Chapter 112

“We had an engagement party planned for tonight,” Katelyn said when everyone was gathered in the apartment. “I guess that’s off. We’ll need to call everyone to let them know.”

“I am not changing my plans!” Phil declared. “Yes, I will put up with having someone shadow me but I’m still going to go to the park tomorrow if the weather clears up. I’m still going to work on Monday and I’m going to have lunch at the deli like I always do. If you planned something for this evening, we’ll do it. Just let everyone know the situation. Since we’re all going to be there, that means there are going to be half a dozen armed protectors there so it shouldn’t make any difference.”

“More than that,” Tiffany said. “We were going to invite your mom and dad and Hailey’s dad, too. We called Lisa and Scott and they’re coming down. Ted is leaving for basic training on Tuesday so he and Stacy can’t come up but Emma and Taylor are probably already on their way. We called Lauren Piccolo. Picco’s banquet room was rented out but she got us a place at Benjamin’s. She said it’s just as nice as Picco’s.”

“Wow!” Hailey said, amazed at her friends. “You went all out.”

“We sort of started a list of things we needed to do a few months ago,” Katelyn admitted. “Molly found the engagement ring hidden in Phil’s closet so we knew it was coming. Everyone was on alert to be ready – and we found out yesterday what Phil had in mind so we went ahead and set it up.”

Katelyn’s explanation caused Phil to snort.

“I’ve toted that ring around since Christmas!” he admitted. “I planned to ask her just before we went back to school.”

“Why didn’t you?” Hailey asked with a frown.

“Uh, your dad,” Phil pointed out. “I thought it would be better if I waited. Then Madi and Dani came up for the company thing in March. Then you wanted to go out with those two girls in Emerald Cove. I’ve been planning this for months. I was starting to wonder if maybe this was God’s not-so-subtle way of pointing out that I should wait.”

“You shouldn’t have!” Hailey said, laughing now. “Still, I guess you timed it pretty well. I mean, yeah, I could have done without all the drama last night but it was still pretty special. I was surprised. I would have been super-surprised at Christmas. You’re just lucky that I didn’t find the ring first.”

“So should we cancel the party?” Molly asked.

“No,” Phil concluded. “This is Hailey’s big night. I want all of our friends to help her celebrate it. She deserves it.”

“You’ll need to get an engagement picture taken soon,” Tiffany pointed out.

“The newspapers will want the story,” Bob added with a nod. “They’ll probably be pissed off if we don’t call them about the party tonight. You’ll need to announce your engagement publicly pretty soon.”

Phil frowned at the news – even though he knew Bob was correct. The announcement of Elizabeth Barton-Warner’s only child’s engagement would create a hubbub in the city’s society circles. He hadn’t really taken that into account until Bob mentioned it.

“Hailey will need to put together a bio and leave it with Barton’s PR people,” Molly agreed. “Phil’s is probably well known but she is probably unknown outside of Stony Ridge and with the Barton people. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the local TV stations don’t pick it up. There is a local gossip show on Channel 12 every night. They might even want Hailey to make an appearance on their show.”

“The wedding is going to have to be huge in order to accommodate all the people who will want to attend,” Katelyn put forth. “I’m sure almost all the divisions will want to send someone. That doesn’t even count the movers and shakers from Calder City who think it’s their birthright to attend such things.”

“Stop!” Hailey said loudly. “I want to enjoy this for as long as I can and you’re really ruining my excitement. I don’t want to go on television and I don’t care if the newspapers want a biography. I’ll worry about those things in a day or two. I want to sit down with Beth and see how she wants to deal with things. I figure Phil and I will start contacting wedding planners sometime next week. We need to look at dates and decide where we want to have the ceremony. For now, I just want to enjoy the thought that I’m going to be married to a wonderful guy.”

Phil slipped out early Sunday morning and headed to a small convenience store a few blocks away. He picked up three copies The Sunday Observer – and a dozen doughnuts – in order that everyone could have a light breakfast as they read what the paper had to say.

He waited until he got in the elevator before he glanced at the front page. There was a huge picture of Melissa Hopkins, looking like she just boiled a dozen puppies alive, staring back at him. Phil wasn’t sure where the paper got the photo but it certainly set the tone of the story.

“Calder-on of Corruption” screamed across the top of the page, just above the ghastly picture of the mayor.

“‘Melissa Hopkins told us during her first campaign that she was a neophyte politician who didn’t even know how to lie,’” the story read. “‘If that’s the case, she’s a quick learner.’”

Phil chuckled aloud as he opened the door and came inside. Everyone was up and about – and Bob quickly relieved him of the doughnuts. He sat down and put the other two papers on the table.

“Listen to this,” he said. He reread the opening paragraph again, drawing additional chuckles from his tablemates. Then he continued.

“‘Mayor Melissa Hopkins’ six-year reign as the top executive in the state’s largest city has been marked not only with the typical corruption that exists in all bureaucracies but has been tainted by graft, theft and glaring abuses of power, according to sources close to the administration and the Observer’s own investigation.’”

The story listed the mayor’s transgressions, ranging from a series of extramarital affairs with prominent contributors to misappropriation of campaign funds to defrauding the state and federal governments out of millions in grant money by distorting crime statistics.

“‘Perhaps the cruelest manipulation, though, regards the case of two young Britons who went missing in the city two years ago,’” the paper continued. Two headshots of the young women were strategically placed beside the text. “‘The mayor told all who would listen – from the FBI to Interpol to her own constituents – that the young women were part of a drug pipeline and would likely be found when that pipeline was broken up by the Drug Interdiction Agency. It was apparent to police officers and medical officials alike that the mayor was lying.’

“‘“She put tourist dollars ahead of the truth,” former Calder City coroner Randolph Makely stated. “It was clear to everyone that these girls didn’t run off with drug kingpins. There was absolutely nothing to suggest it. They had no history of drug abuse, no history of interaction with criminals and no history of being anywhere but where they said they would be. The bodies of the two women washed ashore six months after they went missing. I immediately identified the remains as belonging to the two missing tourists. The Mayor’s staff informed me that my identification must be in error because the two young women had left Calder City shortly after arriving. I stood by my identification and was dismissed from my position. I still stand behind my conclusion – as does the FBI Forensics Lab at Quantico, Va., where I sent the remains without the Mayor’s knowledge prior to my dismissal.”’”

The story ran for a two full pages inside, documenting the mayor’s crimes as they occurred and with several pieces of artwork, including a rumpled Mayor Hopkins kissing a man not her husband as he left the Mayor’s Mansion. The paper also included a photo of a memorandum telling police commanders to urge victims of crimes where the perpetrator is not readily identifiable not to file a report and telling the commanders to destroy any report that the victims insisted upon filing.

“She put that on paper?” Katelyn asked incredulously when she got to that point. “That woman is either an idiot or a megalomaniac!”

“Mom says she has an inflated self-worth,” Phil said with a chuckle as he neared the end of the article. “It says the Mayor’s Office refused to return multiple messages seeking comment. Imagine that. Oh, this is interesting. The State Attorney General said it will investigate the charges. That might put a dark stain in the mayor’s undies.”

“Gross!” Tiffany remarked.

“You know, this is more than just your run-of-the-mill cover-up,” Katelyn noted. “We’re talking criminal charges and heavy-duty prison time. Defrauding the state and federal government usually results in at least a five-year jail term. The campaign finance charges will probably net some time in prison along with millions in fines. She’s going to have to put forth a complete defense.”

“Is it enough to force her to resign?” Hailey asked.

“If she doesn’t, she’ll be recalled,” Katelyn answered. “I think Beth already has the machine working toward that end. It would be better if she left on her own. That would put Joe Pepper in charge. If she is recalled, there would be a general election. That would cost a ton of money and it might push someone out ahead of Joe.”

“If it does, it does,” Phil answered. He still resented Joe and Annette Pepper hiding a predator in his office (even if Katelyn had forgiven them). “Joe’s going to have to run a campaign in a couple of years anyway. Even if he takes over for Hopkins, he’s going to have to prove electable at the next general ballot. Right now, I’m not sure he is. I also doubt he’ll improve much in two years. I think Joe might find a lot of his secrets coming out in the coming weeks no matter what happens with the mayor.”

“Secrets?” Katelyn asked. “Are you planning something?”

“I’m out of it,” Phil said. “Unless I find he went back on his word. If I find he’s hiding more people like the guy I met last summer, I’ll do whatever I can to bury him. If he’s cleaned up his house, I’ll support him if he is the best candidate. Just because Mom supports him doesn’t mean I will.”

“And just because Phil opposes him doesn’t mean you have to,” Bob cut in. “That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?”

Phil chuckled.

“You know that I have absolutely no control over anyone,” Phil retorted. “But yes, I will probably do my best to point out flaws if we differ but I won’t be upset if someone decides someone else is better.”

“See, I think we could close ranks,” Tiffany cut in. “We reach a consensus and we put all of our efforts into getting that person elected. I think we’re much better as a team.”

“But we have different agendas,” Hailey said. “If a candidate wants to cut property taxes or lower business taxes, I think I’d support him even if he wanted to cut funding for the park or the orchestra.”

“You’d research it first,” Molly told her. “If the tax cuts were small and the funding cuts massive, it would make a difference to you. If our property management company could see a 10 percent tax cut it would make sense to me to back that candidate even if he wanted to trim 2 percent from the orchestra. Hell, we could make up that loss with a donation and win twice.”

“It’s a moot point,” Bob said. “Look, we all think alike, I think. No one is going to go to bat for a candidate that wants to close the homeless shelter even if he promises massive cuts in taxation. If he backs trimming some of the administrative costs of government, sure, I can see that. Not at the expense of a worthwhile program. It won’t make any difference what he offers as a carrot. Maybe I’m a cynic but it seems to me that people who want to cut taxes always renege on that promise anyway. They may trim a little from one place but you can bet they will hit you three times as hard somewhere else.”

The young people at the table, despite having voted only once in a general election (and Hailey having missed that one), nodded at the logic.

Hailey smiled at the conversation. She was the first to understand that her group of friends was making plans for a lifelong association, not just a short relationship.

The Mayor’s Office was startlingly quiet on Sunday. Melissa Hopkins stayed locked in her mansion on the hill, cancelling an appearance on a Sunday morning television show. None of her staff appeared anywhere in public – or at least anywhere that someone with a camera or a microphone could find them.

The morning news shows had no choice but to mention the story. Most were firmly attached to the mayor’s wagon but their viewers would expect the story to get some play. Channel 3 was the most vocal, of course. Their news director had worked on the mayor’s campaign and the station owner was one of her biggest supporters. The station came out with a full-fledged denial of the mayor’s activities. The news director went so far as to put forth an editorial calling for the public to wait for the facts to come to light before making a decision.

The man had urged the mayor to show up on his station to refute the newspaper story but the woman refused. Melissa Hopkins wanted to make sure that everything was out before she started to defend herself.

On that, she was correct.

A television station in the state capital had more dirt to pile on. They had wanted to wait for more information to come in but decided to make its move when the Observer’s story came out.

Although its Sunday night newscast was one of the lowest rated of the week, the station began promoting an expose of the Calder City Mayor’s extravagant spending during its Sunday afternoon telecasts.

The main hook revolved around the mayor’s late nights, learned through overtime payments made to her city police bodyguards. The five men who comprised her security force had accumulated more than $250,000 in overtime, much of it after midnight and out of town, during Hopkins’ six years in office.

The station also pointed out that it cost the Calder City citizens more than $700,000 a year to support the Mayor’s lavish lifestyle in her Mansion on the Hill.

The hits kept coming on Monday morning. The Observer took aim at Cooper Coleman and his family. The Colemans had thought they were out of the woods. The woman who had threatened to lay bare the Colemans’ marital situation had suffered a stroke while in Washington, D.C., and had died in office. The party chairman who had delivered the warning was drummed out in disgrace after being caught embezzling from party funds and disastrous losses in the Senate during a midterm election.

They awoke Monday morning to find not only Cooper’s hope for future political office in ruins but also to news that the entire Coleman family was under fire. The documents were irrefutable and so were the photos. The paper ran edited photos of Rebecca Coleman and her lover through the years along with mugshots of Cooper’s arrests for driving under the influence and soliciting a prostitute.

Worst for the Colemans, the paper had somehow got its hands on the Coleman Corporation’s internal ledgers from the late 1960s through the present. It showed that not only had the company bribed its way to several large contracts in order to get started but that it also continued the practice throughout the decades, and accelerated while Cooper was in control of the company. The federal and state officials that solicited the initial bribes were long dead but it was no surprise to see that the company’s largest contract – to provide bulletproof vests to the Calder City police department – had come about thanks to a large (and illegal) donation to Mayor Melissa Hopkins’ personal account.

The engagement of Philip Warner and Hailey Warren went almost unmentioned in Calder City on Sunday afternoon as the city’s leading citizens moved swiftly to start a recall campaign against the mayor.