Impervious (City of Eldrich Book 1) (8 page)

Chapter 12

E
mily had worked
for the city for more than twenty years. She’d started out as a part-time secretary for a council member and ended up running the show. Why a city the size of Eldrich even needed professional staff for its council members was never mentioned.

Emily built her empire with deliberation and care, and now, under the guise of separation of powers, was accountable to no one, except the council members whose egos she stroked and whose secrets she kept. She controlled the flow of information in and out of the council offices with an iron hand and tolerated no dissent. All contact between council members and the rest of the city had to go through her. Council members who balked found themselves, through some electoral alchemy they didn’t understand, serving only one term.

“She even used city funds to buy a high-end coffee maker to keep the council members from going over to Eldrich Brew before meetings so she can keep an eye on them,” Natalie said. “She’s that much of a control freak.”

When Matthew was city solicitor, he kept Emily in check. Her reign of terror extended only to the council members, her tiny administrative staff, and the occasional new, low-ranking city employee who made the mistake of thinking Emily was bound by the same rules as everybody else.

Emily hated Matthew. He was impervious—that was the word Natalie used—to Emily’s machinations. And so a fragile detente emerged. Matthew talked with the council members any time he damn well pleased and Emily stayed out of his way. In return, Matthew didn’t actively lobby the council to fire her.

Then Matthew retired and without his monolithic presence on the third floor to thwart her, Emily made her power grab. The two successive city solicitors hired following Matthew’s retirement had been terrified of her, particularly Bob, Meaghan’s immediate predecessor.

Bob was a former partner in a large Manhattan law firm. He’d left his wife of twenty years for a gorgeous trophy wife. The trophy wife decided she wanted to make artisan goat cheese in the country and that’s how they got Bob.

He was a good lawyer but a weak manager, with no government experience, and no match for Emily. Despite Natalie’s and Jamie’s attempts to bolster him, Emily pinned Bob squarely under her thumb.

Jamie took the brunt of it. Despite being a young attorney, with only a few years of experience, Jamie got dumped with every project Bob feared might somehow anger Emily. Instead of protecting Jamie, Bob threw him to the council, like raw meat, then shrugged and smiled and hemmed and hawed, while Jamie was savaged for trying to do his job.

The more local the politics were, Meaghan had learned over the years, the more brutal and dirtier the fighting got.

From what Natalie said, it sounded like Emily had it out for Jamie, in a personal nasty sort of way. When Meaghan asked about it, Natalie looked blank a moment, then said, “Yeah, she doesn’t like him.” She didn’t elaborate.

Mayor McCheese,—Anthony “Tony” Diebler—was elected right before Matthew retired. It was Tony who’d handpicked and appointed Bob, and like Bob, Tony was terrified of Emily. The council now had their hands in daily administrative decisions that far exceeded their legislative authority. Emily bullied and harassed staff, eviscerated funding requests as punishment for perceived transgressions, and engaged in destructive email campaigns against people who crossed her. Her control over the council was now absolute. Emily had become, in the vacuum created by Matthew’s retirement, the single most powerful person in city hall.

“Well, that explains it,” Meaghan said.

“Explains what?” Natalie asked.

“All the weirdness. I’ve had the strongest sense that people weren’t telling me something. Now I know what it is. This job won’t be the cakewalk I was led to believe it would be. I’m going to have to earn my paycheck.”

“You okay with that?” Natalie asked.

“Sure. I love a good fight. Emily’s not going to know what hit her.”

Natalie looked thoughtful. “Oh, I think she already knows exactly what she’s dealing with. I think she’s downstairs right now stewing about it. Meaghan, I know it’s a small town and you’ve dealt with much bigger stuff, but watch out for her. She’s more dangerous than she appears.”

Meaghan laughed. “Yeah, yeah. I know. And so are the woods and the stairs and blah blah blah. You know, I’m not completely helpless. I’ve seen her type before. I can handle Emily.”

Natalie glanced at her watch, her face bright red.

Mystery solved. Exactly what Meaghan had thought. A big messy personality conflict on the first day. That’s what everybody wasn’t telling her.

“You need to get downstairs to the mayor’s office,” Natalie said. “It’s almost ten. Take the elevator down to two.”

“I’ll take the stairs,” Meaghan said, watching Natalie for a reaction. “I need the exercise.”

“I’ll walk down with you. I need to drop something off with Annie. The mayor’s secretary. I can introduce you before his Cheesiness makes an entrance.”

Okay. Meaghan had merely given herself a bad case of the heebie-jeebies, induced by stress. Nothing more. She’d dealt with plenty of people like Emily before. And in a town this tiny, she thought, how bad can city hall politics really be?

Annie, a smiling blond woman a few years older than Natalie, greeted them from her desk in the reception area. The mayor was running a few minutes late. She told Meaghan to have a seat and chatted with Natalie a moment. It sounded like they were neighbors.

Small town, Meaghan thought. They all know each other. Another change she’d have to get used to. Phoenix was a sprawling community full of people from somewhere else, some of whom only lived there during the winter. Meaghan had lived in her last house for ten years and had never met the people who lived across the street.

Natalie left Meaghan in Annie’s care and headed back up the stairs.

Annie busied herself with something on her desk and Meaghan waited. The office was silent except for the tick of a large antique clock above Annie’s desk and the occasional muffled voice from somewhere further back in the office suite.

“He’s back in the building,” Annie announced after a couple of minutes. “He should be here any time now.”

Meaghan wondered a moment how Annie knew that. The phone hadn’t rung. She wasn’t near a window or working at her computer. Meaghan didn’t see a cell phone or tablet anywhere. Then Mayor Diebler bustled into the room and schmoozed Meaghan into his office before she could think about it further.

Tony Diebler was pleasant enough, but his nickname fit. Meaghan had gotten a hint of it when he’d called her in Phoenix to offer her the job in Eldrich. Middle-aged and divorced, Tony liked to flirt with women far too young for him. He wore too much cologne. He had good hair, which Meaghan could tell he was proud of, and described himself as an “innovative problem solver.”

Meaghan thought he’d be easy enough to manage. They were about the same age, which made her at least twenty years too old for him. No worries there. Tony merely needed to be reassured from time to time that he was the boss, the alpha male. He needed the illusion of authority, not the substance, and as long as Meaghan allowed him that illusion and stroked his ego a bit, he’d stay out of her way.

They chatted for about twenty minutes about the city and Tony’s general goals as mayor. Lots of grandiose ideas but no obvious boondoggles on the horizon. Natalie had been wrong about the lunch invitation. Tony already had lunch plans he claimed he couldn’t break, and Meaghan returned upstairs, relieved, and grateful for her sack lunch. She didn’t think she could tolerate Tony’s cologne much longer. Besides, she needed the time to prepare for her meeting with the notorious Emily Proctor.

Chapter 13

M
eaghan pored over
the city code, reviewed Bob’s files, and quizzed Natalie and Kady about what they knew, heard, or suspected about various projects. It was all standard municipal stuff, except that since Matthew’s departure, the city seemed incapable of completing anything.

In each project, Emily’s thwarting presence was obvious. Nothing got done because at the last minute the council got cold feet. Somewhere in the file, there’d be a nasty email from Emily, sent out to far more people than needed to be involved, blathering about “frustrating legislative intent” or “usurping legislative authority.”

And, damn, she hated Jamie, absolutely despised him. It had gotten to the point where the council, urged on by Emily, were trying to insert themselves into how Jamie handled his court cases and threatening to fire him if he didn’t comply with their every whim.

That stopped as of today. If Emily didn’t like it, too bad. Meaghan would try to be tactful, but considering that Emily had a history with Matthew and likely already hated Meaghan because of that history, she wasn’t going to waste time building bridges. There was no excuse for the way Emily bullied Jamie. He was a good kid and he didn’t deserve it.

Meaghan sighed. She’d just thought of a handsome thirty-year-old man as a kid. “God, I’m getting old,” she muttered.

By one thirty, Meaghan was ready. She didn’t have all the details, but enough to make her point. She’d try to keep things civil as long as she could, but she planned to make it crystal clear to Emily that the legislative meddling stopped today. Meaghan would not be bullied or pushed.

Jamie rushed past Meaghan’s open office door about one forty-five carrying a huge file box. She heard him drop it on his desk and then he appeared in her doorway. He looked worried.

“I’m sorry,” he said in a rush. “Court went long and I had to grab lunch. I need to talk to you about the meeting with Emily, and there’s a lot to go over—”

Meaghan cut him off with a raised hand. “Breathe. Okay? Take a deep breath. Let it out.” She pointed at the chair in front of her desk. “Sit down. It’s all good. Natalie told me everything.” Jamie’s eyes widened in shock. What, did he think she couldn’t figure this stuff out? “I know Bob didn’t protect you. I will. Count on it.”

Jamie’s face broke into that wide disarming grin. “Oh, that. Bob. Yeah. Thank you.”

Oh, that?
What else was there? “Let me do the talking,” Meaghan continued. “If I can keep things cordial, I will, but that’s not my top priority. Things are changing. As of today. And she’ll know that by the time she goes back downstairs.”

“She won’t like it.”

“I don’t care. I cannot emphasize enough how much I don’t care.”

Jamie sagged into the chair, relief wafting off him like steam. “Will Natalie be there?”

Meaghan smiled. “Safety in numbers?”

“Something like that.”

“She’ll be there. I need her institutional memory. And judging by the files, Natalie and Emily have gotten into it before. And Natalie’s won.”

“She holds her ground, yeah,” Jamie said, nodding.

Two minutes before two o’clock, Meaghan, Jamie, and Natalie walked to the conference room across the hall from the solicitor’s office. Meaghan’s stomach fluttered with nervous anticipation. She noticed Jamie’s hands shaking and Natalie looked apprehensive. Their anxiety was palpable.

She took each of them by the arm before they entered the conference room. “Let me do the talking,” she said in a low voice. “Don’t be scared. I’ve dealt with her type before. Her bullshit ends today.”

Emily was waiting for them. Based on her fearsome reputation, Meaghan had been expecting a cross between Grendel’s mother and Lady Macbeth. Instead, Emily was petite, with chin-length dark hair, not a strand out of place. She wore all pastels. A pink cotton sweater set. A pale green, pink, and powder blue plaid skirt. Pearls. Sensible tan flats. She looked like she’d stepped out of an LL Bean or Talbot’s catalog.

Emily smiled, a forced cheery grin that didn’t reach her eyes. “Hello, Meaghan,” she said in a little girl singsong. She held out her well-manicured right hand. On her left hand, she wore a gold wedding band with a large diamond. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

And in the same way Meaghan liked Natalie right away, Meaghan disliked Emily. She was the type who smiled and chirped and was oh so
nice,
while she stabbed you in the back over and over with a rusty knife.

Emily had a limp fish handshake. Meaghan took her hand for a moment, then dropped it. Looking her square in the eye, Meaghan answered, “And I’ve heard so much about you, Emily.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, she frowned for a quick moment, and then the artificial smile reappeared.

Once they were all seated, Emily gave a speech about how great it was when everyone worked together, but how city government only worked if both branches, executive and legislative, were kept separate and boundaries respected.

Meaghan broke in. “Excellent point, Emily.” Meaghan leaned back in her chair and smiled. Here we go, she thought. “It’s been my experience in local government that the judicial branch doesn’t have the same ‘check and balance’ power it does at the state or federal level. This leaves a power vacuum unless you have a city attorney—solicitor, I mean, still getting used to the terminology—unless you have a city solicitor who functions as that third player.”

Emily’s fake smile was gone.

“A strong city solicitor,” Meaghan said, “is important to keeping the council and the mayor in check. Without that third pole of power it becomes tug-of-war. Or a shoving match, if one side is too powerful.”

Jamie stared at her, in open admiration.

Emily scowled. “And I suppose you think that’s you.”

Meaghan nodded. “Yes. I do. You remember my father. We’re a lot alike.”

Emily stood up in a huff. “I don’t like what you’re insinuating.”

“Emily, please, have a seat.” Meaghan gestured at the table. “I’m not insinuating anything. But with regard to boundaries, you’re right. There’s been a power vacuum in this office for a while now and it’s thrown the relationship between branches out of balance.” Meaghan took a deep breath to steady her nerves. “It’s nobody’s fault. The work needs to get done, I understand that. But now that I’m here, we need to discuss the council’s practice of inserting itself into executive functions, particularly with regard to my office.”

Emily still stood, her face red and her voice thick with rage. “You have no authority over the council.”

The hairs on the back of Meaghan’s neck stood up. She hadn’t discovered anything in her research suggesting Emily was mentally unbalanced, but her anger seemed far out of proportion to the conversation. She could see now why everyone feared Emily Proctor.

“I have the same authority with the council that I have with the mayor,” Meaghan said, trying to keep her voice calm. “Under state statute and city ordinance, my duty is to advise both branches, legislative and executive.” What the hell, Meaghan thought. She’s already pissed off. Might as well go for it. “Which means I plan to speak directly with council members—without going through you first.”

“You can try to sidestep me, but my council members won’t talk to you,” Emily hissed. “They respect my opinion on everything, including hiring and firing.” The affable civil servant was gone. Emily looked wild with fury. “Don’t forget. You serve at the pleasure of the council. If I want you gone, you’ll go.”

Feigning calm, Meaghan replied, “No. That’s not how it works. Read the ordinance. I serve at the pleasure of the mayor. Alone. The council had to consent to my being hired, and even you couldn’t stop them on that one. But they don’t have any say over when I leave.” Meaghan gripped the arms of her chair so Emily couldn’t see her hands shake. How did things get so ugly so fast? “And I suspect,” Meaghan continued, fighting to keep her voice steady, “the council members would be troubled to hear you brag about how well you control them. You have no authority
whatsoever
,” she accentuated each syllable, “over the terms of my employment. Much like you have no authority over my deputy and no right to tell him how to do his job.”

Meaghan glanced at Jamie and Natalie. He stared at the table, his face red. Natalie gripped his trembling hand and glared at Emily.

Emily sneered. “Your
deputy
,” she said. “You don’t even know what he is.” She paused. Her eyes narrowed, then she threw her head back and laughed. “I don’t believe it. You really don’t know. The great Matthew Keele’s precious daughter has no idea what she’s walked into.”

She lifted a hand towards Jamie and began to utter unintelligible syllables. Natalie rose now, hands out in front of Jamie and chanted something in response.

What happened next played out in Meaghan’s mind later in slow motion, like the moments leading up to a car crash. Time slowed and she could see everything unfold, but, as if paralyzed, she couldn’t move in time to intercede.

Emily raised her other hand in a sweeping motion and Natalie fell back—was pushed back—from the table and fell to the floor. Emily now swept both arms upward and Jamie looked like he was yanked out of his chair. She slashed her arms downward and Jamie’s chest slammed to the table top and then his body rolled as if shoved. He sprawled on his back.

Natalie jumped to her feet and shouted, “No!” She threw herself on top of Jamie but was thrown to the floor again.

Pinned under invisible hands, Jamie struggled but couldn’t sit up. His head rocked as if struck and a red line opened on his right cheek.

Emily, triumphant, leaned over him and hissed something. He groaned and struggled but couldn’t move. She tore open his shirt and pulled out a dark stone on a leather thong. She yanked hard and the thong snapped.

A bright flash blinded Meaghan for a moment. Then she saw Jamie was gone, the table empty except for his shirt and tie, which lay there like rags. Emily held up her arm, the stone dangling from her fist. She smiled at Meaghan, her face alight with malice.

“Your turn,” Emily said. She raised her hands again, chanting the strange syllables and swept her arm at Meaghan the way she had at Natalie and Jamie.

Nothing happened. Emily’s eyes widened in fear. She turned and fled, still clutching Jamie’s necklace.