Feeling like she was walking the Green Mile, she followed Maggie into the chamber, and as the mayor took her seat on the dais, Spenser took her usual post against the wall to the right. The seats in the gallery filled up with people who were staring at her like vultures ogling a fresh carcass. Ricci and Kyra sat on the bench behind the podium as Johansen stepped to the microphone. He glanced at Spenser, his expression smug. He looked like a man who was about to flip the switch and couldn’t be happier about it.
“Okay, everybody settle down,” Maggie intoned as she banged her gavel. “Quiet down and let’s get started.”
As the murmurs in the chamber started to taper off, Spenser stole a quick look at the council. None of them were looking back at her. In fact, they all seemed to be actively avoiding her gaze, which sent her blood pressure soaring. Spenser had allies on the council, but she also had detractors. A couple of them didn’t care for her very much. As she tried to count the votes, Spenser realized she had no idea which way they were going to break.
Her mouth was dry, but her palms were slick, and she was queasy. She loved her job. And for all its quirks, she’d come to love this town. The thought of being drummed out of her office under a cloud of shame—and for something she was entirely innocent of—wasn’t sitting right with her.
“Okay, we’re here tonight because Mr. Johansen has invoked a rule in the town’s bylaws which requires this council to vote on the issue before us, which is the impeachment of Sheriff Spenser Song,” Maggie said.
Excited murmurs rippled through the crowd, prompting Maggie to bang her gavel harder than necessary. Her expression was dark, her eyes narrowed to slits.
“If you can’t keep quiet, I will clear this chamber,” the mayor said. “The council may have to abide by this obscure, never before used rule, but there is nothing saying we can’t do it in closed session, so keep it down.”
The council seemed uneasy with Maggie’s harsh tone, but nobody took her to task for it. Johansen’s eyes sparkled and his face reflected his amusement. The crowd settled down.
“Mr. Johansen, I’m told you wish to speak,” Maggie said.
“I do, Madame Mayor.”
“I guess since this is your petition, you’re entitled. The floor is yours.”
“Thank you, Madame Mayor,” Johansen said politely. “We’re here tonight to once again discuss Sheriff Song and her lack of fitness for the duties of her office. You’ve heard me talk about her questionable judgment and her very well documented history of malicious arrests as well as a penchant to abuse the powers of her office—”
“Mr. Johansen, let’s tone down the hyperbolic rhetoric,” Maggie cut him off.
He looked frustrated for a brief moment but pulled himself back together quickly. “Very well,” he said. “As I spoke about last time in regard to Ms. Song’s fitness for duty, I want to once again mention that an innocent man is on trial in New York and, I’m told, is very likely to be convicted. This town cannot, in good conscience, employ somebody as the top law enforcement officer who is involved with the sort of travesty of justice, my associate, Alex Ricci’s brother Derrick, is facing. Allowing Ms. Song to continue in her job is not just unethical, it’s immoral.”
Johansen paused, giving his words a chance to sink in. He surveyed the crowd, finally letting his gaze land on Spenser. He seemed like he was trying hard to keep the smarmy smirk from his lips but couldn’t help himself and tipped her a subtle wink before he turned back to the microphone.
“There is also the issue of competence,” he said. “My understanding is that she made several very large, nearly fatal mistakes in her most recent case. Because of her lack of focus and poor job performance, she very nearly let the killer of a beloved figure in this town, Seth Hamill, walk free.”
Spenser grimaced. Aside from the fact that she disputed the characterization of Seth Hamill as a beloved figure in town, the fact that Johansen had inside knowledge of the investigation, more specifically her missteps on the case, bothered her deeply. It meant somebody inside her department was talking.
“Mr. Johansen,” Helen Drury started. “Our understanding is that Sheriff Song and her deputies successfully closed that case with an arrest.”
“That’s true, Councilwoman Drury, but I have information that says Ms. Song had several missteps that very nearly doomed the entire case.”
“But it didn’t doom the case,” Drury pressed. “In fact, Sheriff Song uncovered critical evidence that allowed her to arrest Mr. Hamill’s killer.”
Zachary Tavares leaned forward. “I’m not an expert in law enforcement, but I believe I heard once that no investigation is ever a straight line and there will always be twists and turns. Mr. Johansen, isn’t the most important thing the end result? As, potentially, the next sheriff of this town, wouldn’t you say the most important thing is putting the right person away?”
Johansen clearly wasn’t expecting any pushback and looked flustered for a moment but cleared his throat and gathered himself.
“Well, yes, of course, Councilman Tavares,” he said. “But I think the nature of the mistakes Ms. Song made call her judgment into question. This town needs a sheriff that is clear-eyed and levelheaded from the start. Somebody who brings solid judgment to the job and—”
“I’m going to stop you right there, Mr. Johansen,” Maggie said. “We’ve given you the right to speak, but this is not the forum for you to be making stump speeches. I will not let you turn this meeting into a campaign stop for your candidacy.”
“Madame Mayor, that was not my intent—”
“And yet, that’s what you’re doing,” she fired back.
It didn’t seem like things were going the way Johansen had been expecting them to. He turned and glanced at Alex and Kyra who looked back at him with equally perplexed expressions. Johansen turned back to the council and put on his most ingratiating smile.
“Apologies,” he said. “I will keep my remarks—”
“I believe we’ve heard enough,” Maggie said. “The purpose of this meeting is to hold a vote on Mr. Johansen’s petition to impeach Sheriff Song. I think we’re ready to—”
“Before we vote, I’d like to say something,” Councilman Pace said.
Spenser exchanged a look with Maggie as fear lanced her heart. Harvey Pace was one of those she’d counted in her “no” column just because they’d clashed more than once, usually about funding for her department. They were polite and cordial with each other, but there was definitely a frigid air between them. They didn’t see eye to eye on much.
Maggie nodded. “The floor is yours, Councilman Pace.”
“Mr. Johansen, it’s no secret that Sheriff Song and I have our differences. But I respect her for the job she does. Still, I wanted to know if there was any merit to what you said at our last session because I owe it to this town to make sure we have the right person in that important job,” Pace began. “And like you, I have friends in high places as well. After the allegations you threw around at the last session, I called some of my friends in the Department of Justice as well as in the FBI itself to see if I could get to the bottom of it all because I value fact over rhetoric.”
Johansen swallowed hard and, for the first time since she’d met the man, Spenser saw a flicker of nervousness in his eyes.
“Anyway, I asked all about this case with Sheriff Song’s former partner and her role in his prosecution. And you know what? My friends told me she has no role in it. In fact, I was told that what Sheriff Song said at our last session was entirely true. I was told she refused to help the prosecution put Derrick Ricci away because she didn’t think he killed her husband. Moreover, I was told she also voiced her suspicions, in the strongest of terms, that it was your associate, Alex Ricci, whom the FBI is currently investigating, who killed her husband,” Pace said.
“So, it seems to me that everything you threw at us in the last session was far less than truthful. If I were a cynical man, I’d say you were trying to score some cheap political points by throwing mud at a woman who’s done nothing but serve this town to the best of her ability since the day she arrived. So, having learned all I did with just a couple phone calls, all I have to say is, shame on you. What you’re doing is despicable and I’ll go ahead and just go on record now and say I won’t be supporting your petition for impeachment. We need a sheriff who does their job ethically and with integrity. Sheriff Song and I may not agree on everything, but I do know she does her job with integrity and holds herself to ridiculously high standards. However, those unfortunately seem to be qualities you lack, sir.”
Pace sat back in his chair and glared at Johansen who blanched as his mouth fell open and silence descended over the entire chamber. It seemed as if the world around her was holding its breath. The absolute stillness had a physical weight and Spenser gaped at Pace, shocked at the speech he’d just given.
It was Maggie who broke the paralyzing silence as she cleared her throat and leaned forward, speaking into her microphone.
“Thank you for your remarks and your diligence, Councilman Pace,” Maggie said. “I move to take a vote on Mr. Johansen’s petition—”
Before she could finish her statement, Johansen threw the file sitting on the podium in front of him across the room. The file scattered papers in its flight before finally landing on the ground, the remaining contents fanning out across the floor. It was as if the crinkle and rustling sound of the papers hitting the ground ignited a bomb in the chamber as the mob of Johansen’s loyalists erupted in a hail of frenzied shouting, threats, and curses directed toward the council.
