Chapter 19 #2
Olivia looked up as the door opened and Erica wandered out with a young man of about nineteen. Shaking his hand and nodding, he left, and she caught sight of Olivia.
“Hi.” She held open her door.
“Hey.” Olivia dropped the magazine down on the table and stood. “Thanks for seeing me at short notice.”
“I’ve always got time for you, Olivia,” she replied as they walked into the office. “What can I do for you?” Erica moved around the desk and sat down.
“I want to make a formal complaint about Chief Walcott.”
Erica sighed.
“What has he done now?”
“Has Jake said anything to you?”
Erica’s mouth tightened in annoyance. “We haven’t been able to see much of each other since the chief has him on the night shift.”
“Sorry,” Olivia murmured.
“Trust me, it’s not your fault.” Erica shook her head. “Don’t start feeling guilty, the guy’s an asshole.”
Olivia smiled. “I have some stuff I need to tell you, but it has to be kept confidential.”
“Olivia, whatever you tell me is protected by attorney-client privilege.”
“I know, it’s just…” She paused, trying to organize her thoughts. “It’s about Chief Walcott and it’s personal. Despite the fact that I can’t stand the guy, I don’t want it to be made public.”
“Well, you’re a better person than I am,” Erica replied. “But let’s take this one step at a time. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? I promise I won’t do anything that you don’t specifically agree to.”
“Okay.” Olivia opened her mouth to speak, but once she began, she couldn’t stop, and it all came tumbling out.
The cops following her every time she left the house, Deputy Hanson tailing her to the medical center, the ridiculous lengths she and Theo had gone to in order to lose her.
She told Erica about the chief threatening her in the pub and the fact he probably would have hauled her into the station for more questioning if Theo hadn’t been there.
She went on to tell her about the file, James Talbot, and the chief’s relationship with him and their friendship with her father.
Erica listened quietly, taking it all in, until she finished. Finally, Olivia fell silent, and Erica’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
“Okay,” she said after a moment. “I think we can keep the information about the chief’s relationship with the previous victim between us for now, but you’re right, you do need to put in a complaint, and I know just who to speak to.”
She leaned over and pressed the intercom. “Jacqueline, I’ll be going out for a while. Bump my next client back an hour. Use my lunch hour if you have to, but if that’s not convenient for them, reschedule.”
Olivia barely heard the murmured response as Erica pulled her purse out of her desk drawer and stood. Straightening her skirt, she slipped on a tan raincoat, moving with frightening ease and elegance on her tall, skinny heels.
“Where are we going?” Olivia stood and followed her from the room.
“You’ll see,” Erica murmured. “We might as well walk, it’s not far.”
They stepped out into the crisp November air, and Olivia looked up at the heavy gray clouds moving in. “It looks like it’s going to rain,” she noted.
“That’s November in Massachusetts for you.” Erica shrugged, her red hair tumbling over her shoulder and catching in the wind.
“Are you sure you don’t want to drive?”
“It’s not worth it.” Erica crossed the road, giving Olivia no choice but to follow. “It really is just around the corner.”
She wasn’t kidding. They walked a couple of blocks, turned left, and suddenly Olivia could see a large cream-colored building surrounded by neatly manicured lawns.
“Who exactly are we going to see?”
“The mayor.”
“The mayor?” Olivia stopped dead, and Erica paused to glance back.
“Come on, it’s going to start pouring down any moment.” She pulled a small, compact umbrella from her purse as the first fat droplets of rain began to fall.
“Erica”—Olivia pulled up the hood of her jacket—“We can’t just show up and expect to see the mayor. Don’t you need an appointment or something?”
“She’ll see me, don’t worry.” Erica hurried along the sidewalk and up the steps to the front entrance.
Olivia frowned. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because she’s my godmother.” Erica grinned, holding the door open and following Olivia through.
Shaking out her umbrella, she dropped it into the holder near the entrance and led Olivia through the offices with ease. They made their way up to the second level and stopped in front of a neat desk.
A heavily pregnant woman with honey-blonde hair looked up and smiled. “Hey, Erica,” she greeted.
“Audrey.” Erica smiled back. “You look like you’re about to pop.”
“Nope.” She laughed as she leaned back in her chair and rubbed her swollen belly. “Still got about two months to go.”
“Seriously?” Erica’s brow rose in surprise. “You sure you’ve only got one in there?”
“I hope so.” The other woman chuckled and looked over Erica’s shoulder at Olivia with interest. “What brings you by?”
“I was hoping to see Mayor Burnett. Does she have a moment?”
“Take a seat and I’ll see if we can squeeze you in.”
Olivia and Erica took a seat nearby on a plush sofa in a stylish cream color with dark green stripes as Audrey pushed back from her seat and hauled herself awkwardly to her feet before disappearing through a door behind her desk.
“Aww, she’s got a waddle.” Erica laughed quietly.
“Do you two know each other well?” Olivia asked.
“We went to school together. She got married last spring, and this is her first baby.”
Olivia nodded. “So, the mayor’s your godmother then?”
“Yes,” Erica answered. “Known her all my life. I want you to know you can trust her. Although she was the one who appointed Walcott, she is fair. She’ll take this situation seriously.”
“I hope so.” Olivia sighed. “The last thing I need is someone else in authority after my head on a plate.”
“It’ll be fine.” She patted Olivia’s hand reassuringly. “Trust me.”
“It seems it’s your lucky day.” Audrey reappeared. “Her next appointment had a minor fender bender out on South Ridge Road and has been delayed. She can fit you in now.”
“Thanks, we appreciate it.” Erica nodded as she rose from the sofa, beckoning for Olivia to follow her.
The first thing Olivia noticed was how elegant yet homely the mayor’s office was.
The second thing was the woman herself as she rose from behind the antique walnut desk to greet Erica.
She had to be in her fifties, but the woman didn’t look a day over forty.
Her dark brown hair shone in a sassy jaw-length bob, and her face held a few faint lines, just the odd one at the corner of her eyes.
She embraced Erica affectionately before smoothing her peach-colored pantsuit and turning her curious brown eyes on Olivia.
“This is Olivia West,” Erica introduced. “She’s a client and a friend. Olivia, this is Tammy Burnett.”
“Mayor Burnett.” Olivia held out her hand.
“Miss West.” Mayor Burnett took her hand, but there was something in the older woman’s eyes Olivia couldn’t quite put a name. “I seem to be hearing your name a lot.”
“I’ll bet,” Olivia murmured.
“Please.” She gestured for them to take a seat on a curved, pearl-gray couch, then settled herself on the matching chair. “Now, what exactly can I do for you?”
“It’s a bit of a delicate situation,” Erica began in a crisp, professional manner. “I’m actually here in a formal capacity. The truth is, we’re here to make a complaint against Chief Walcott.”
“I see.” Mayor Burnett’s lips pursed. “Please continue.”
“Olivia had nothing to do with the murders and didn’t know either victim personally, having only met each of them once in passing.
There is no physical evidence or motive tying her to either victim and although the remains were discovered in the woods, neither body was on her property.
Yet Chief Walcott has pursued her with extreme prejudice.
She’s trying to start a new life in Mercy, but Chief Walcott continues to spread unfounded accusations about her.
He has her followed every time she leaves her property, which I shouldn’t have to point out is an appalling misuse of police resources, and constitutes harassment.
He’s accosted her in public, threatened to arrest her without substantial cause.
She’s been extremely tolerant up to a point, but this is too much.
He either needs to leave her alone, or we will have no choice but to sue. ”
“I see,” the mayor repeated. “Ms. West?”
“It’s true,” Olivia confirmed. “Chief Walcott has treated me like a criminal from the moment I stumbled across Adam Miller’s body. I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wasn’t even alone. I had one of his own deputies with me, as well as a friend.”
“Jake Gilbert and his sister, Louisa Linden,” the mayor replied. “I’ve read the reports, Ms. West. I do like to know what’s going on in my town, particularly when my residents start turning up dead.”
Olivia nodded, then drew in a nervous breath and took a chance. “Do you know about the murders twenty years ago?”
“I do,” she said after a moment.
“Well, I didn’t. Chief Walcott took great delight in blindsiding me with them when he was questioning me about Brody Walker’s disappearance, right before he basically insinuated that my father was responsible for them.”
“I am aware of Chief Walcott’s theory.”
“Look”—Olivia gave a tired huff and rubbed her forehead—“I can’t tell you what the truth is.
I was only eight years old when my dad killed my mom.
I never would have thought he’d ever be capable of what he did to my mom or my grandmother, so I can’t tell you whether he was capable of the other murders. Turns out I never knew him at all.”
“I understand,” Mayor Burnett replied sympathetically.