She went to Doug’s office but the door was closed. She knocked, but he didn’t answer, so she made her way back to the front lobby. Doreen was eating a piece of key-lime pie that Mimi had made last night in a late hour baking frenzy that should have had a calming effect, but only managed to make her even more frantic. Between Claire, the festival, Allie’s wedding, and Zeke, Mimi was heading straight into an ulcer. Her stomach hadn’t felt right in weeks.
“Have you seen Doug?” she asked Doreen, who was slurping down the last of her pie.
“God, this is like heaven,” she moaned. “He went home early. Said he was sick.”
“Oh. Gee, I hope it’s nothing serious.”
Doreen made a face.
“What? You don’t think he’s really sick?” Mimi asked.
“Let’s just say he seemed perfectly fine until Bruce came to see him at lunch.”
“Bruce was here? What did he want? Did he need to see me about something?”
“Nope. Just Doug. Said it was something about finalizing the city budget.” Doreen said it casually, but Mimi got the impression that the other woman was holding something back.
“You know, I’m really good at being discreet,” she said.
Doreen raised a brow.
“Maybe not about my sex life. I know everyone in town knows the armadillo story but it couldn’t be helped. City services were involved.”
“And about getting caught at the bridge. Don’t forget that,” Doreen pointed out.
“Okay, so yeah, my sex life is an open book. But when it comes to this town and my job as mayor, I take this all very seriously.”
“Oh, I know you do. You’re the best thing that’s happened to Whispering Bay in a long time.” Doreen covertly glanced around the empty lobby. “Did you know that Bruce was directly responsible for hiring Doug?”
“Didn’t the entire city council have a hand in hiring him?”
“Yes, but that was after Bruce went out of his way to make sure none of the other candidates who interviewed were seriously looked at. It’s like he made it his mission to get Doug the job, which I thought was kind of strange, because he’d already lost the election to you. And believe me, he was bitter. I figured he’d stall on hiring anyone till you officially came into office, so that everything would be a mess when you got here. But instead, he goes and gets this hot shot manager who single handedly saved Old Explorer’s Bay. It just didn’t make sense. For someone else, maybe, but not Bruce.”
“What are you saying?” Mimi asked.
“I’m not saying there’s anything fishy going on, because I don’t have any proof, but my cousin Ellie lives in Old Explorer’s Bay. She owns a pastry shop right in the middle of town, and let’s just say, she isn’t a fan of Doug’s.”
Mimi digested this.
“Maybe she didn’t like some of his fiscal policies? I know the town was almost in bankruptcy when he took over and now it’s financially stable. That couldn’t have been easy to do. Or even popular if he cut some city services to make it happen.”
“He raised taxes, that’s for sure. It put a big burden on small business owners like my cousin. As for cleaning up the town, that’s a matter of opinion. According to Ellie, he was kicked out of town. Then he shows up here throwing that school boy charm of his around like it’s gold dust. I don’t trust him farther than I can throw him. And that’s all I’m going to say on the subject.”
*~*~*
It wasn’t that Mimi didn’t trust Doreen. The receptionist had turned out to be a fledging friend. She’d backed Mimi up on the festival committee and was doing a bang up job with the Facebook page. They’d even gone out to lunch a couple of times and Mimi had recommended her as a sub for the Bunco group. There was absolutely no reason for Doreen to mislead her about Doug. On the other hand, Mimi knew first-hand how malicious idle gossip could be. It spread like wildfire until you couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t.
She liked Doreen. But until she had some concrete reason to suspect Doug she’d take Doug at face value, and so far, he’d been a good ally to her.
As mayor, however, it was her duty to investigate Doreen’s story. As the city’s manager, Doug was entrusted with a lot of responsibility and it was up to Mimi to protect the people of Whispering Bay. If he really had been “kicked” out of his last position, Mimi needed to know.
It took her a few phone calls to get the number she was looking for.
A pleasant male voice answered the phone. “Mayor Truett’s office.”
“Hello, this is Mimi Grant, I’m the mayor of Whispering Bay. I’d like to speak to Mr. Truett, please.”
“I’m afraid he’s out for the rest of the day. How can I help you?”