by J. S. Marlo
Once she ascertained no one stood within eavesdropping distance, Liliane crossed her arms over the table and leaned forward. “Out with it, Damien. What’s going on?”
Her iPhone beeped. Without losing sight of him, she glanced at the message appearing on her screen only to do a double take before picking it up.
I’m going to kill him. Going home.
Not many hims worked in the office. Only Thomas, Leonard, a special ballot coordinator named Ahmad who covered the morning shifts, and a secretive observer.
The latter man stared at her with unconcealed curiosity. “Something wrong, Lily?”
The identity of the future murder victim wasn’t as much a mystery as what Thomas did to incense her mild-tempered female friend.
Liliane drew a blank as far as motive. “Nathalie, the technology officer, wants to kill someone. My money is on Thomas, though I can’t fathom why. So, are you going to level with me or not?”
Leaning forward, Damien matched her posture. “We received a complaint from one of the political parties stating your returning officer shows blatant partisanship toward one of the other parties. It’s been alleged he made financial contributions to their campaign, showed up to one of their rallies, and allowed the registration of partisan electors who didn’t provide all the necessary documentation.”
Despite loathing Thomas, Liliane was taken aback by the allegations. “I hate to defend him, Damien, but I can’t see him openly donating money to that party, and I know exactly which one. He’s not that stupid. I suppose it’s possible he gave the money to his wife, or children, and asked them to make the contributions, but correct me if I’m wrong, it’s not illegal for them to do so.”
Damien shifted in his chair, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. “Keep going, Lily.”
“Well, as far as attending a rally...” As much as she racked her brain, she couldn’t think of such events. “Since the by-election was called, I can’t say I saw any rallies happening in town. Could he have stopped at a party’s office? Maybe, but then you can bet he’ll provide you with a valid excuse for being there. You’re bound to have a hard time proving he lied. Thomas may not be trustworthy—actually he isn’t trustworthy at all—he’s sleazy and despicable—just like Stuart Reiter, the manager of that complaining party. I’ve dealt with him at the gallery. You can’t trust everything that comes out of Stuart’s mouth either. Now, about registering people that may not have provided all the information, I suppose it’s possible, but again, before processing the registrations, Sophie’s revising agents—”
Her dinner companion frowned. “Sophie?”
Thomas should have introduced Damien to the staff so the observer knew who she talked about without having to use their titles.
“Revision supervisor. When it comes to her job, Sophie doesn’t fool around.” The irony endured in Liliane’s mind. “She makes sure her revising agents follow the rules and chase down the missing documentation before adding anyone to the electors’ list. Thomas tried using Sophie, but not for that purpose.”
He narrowed his eyes to two dark slits. “Would you elaborate, please?”
“I—” As she glimpsed their server approaching with a tray, Liliane paused.
The woman presented them with a tantalizing dish. “Who ordered the mild?”
Damien raised a brow in her direction. “Lily?”
“I truly have no preference.” The smell roused Liliane’s appetite. “Your pick.”
Her companion chose the mild dish. After they were served, Damien prompted her to share with him what had transpired in the office.
While they ate, she explained the situation without revealing any intimate details. For a man who loved to brag about having seen and heard it all, Damien looked stunned and horrified by Thomas’ behavior.
“That’s all for now, but I’m sure I’ve only peeled the surface. I’ll probably discover another layer after I talk to Nathalie.” On her way home tonight, she would make a point of driving by her friend’s house, and if the lights were on in the living room, she would stop for an explanation.
“Lily, the integrity of any election is intrinsically linked to the integrity of its returning officer. You know that. If one comes into question, so will the other.” He shook his head, something he rarely did. “We can’t afford to have this by-election declared invalid, which may happen if word of his illicit activities comes out.”
Though she shared his frustration, she didn’t harbor the same pessimism. “If that’s any consolation, I don’t believe his underhanded activities will affect the validity or legitimacy of the results. He’s not trying to fix the election, Damien. He’s just using the process for his own selfish gratification.”
“It’s a small consolation, but it doesn’t solve our problem.” He dabbed the corner of a naan in his sauce. “How well do you know Leonard, his assistant?”
“I met him this morning for the first time.” His name didn’t appear on the payroll of any previous elections, and she’d never heard of the man prior to today. “I have no idea who he is, what he does, or how he got the job, but I can find out.”
“Please do and let me know if you think he can be trusted. I need to make a phone call. I’ll be back. Don’t let them take away my supper.” Leaving behind a plate half-full, Damien exited the restaurant.
Accepting the job of finance officer had been a mistake. No amount of money was worth the aggravation looming on the horizon.
~ * ~
As soon as she entered the election office, Liliane noticed a subtle change in the ambiance. At first sight, she labelled it an improvement.
“Did you enjoy a lovely supper, Liliane?” Glee sizzled on the receptionist’s face.
The idea that Gloria could have found out she’d secretly met Damien crossed Liliane’s mind. Bemused, she glanced around. No one else lingered in the lobby.
“Supper was fine. Did something happen while I ate?” She’d been absent less than two hours. How many things could happen during that time frame? On second thought, she didn’t want to know the answer to that question.
“You could say that.” The amusement spilled into Gloria’s soft voice. “Shortly after you left, Thomas entered Nathalie’s office. I don’t know what they talked about, but at one point Nathalie threatened to chop his banana and feed it to the purple minions.”
Laughter bubbled inside Liliane’s belly. The incident had to be related to the message she received. “I take it Nathalie was most vocal about it?”
Gloria nodded with gusto. “Thomas’ wife had just entered the building to see him and she stood right where you are when she heard it too. The poor woman looked so embarrassed, she spun on her heels and departed without saying a word. I feel sorry for her.”
The woman married a slime ball, and unless she lived in denial, which seemed unlikely but possible, she had to be aware of her husband’s behavior. At the end of the day, only Thomas’ wife could decide how much she could endure. Nobody else.
Long ago, Liliane fell in love with the wrong guy, but she didn’t wait for him to hit her a second time before giving him the boot. She also never told him she was pregnant. Liliane had faced the truth and raised her daughter alone. Therefore, she had a hard time feeling sorry for someone who willingly stayed in a bad relationship. “Is Thomas still here?”
Gloria rolled her eyes. “You’re kidding, right?”
Steps resounded in the hallway.
From around the corner, Leonard appeared with his jacket slung over his left shoulder. “Good night, ladies. It was a pleasure meeting you.”
It took a few seconds for Liliane’s brain to step into gear. “Hold on, Leonard. It’s 6:30 p.m. The office doesn’t close till 9:00 p.m. Where do you think you’re going?”
The rulebook stipulated that the returning officer, or his assistant, had to remain in the office during business hours, and business hours ran from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on weekdays.
Leonard paused in the lobby. “I’m going
out for a drink with my buddies, not that it’s any of your business.”
“You are aware that in Thomas’ absence, you must stay in the office, right?” Liliane couldn’t decide if the new assistant intended to dodge his responsibilities or if he wasn’t aware of them. “One of you has to be in here at all times.”
The look on Leonard’s face darkened as he glared at her. Sensing another confrontation, Liliane cursed the deal she made with Damien after his fateful phone call during supper.
“Thomas warned me you were a troublemaker, Liliane.” He pointed a thick finger at her. “If I were you, I would mind my own job and stop interfering with others’.”
“Well, you’re not me, so before you leave, let me give you a piece of advice. Go back in the office you share with Thomas and read the second chapter of the rulebook. I’m sure there’s a paper copy hidden in his drawers. It details your responsibilities in his absence.” Liliane had lost her patience and didn’t feel like searching for it. “If you still choose to leave the office unattended, let me warn you I will make certain that neither Gloria—nor any other employee—will lie to Headquarters when they inquire which one of you guards the fort this evening.”
His fingers curled into fists, he challenged her statement with white knuckles. “Thomas won’t allow anything like that to happen.”
A growl rattled Liliane’s throat. Leonard can’t be that deluded, can he? She needed to stop asking herself stupid questions. “Thomas will tell Headquarters the shift was yours to cover, Leonard. You don’t really think he’ll shoulder the blame, do you? I admire your loyalty, but you should save it for someone worthy of it, not for someone who’ll feed you to the wolves.”
Leonard took a step back. “Thomas told me this was an honorary position, and that I wouldn’t need to stay in the office.”
A loud sigh originating from behind her prompted Liliane to spin around.
Amanda stood in the doorway of the training room with a screwdriver in her hand. “Come on, Lenny. You didn’t really think you’d be paid fifteen thousand bucks for doing nothing for five weeks, did you? Pour yourself a cup of coffee and go read that rulebook.”
The assistant returning officer’s pay far exceeded fifteen thousand, but Liliane had no desire to debate salaries with Amanda, not when the recruitment officer worked twice as hard and made less than half that amount.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Leonard disappeared in the corridor, his grumblings trailing behind him.
Amanda shrugged. “He’ll get over it.”
When the petite woman retreated in the training room, Liliane followed her before closing the door behind her.
Five rows of tables extended from wall to wall. Chairs lined up behind them. A laptop at the back of the room was hooked to the projector, and training material, exercise booklets, and pens lay on the tables, awaiting the election workers scheduled to attend the next training session at 7:00 p.m.
Amanda’s office consisted of a nook with a door located in the back corner of the training room. In order to get in or out of her office, the recruitment officer had to cross the room. Though its size and location weren’t ideal, the office offered privacy, which Amanda needed while making phone calls.
Squatted in front of her door with the screwdriver in one hand, Amanda sighed. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to change a doorknob, would you?”
As a single mom, Liliane learned to tackle her way through repairs, maintenance, and renovation. Not many tasks fazed her. “Let me change it for you.”
The recruitment officer leapt to her feet and handed over the screwdriver. “I thought I could do it, but I can’t seem to figure out how to unscrew this one.”
Liliane examined the old doorknob. A trim plate covered the screws, which made it tricky to remove. She needed a small nail or a paperclip.
“Why are we changing it?” To the naked eye, the doorknob didn’t appear damaged. Nevertheless, Liliane lifted a paperclip from the training material and used it to pop the plate.
“I need one that locks. I keep lots of personal information in my office and I don’t want any workers to sneak in during training.” As she spoke, Amanda entered her office and returned with a package. “I bought a new lock at the hardware store this afternoon. It wasn’t expensive.”
A receipt was attached to the package.
Expensive or not, Liliane intended to reimburse Amanda. Headquarters allocated money in her electoral budget for such eventualities. “I’ll pay you back. In your case, having a lock is a necessity, but you do know we could have hired a locksmith, right?”
“Yeah...I do.” Amanda leaned against the doorframe. “Last election, Thomas hired a locksmith and the guy changed all the doorknobs for two hundred dollars—a piece.”
“Two hundred per lock?” The old knob slipped from Liliane’s hand and hit her toes. She swallowed the curse burning her tongue.
“Yeah, per lock, and there was at least a dozen, most of them in perfect order with the keys in the holes.” A guttural sound escaped the older woman’s lips. “His son made a fortune that morning.”
“The locksmith was his son?” Of course he was. Here went another stupid question. Liliane was full of them today.
“His oldest son.” Amada shrugged again. “After our conversation this morning, I figured you wouldn’t be thrilled if I presented you with a two-hundred-dollar invoice, but at the same time, I didn’t want to explain to Thomas why I dared hire a different locksmith. In the end, I decided to do it myself—not that it worked. I’m sorry, Liliane. I didn’t mean to get your hands dirty.”
“I don’t mind.” Grease stained her fingers, but unlike the dirt she kept unearthing, it would wash off as soon as she finished. “Is there some sort of special relationship between Leonard and Thomas?”
The recruitment officer had called him Lenny. It denoted a certain familiarity.
“Lenny is Annabelle Fontaine’s brother. He grew up here and went to school with Thomas. They were best friends, then Leonard got married and moved east with his new bride. After he lost his job last winter, he gambled away his retirement fund. When his wife of forty years learned he drained their bank account, she kicked him out.” Amanda ripped the new package open then placed it beside Liliane’s knees. “I can’t blame her. He’s been living in his sister’s basement ever since.”
Though she tried, Liliane doubted she succeeded in concealing the astonishment she felt from reaching her face. “How do you know all that?”
Amanda gathered the pieces from the old lock that Liliane discarded on the floor. “I play cribbage with Annabelle every Monday afternoon. Apparently, Lenny is also a slob. She’s at her wits’ end and wants him out of her house, but she can’t bring herself to throw him out on the street. She started using sleeping pills so she doesn’t hear him go in and out at night. Anyway, I’m guessing Thomas is either trying to help his old buddy or setting him up.”
The only person Thomas seemed inclined to help was himself. Liliane suspected Thomas offered Leonard the job knowing a gambler wouldn’t question any of his decisions and would make a good patsy should things go south.
Liliane inserted the new lock. “My money would be on the latter.”
“You’re probably right.” The recruitment officer peered over Liliane’s shoulder as she tightened the last screw. “Nice job, Liliane. Now I can lock myself in my office before Miss Universe shows up. I can’t stand her belly button or butt cheeks. I wish Thomas would tell her to put clothes on, but I suppose he enjoys the view too much to enforce the dress code. I wonder if he knows she also teaches naked yoga?”
“Naked yoga?” While Liliane conceded it would be liberating to shed her clothes, the picture forming in her mind dissuaded her from attempting it in front of a group.
The door opened.
Jasmin, the thirty-something yoga instructor hired as training officer, waltzed in. In her skimpy outfits, she exposed more bronze skin than a supermodel in a bikini. “If you’re having a
meeting, girls, can you move it elsewhere? My workers will be arriving at any moment now.”
Amanda rolled her eyes then hurried into her room before Liliane had a chance to return the screwdriver. The door closed with a bang.
Her hands on her narrow hips, Jasmin frowned. “What’s wrong with her tonight? She’s not still mad because Thomas gave me her job, is she?”
Look in the mirror was fighting its way out of Liliane’s tight lips. With great difficulty, she reeled the words in. From what she’d gathered, Amanda used to perform the combined jobs of recruitment and training officer. The reason behind Thomas’ decision to take away half of Amanda’s responsibilities and salary, and give them to Jasmin, stumped Liliane. The yoga instructor had never worked an election in her life, and from the tidbits of training that Liliane had observed, it showed. “Jasmin—”
“Liliane?” Gloria’s head appeared around the doorframe. “Can I see you a moment, please? We have a problem.”
Another one? Problems shouldn’t pop out of nowhere on a Monday night. Liliane followed the receptionist into the lobby where a stocky middle-aged man in ripped jeans and an orange muscle shirt waited by the window.
Gloria extended a hand in his direction. “This gentleman would like to attend a training session, but he’s not available to work on Election Day.”
It took Liliane a moment to wrap her brain around the discrepancy. “What?”
The man approached her. “The guy at the campaign office on Rocky Drive told me I’d make fifty bucks if I signed in for a training session. He said nothing about working the damned election.”
A sigh seeking release bruised Liliane’s ribcage. The campaign office located on Rocky Drive belonged to the same electoral party that complained about Thomas. What a surprise!