A Haunting Dream (A Missing Pieces Mystery) (25 page)

I almost laughed out loud. Apparently, Councilman Efird hadn’t received the memo about his place in the grand scheme of things. I was especially amused to see the look on Mad Dog’s face as his friend stole his thunder.

“All right,” I said with as calm a demeanor as I could. “We have two motions on the floor. Do we have a second before discussion?”

Mad Dog frowned but seconded Efird’s motions.

“Thank you, Councilman Wilson.” I acknowledged him carefully. “I believe now we can discuss the matter.”

Before I could add my part, Councilwoman La Donna Nelson slowly rose to her feet. “I have something I want to say.” She turned to Mad Dog. “Shame on you, Councilman Wilson. This is only our second election in Duck, and you’ve tainted it by attempting to oust Mayor O’Donnell before the two of you have even heard from the voters. I’m ashamed to be part of this tribunal.”

“Thank you, Councilwoman Nelson.” I smiled at her as she sat down.

“I want to speak as well.” Councilman Rick Treyburn got to his feet. Rick was a retired investment banker who’d moved here a few years back and immediately become involved in town matters. I’d expected him to run for mayor this year. He’d seemed ambitious. Maybe he was happy as a councilperson.

“Go ahead, Councilman Treyburn.” I wasn’t sure where he’d stand on the resignation issue. I didn’t really know him well enough to say.

“I want to commend Mayor O’Donnell for the job she’s done as mayor. She and Chris Slayton have worked hard the last few years to bring so many improvements to Duck. She’s part of the younger generation who is willing to share her time and abilities to make this a better place to live. I can say right now that I won’t vote to ask for her resignation.”

A smattering of applause went up across the room. Of course, I had to use my gavel and ask for silence. I appreciated the support, but this wasn’t the appropriate response in the council chamber.

“I’d say that makes us tied,” Mad Dog said. “That would make the mayor the tiebreaker. In this case, I make a motion the mayor recuse herself from the vote since it involves her personally.”

“First of all, we have two previous motions on the table,” I told him. “Unless Councilman Efird is willing to withdraw his motions, we have to vote on them first.”

Councilman Efird looked pointedly at Mad Dog as though to ask what he should do. That raised a few giggles from the audience.
No doubt where his loyalties lie.

Mad Dog finally shook his head, and Councilman Efird said he wouldn’t withdraw his motions.

I got to my feet and looked out at the people in the crowd. Many of them I’d known since childhood. Many of them had known my family since before I was born. I knew I owed all of them an explanation.

“I would like to take a few minutes and explain what’s been going on in Duck the last few days.” I told them about Chuck Sparks and Port Tymov. Then I told them about Betsy.

“I understand that a lot of you have questions about what happened this afternoon at the groundbreaking and about why I asked for help from the public works crew and Chris Slayton. It’s really pretty simple. There is a six-year-old girl out there somewhere tonight who hasn’t been home in several days. She’s cold, hungry and terrified. The FBI can’t find her. I haven’t had much luck at it either, and as most of you know, I’m unusually good at finding missing things.”

The audience smiled and nodded.

“That’s why I enlisted Chris and the public works crew to help me. But if it wasn’t town business to search for this little girl, then I don’t know what town business is. In my mind, pulling together in a time of crisis is what being a community is all about. I apologize for not asking permission first. I take full responsibility for Chris Slayton being out there with me. But as long as I’m your mayor, I’ll always put the people of Duck first. And I can tell you now, I won’t resign. You’ll have to tell me to go.”

Chapter 28

P
eople applauded like crazy—except for the few
who sat still and frowned up at me. I thought I’d sounded all right, especially since I hadn’t planned out what I’d say. I spoke from my heart, and that was the best I could do. I hadn’t realized until I was speaking that I wouldn’t resign. That had just come out, but I knew it was true.

I called the room to order, then took the vote. Mad Dog and Councilman Efird voted to ask for my and Chris’s resignation. A chorus of boos followed. I used my gavel to bring quiet to the room again.

La Donna and Councilman Treyburn voted to keep both of us on. That left me with the deciding vote. Normally, as mayor, I had no vote. It was only in instances of a tie that I had a say. That didn’t happen very often.

What now?

I looked at La Donna for assistance. She shrugged and started organizing her papers. She didn’t know what to do either.

“If I could weigh in on this matter, Mayor.” Chris stood up at his desk at the side of the council table. “There is precedence that would allow the mayor to recuse herself from casting the tie-breaking vote and allow the Duck citizens present at this forum tonight to vote on the matter. The vote would be final.”

He nodded and took his seat again.

“Thanks, Mr. Slayton. I think that sounds fair.” I turned to the council. Of course, Mad Dog and Councilman Efird loved the idea. I tended to agree with them. It hardly seemed fair that I’d get to cast the deciding vote that would allow me to keep my job.

La Donna wasn’t sure. “Perhaps we should table the vote and research this legal precedent. I’m not sure how this will reflect on the council. Shouldn’t it be up to
all
the people of Duck?”

Treyburn agreed with Mad Dog, to my surprise. “I think this is the way to go. I trust Mr. Slayton’s judgment. He hasn’t steered us wrong before.”

So the vote was three to one to allow the hundred-plus people at the meeting to decide my and Chris’s fate, in two separate votes.

As Nancy handed out slips of paper to everyone, I wondered who had the most friends in the crowd—that’s what it would come down to. I knew Mad Dog must think he did, but there was no sure way to know until the vote was taken.

It took about fifteen minutes for everyone to write yes or no on their impromptu ballots. The council took a recess during that time. Mad Dog used his time to speak to his friends in the audience.

I stayed where I was. I’d be glad when the whole thing was over, one way or another. I agreed with La Donna that Mad Dog’s call for my resignation was a political ploy to get me out of the way. If that happened, Mad Dog wouldn’t have to face anyone in the election. It was too late for any other candidates to file. But my continued position as mayor had become a hot-button issue, preventing the council from doing the important town business. It had to be dealt with.

Nancy picked up all the ballots. She had to count them alone, since Chris’s position could be compromised if we won the vote. She stacked all the yes and no papers for Chris first, putting the ballots into separate envelopes and labeling them. Then she counted yes and no ballots for me and did the same thing again. At least there would be no question of the integrity of the vote count.
Smart Nancy!

Everyone waited quietly—if a little impatiently—for the answer. The only sound in the room was the occasional shifting in chairs and Mad Dog’s fingers drumming on the table.

Nancy looked up at eight forty-five. “I have tallied the votes, Madam Mayor. There are twenty yes ballots, indicating the mayor should resign. There are one ninety ballots indicating the mayor should stay.”

There was a lot of booing and angry remarks both from council and the audience. I used my gavel to quiet things down and took a deep breath. I hadn’t realized how much this meant to me until that moment.

Chris was next. “There are one-hundred and ten no ballots, indicating that Mr. Slayton should stay on as town manager,” Nancy announced with a smile on her face. “Only ten yes ballots, indicating that Mr. Slayton should leave.”

There was applause and good wishes. A few of Chris’s friends came up and slapped him on the back, then shook his hand. I brought the room to order again. Everyone took their seats. Mad Dog wanted to speak, and I acknowledged him.

“I think we made a mistake with this poll. We should reconsider and table this matter for a later date.”

Treyburn laughed. “You consider it for a later date, Wilson. I’m going home knowing that the best woman won tonight, and hopefully next November too.”

“I insist we take a vote,” Mad Dog said.

“What good will that do?” La Donna asked. “The two of you will vote to table. Rick and I will vote to proceed. Then either Dae will break the tie in her favor, or we’ll ask our citizens here to vote again. We could be here all night.”

Finally Mad Dog conceded. “I still think each citizen should remember what happened here tonight and vote accordingly in the election. I will
never
show up for a town event looking like I’d spent the night on the beach. And I will
never
ask town workers to help me look for a missing child.”

The room got very quiet when he’d made his final statement. Then Andy Martin yelled out, “Then you’re not
my
mayor!”

The room erupted again. I brought down the gavel, but since it was just to adjourn the meeting, I didn’t follow through by demanding quiet.

“You won!” La Donna said with a smile. “Smart move, not casting the tiebreaker. That’s why you’re such a good mayor.”

A long line of people had formed, stretching from the council table to the back of the room. Cathi Connor was closest. “We all want to help find Betsy,” she said. “There are a lot of us, Dae. Put us to work.”

Tears welled in my eyes. This was
my
town and
my
people. “Leave your names and phone numbers with Nancy. As soon as we have some idea where to look, I’ll give you a call. Thank you all for volunteering.”

Chris came up and shook my hand. “I knew you’d win if the people had their way.”

“I don’t know. It was close.”

“Only because Councilman Wilson had his friends packed in here. Wait until the election. He won’t stand a chance.”

“Thanks, Chris.”

“Hey, you want to go and get a celebratory drink at Curbside?”

I saw Kevin walking through the departing crowd toward me. “Maybe another time. But thanks for your help.”

“Sure. You kind of had that deer-in-the-headlights look when there was a tie. I just wanted to help you out. See you around.” He nodded to Kevin as he left.

“Looks like you won,” Kevin said as he reached me. “Congratulations. I hope the election goes the same way.”

“Thanks.” I picked up my pocketbook and the folder I always brought to the meetings.

“I’m sorry about what happened with the chief and Kowalski at your house.”

“I didn’t expect it to go any different.”

“I guess we’ll have to hope they can catch Derek and Jackie before Guthrie does.”

“I hope my dad got away. It was good he left when he did.”

“I don’t know if I’d say good, but he might be safe if he doesn’t come back here for a while. Or make the mistake of crossing Guthrie again.”

“I guess so. But that still doesn’t solve my problem. Jackie and Derek admitted to killing Chuck and Port, but now that they’ve left town, how do we find Betsy?”

“I don’t know.” He looked around the empty meeting room. “Would you like to go and talk about it? We could get a drink or something.”

“I don’t think so. Thanks. Not tonight. I need to go home and get some sleep. We’ll start again tomorrow, okay?”

He looked disappointed, but he smiled anyway. “Just give me a call. I’ll talk to you later.”

But going home wasn’t really on my agenda. I was exhausted, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep without dreaming. And my dreaming about being with Betsy wasn’t doing her any good—nothing in the dreams had enabled me to determine where she was.

I needed that fresh look Gramps had talked about. I just wasn’t sure where to find it.

But there was something useful I could do. I walked from town hall to Missing Pieces. The boardwalk was empty, all the lights turned off for the night. The lights from towns around us—Sanderling, Kill Devil Hills, Manteo—shone on the still, dark surface of the sound. I stood at the rail and looked at the water for a long time before going inside.

The shop was a disaster, but I had to start somewhere. I put on some old clothes I kept in the back for emergencies. The kettle started whistling on the hot plate a few minutes later. I brought in the big trash can that usually went in back for trash collection day and began cleaning up the debris.

It wasn’t long before Gramps joined me. “I knew this would happen. Didn’t I tell you to wait until morning and I’d help you? You never listen to me. You always have to go your own way.”

I shrugged. “Yeah. That’s the way water buffalo are.”

He laughed. “All right. If it has to be tonight, where do you want me?”

We worked in companionable silence for a long time. After an hour or so, I could actually see the floor again. “I’ll have to take the sofa over to the upholstery place and see if he can mend it.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” he said encouragingly before taking a long sip from a can of Coke. “Are you going to claim this on your insurance? That’s what it’s there for, you know.”

“Probably. At least some of it. You’re supposed to have all of your inventory listed. I don’t think all of this made it to the list.”

“Well, claim what you can. Regardless of what you told those two criminals, this was still a break-in.”

We continued cleaning what amounted to mostly rubble. I found the silver bell where I’d left it in the storage room, still wrapped in the blue velvet. “I guess they just wanted the cash. Too bad it wasn’t here.”

“Do you think Danny took it with him?”

“I don’t know, Gramps. I made up the whole story about Danny having visited the shop recently—I was hoping they’d bring me back to help look for the money. As for Danny, he left in such a hurry, who knows? But he said he didn’t have it.”

“He said a lot of things. I wanted to believe him for your sake.” He picked up a shovel full of glass that had once been the front counter. “I guess the old axiom still applies.”

“Once a criminal—”

“I’m sorry, Dae. It’s hard to get out of that life—always chasing the next big score. This one was too big for Danny, I guess. Maybe he’ll straighten up now.”

“But you don’t really believe that, do you?”

“No, honey. I’m afraid not.”

A lot of the destruction had come not from Jackie and Derek’s search of the shop but from their desire to be vindictive. They knew there was no money hidden in my old tea sets, but they smashed them anyway. A hundred-year-old mirror lay in pieces, for no reason. Pillows were shredded, and candles were snapped in half.

Most of my treasures were a total loss. I’d have to find other items to take their place on my shelves and in my heart. It was hard to say what this would cost me, both financially and emotionally. There were so many items that I hadn’t priced, hundreds of pieces that would never have good homes.

I sat down on the sofa for a few minutes as Gramps started sweeping up some smaller slivers of glass. My tea was cold, but I drank it anyway. As I looked at the floor, I saw something odd—something that didn’t belong there.

It was an earring. The back must have come off of the post, and the earring had slipped out of the wearer’s ear. If I didn’t know every piece in the shop, I might’ve thought it was part of my collection. But I knew this piece of jewelry didn’t belong here.

I remembered that when Jackie had been waving the pistol around, threatening me mostly, the light from the window had caught on a blue earring in her right ear. Momentarily distracted by it, I had speculated on whether or not it was a sapphire and where she’d found it. The earring looked like an antique. Then I’d gone back to wondering if she’d really kill me.

The light from the ceiling caught on the blue earring now and fractures of color swept through it. It was a round sapphire surrounded by several smaller stones cut to resemble flower petals. At the same time that I knew the stones were real, I also knew Jackie had lost it here when she was searching for the cash.