Page 36 of A Light in the Dark
THIRTY-SIX
There’s nothing wrong with my adoration of luna moth silk.
I endured a lecture from Lois, who went into explicit detail about what luna moth women endured when off their birth control and in the presence of their partner. With the woman’s tirade about the unfairness of having to deal with guaranteed pregnancy, multi-hour sex binges, and insatiable sex drives still ringing in my ears, we went to the pharmacy to get my new prescription. Unfortunately for my sanity, only one place in the city carried the correct birth control. Worse, the place was owned by members of Joel’s flutter.
Fortunately, they bought into my claim that I wanted to have all forms of birth control available in case they were needed by other members of the flutter, especially women who didn’t want to impose on Joel. As such, I went home armed with enough condoms to protect an entire army.
To support the claim he did the same, Joel bought a huge stash as well.
Once behind the wheel of Joel’s SUV, safely buckled in and able to breathe without the risk of breaking out into helpless laughter, I said, “They really bought into that!”
“The only reason I don’t have a stash of condoms at my house is because I just handed out my stash to a new couple needing to wait for their birth control to be effective. They know it, and that’s why my purchases were ignored. As I don’t share who is getting the condoms or reminders to take care with their partner unless they’re planning on having a child, they aren’t going to think anything of it. Honestly, unless we get married, they’ll assume we’re dancing around each other.”
“Do luna moths like weddings?”
“We are beautiful and we know we’re beautiful. We live for weddings. That said, if we were to get married, we’d have flutters from all around the world wanting to attend. The ones that don’t get invitations will show up as luna moths.”
“No luna moth is getting an invitation to our wedding,” I informed him in a solemn tone. “Should there be one. I want all the luna moths in attendance, as luna moths. And the silk rules apply.”
“I’m sure you’d receive gifts of silk once people know you love crafting.” Joel laughed. “How about we issue invitations to our wedding but with a strong preference for all flutters to attend as moths, as you have an obsessive compulsive luna moth disorder.”
“It’s not a disorder. There’s nothing wrong with my adoration of luna moth silk, especially Shifter Five’s silk.”
I needed to talk to Yolana and keep teasing Joel for a while about his silk. Something about the way he bristled encouraged me to yank his chain a little harder.
“It could be worse. You could be trying to get more mundane luna moth silk. Sure, shifters have to be paid for their contribution to the silk, but the mundane stuff is ridiculously rare.”
“I should make a cross-stitch using every type of viable silk product. That would be such an excellent use of my free time.”
“Are you going to have free time?”
“I better.” I wrinkled my nose. “What time does City Hall open? I’m going to be unhappy leaving this mess to fester.”
“It’s open all day and night, but it has limited services at night. As the mayor, you can show up at any time.”
Hm. I pointed at his navigation panel. “Make that thing direct me to City Hall.”
Joel did as ordered, and ten minutes later, I parked in a no parking zone, grinned at Joel, and said, “I’ll look the other way, but go find somewhere to park this beast before joining me. No side trips, no adventures, and be careful with your head.”
“Shouldn’t you ask me if I can drive first?”
“Well, can you?”
“I feel fine, but you should have asked first.”
“Joel, you looked ready to cry in your garage when you had to get into the passenger seat. Be careful, and if you don’t tell anyone, I won’t.” I pointed at a nearby spot on the street. “I think you can handle going that far.”
“I’m sure I can. I see you are more benevolent than the other dictators. Didn’t you hear Lois?”
“I heard her. She enforced the Moonriver doctors solely on grounds of your tendency to misbehave. I’m taking that to mean you’re safe to drive, but as you cause your flutter problems, they’re punishing you. ”
“That sounds pretty accurate,” he admitted.
I got out of the vehicle, and to my amusement, a security guard came down the steps, his expression promising a rebuke for my choice of parking. I engaged him in a staring contest while Joel got behind the wheel and moved the vehicle. Then I pointed at the sign indicating it was a drop-off zone and waited.
While the guard’s expression remained stern, he said, “We were not expecting you, Madam Mayor.”
How unfortunate. I had a title, and people were willing to use it. “I wasn’t expecting me until fifteen minutes ago, so don’t feel badly over my impulsive decision to add an errand to my evening. Are you someone I can talk to about some marching orders on things I need done?”
“Yes, madam.”
“Excellent. When I crossed the border this morning, there was a backlog of authorizations. I handled everything for the borders, but I suspect there are many other instances of this throughout the city-state. I’m going to need a team of five or ten people to find out who needs direct authorizations from me, organize them by how long they’ve been neglected, and prepare everything for signing so all I need to do is review, ask questions, and sign.”
The guard pulled out a radio from his utility belt, and I appreciated how accurately he repeated my request. “That should be simple enough.”
“On the surface, I suspect it is. After seeing the problems at the border, I fear I might need to find ten extra people to get that backlog addressed. Had that lout properly paid security staff? ”
The guard’s wince indicated I had more than a few problems on my hands. “Not as well as one would hope.”
“All right. That’s fire number two that needs to be put out. I will need the city-state’s human resources department, assuming we have one, to audit all payments for staff and make certain everyone is paid. I don’t care when the normal pay period is; I want everyone paid within a week, preferably by Friday. Is anyone from human resources working right now?”
“Yes, madam. We are on a split schedule, as the previous mayor indicated we worked better that way.”
If I wanted to hide corruption, splitting the staff and preventing people from getting together to ferret out problems was a good way to handle it. “I see. We’ll discuss scheduling later, but please put out a request for every employee to submit a list of three priorities for improvement in how this place is run. I make no promises the suggestions will be met in the way people want, but this should give me a good starting point for what needs to be changed.”
Joel returned, and he twirled his keys and fobs around his finger. “If I get ticketed, I’ll just pay it. I’m too damned lazy to go walk a block to the pay meter.”
With a sigh, the guard reported Joel’s make and model of car and indicated that it was my vehicle and to leave it alone for the evening.
“This mayor gig isn’t too bad so far. It’s just common sense and asking what the problems are so they can be addressed,” I informed my neighbor. “Is there an office I can use in this place?”
“Yes, madam. Unfortunately, it’s a mess right now. Your predecessor had a tantrum at his arrest. ”
Of course he had. “Was there a tornado fashioned of paperwork?”
“He also shattered his monitor, but the computer itself was not damaged. The technical team has already hacked into his account so you have full access to everything. All data on city-state computers is considered to be property of the city-state. Law enforcement was given a copy of everything incriminating.”
I found it interesting that the security guard was up to date on everything going on with the investigation. “Please make certain I receive updates on what’s going on with that along with a copy of everything that has already happened. Show me to this office, and I’ll see what I can get done in thirty minutes before I head home for the night. I just wanted to get some balls rolling so the disasters cease their breeding.”
“I wish you the best of luck with that, Madam Mayor,” he replied in a solemn tone. “You are going to need it.”
The former mayor had been an overconfident idiot. Evidence of his plans to murder Earth’s refugees lay scattered throughout his office, ranging in memos to aides to source strangleberry and other toxic items for delivery to grocery stores, labeled as imports from Moonriver. I remembered what Roger had said.
Only the educated would be able to tell the difference between our lethal berries and Moonriver’s kinder cousin. I scowled, tearing through the office to make piles for later sorting. Anything dealing with the refugee situation went into one pile. Anything I could identify as belonging to the plot to fill our grocery stores with poison went into another.
I found more than a few pages about me and my work along with the pay stubs to eliminate me as a risk to his mayorship.
That went into another pile.
I hadn’t been the only target, and judging from the copies of the death certificates, those victims hadn’t been so lucky. They numbered a hundred and thirty-one in total, telling a sad story of a purge of those with heart and goodwill towards those struck with misfortune.
Then, buried in the depths of the mess, I found the journal detailing how he intended to get rid of everyone who hadn’t been born in Stonecreek proper, from people like my parents, the town of luna moth shifters disrupting his economy in ways he didn’t appreciate, to even Joel, who refused to bend and only shore for those the mayor had approved of.
The evidence he’d meant to kill Joel to close Sampson Sigils and make his purge easier infuriated me.
I caged my anger, checked the time, and huffed that thirty minutes had grown to two hours. I picked up all the sheets relating to the confirmed murders, the purge, and the deadly little journal, and carried the lot to the door. A pair of security guards, whom I’d learned were all transfers from other parts of the city-state due to the mayor’s corruption and influence, waited with expectant patience.
“Law enforcement needs to review everything, make copies, and return the originals. The death certificates are for his victims, and the city-state will need to look into compensation for the families. And someone with some skill at public speaking will need to put together a speech about this. We will not be burying that man’s sins.”
The younger of the guards took the papers from me while the older one, with grayed hair and a tired expression, nodded and got on his radio to relay my instructions.
“I’m going home, and I expect I’ll be back tomorrow trying to make sense of this mess.”
Without waiting for a reply, I made my way through City Hall to the coffee shop where Joel plied himself with a dark brew and entertained himself on his phone. He was where I’d left him, although his expression implied his patience had run out at least thirty minutes ago.
“I’m ready to leave,” I announced, and rather than head for the door, I angled for the barista, who greeted me with a smile. “I need the largest, hottest, and strongest coffee you have, please.”
“Yes, madam,” the woman replied and went to work on my order. I dug out my wallet, and the luna moth joined me.
He snickered. “I argued with her for twenty minutes about paying for my coffee. I lost. Apparently, those who accompany the mayor to her work get free coffee as a consolation. She isn’t going to take your money.”
“I’m really not,” the woman agreed, and she joined Joel in laughing. “It’s one of the perks of being in your position, madam. The least we can do is offer you free coffee while you try to fix this mess.” She offered the brew, which I accepted with a smile.
Then, with an arched brow and a smirk, I plunked a five dollar bill into the tip jar. “Thank you for the coffee and the warm welcome. If you think you know anything of use, write it down and deliver it to the security people outside that office I have to use. I’m not calling it my office until it has been cleansed of evil. That’s going to take at least a week. My priority is the refugee situation, but I’m also going to be cutting out as much corruption as possible. Stonecreek deserves better.”
“I’ll do that, madam. Thank you.”
I saluted her with my coffee and made for the exit with Joel hot on my heels.
“What took so long?”
“I found a hundred and thirty-one death certificates of that bastard’s victims, hidden in the mess in that fucking office. Among other things. I had the security people turn it over to law enforcement. Once I found the first death certificate, I decided I wasn’t leaving until I checked over as much of that disaster as I could for other death certificates. Then I found his planning journal. I’m guessing he had knocked everything off the desk trying to locate that piece of evidence.”
Joel’s expression darkened. “What did his planning journal contain?”
“It was his road map to purging Stonecreek of everyone who isn’t just like him. I think I’m going to need to do four or five hours a day until that office is cleansed of evil, Joel.”
He sighed, and after a moment, he nodded. “There’s a spot for you in the parking garage, and while you were working, one of the guards gave me a pass and directions on how to access it. Assuming I’m not at work, you can make use of my SUV.”
“I can take the bus if needed.”
The look he shot my way implied I would be paying for my comment somehow. “You could, but it’s an ineffective use of your time. Just borrow my SUV. And if we start having scheduling overlaps, we’ll go to a dealership and find a vehicle you like.”
If I remained stuck being the mayor, I’d need the vehicle. Heaving a sigh louder and longer than his had been, I replied, “You can take me to a dealership, but I am expecting passenger seat rights whenever possible. I like being the passenger.”
“I can probably manage driving you around.” He shook his head and laughed at me. “Your rider privileges are not being revoked. I’m just making sure you take as little time as possible getting to and from City Hall.”
I could accept that. “I’m exhausted, Joel.”
“I’m rested, as I sat around and read books on my phone while waiting. Why don’t I drive us home? If you’re that tired, it’ll be a lot safer—and I’ll pull over and get someone to drive for us if any sign of a headache shows up.”
“Good call. We can save our acquisitions for tomorrow. I have a feeling I’m going to pass out the instant I get anywhere near a soft surface.”
“Excellent. Fall asleep in my SUV at your own risk. Should you, you’re coming home with me, and it’ll be your turn to be a hostage for a while.”
“What a scandal! Do you have silk sheets on your bed?”
“I do.”
“As my bed does not have silk sheets and yours does, please take me hostage even if I don’t fall asleep in your SUV.”
“Excellent. Remember: you are under zero obligation to return to your regular work tomorrow. We’re to return next week at the earliest.”
After consulting with my phone, I realized Monday was only a few hours away. “Oh. I have an entire week off work?”
“As do I. We still need to recover.”
“Then I can easily manage five hours a day doing this mayor stuff to get as much out of the way as possible. Do you think I can get it down to only needing an hour a day, most of it done from home?” I chewed on my lip, glared at the device, and wondered how I’d manage everything. “I’m going to need a new phone, Joel. I am not putting mayoral crap on this phone.”
“I can take us to a phone shop on the way to get you hooked up with a phone for your mayoral work. I’d get a tablet and a laptop, too. We can order those online, though.”
“Or we can just grab them at the nearest store that sells all three things in close proximity. I’m going to need the tablet and the laptop tomorrow, and I’m not making the city-state pay for them. I’ll just make certain it’s known they’re my personal devices that are used exclusively for city-state business, and the data will be transferred off but the devices will remain mine. That way the city-state doesn’t deal with the bill.”
“The city-state can afford the bill, Valerie.”
“After what that asshole did? The city-state does not need any additional bills. They’re going to have bills enough compensating the murder victims.”
“And what about you, Madam Mayor?”
“They can give me papers declaring my ownership of your person as compensation.”
Joel laughed at me. “Did you just ask me to marry you? ”
“Not precisely, but now that you mention it, I think I may have just implied I was going to have the city-state sell you into slavery. That’s in the same ballpark, but one might have consent issues.” I considered, and then I stared at him with wide eyes. “Would you actually marry someone like me?”
“Like you, no. You? That’s a different matter. I would not be difficult to convince. I’ve been around long enough to know how hard it is to find someone I just mesh with, and we’ve gotten along from the start. You tolerate my hobbies, and that’s pretty rare.”
What was even going on in the world that he had problems finding someone who could tolerate his hobbies? “But there’s nothing wrong with your hobbies.”
“Are you going to think that when I take two weeks off work to try to get a photograph of a rare animal?”
“That depends entirely on if you’re taking me with you.”
“I would like to take you with me, yes.”
I already wanted to keep the man around, and he wanted to take me places to look at rare animals while he shot them with his camera? Some decisions in life were easier than others. “And I can extort you at my leisure?”
“Only if I get to extort my new wife for her silk. I have felt your silk, Madam Mayor. It is excellent quality, and I will be having several bolts of silk made for my sewing pleasures.”
“How many pounds do we need to produce for a bolt?”
“For a sixty inch wide bolt of a hundred yards meant for most clothing, dresses, and so on, you need to produce roughly fifty pounds of silk. Your first shift silk should make at least ten bolts, but you might get more out of it if you want thinner fabrics. Your cross-stitch bolts are a heavier weight, so if you go for a cross-stitch bolt, you might only get nine bolts out of it.”
I did the math: I had a lifetime supply of silk just from my first shift. “And floss?”
“I don’t recommend using your first shift silk for thread. Use your next few transformations for the threads. Your first shift silk has an exceptional texture.”
“Okay, so, skip the cross-stitch bolt and do everything for clothing, especially if the silk is that good.”
He nodded. “I’ll show you my bolts of first shift silk tomorrow, that way you can get an idea of the texture differences.”
“Dangle that in front of me as a bribe to deal with this week—and please don’t let me forget to call my parents tomorrow. Honestly, the fact they might come to Stonecreek at all might be the real miracle here.”
“If yours won’t come, mine will,” Joel replied with a smile. “Let’s get you home, and I will take care of you, my precious hostage, for the next few days. We’ll take turns.”
“Now that’s a plan.”