Killer Campaign (Lisa Chance Cozy Mysteries Book 3)

by Estelle Richards

  Lisa hugged her mother. “Oh, Mom, it’s beautiful.”

  Penny smiled. “We have a lot to celebrate.”

  Lou joined her and put an arm around her waist. “I got the flowers,” he said. “Crocus represents springtime, hope, and new beginnings.”

  “Please, come in and sit down. We have appetizers,” Penny said.

  They put their coats in the front closet and went into the kitchen.

  “Bacon-wrapped date, anyone?” Penny said.

  “Don’t mind if I do,” Toby said, taking one in each hand.

  Mo took a bacon-wrapped date. “Thank you,” he said, before popping it in his mouth.

  “I’ll open the wine,” Lou said.

  Lisa counted the place settings at the table. They were expecting two more guests. She accepted a glass of wine.

  When everyone had a drink, Lou raised a glass. “A toast,” he said.

  “To family,” Lisa said.

  “To love,” Mo said.

  “To bacon-wrapped dates,” Toby offered with his mouth half-full.

  Penny looked at Lou. “To finding what was lost.”

  Lou cleared his throat. “Last year, I made the biggest mistake of my life. And I almost paid for it with the only thing that makes this life worth living.”

  The front door opened.

  “To my one true love, Penny,” Lou said. He lifted his glass to drink.

  Olivia walked in, her mouth twisted to the side. “Oh no, don’t wait on my account. It’s only a family dinner,” she said.

  Penny moved to pour her sister a glass of wine. She put the glass in her hand. “No need to apologize for your lateness, Olivia. We’re all family here.”

  Mo’s eyes darted back and forth between the two, his face turning pink.

  “So, I was the biggest mistake of your life?” Olivia said, turning to Lou.

  “Yes,” he said simply. “Everyone, let’s eat.” He led them into the dining room like he was conducting a marching band, head high and certain they would follow.

  Olivia slouched into her chair. “Billy Jack isn’t here yet. Are we starting without him?”

  Penny smiled serenely. “Don’t worry, there’s enough for everyone. Lisa, would you help me in the kitchen?”

  Lisa joined her mother in the kitchen and was amazed to find seven beautifully roasted Cornish game hens sitting in the warm ovens.

  “Quick, help me load them onto the plates and cover each with a cloche. If we each take two at a time, it’ll only take two trips for all of them,” Penny said.

  Lisa nodded, got the birds on the plates and covered them with the little round silver covers. They brought them in, setting them before each person. They went back to the kitchen and brought out the vegetable dishes, glazed carrots and fingerling potatoes with dill.

  Penny sat down and surveyed the table for a moment before nodding. “Bon appétit.”

  She lifted the cloche from her own plate, and the rest followed suit.

  “It’s a tiny chicken,” Toby laughed.

  “Billy Jack doesn’t eat meat,” Olivia said.

  “More for the rest of us,” Penny said.

  Mo leaned over and whispered in Lisa’s ear, “Is this the first time they’ve broken bread together since, uh…”

  “Since Olivia tried to steal my dad away from my mom?” Lisa whispered back. “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Ok, that’s super comfortable and not at all awkward,” he whispered.

  Noticing people were looking at them, Lisa smiled. “This is excellent, Mom. Is that tarragon I’m tasting?”

  A loud knock sounded at the front door before it opened, and Billy Jack came in, slamming the door behind him. The sudden rush of air blew out a couple of candles in the living room. He had a fire in his eye as he stomped into the dining room, grinding his teeth.

  “What’s the matter?” Olivia said.

  “Billy Jack, welcome to our home. Please come in and have a seat,” Penny said.

  He stomped over to sit next to Olivia, still grinding his teeth. “Sorry,” he said. “I know this is supposed to be a celebration.”

  “Is something wrong?” Lou said.

  “I take it you folks haven’t heard the news,” Billy Jack said.

  They shook their heads.

  “That snake, Ethan Valentine, just announced he’s running in the special election next month.”

  They gasped.

  “What?”

  “How could he do that?”

  “Wasn’t he just removed from office?”

  Billy Jack made a ‘settle down’ motion with his hands. “The town charter only states that he had to be removed from office. It doesn’t say anything about staying out of office.”

  Billy Jack lifted the cloche covering his plate, snorted when he saw the Cornish game hen, and covered it again. “He thinks the dumbbells who kept voting for him before will do it again. I think that may be the only true thing Ethan Valentine has ever said.”

  “We can’t let that happen!” Penny said, throwing down her napkin.

  Everyone turned to stare at her.

  “I thought you liked that corporate shill of a phony,” Olivia said.

  Billy Jack’s braying laugh sounded like a donkey had sat at the table.

  “I think you may find, dear sister, that there are many things about me that you didn’t know,” Penny said.

  For a minute, the only sounds were those of silverware cutting bites of food. Lisa could feel Mo squirming next to her as the silent tension in the room grew.

  “I’m going to run for mayor,” Penny declared.

  “You are?” Lisa said, too surprised to keep her mouth shut.

  “We’ve got to do something,” Penny said. “We can’t just let someone flout the law and get away with it.”

  “I guess,” Lisa said. “I mean, someone should do something about it.”

  “That’s right. That someone is me. And with the help of everyone in this room, I think I can win.”

  Toby swallowed a mouthful of game hen. “That’s fantastic, Aunt Penny. I believe in you.”

  “Thank you, Toby.” Penny turned to her daughter. “Lisa, you will be my campaign manager.”

  “What?” Lisa said, almost choking on a bite of glazed carrot. “I don’t know anything about politics.”

  “You have business sense, and with your little café, you have social reach,” Penny said.

  “But… but… what about Dad?” Lisa said.

  Penny turned to smile at Lou. “It’s a good thing we made up. You can be my loyal spouse, campaigning by my side.”

  Lou returned her smile with a dreamy grin of his own. “That’s right. And if you need a marching band, I know some people. A little John Phillip Sousa never hurt an American campaign.” He hummed a few bars of a sprightly march, his hands keeping time over his plate.

  “To the future mayor!” Toby said, raising his glass.

  Chapter 9

  The next morning, Lisa woke up thinking everything was normal. Her phone buzzed with a text message, pulling her fully awake. She scooted Mama Cat off her feet and grabbed the phone off the top of the dresser.

  “Need to get started on campaign right away. When can you meet?” read the text from Penny.

  Lisa groaned as the whole evening came back to her. She texted back, “I can come by your office at 9:30.”

  She would have to finish the morning rush and hand off the quieter midmorning period to Jan, but with a little hustle, she could make it work and be back in time for the lunch rush. With a little sigh, Lisa went to take a shower and get ready for the busy day.

  *

  At 9:20, Lisa packed up some muffins and coffees and headed across the square to Baldwin-Chance Mountain Realty.

  The receptionist looked up from her phone as Lisa walked in. Lisa blinked in momentary surprise.

  “Tess? I didn’t realize you were back at Baldwin-Chance Mountain Realty.”

  “Hi, Lisa. Yeah, I had another gig f
or a while there, but it didn’t work out.” She shrugged.

  “Well, in that case, welcome back. I brought you a coffee and a muffin,” Lisa said.

  “Thanks,” Tess said, smiling.

  “Is my mom ready for me?”

  “Huh?” Tess swallowed a bite of muffin. “I guess.”

  Lisa nodded and went to her mother’s door, knocking softly. The door flew open.

  “I’ve been waiting all morning for you!” Penny said.

  “Hi, Mom. Have a coffee.”

  Penny took the cup and sipped. “I’ve been researching. I need three hundred signatures of registered Moss Creek voters.”

  Lisa nodded. “Ok.”

  “By a week from Saturday! How are we going to manage that? I don’t have a political machine in place.”

  “Mom, it’s ok. Have a muffin. We can do this. We’ve got the coffee shop, the real estate office, the veterinary office, the town square, um…” Lisa thought for a moment before continuing, “and we could even go door to door if we had to. Oh, and what about the PTA? Maybe Dad could go to the meeting and collect signatures there. People who go to PTA meetings are probably registered to vote.”

  Penny sighed. “You’re right. Did Tess give you the signature sheets I asked her to copy?”

  Lisa shook her head.

  “Tess!”

  Tess appeared in the doorway. “Yeah?”

  “Give Lisa the signature sheets.”

  Tess stared blankly for a moment. “Signature sheets?”

  “For my campaign for mayor,” Penny said, her words clipped.

  “Oh, I haven’t copied those yet.”

  Penny closed her eyes. “Please copy them now.”

  “Ok.” Tess drifted back out of the office.

  “Mom, why is Tess working here again?” Lisa whispered, not wanting to hurt Tess’s feelings.

  Penny sighed and rubbed her temples. “It’s not easy to find good office help in a small town, Lisa.”

  A minute later Tess brought the copied signature sheets in and gave them to Lisa. “Thanks for the coffee,” she said.

  “You’re welcome. Oh, have you signed the sheet yet? Would you like to be my first?”

  Tess smiled. “Sure.”

  Emboldened by her first signature, Lisa bid them goodbye and set out to talk to people in the town square.

  A number of people were taking advantage of the sunny weather and were walking or shopping in downtown Moss Creek. Lisa flagged down a couple standing in front of the hardware store.

  “Excuse me, are you registered to vote?”

  They exchanged a glance, seemingly tensed to run away, then shrugged. “Yeah,” the woman said. The man nodded.

  “Penny Baldwin-Chance is running for mayor in next month’s special election. I’m collecting signatures to get her on the ballot. Would you mind signing this for me?” Lisa held out her clipboard.

  They shrugged at each other again and signed the sheet.

  “Thank you! And don’t forget to vote.”

  Lisa moved on to a woman walking her dog, which let her spend a couple minutes petting a sweet-natured golden retriever and get a signature.

  After the dog-walker left, Lisa glanced up to see Dan Weston walking toward her, a clipboard in hand.

  “Hi, are you a registered voter?” he said.

  “Um, excuse me?” Lisa said.

  He smiled and held up his clipboard. “I’m collecting signatures to put Mayor Ethan Valentine on the ballot for next month’s special election. If you’re a registered Moss Creek voter, I’d love to have your signature.”

  Lisa’s heart beat faster. She stared at him, then lifted her own clipboard. “I’m collecting signatures to get Penny Baldwin-Chance on the ballot. I’d appreciate your signature.”

  Dan’s smiled vanished. “Baldwin? You’re with my cousin and his crazy artist girlfriend. She paints dogs, you know.”

  “I’ve seen her paintings. They’re good,” Lisa said. She held up her clipboard. “So, no signature?”

  Dan glared at her. “That little stunt they pulled, petitioning the court to get Mayor Valentine out of office, isn’t going to keep him out.”

  “Well, I guess we’ll see about that,” Lisa said.

  “We’ll see about it, all right.” Dan turned on his heel and strode back toward the other side of the square.

  Lisa sighed, feeling all the adrenaline drain out of her body. She held up a hand. It trembled. Time to get back to the café and have something to eat. She could ask her customers to sign the sheet all afternoon.

  *

  After a week of asking customers for signatures, Lisa had exhausted her customer base of registered voters. She was a little shocked at how many people either said they never bothered to vote or that they had already signed Ethan Valentine’s sheet.

  Lisa put the beans in the grinder to make a fresh pot of coffee and replenish the supply after the morning rush. She cocked her ear at the strange sound the grinder was making. It seemed slightly off-pitch.

  When the beans finished grinding, the strange pitch continued, coming from the phone in Lisa’s pocket. She picked up the phone.

  “Lisa? It’s your mother. We only have today left to gather signatures or my entire bid for mayor is a bust. How many do you have that you haven’t given me?”

  “Hi, Mom. I only have three on the sheet in the café. I already gave you the rest.”

  “That’s not enough! I’m very disappointed.”

  “Well, maybe you should be out there beating the streets, getting the rest of the signatures. I have a business to run.” As soon as Lisa hung up, regret filled her stomach, making it churn.

  She started to call her mother back, but just then the bell on the front door jingled. She peeked into the hall. Six tourists stood there grinning and taking selfies. Lisa wiped her hands on her apron. She would take care of the customers and then call Penny back.

  An hour later Lisa had served a steady stream of customers and not made the phone call. Would Penny be angry that she hadn’t called back? Probably. The thought of a lecture on the topic made her leave the phone where it was while she looked for other chores to do. The trash can was a bit full. The pastry case had a smudge on the front glass. Mama Cat’s food bowl was nearly empty.

  The last of the tourists cleared out, and Lisa patted the pocket with her phone. Maybe she would just sweep the floor first. The phone rang under her hand, making her jump. She picked up.

  “Lisa?” Her mother’s voice sounded on the verge of tears.

  “Mom, I’m sorry, I was going to call you back, but it got busy in the café, and…”

  “Please, I need you.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  A little sob escaped Penny’s lips. “Please, can you come right away?”

  “Of course! Are you hurt? Where are you?”

  “I’m at 347 Pine Grove Circle. Come right away. Please.”

  That final please pushed Lisa to run for her coat and car keys. She locked the front door and turned the sign to say Closed before jumping in the car. She raced across town to Peterman’s new development, silently saying a prayer of thanks that she knew exactly where Pine Grove Circle was located after her trip there with Mo.

  Lisa’s spine turned to ice as she realized that her mother wasn’t just on the same street as the address Mo had been given, she was at the exact same house. What was Penny doing at that house?

  Lisa screeched to a halt in the cul-de-sac and jumped out of the car. She ran up the driveway of number 347 and rang the doorbell while pounding on the door.

  Penny opened the door and threw her arms around her daughter’s neck.

  “Mom, what’s going on?”

  Her mother took a deep shuddering breath and released Lisa. Her normally perfect makeup was streaked with tears.

  “What happened?” Lisa said. “Did someone hurt you?”

  Penny shook her head. The house smelled bad, a mingled odor of cigar smoke and something pungent th
at Lisa couldn’t quite identify.

  “Mom, please, tell me what happened.”

  Penny pointed a shaking finger into the house. “In there,” she whispered.

  Lisa grabbed an umbrella from a stand by the door. Holding the umbrella like a weapon, she crept into the house.

  A moment later, she saw what had frightened her mother.

  A body, face-down in the sunken living room. A knife in its back. A dark pool of blood on the white carpet.

  Lisa took a step back, stumbling as she almost tripped on the forgotten umbrella in her hand.

  “Mom,” she whispered, “did you call this in?”

  “No,” Penny said.

  “Call 911,” Lisa said.

  While they waited for the police and ambulance to arrive, Lisa couldn’t stop staring at the body. It was male, dark hair cut short. Her eye fell on his shoes. They were shined to a nearly mirror finish. She caught her breath, a dreadful suspicion as to the dead man’s identity growing in her mind.

  Lights and sirens announced the arrival of police and paramedics. Toby walked in first.

  “Aunt Penny, Lisa, I’m going to need you to step outside on the porch and wait while I search the house.”

  They waited outside. The gentle spring breeze played with Lisa’s hair. Toby came outside and nodded to the paramedics.

  “He’s in the living room. Doesn’t look good, though.”

  The paramedics went inside.

  “Aunt Penny, you called this in.”

  Penny nodded.

  “Were you both here?”

  “No, I was alone when I found … when I found … you know. I called Lisa after that, at, um, let me look at my phone.”

  Toby had his little notepad in hand and took notes as she spoke. “What were you doing inside the house?”

  “I was going door to door, canvassing for signatures. When I knocked on the door, it just opened.”

  “It just opened?”

  “It wasn’t locked, it wasn’t latched… I guess it wasn’t really closed,” Penny said.

  “Ok. Then what happened?” Toby said.

  “When the door opened, I guess I assumed someone was inside. I thought they might be shy. I said hello and stepped inside.” She shuddered.

  “And is that when you discovered the body?”