Killer Campaign (Lisa Chance Cozy Mysteries Book 3)

by Estelle Richards

  “True, but I doubt it’ll be a Goth revival club.”

  Mo shrugged one shoulder, but his mouth twisted up on the side. “Maybe I should’ve worn my suit.”

  “Your funeral suit?”

  “What if it’s a formal kind of place?” He sighed. “I wish the note had been more specific. It’s hard enough to pick out clothes when I know where I’m going. I feel like I’m in high school again.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be fine. Nothing wrong with wearing black. Plenty of people wear black. It’s supposed to be slimming.”

  Mo ran a hand over his flat stomach. “Slimming,” he agreed.

  Lisa laughed and hugged him. “Are you sure you want to do this? We could stay in and have some snacks in front of bad TV.”

  “No, you were right. This might be the ticket to helping a lot of animals.”

  “Ok, but how about a quick snack before we go? A Sunshine Muffin?”

  Mo smiled. “You know I can’t resist your muffins.”

  She led him to the kitchen to ply him with food.

  A few minutes later, Mo brushed away a crumb and looked at the clock. “Time to go.”

  “Are you sure?” Lisa said.

  “Pine Grove Circle is on the other side of town. That new development Peterman put up.”

  Lisa took a deep breath. “I’ll drive.”

  Mo raised an eyebrow.

  “Like a getaway car,” she said.

  Mo put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Ok, but don’t forget your jacket. This ensemble is an outfit,” he said, indicating his all-black attire.

  They were quiet on the drive to Pine Grove Circle. Turning into Peterman’s development, Lisa slowed down to find her way on the unfamiliar streets. She was surprised at the tasteful way the large new houses had been built without leveling the actual pine grove. Mature trees loomed on either side, casting long shadows in the headlights.

  She found number 347 in the center position of a cul-de-sac. A light glowed from the back of the house, and several cars were parked in the driveway. Lisa swung her car around to face the cul-de-sac’s exit and parked behind a Mercedes with a Valentine For Mayor bumper sticker.

  Lisa turned off the engine and took a breath. “This is it.”

  Mo took her hand. “Don’t worry. See all those cars? It looks like a party. Maybe I’m supposed to collect some donations.”

  Lisa gripped Mo’s hand. “I just have this funny feeling,” she said.

  “It’ll be ok,” Mo said.

  As Mo reached for the door handle, three police cars with lights flashing pulled into the cul-de-sac. Lisa and Mo stared through the windshield as the cops got out of their cars and advanced on 347 Pine Grove Circle, guns at the ready.

  “That was Toby,” Lisa whispered.

  “Maybe your funny feeling was justified,” Mo whispered back. “Do you think we should leave?”

  “They might notice us leaving. I think we should stay. And we might see what’s going on, too.”

  They sat holding hands, not daring to turn the car on. The engine ticked as it cooled. Just as Lisa noticed she was starting to see her breath in the air, illuminated by the still-flashing red and blue lights, the front door of number 347 opened.

  Lisa and Mo watched wide-eyed as the police marched out several people they’d seen at the previous night’s city council meeting: Mayor Ethan Valentine, Ryan Regent, and Dan Weston. Lisa also recognized the next person led out in handcuffs.

  “Gary Barlow?” she said.

  “One and the same,” Mo confirmed.

  The next man arrested was a stranger to Lisa, a middle-aged man wearing khakis and a down-filled coat. The last person the police brought out of the house was Jake Peterman. Lisa could hear him bellowing for a lawyer and promising to sue.

  “Some things never change,” Lisa said. “But what kind of party was this, and why are the cops here?”

  The police loaded the six men into the backs of the police cars and turned off the flashing lights. Two of the cars left. A figure left the third car and walked over to where Lisa and Mo were watching.

  He knocked on the window. Lisa rolled it down.

  “When did you turn into a police-scanner listener, cuz?” Toby said.

  “Hey, stranger,” Lisa said. “What’s been keeping you too busy to come by the Last Chance Café?”

  “You’re looking at it,” Toby said, waving a hand at his police car where Jake Peterman and the stranger were waiting. “You didn’t bring me some coffee, did you? Or a muffin?”

  “Sorry, Toby, I’m fresh out.”

  He shook his head. “That’s a shame. Now I’m going to have go back to the station and drink that horrid swill they call coffee while I do paperwork all night.”

  Lisa bit her lip. “Anything you can tell us about all this?” she said, indicating the house and the men in the back of his police car.

  “I can’t really tell you more than you heard on the scanner.”

  “Nothing?” Lisa said. “Nothing at all?”

  Toby hesitated, running his hand over his crewcut hair. “I’m sure the chief will want to do a whole press conference tomorrow morning. It’s not every day you catch the mayor at an illegal gambling operation.”

  “I guess I’ll watch the news tomorrow morning,” Lisa said.

  Toby winked at her and said goodbye to Mo.

  Lisa rolled her window up again and turned on the car to restart the heater. “Illegal gambling operation?”

  Mo shrugged. “I think if they wanted me to gamble, they should have worded their invitation a little differently.”

  Chapter 7

  When the next day’s midmorning lull hit, Lisa was more than ready to sit down and enjoy a mocha and a Sunshine Muffin. She took a seat in the library next to the window. Mama Cat jumped up on the chair across from her and greeted her with a trill. Lisa sipped the mocha and bit into the muffin, savoring the mix of dark and bright flavors, a perfect combination for the March weather. The sun outside shone fiercely, seeking out patches of snow and shrinking them.

  A dark cloud of worry passed through her mind. Had Carly gone to see the doctor yet? Lisa pulled out her phone and called Gideon.

  He answered on the first ring. “Hello,” he whispered.

  “Sorry, is the baby sleeping?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ok. I just wanted to follow up with you about getting Carly to the doctor. Has she gone yet?”

  He hesitated. “No, not yet.”

  “Well, does she have an appointment?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?” she insisted.

  Gideon sighed deeply. She could picture his face scrunching up into its worried expression. “Carly says she doesn’t need a doctor, she only needs everyone to leave her the bleep alone for five minutes running.”

  “That doesn’t sound like her. Carly always has time for people. She’s one of the most generous people I know.”

  Gideon sighed again. The tail end of the sigh morphed into a yawn. “I know. She says she’s just tired. And I know she is tired. I don’t know what to do.”

  “You have to make her go see a doctor,” Lisa said, surprising herself by how much her tone of voice reminded her of her mother. “Gideon, you have to make her go. No excuses. I’ll watch Liam if you need babysitting. But you have to take her to the doctor.”

  Gideon yawned again. “Ok, I will. Ok, bye.” He yawned in her ear once more before hanging up.

  Lisa frowned at the phone. Would Gideon even remember the conversation, as tired as he sounded? She would have to follow up again later.

  The jingling front door bell summoned Lisa away from her break. She went into the hall and found her father, looking pleased with himself. His freshly cut hair gave him a dapper look that had been altogether missing in the previous months. He looked like the Lou Chance of old, the one who’d taken the Moss Creek High School marching band to state year after year.

  “Hey, Dad. You’re looking
good. What’s got you so chipper?” Lisa said, hugging him.

  “I’m here to invite you to dinner,” he said. “Family dinner.”

  “Family dinner?” Lisa repeated. After a second, the implication hit her. “Wait, are you and Mom back together?”

  Lou grinned. Lisa gave a little shriek and threw her arms around him again, this time giving him a sound squeeze.

  “When did this happen? How did it happen? Did you move back in?”

  “We’ve been talking for a while. Actually, I think I have to credit Jake Peterman for the breakthrough.”

  “What? Jake Peterman? Come and sit down and tell me everything. Do you want coffee? How about a muffin?”

  Lou followed her to the kitchen to get food, then into the library to sit down. Mama Cat rubbed against his leg before curling up on the rug next to the table.

  “You remember a couple months ago we had that fight about your mother’s date with Jake?”

  Lisa wrinkled her nose. Penny going out with Jake Peterman had sounded a very sour note. She nodded.

  “And you remember how, right after his date with her, he went out with your Aunt Olivia?”

  Lisa nodded again.

  Lou took a bite of muffin and chewed. “These are really good. New recipe?”

  “Dad!”

  He chuckled. “I think that after seeing how the Jake Petermans of the world treat dating, she was ready to come back and give true love a chance again.”

  “And that’s it? No flowers, no love songs, no heartfelt poetry, just Peterman’s-a-jerk?”

  “Well, I did offer to have the high school jazz band play love songs outside her window, but she said that wouldn’t be necessary.”

  Lisa laughed. “Mom would say that.”

  Lou brushed the crumbs off his lap and stood. “I have to go. You’ll be at dinner? Family dinner?”

  “You didn’t tell me when,” Lisa protested.

  “Tomorrow night. At home.” His grin spread across his face at the word home.

  “I’ll be there.”

  “Bring Mo. Toby will be there, too.”

  “And Aunt Olivia?”

  “We’ll see.”

  *

  All afternoon, Lisa had a spring in her step as she thought about the minor miracle of her parents reuniting. She had a big smile for every customer who came in.

  After lunch, Lisa grabbed the broom to sweep up and get ready to hand over the café to Jan for the afternoon shift. She was doing a little dance twirl around the broom when Olivia came in.

  “Aren’t you the festive little maypole dancer today?” Olivia said. “A month and a half early, but no one ever minded an early spring.”

  “Hi, Aunt Olivia. What can I do for you today?” Lisa said.

  “I’m organizing another protest,” Olivia said, “and this time I’m going to be ready. Those old fogeys aren’t going to fall asleep in their lawn chairs on my watch. I need coffee. Lots of coffee. And muffins too. I don’t want to give them the excuse of low blood sugar to wander away.”

  “I’m happy to take an order. When is the protest scheduled for?”

  Olivia gaped at her. “Today, of course. Right now.”

  “It is? What’s going on?” Lisa said.

  Olivia grinned. “They finally caught that mayor with his hand in the cookie jar. Toby arrested him. Gambling. Poker, in point of fact.”

  “I know.”

  “You do?”

  “Uh, Toby told me.”

  Olivia nodded. “But did you know that Moss Creek’s town charter has a morality clause? Any elected official arrested for immoral behavior can be removed from office. Not convicted—arrested.”

  “I did not know that.”

  “Billy Jack read the whole charter. After an arrest for immoral behavior, it requires a citizen of the town to bring a petition to the court, and bingo! Removed from office.”

  “Hmm,” Lisa said. “That does sound like our pioneer ancestors. But what’s the protest part of it?”

  “Everyone knows the judges around here are in bed with their cronies, like that Ethan Valentine. Billy Jack is bringing the petition, and the rest of us plan to be there to make sure justice is carried out. We are the eyes of the world, and we’re watching.”

  “Well, then let’s get that coffee order going.”

  Olivia followed Lisa to the kitchen. As Lisa was packing up the muffins, Olivia said, “You’re coming along, right?”

  “Oh, um, I don’t know… With the café and all, I don’t know if I can make it…”

  A light tap at the back door and then a key in the lock heralded Jan’s arrival. “Hey, boss, ready to hand things over for the day?”

  “Oh good, you can make it after all!” Olivia said.

  Lisa shrugged. “I guess so.”

  They drove in Olivia’s car and parked illegally in front of City Hall. Lisa helped unload the coffee and muffins.

  “Aren’t you worried about getting towed?” Lisa said.

  “Toby’s on duty. He wouldn’t dare tow his own mother’s car.”

  Lisa shrugged. “So much for blind justice.” She followed Olivia inside the building with the coffee and muffins.

  About a dozen protesters had set up their chairs in the tiled foyer. A cheer went up when they saw Lisa arrive with the coffee and muffins. She was passing out refreshments when the front door opened.

  Toby came in and looked the crowd over, then nodded to someone outside. “Right this way, Your Honor.”

  The judge, a tiny woman with coke bottle glasses, followed Toby inside. She looked like a hobbit next to Lisa’s strapping cousin. Toby escorted her into a hearing chamber off the foyer, coming back out and closing the door firmly behind him.

  “No one is to bother Judge Rohrabach before the hearing, understood?” He fixed his eye on his mother as he instructed the crowd.

  Olivia folded her arms and nodded. Satisfied, Toby went outside again. A minute later he returned, this time escorting Ethan and Fern Valentine.

  Lisa watched them pass. The mayor and his wife were dressed to the nines, he in a crisp suit and she in a demure skirt and a sweater set that Lisa’s eye ascertained as cashmere.

  After the Valentines had been in the chamber for a minute, Billy Jack entered the foyer with a bundle of paper in his hand. He strode up to the chamber door and gave three loud knocks.

  Toby opened the door to admit him. The crowd exchanged glances, and then streamed in after him. Lisa found herself sitting close to the front, just behind and to the right of Fern Valentine. She could smell Fern’s expensive perfume, a musky scent with delicate floral high notes, and a real contrast to the pervasive smell of patchouli emanating from the rest of the crowd.

  The judge banged her gavel once, then motioned with it to the back of the room. Billy Jack approached the bench.

  “You have a petition to present?” Judge Rohrabach said.

  “Yes,” boomed Billy Jack. “The town charter of Moss Creek provides its citizens with a means to remove immorality from the halls of power.” He spun to face the mayor and pointed a finger at him. “J’accuse!”

  The crowd tittered. Ethan Valentine glowered at Billy Jack. Fern Valentine produced a delicate lace-edged hanky and dabbed her face.

  “What is your petition?” the judge said.

  “As a citizen of Moss Creek, I hereby petition that Ethan Valentine be removed from the office of mayor on the grounds of his arrest for gambling.”

  The judge nodded. “Can anyone attest to the facts on whether or not the mayor was arrested on immoral grounds?”

  Toby cleared his throat. “Yes, Your Honor. I was one of the arresting officers. Mayor Valentine was arrested in a raid of an illegal gambling operation at 347 Pine Grove Circle.”

  “May I see the written petition,” the judge said.

  Billy Jack gave her his bundle of papers. She tapped them on the desk, straightening them out, before paging through them. Everyone in the room breathed shallowly, watching the
judge.

  “This petition is in order. I hereby rule that Ethan Valentine be removed from the office of mayor effective immediately, and that there will be a special election in one month’s time.” Judge Rohrabach banged the gavel and rose.

  Olivia, Billy Jack, and their crowd of protesters burst into cheers, hugging each other and toasting with coffee and muffins.

  Lisa looked to see how the ruling had affected Fern Valentine, expecting tears. She was surprised to see that the woman was holding the hanky over her mouth, but behind it her face was all smiles. The former mayor looked thunderstruck. He took his wife’s arm and led her out of the room, not saying a single word to anyone.

  Lisa slipped out of the room, following the Valentines. She watched through the front window as they went to get into the black Mercedes. Dan Weston was at the wheel. Ethan Valentine got in the car and started yelling at his assistant. Weston’s face went white, and he drove them away from City Hall.

  Chapter 8

  Lisa and Mo sat in Mo’s truck outside Lisa’s parents’ house. Lisa started to get out, but Mo tightened his grip on her hand. She let go of the door handle and waited.

  Mo sighed. “I’m sorry, I know this is supposed to be a happy occasion. It’s just that I keep thinking about the spay and neuter clinic. With the mayor out of office, there’s no way I’ll get the funding now.”

  Lisa put her hand on his arm. “I’m sure there are other ways to get the money. And there’s always next year, even if things don’t work out this year.”

  Mo closed his eyes.

  Toby’s cruiser pulled up behind them. Toby got out and knocked on their window.

  “Evening, you two. I’m afraid we’ve had a complaint about someone loitering in the neighborhood. I’ll need you to step out of the vehicle.”

  “We weren’t loitering,” Mo spluttered.

  Toby’s face cracked into a grin. “I’m teasing. But you shouldn’t sit out here; all the food will be gone. And the food is pretty good at Aunt Penny’s house.”

  They got out of the truck and followed Toby inside.

  Penny had illuminated the house with dozens of candles, their orange flames mirrored in the many windows of the house and turning it into a little fairyland. The table was set with the good china and a tiny cut-glass vase of crocuses in front of each place setting.