Red Tape (14 page)

Chapter 17

After a nice long reprieve, Robert Triggers showed up at the window first thing in the morning.
Oh, just wonderful,
I thought. I had gotten through a terrible ordeal and made it out alive and I thought it would be easy going from that point on. I decided to be nicer to him, even though he was a pest. I had him pegged all wrong and I felt the need to give him the benefit of the doubt. I told myself he was just a resident looking for a solution to his problem and he was passionate about getting something accomplished. He hadn’t been in my office in two months. I could certainly be pleasant to him.

“Hey idiot. You said that plans for my road didn’t exist,” he promptly announced.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Triggers, let me pull out my files; this is going back a while.”

I found the records request form asking for the plans, which was submitted by Mr. Triggers back in August. This jogged my memory. I denied the request on the basis that no records existed.

“I have your request here, Mr. Triggers. I recall that I did try to locate the plans, but your street was built so long ago, I did not have any luck.”

“Who told you the plans don’t exist? You’re too stupid to figure that out yourself. Someone is out to get me and I want to know who.”

“Mr. Triggers, I can assure you, no one is out to get you. I went to the archives myself and looked for the plans. I could not find any.”

He seemed to get angrier than he already was. “I know you people are out to get me. Almost every time I’m here, you won’t give me what I want!”

I tried to sound reassuring. After all, I had decided that I was going to be polite to Mr. Triggers, but I’m sure the words came out of my mouth more condescending than anything. “I am certainly not out to get you, Mr. Triggers. I always give you the documents I have and I give you a reason if I’m not able to give you something. In this case, I also double-checked with the planning and zoning secretary, who told me that she could not find any plans for your street. She does not know who you are and is absolutely not out to get you either.”

Disgruntled, he screamed, “Fine! Whatever! But I’m telling you that the mayor is out to get me. She sends the police after me all the time. They have me arrested for no reason. I spend all of my free time here because I want my dunes! No, no, let me rephrase that, I
need
the dunes. My house is not going to be protected in a natural disaster. They are ruining my life!”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Triggers, but I have nothing to do with the dunes or the mayor. I am only the keeper of the records. In addition, the mayor might not even be working here much longer.”

“Yeah, I read that in the newspapers. I knew that wench was a dishonest, lying bitch. I hate her.”

Hate is such a strong word. I reserve it for a few special people that I’ve encountered in my life. My ex is one of those people. The mayor is another. I thought,
If Triggers only knew my true feelings for the mayor, maybe he wouldn’t view me as the enemy.
However, I was too professional to express my opinion to any member of the public who wasn’t in my close circle of friends and family.

“Is there anything else I can help you with, Mr. Triggers?” I asked.

“Yes, as a matter of fact there is!” he said as he handed me a long list of records he wanted.

Mr. Triggers proceeded to look through various records for the next hour, having me fetch different documents on his command. He was trying my patience, but I kept reminding myself to be understanding. He took about fifty pages of copies, then left. I was shocked when he said, “I hope you have a nice day” on his way out. By the tone of his voice, I wasn’t sure if that was sincere or if he was giving me some type of strange warning.

I went back to my desk to find a message from Mr. Betts, asking me to call him back. I dialed his phone number. “Hi, Colby. It’s Chelsey. I am returning your call.”

“Howdy, Chelsey. How are you hanging in?”

“Just fine. Thanks for asking.”

“Chelsey, I need you to do a favor for me. I need you to draft a resolution for tonight’s agenda for a closed-session discussion about litigation,
Triggers versus the Town of Sunshine
.”

“I had almost forgotten that you were in court for that yesterday. I’ll have the resolution ready to pass out tonight.”

“Great, that would be just wonderful. Just so you know, we won the lawsuit with Mr. Triggers.”

“Oh, that makes sense. He hadn’t been in the municipal building since he filed his suit and he came in today for more records.”

“He’s probably looking to appeal.”

“Thanks for letting me know, Colby.”

I took a second to breathe and look around when I got off the phone with Colby. Ah, no Lorraine. No Frita O’Donnell. I quietly enjoyed a moment alone, thinking things would go back to normal. But things weren’t normal yet. Bonnie wasn’t here. I wished that council would reinstate her since the mayor and Lorraine were arrested, but I doubted that she would be rehired with her lawsuit pending.

The council meeting was probably going to be strange without Frita acting as Chair. I predicted there would be complaints from the public about what had happened and that it would be a stressful meeting. I guessed, technically, until Frita was convicted, she didn’t have to give up the position of mayor. I found it ironic that when I was accused of a crime, they immediately made me give up my position without pay, and so far, there was no talk about the mayor having to give up her position without pay. I wondered if this also meant that Lorraine didn’t have to give up her job either.

I picked up the phone and dialed Tex. He answered the phone, “Detective Texidoro.”

“I don’t know if you’ll have the answer, but do you know if Lorraine or Frita are getting out on bail?”

“It’s doubtful. The judge set bail pretty high. Last I heard, neither of them made bail yet.”

“Well, if they are able to make bail, do you think they will be coming back to work?”

“I could see Frita maintaining her innocence until the bitter end.”

“Do you know when they will go to court?”

“I haven’t heard anything about a court date. It could take up to six months.”

“Did you say six months?” I asked. I didn’t like that answer.

“Yes, six months or more. I really don’t know.”

“Do you think I should get a restraining order?”

“You certainly could if you want to.”

“I’m asking your opinion.”

“I will call you the second I hear anything about either one of them making bail.”

“Thanks.”

I hung up with Tex and marched over to Rodney’s office. I opened his door and said, “I’m here to make sure that there is fair treatment of all employees.”

He looked at me, confused.

“I’m talking about the mayor and Lorraine. Since you put me on ‘administrative leave’ without pay when I was arrested—falsely, I might add—then you should be putting those two out on leave without pay as well.”

“Not a problem with Lorraine. Frita is a different story. I don’t have the power to do that. There are laws.”

I went back to my office and dialed Mr. Schubert. A woman’s voice answered the phone, “Law office.”

“Is Mr. Schubert in?” I asked.

“No, I’m sorry; he’s in court all day. May I take a message?”

I left a message telling him I wanted a restraining order against Lorraine Paso and Frita O’Donnell and I needed to know how to do it. One or both of them tried to have me killed and I wasn’t taking any chances on making Mandy an orphan. I wasn’t waiting for one of them to post bail.

* * *

I received a call from Bonnie early Monday morning. She knew she could call me after five thirty because I was up feeding Mandy.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey! What are you doing up so early? And what are you doing, calling me? You usually text me and tell me to call you,” I said with a giggle.

“I just had to tell you my news.”

“Oh?”

“I am dropping my lawsuit in exchange for my job back with a raise, back pay, my attorney’s fees, and a settlement for my pain and suffering.”

“Are you serious? The mayor agreed to that?”

“No. According to Colby, council can take a vote at their next meeting on the terms of my settlement. They don’t need the mayor’s vote to make a majority, and the other council members will approve it.”

“Do you think they will go for it?”

“Oh, I think they know they don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning my suit, so they either take it or the town loses a heck of a lot more than what I’m asking for and gets some bad press.”

“Wow! That was really fast. We just got served less than a week ago.”

“The powers that be didn’t want any more negative publicity for the town, given what just went down with the mayor. My timing was impeccable.”

“Well, then let me be the first to say, welcome back!”

“You missed working with me.”

“I did. And Mr. Triggers missed you too.”

“Ugh. I forgot about him. Is he back bothering you? Maybe I shouldn’t come back to work.”

“Why
are
you coming back? And yes, he
is
back.”

“My husband’s after me to get back to work.”

“Is he finally tired of you changing the siding on your house?”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

“I don’t think I want to know!”

I was relieved that Bonnie was coming back to work. I needed her, not only to help with the workload, but to help keep my sanity. I made it through the council meeting without incident. Triggers wasn’t there, Frita wasn’t there, and there wasn’t any drama for a change. I wasn’t sure I’d be so lucky at the next council meeting, which was in less than two weeks. I couldn’t wait to have Bonnie back.

I hung up with Bonnie, put Mandy in her crib, and got into the shower to get ready for work. I heard my phone ringing, but decided whomever it was could wait. I was going to be late to work if I didn’t get moving. I got dressed, quickly dried my hair, and slapped on makeup. I put Mandy and her diaper bag in the car, then drove to my parents’ house. After dropping her off, I looked at my phone to find a missed call from Tex. I dialed him back.

“Hello, beautiful,” he said.

“Uh oh,” I replied.

“What ‘uh oh’?”

“You’re about to tell me something I don’t want to hear. You always try to ease the blow with a compliment when you are about to dish out bad news.”

“You know me too well.”

“So, what is it?”

“Mayor O’Donnell was bonded out.”

“When?”

“A couple of hours ago.”

“Ugh.”

“Sorry to be the bearer of the news.”

“Thanks for letting me know.”

I was happy that I went forward and filed for an emergency temporary restraining order on Saturday with the Madisen Police Department. I wished that the county court offices had been open so that I could have filed for a more permanent order, but Mr. Schubert hadn’t gotten back to me until Friday night and the court was closed over the weekend. I planned on calling the county court later to figure out what I had to do.

I made copies of my temporary order and distributed it to everyone who needed to make sure I didn’t have to be near the mayor. Rodney, Colby, the eight members of council, the police department. I wanted everyone to know that she was required to stay away from me.

I found myself biting my nails and not getting much work done. I couldn’t work like this. I hoped that those who were not fans of Frita O’Donnell would step up to the plate and call for her resignation. I hoped she lost the upcoming election.

I picked up the phone and dialed Bonnie back.

“Hi. Sorry to bother you again.”

“You’re no bother,” she said. “Shouldn’t you be at work by now? What’s up?”

“I am at work, but I just learned that Frita is out of jail. I’m so worried, I can’t think straight. Do you think you can take me to buy a gun and teach me how to shoot it?”

“I don’t think she’ll try to go after you again. It would cast a tremendous amount of suspicion on her if you were to end up dead.”

“I don’t care; I need to protect myself and Mandy. I want a gun.”

“Okay.”

“Can we go now?”

“Now? You’re going to leave work?”

“Yes, this is important, I’ll tell them I have an emergency and I’ll take personal time.”

“Okay. Come on over.”

I left an email for council telling them I had to leave unexpectedly, then I drove to Bonnie’s house to pick her up. We drove over the bridge to go to the police station in Madisen. I asked the police records clerk for the form that I needed to fill out to purchase a handgun. She handed me the form for the permit and a clipboard. I took a seat and carefully filled in each section. I returned it to the clerk when I was finished and she asked me to take a seat.