it was the only way he could have hoped to win the election.
Which meant…
Cha-Cha came wandering out of the stacks again. This time he sat down on his rump, and wagged his tail, and panted as he looked up at Darcy.
When he came out earlier and snuffed at Carson Everly, was he seeing the man who had killed Helen? Was he trying to tell her so? Was Carson Everly the sort of man who was willing to kill just to win the election of a small town in New England?
A small town that was well known across the country. It was famous, in fact, in its own way. Misty Hollow made the papers regularly. Being the mayor of a place like that meant that he would be famous, by extension. His name would be in the papers. People would be able to Google his name.
He’d already created “a very impressive business plan” for the town, didn’t he? He obviously really wanted this, but Helen had been standing in his way.
Not anymore.
She signed out of her profile on the computer and turned to Izzy. “You know what? I think I will step out for a bit. Let me get Zane and then I’ll head out. I suddenly thought of an errand I need to run.”
Izzy knew something was up, but she’d been friends with Darcy a long time now, and she knew better than to ask her to explain one of her hunches. When Darcy was investigating, it was best just to sit back and watch her do her thing.
Carson Everly was an attorney.
That in itself didn’t make him a bad person. Over the years, Darcy had gotten to know several attorneys both in public and in private practice, and just like in any profession there were good ones and there were bad ones. She didn’t begrudge anyone for making a living.
From everything Darcy had heard, Carson had actually been a fairly successful attorney in his last town, part of a big firm that handled million-dollar corporate accounts. He’d moved to Misty Hollow supposedly to branch out on his own as a private criminal attorney. Then not long after moving he’d started his campaign for mayor. It had been obvious to everyone that Carson Everly was a man who knew what he wanted out of life, and what he wanted was to be the mayor of a famous little town in the middle of New England.
No doubt as a stepping stone to something greater.
Darcy knew where h
is office was located on a side street a few blocks up from her store. One of the great things about living in this town was how you got to know where everything was pretty quick. It wasn’t that big of a place after all. You could walk from one end to the other in an hour or so if you had a mind to. Darcy used to do it all the time.
Of course, that was back in the days before Darcy had a three-year-old to bring with her on her walks.
Zane didn’t mind. He was watching the world with big, curious eyes, letting his mother do all the work as she pushed him in the stroller. Usually she let Zane walk, but going even this far with a toddler on foot was going to take forever. She wanted to get here quickly. The stroller was the best bet even if Zane was getting really big.
“That’s all right,” Darcy said as they made it to the steps of the law practice. “Someday I’ll be old and you’ll get to push me around. Won’t that be nice?”
Zane laughed and reached his arms up, craning his neck to look behind him at Darcy. “Push Momma around. Push Momma around!”
Apparently he was onboard with that idea. Good to know, Darcy thought to herself, for when she became a ninety-year-old grandmother in a wheelchair depending on the good will of her children.
Wow. What a thought.
She had to pull the stroller up the three stairs to the door backward and open it blindly by reaching a hand behind her, and then hold it open with her foot while she got the wheels over the threshold. Had it been this hard with Colby? She didn’t remember having to work like this to get her daughter into places. Or maybe she was only remembering the good times.
Once she was inside, she couldn’t turn the stroller around in the narrow space between filing cabinets and a secretary’s desk. The man sitting behind the desk was staring at her with wide eyes and an open mouth. The whites all around his pupils were even more obvious against his dark skin and his sharp blue suit. For a personal assistant, Darcy thought to herself, he was dressed pretty well. Everything about him was neat and tidy, down to the perfectly squared stack of papers on the corner of his desk.
“Can I… help you?” he asked her, obviously hoping she’d say she got the wrong address.
He obviously wasn’t expecting a woman to come walking into Carson Everly’s office with a stroller, and a kid, wearing the expression of someone who was angry at the world.
Darcy unbuckled Zane and took him out of the stroller, setting him down on his feet while she glared at the man—Bosley Mose according to his nameplate. “I’m here to see your boss. Where is Carson Everly? That man promised to take care of my legal issues if I paid him an enormous sum of money. Well, I paid him every penny but do I still have to go to court next week? Yes, I do.”
“Ma’am, I…”
“Don’t you give me that,” Darcy interrupted him. “I want to see him. Where is he? Hmm? Is he hiding in his office?”
Of course she knew Carson wasn’t here. He’d been on his way to the Town Hall to see if his muscular buttocks would fit into Helen’s chair. She knew he wasn’t going to be in. That was the whole reason she was here.
Just past Bosley’s desk was a short hallway that ended in an open door. Carson’s name was on that door, along with the word “private.” Darcy had noticed it right away. That would be Carson’s office.
She took several long strides in that direction.
Just like she knew he would, the secretary jumped out of his chair and came rushing toward her. Thankfully, when Carson came to Misty Hollow he’d brought his secretary with him, which meant Bosley didn’t know the people in town. He didn’t know that Darcy Sweet wasn’t actually a client of Carson Everly’s. All he knew was that a very upset woman was complaining about the service she’d received. Just like with any business, especially in a small town like Misty Hollow, keeping potential customers happy was a must. Bosley must know that. So no doubt he was going to try to calm her down, and get her very imaginary problem solved, and…
“Excuse me, Miss? You can’t go in there!”
And, keep her out of his boss’s private office.
Darcy turned, acting as if she was going to stop like he’d told her to, but when she saw what Zane was doing she almost smiled. Right on cue, her little man had done just what he was supposed to do.
Dramatically, she put a hand up over her mouth while she reached out with her other to point at what was happening behind Bosley. “No, Zane, don’t do that. Oh, no. This is oh so very terrible. I’m so sorry. Oh, no. Zane!” She was shaking her finger now. “Just look at that mess. I mean, look. Yes. Look. Seriously. Look at that. Behind you. Right there. Look.”
She waited for Bosley to catch on. He blinked at her, but then finally he looked around to find Zane methodically pulling pages off that nice, neat stack of paperwork on the corner of his desk.
Zane loved nice, neat stacks of paperwork. They made such a nice mess when you spread them all over the floor.
“No, child!” Bosley blurted out. “No, no, we don’t do that. Ma’am, can’t you make him stop?”
“Oh, I’m afraid he has a mind of his own,” Darcy shrugged. “Kids these days. Am I right?”
She smiled at her son over Bosley’s shoulder and gave him a wink. He pulled out another piece of paper, and then another, letting each of them flutter down wherever they would. Bosley scrambled to pick up what had already been scattered. Zane kept up the snowstorm of papers, laughing with glee.
Usually, Darcy would discourage this kind of behavior in her son, but right now it served a purpose as a distraction. She could always remind him not to do this later. After she gave him a big hug, of course, for being such a good Mommy’s helper.
Taking advantage of Bosley’s repeated and futile attempts to explain to Zane how important it was that he stop doing this, Darcy ducked quickly into Carson’s office. She wouldn’t have more than a few seconds but if she was lucky that was all she would need. She scanned the walls, hoping to see a day calendar hanging there along with the motivational posters telling people to “Never Give Up” and “Hang In There.”
When she couldn’t see a calendar, she turned to the solid wooden desk. It was big enough that it must have been assembled in the room. No way did it fit through this door. There were no neat stacks of papers here. Just a computer and a bobblehead of Ronald Regan and a cup full of pens that had Carson’s name on them in bold letters over the words “Vote for Change.”
And an open appointment book.
Darcy glanced over her shoulder quickly, down the short hallway to where Zane was running around Bosley in circles, picking up the papers on the floor before the man could get to them and throwing them up in the air. That should give her just enough time to do what she’d come here for.
From her back pocket she took out her cellphone. For years, Darcy hadn’t owned a phone of her own. It turned out that ghosts could use telephones to communicate with people. They especially loved mobile phones, for some reason, and no matter how many times Darcy changed her number or service provider they just kept calling her. So, she finally gave up and stopped carrying one.
This phone had been a gift from Jon. She liked the lavender case, but the best part of it was how it couldn’t make or receive phone calls. No more ghosts ringing her up in the middle of the night. It could text, and in a pinch it could dial 911, and there were a dozen or so games on there that she used to keep the kids entertained.
There was a couple of apps she found useful, too.
Like a camera.
She snapped four or five pictures of the open page of the planner. Then she flipped the page back and did the same. That covered the day Helen died. Interesting.
Photos done, she put the phone away and then rushed to grab up Zane as if she’d been about to stop her son all along. “Come on, son,” she said to him in that same dramatic voice from before. “I know when we’re not wanted. I will just have to find that Carson Everly on my own. You tell him that Melissa was here. Do you hear me? You just tell him that Melissa was here.” Bosle
y’s eyes went wide at her tone and he just stood there open mouthed, unable to form words.
With that, she picked up Zane in one arm and folded up the stroller with a press of her foot on the handy release lever. Managing the door was tricky, but once she was outside she could drag the stroller behind her and put Zane down on his feet to walk, his hand in hers. Just like that, they were on their way back to the bookstore.
That was pretty well done, if she did say so herself. Her son had a knack for distracting people. She might have to bring him with her more often, whenever she needed people to look the other way when she wanted to find a clue or get some evidence. He could be a big help, so long as the situation wasn’t going to be dangerous. There had been no danger back in Carson Everly’s office. Carson had been over at the Town Hall, so she knew he wouldn’t be at the office. Even if he had, she would have just told him she was there to apologize for what she’d said. Sure, that would be a lie, but she’d lied about being there over some legal matter, so what was the difference?
“Momma?” Zane asked her. “Who’s Melissa? You said your name’s Melissa. You’re not Melissa. You’re Momma.”
She’d lied about that too, actually. She hid a smile from her son, because she might be proud of herself for getting away with her little swindle, but lying was always bad. At least, that’s what she wanted to teach Zane until he was older. When you were a grownup, sometimes a lie was the more convenient option. Like telling a three-year-old that Santa Claus brought him presents, or that getting a shot didn’t hurt.
For now, she decided to tell him, “I must have made a mistake when I told him my name is Melissa. I’ll have to call and apologize to him later, won’t I?”
“Yup,” Zane said cheerfully, already forgetting about the whole thing as he marched up the sidewalk beside her. “Think Cha-Cha miss me?”
Darcy was relieved that she wouldn’t have to explain herself further than that to her son. “I’m sure he missed you, honey. You and the new puppy are getting along good, aren’t you?”
