I jog up the front steps of the mayor’s house and look at the empty desk in the reception area. “Fuck, I forgot I fired Bonnie.” I shake my head and walk into my office, stopping when I see my father sitting behind the desk. “What the hell are you doing?” I ask, slamming the door, kicking myself for not having the locks changed yet.
“I’m just making sure that you have everything under control.” He leans back in the chair. “I heard some interesting news.”
I shake my head. “I don’t have time for this. I have a meeting with the accountant in a couple of minutes.”
“I heard that also.” He just eyes me.
“Is there anything that you haven’t heard?” I put my hands on my hips. “Since you seem to know everything.”
“Is she pregnant with your child?” he asks, and I glare at him.
“Watch it, old man,” I hiss. “I’m not Liam. I’m not going to let you talk about my wife with anything but respect.”
“Respect?” he shouts. “That whore has blackmailed me for eight years. Blackmailed us.”
“She wouldn’t have to blackmail anyone if your son would have taken responsibility as a man!” I shout back at him. “But being the spineless prick that he is, he made Daddy fight his battles.”
“You will not choose her over this family.” He slams his hand on the desk.
“She is my family.” I shake my head. A knock on the door sounds, and I walk over and open the door, seeing the accountant Thomas.
“Good morning.” I motion for him to come in. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”
He nods at me and then spots my father. Something comes over him, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. “I didn’t know you would be attending.”
“He’s not going to be attending anything.” I look at him. “We can do this in the conference room,” I say and watch him nod and walk out. I grab the files I need and look over at my father. “All my life, I looked up to you,” I say, and I swear he rolls his eyes. I grab the door handle in my hand. “Now, I pray I don’t end up like you.”
I close the door and walk down the hallway when I’m stopped by someone who is planning the party. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, Mayor, but Bonnie isn’t here.”
“Yeah, I fired her,” I say, and she looks at me in shock. “What can I help you with?”
“Don’t worry about it,” she says. “I’ll handle everything. It’s tonight at six thirty.”
I nod and walk to the conference room, seeing that Thomas is sitting down and setting up his own papers. “Do you want anything to drink?” I ask. “I’m in the middle of hiring another assistant.”
“Did Bonnie quit?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“Let’s just say we didn’t see eye-to-eye,” I say, and he looks down.
“If you want, my daughter is looking for a job. I have her helping out at my office, but it’s a pity job, to be honest. She’s thirty and happily married with two kids who are now both in school.”
“That would be great,” I say. “Can she start today?” I’m kidding with him when he pulls out his phone and types something.
“She’ll be right over,” he tells me. At least I can cross that off my list. “Now let’s talk about why you asked for this meeting.”
I sit down and open my folder. “I was going over the budget for the past ten years,” I say, taking out the papers, “and I know we balanced every single year.” I turn the papers toward him. “But there is something in the budget I’m not understanding. There is a miscellaneous charge every single year, and the amount gets bigger and bigger.” I see him swallow and then look down. “I’m wondering if you can explain that to me.”
“Well,” he says, tapping his hand on the desk. “It could mean a bunch of stuff, meals that were paid for or hotel rooms. Sometimes there have been some fundraising stuff that has to be expenses.”
I lean back in the chair. “Hotel rooms?”
“When you have to travel,” he says, “you expense it.”
“Travel?” I shake my head. “Am I missing something here?”
“Beau,” he says my name in almost a warning. “Why don’t you just leave it alone and run the mayor’s office like you want to run it? The budget has been posted and passed in the last meeting.”
“It was passed because let’s be honest, five people actually attended the meeting,” I say. “I’m going to be very frank with you, Thomas.” I put my hands on the desk. “I’m not liking this, not one bit, and I want to see all the receipts for this.” He looks down, avoiding my eyes. “And just to be clear, I have no problem moving to another firm. Your loyalty has to be to the town and its people, not who runs the mayor’s house.”