Chapter Forty-four
The day flew past for Jack until they released the news that he’d won by a landslide. To celebrate, he invited his clan of supporters who’d spent the day working beside him at the office, plus his soon to be new family to his favorite place where they served the best hamburgers and pizzas in town.
Once everyone grabbed a seat, Mia’s next to his, he cuddled Maisie on his knee, relieved to be able to catch up with the kid.
Knowing that if his smile grew any larger, he’d look like a goofy clown, he gave the child his full attention while she chattered on about having him as her weally new daddy.
Before the jokes, celebratory beer clinks and continuous laughter stopped, the chief appeared alongside three councilmen. “Can we talk to you for a few minutes in private, Jack?”
Seeing the unmistakable frowns on each face, suddenly sober, he followed the men to a quiet place at the end of the bar where they were able to find an empty booth.
“Does anyone want some refreshments?” Jack broke into the ugly silence.
Each of the men ordered a beer and once they’d delivered the drinks, the small talk ended.
Chief Driver began to speak. “These gentlemen have asked me to accompany them tonight because of the strange circumstances the city faces. You know that during a normal election, the incumbent would continue in office for a specific number of weeks in order to finalize his duties and leave the office in a good state for the new mayor?”
“Yes, of course. It’s routine.”
“Yeah, well, there’s been a glitch in those plans. Mayor Lotborn left the country sometime in the last twelve hours after trashing his office so bad it looks like a pack of vandals have gone berserk. Many files have been destroyed, and he’s stolen others. The place is in a hell of a mess, Jack.”
Anger struck instantly. Bastard! Jack leaned back in his seat. “How did you find out?”
Ed Snowton answered. As the longest serving councilman, his authority was unquestionable.
“I went to his office not long after the announcement of your victory to request some of the files I knew he had. The man’s a lunatic, Jack.
He’s been on the edge for some time. The rest of us had become so concerned, we’d taken to having doubles made of the files on his computer and even the backup paper files. Damn good thing we did it too.”
Jack held his beer high. “Here’s to you having the good sense to take steps.”
“Don’t get me wrong here, we didn’t get them all. There’s still enough missing, it’s going to create a hell of a problem. That’s where we need you.”
“Excuse me? I’m not even getting sworn in until after Christmas.
It’s been a long haul. My arm’s still in this annoying sling most of the time when I’m not in public.
I have a business that desperately needs me to step in to administer directions for when I’m no longer available all day.
And, I haven’t had any time with my personal life either.
These next weeks were going to give me breathing space to get organized before taking office. ”
Chief Driver broke into the discussion. “We get that, Jack. We wouldn’t have come to you if we could see any other way of making this okay.
But there isn’t. We can’t leave everything hanging, it’s too dangerous.
Not with the iffy players that Lotborn had lined up on a rampage.
They expected him to win, and they had a lot of money riding on that fact.
Now they’re angry, and we need a representative to deal with this mess. ”
Jack slowly placed his empty bottle on the table so he wouldn’t follow his urge to throw it across the room. “And… the people elected me. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Pretty much.”
“The council took a quick vote. We want you to take over your duties as soon as tomorrow. We’ll help you all we can, but you’re ultimately the man with the power.
” The older councilman’s hand shook, and his bloodshot eyes screamed his age.
High blood pressure symptoms appeared as if written across his forehead.
He couldn’t take on these responsibilities.
Driver didn’t let up. “Dammit, Jack, the man had the morals of a thieving lunatic who’d go the distance in getting what he wanted – slimy son of a bitch. Heaven knows what he did while in control. We need an honest man to clean house. I hope you’ll agree to step in early and take up the reins.”
Jack hesitated and felt embarrassed for doing so.
But he’d had so many plans during these free weeks.
He needed to get healthy again. He wanted to spend a lot of time with Mia and woo her like he’d planned before asking her to marry him.
And, he felt terrible about leaving Maisie on her own so much.
Whenever he appeared, she followed him around like a lost little puppy needing attention.
If he agreed to take on these duties early, he might as well write off all those plans.
He looked around the table, at the expressions of those who came begging. “I’m going to say yes, but with one condition.”
“Anything within reason, Jack,” Ed Snowton’s voice cracked.
“I intended to get Angie O’Brien in the office as my deputy anyway, but I’d want her to start working with me right now.”
“Easy. Done. We’ll take a vote while we have a moratorium and then we’ll hold a press conference to explain what’s happening to the public.”
“Okay then, Angie and I’ll be at city hall early tomorrow morning. Don’t worry, gentlemen. We’ll get this mess straightened out as quickly as possible.”
Chief Driver’s grin widened to where it was a bit scary. “And I’ll be working with the FBI, concentrating on trying to find our scuzzy mayor and bring him to justice. A job I’m looking forward to.”
Jack sat alone for a few minutes after the others left. He’d had plans for these next few weeks before Christmas, plans he’d worked on all through the day when moments of peace became like precious jewels.
He’d envisioned spending time with his girls, getting Mia to fall more in love with him.
Charming Maisie back into the pool so she could enjoy swimming rather than stay terrified.
It needed to be done, she couldn’t be allowed to foster her fear so as an adult, she’d lose out on such an enjoyable pastime.
He didn’t want that for her, and the sooner he began helping her to win over her fear, the better.
He held his head in his hands and let go of each of his fantasies… for now. The city needed a leader so they wouldn’t flounder worse than they already were. He had seen the agitation on the faces of Chief Driver, Ed Snowton and the others.
A man had responsibilities. He only prayed Mia wouldn’t feel as if his absence was in any way because of her.