Red Tape (24 page)

“Hi, Bryce, sorry to bother you, but I was wondering, have you ever heard of a Babs Todaro?” I asked him.

“Oh
, yeah; we all have. What did she ask for this time?”

“She doesn’t like all the birds on her property; she said they keep her awake and she wants me to send them back where they came from.”

Bryce started laughing. “That’s our Babs,” he said. I looked at him, confused. “I’m sorry, you don’t know Babs. Babs is one of our senior citizens and has dementia. She calls weekly with off-the-wall complaints. You’ll get used to it.”

“I told her I’d call her back.”

“Oh, don’t bother. She’ll forget all about it in a few hours.”

“Are you sure? I feel funny not calling her back.”

“Well, go ahead and wait two hours, then call her back. You’ll see. She won’t remember,” Bryce said as he pushed a lock of his brown hair away from his forehead. There was something about Bryce that was likeable. Maybe it was his demeanor or his deep, reassuring voice. I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“Okay,” I said and I headed back to my desk to get some work done.

A couple of hours later, I picked up the phone to call Babs. It rang about ten times. I was about to hang up, but she finally answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Babs, this is Chelsey Alton, the village clerk. I was calling you back from earlier.”

“Who?” Babs asked.

“Chelsey Alton. I spoke with you earlier.”

“What are you selling?”

“I spoke with you earlier about the birds on your property.”

“Oh, I’m not interested in any bird seed. Thank you.” And she hung up before I got a chance to say anything else. Bryce was right
; she didn’t remember.

Shortly thereafter, a customer came in to pay for his dog license, so I went to the front counter to assist him. As I was trying to figure out how to get into the dog
-licensing database on the computer, he asked if I remembered him. I stared at him for a few seconds, trying to place the face. He looked to be close to my age. He was about three inches shorter than I was, had dark hair and dark eyes. His shirt was unbuttoned at the top, revealing a thick gold Figaro link necklace entwined in his chest hair. He sported a matching gold bracelet.

“I’m sorry, I have a terrible memory,” I told him.

“Mike,” he said.

The name “Mike” still didn’t ring any bells. I thought long and hard. The only Mike I knew of that looked like him was on a reality TV show called
Jersey Shore
, and the Mike in front of me was way too short to be the same person. After I looked blankly at him, he said, “From high school.”

“Oh,
” I said. “It’s so nice to see you.”

I still didn’t have a clue who he was, so I played along. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He handed me a check for the dog fees and told me it was nice to see me. I looked at the check. His
last name was Nero. I realized he might have been related to another guy I was friends with back in high school named Landon Nero.

I took a chance and said, “How’s Landon?”

“Oh, he’s good. He got married recently to Genevieve from our class.”

Bingo. He was related to Landon. I had heard Landon and Genevieve were recently married. I handed him his dog tag and receipt and told him to let Landon know I said hello. As he walked away from the window, I glanced down at the clock. It was time to c
all it a day. The first day on the job was exhausting. I headed over to my parents’ house, picked up Mandy, then headed home. After a quick dinner, I put both her and myself to bed. I slept like a rock.

________________________________________________

Tax Cut, Book 2 in the Jersey Shore Mystery Series is available on Amazon.com
http://www.amzn.to/1exlgXR

Thank you for taking the time to read my debut novel, Red Tape.  If you have a moment, I would truly appreciate it if you could leave a review on Amazon.  Reviews are extremely important as they let other readers know what you thought about the book and they also provide valuable feedback which helps me to improve my craft.

About the Author:

Michele Lynn Seigfried is an award-winning novelist, children’s book author/illustrator and public speaker who was born and raised in New Jersey. In her mystery novels, she draws from her personal expertise in the area of municipal government, in
which she has served for over 16 years in two different municipalities. She holds a B.A. in communication from the College of New Jersey with a minor in art. She obtained the Master Municipal Clerk certification from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks in 2010. She also holds the Registered Municipal Clerk certification and Certified Municipal Registrar Certifications from the State of New Jersey.  In combining her love of writing with art, Michele began writing and illustrating children’s picture books in 2013.

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