Felicity stood back for a while, watching the smooth, gentle way Cooper handled both animal and owner. She had such a likable energy, something Felicity had always lacked. In so many ways, Cooper was her complete opposite. She tried to think of one thing they had in common and gave up.
Eventually, Cooper spotted her and waved her closer. “Morning. Come in, Felicity. Blunders and I are all finished, aren’t we, girl?” She glanced back at the enormous brown dog and scratched under both ears.
Blunders wagged her stump of a tail in delight.
“Thank you, dear,” the elderly woman said as she led her dog outside the tent. “Blessings on you.”
On her way out, she passed a forty-something Black woman in a chic navy business suit who was striding in.
“Cooper!” she cried out, a smile washing her face.
The woman had a presence that Felicity instantly recognized. This was someone confident, used to having power, who wore it effortlessly.
“Deedra!” Cooper scrambled over to give her an engulfing hug. “It’s been months! How have you been?”
“Oh, keeping out of trouble for the most part. You know me.” Deedra smiled even wider, then caught sight of Felicity. “Hello,” she said, eyes lit with curiosity. “I suspect you’re not one of Dr. Cooper’s regulars.”
Excuse me? Felicity folded her arms. “I’m just here observing today. I’m hardly homeless.”
“Just teasing,” Deedra said. “I’ve yet to see anyone homeless wearing a fourteen-hundred-dollar coat…at least not a new one.” She laughed.
Cooper’s eyes went wide; she choked and turned to look at Felicity’s outfit. “Felicity? You wore a fourteen-hundred-dollar coat to a homeless open day?”
“I wear fourteen-hundred-collar coats wherever I like,” Felicity said defensively. “It gets cold.”
Why was Felicity’s face heating up now? It wasn’t a crime to appreciate quality clothing, was it? And this was the warmest coat she could find on short notice before she got to her faux furs. It just so happened to be her Joseph Cenda designer cashmere coat. And it was only twelve hundred dollars, thank you very much. Never let it be said that Felicity was incapable of bargain hunting.
“Whoa, whoa.” Deedra lifted her hands. “I’m sorry for starting something here. I promise, I was teasing. Please forgive me, Ms…?”
“Simmons.” Felicity shot a worried look at Cooper, wondering if the expensive coat had ruined the woman’s opinion of her.
Deedra’s eyes darted back and forth between them. “Wait, are you two…” She swished her finger at the two of them.
“Of course not!” Felicity said, far too fast and far too loud. She cringed inwardly.
“Well, that was decisive,” Deedra said impishly. “Your poor ego, Coop.”
“It certainly was.” Cooper’s eyes and voice were cool. “Nice to be appreciated. Anyway, Felicity Simmons, meet Councilor Deedra Randall. She and her team are working on some vital legislation for the New York City Council. If it passes, it will mean homeless people can’t be turned away from shelters or addiction programs if they have a pet. Not just government facilities, either. All of them. Public and private.”
Felicity’s head snapped up. So people like Kristie could get treated? “And will you get it passed?” she asked, leaning in.
“Through council, yes, I believe we have about sixty percent support there. It’s hard; there are vested interests. The private facilities, profits and nonprofits especially, are putting up a fight, arguing it’s too expensive to implement.”
“What’s the issue, then, if you have the votes to get it through council?” Felicity asked. “Is there some impediment after that?”
“Yes.” Deedra gave her a measuring look. “There is a nasty roadblock.”
“The mayor,” Cooper inserted. “He’s threatening to use his veto power when the legislation comes before him. He keeps talking about risk to staff and residents from dangerous dogs—being exposed to lawsuits and so on if one attacks. I met with Mayor Browning several times explaining how animals can be crated at night—explaining how roomy portable kennels are. You saw those crates yesterday—they’re comfortable even for big dogs. And I told the mayor that Living Ruff supplies them for free to anyone who needs one. He just kept talking right over the top of me about the cost, risks, lawsuits, and how hard it would be to do.”
Felicity’s eyes narrowed. She hated assholes like that. Oh, she’d faced down more than a few bombastic lawyers in her time who thought speaking louder overcame logical points. It was always most satisfying to beat that type. “He sounds charming.”
“You can see for yourself soon,” Deedra said. “He doesn’t want to look like too much of an asshole about the homeless issue and the fact he’ll singlehandedly be the one preventing them getting off the street. So he’ll be here today for a publicity stunt. Photos, media, waving at homeless people to show he’s not so bad. Probably cuddling a homeless person’s dog…after they’ve been through the free grooming, of course.”
“I can’t imagine anyone here will be pleased to see him.”
“No, but it’ll be about viewers at home saying, ‘Oh, well, I can see he’s looked at both sides.’” Deedra scowled. “It’s not both sides when one group stays homeless and the other just counts their money and says, ‘Sorry, can’t help.’”
Felicity’s eyes hardened. “Mayor Browning is up for re-election soon. That’s the reason for the publicity stunt today?”
“Yes,” Deedra said. “We’ve been stalling on finishing up writing our legislation on this until after the polls. The idea is, if he loses, maybe the next mayor will be more open to it.”
“I’ve seen Mayor Browning’s approval ratings. He’s not losing.” Felicity eyed them both. Surely they had a plan B.
“The race is tightening.” Deedra said, apparently trying to find a positive spin.
“No, it isn’t,” Felicity said with certainty. “Browning has big business in his pocket. Funding. A solid message. He’s not losing. I’ve also seen his competition. Her messaging is all over the place. Browning will be re-elected. You know I’m right.”
Deedra and Cooper exchanged tense looks.
“Well, fuck,” Cooper muttered. “There goes any hope for fixing this shit.”
Deedra sagged. “Mm.”
“Not…necessarily.” Felicity’s mind began to churn. This, at least, was something in her wheelhouse. “You”—she pointed to Deedra—“need to tell me everything you know about the upcoming legislation.”
“I—excuse me?” Deedra peered at her. “I’m not following.”
Felicity didn’t care whether she followed or not. She could see quite clearly Kristie never getting off the street again, the way things were going. It wasn’t rescuing if she fixed an injustice, was it? Besides, it would be helping everyone, not singling her out. It was just correcting an issue. And Felicity was damned good at fixing problems, especially where the law was involved.
She went to a small fold-up table near the back of the tent, beckoning for Deedra to follow her. “How long do we have?”
“Until?”
“The mayor’s arrival.”
“Two hours.”
Felicity glanced at her watch. “All right, then. We’ll have to work fast.” She pulled out her phone and began tapping furiously, then making notes. Facts were not difficult to lay her fingers on. Google, I could kiss you.
“What are you doing?” Cooper asked, looking mystified.
“Changing the mayor’s mind.” Felicity studied with satisfaction the results she was seeing on her screen. She punched in the number for Bartell Corp’s senior accountant.
“Thomas? Felicity Simmons. I need you to drop whatever you’re doing and help me crunch some numbers. Accuracy and speed are paramount. Also, I’ll need someone to fact-check stats from news sources as I send them. We only have two hours.” She laid the phone down, tapped in an email address, and hit send. Then she scooped it up and resumed speaking. “Can you double-check my math, too? I’ve sent an email on everything I need.”
She listened as Thomas made keyboard clacking noises, then glanced over to Deedra, covering her phone’s microphone. “What are you waiting for? Sit. Here. Now.” She tapped the other side of the table. “Be part of the solution.”
Thomas spoke in her ear again, regaining her attention. “Looks simple enough. I’ll get back to you. And your math seems right, but I’ll double-check it anyway.”
