Page 117 of A Light in the Dark
He snickered. “I argued with her for twenty minutes about paying for my coffee. I lost. Apparently, those who accompany the mayor to her work get free coffee as a consolation. She isn’t going to take your money.”
“I’m really not,” the woman agreed, and she joined Joel in laughing. “It’s one of the perks of being in your position, madam. The least we can do is offer you free coffee while you try to fix this mess.” She offered the brew, which I accepted with a smile.
Then, with an arched brow and a smirk, I plunked a five dollar bill into the tip jar. “Thank you for the coffee and the warm welcome. If you think you know anything of use,write it down and deliver it to the security people outside that office I have to use. I’m not calling it my office until it has been cleansed of evil. That’s going to take at least a week. My priority is the refugee situation, but I’m also going to be cutting out as much corruption as possible. Stonecreek deserves better.”
“I’ll do that, madam. Thank you.”
I saluted her with my coffee and made for the exit with Joel hot on my heels.
“What took so long?”
“I found a hundred and thirty-one death certificates of that bastard’s victims, hidden in the mess in that fucking office. Among other things. I had the security people turn it over to law enforcement. Once I found the first death certificate, I decided I wasn’t leaving until I checked over as much of that disaster as I could for other death certificates. Then I found his planning journal. I’m guessing he had knocked everything off the desk trying to locate that piece of evidence.”
Joel’s expression darkened. “What did his planning journal contain?”
“It was his road map to purging Stonecreek of everyone who isn’t just like him. I think I’m going to need to do four or five hours a day until that office is cleansed of evil, Joel.”
He sighed, and after a moment, he nodded. “There’s a spot for you in the parking garage, and while you were working, one of the guards gave me a pass and directions on how to access it. Assuming I’m not at work, you can make use of my SUV.”
“I can take the bus if needed.”
The look he shot my way implied I would be paying formy comment somehow. “You could, but it’s an ineffective use of your time. Just borrow my SUV. And if we start having scheduling overlaps, we’ll go to a dealership and find a vehicle you like.”
If I remained stuck being the mayor, I’d need the vehicle. Heaving a sigh louder and longer than his had been, I replied, “You can take me to a dealership, but I am expecting passenger seat rights whenever possible. I like being the passenger.”
“I can probably manage driving you around.” He shook his head and laughed at me. “Your rider privileges are not being revoked. I’m just making sure you take as little time as possible getting to and from City Hall.”
I could accept that. “I’m exhausted, Joel.”
“I’m rested, as I sat around and read books on my phone while waiting. Why don’t I drive us home? If you’re that tired, it’ll be a lot safer—and I’ll pull over and get someone to drive for us if any sign of a headache shows up.”
“Good call. We can save our acquisitions for tomorrow. I have a feeling I’m going to pass out the instant I get anywhere near a soft surface.”
“Excellent. Fall asleep in my SUV at your own risk. Should you, you’re coming home with me, and it’ll be your turn to be a hostage for a while.”
“What a scandal! Do you have silk sheets on your bed?”
“I do.”
“As my bed does not have silk sheets and yours does, please take me hostage even if I don’t fall asleep in your SUV.”
“Excellent. Remember: you are under zero obligation toreturn to your regular work tomorrow. We’re to return next week at the earliest.”
After consulting with my phone, I realized Monday was only a few hours away. “Oh. I have an entire week off work?”
“As do I. We still need to recover.”
“Then I can easily manage five hours a day doing this mayor stuff to get as much out of the way as possible. Do you think I can get it down to only needing an hour a day, most of it done from home?” I chewed on my lip, glared at the device, and wondered how I’d manage everything. “I’m going to need a new phone, Joel. I am not putting mayoral crap on this phone.”
“I can take us to a phone shop on the way to get you hooked up with a phone for your mayoral work. I’d get a tablet and a laptop, too. We can order those online, though.”
“Or we can just grab them at the nearest store that sells all three things in close proximity. I’m going to need the tablet and the laptop tomorrow, and I’m not making the city-state pay for them. I’ll just make certain it’s known they’re my personal devices that are used exclusively for city-state business, and the data will be transferred off but the devices will remain mine. That way the city-state doesn’t deal with the bill.”
“The city-state can afford the bill, Valerie.”
“After what that asshole did? The city-state does not need any additional bills. They’re going to have bills enough compensating the murder victims.”
“And what about you, Madam Mayor?”
