The Ghost and the Femme Fatale by Alice Kimberly Page B

now—I’m going to run against you in the fall election. You wait and see—”
    The woman blinked. “What?”
    “I’m going to run against you and I’m going to beat you, too,” Bud declared. “And when I take charge, I’m going to teach that band of parasites called a town council that you don’t have to stick it to the small- business own ers to raise town revenues. Got it?!”
    For a moment, it was so quiet you could have heard a gum wrapper drop (which probably would have earned me a second ticket). Marjorie glared at Bud for a good ten seconds but said nothing more to him. Instead, she whirled to face Eddie. “You come with me now. The sidewalk in front of that baker up the street is a mess, and so is the area around your family’s pizza kitchen—”
    Eddie stopped in his tracks. The councilwoman placed her hands on her hips. “Or you can forget writing tickets, and I’ll have a conversation with Chief Ciders about how one of his officers shows favoritism in how he applies the law.”
    Marjorie spun around and headed for Cooper Family Bakery. Eddie hesitated for a moment—no doubt thinking about his wife and children, and pondering what they’d do if he lost his job.
    With an air of defeat, he followed the councilwoman across the street.
    “That witch,” Sadie hissed, narrowing her eyes at the departing sweater set.
    “I prefer vampir e ,” Seymour noted.
    I turned to Bud. “Did you mean what you said, Bud? Are you really going to run against Marjorie?”
    Bud watched the councilwoman’s back, squinting like a sniper taking aim. “You bet I am!”
    Sadie exchanged glances with me. “Good!” we both said.
    I retrieved the donuts and as Bud locked up his truck, I thanked him again.
    “No trouble, Pen. Sure you don’t need help getting those things inside?” he asked.
    I shook my head. “Seymour will help me.”
    “Then I’m heading over to the theater.” Bud climbed into his truck. “I want to check out the place before Brainert opens for the matinee.”
    “What are you looking for?” I asked.
    Bud’s face darkened. “I don’t know.”
    Seconds later, the van’s engine roared, and Bud was speeding away. When I returned to the front door, Sadie was fumbling in her pocket for the keys.
    “Where were you?” I asked.
    “That banner behind the podium kept on falling,” Sadie said. “I ran to the office supply store to buy industrial- strength staples.”
    “That’s okay, but you might have missed the delivery of Dr. Lilly’s books.”
    Sadie shook her head. “No chance of that. Dr. Lilly’s inside—”
    “Then why didn’t she answer?” said Seymour. “I pressed the doorbell twice already!” He paused. “Hey, that’s funny. I’m the postman. And I rang twice!”
    “I pressed it once myself,” I told Sadie, ignoring the sound of Seymour laughing at his own joke, “before the councilwoman stopped by to brighten our day.”
    Sadie turned the key in the handle and pushed the door open.
    “I didn’t bother with the dead bolt,” she said. “Since the store’s occupied.”
    The little bell above the door tinkled as Sadie crossed the threshold. Seymour was next, then me.
    “Dr. Lilly?” I called. My voice sounded hollow in the empty shop.
    I set the donuts on the check- out counter and Seymour set down the coffee containers, then tugged a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed sweat from his brow.
    “I think I deserve a free cup of Joe,” he panted. “And another doughnut.”
    Sadie nodded. “Of course, Seymour. You’ve been such a great help.”
    As I entered our bookstore’s Community Events room, I noticed how many chairs had been set up and suddenly worried that fifty cups of coffee and forty- eight donuts wouldn’t be enough (or rather forty- four, since Bud already had two and Seymour was angling for a second).
    Then I moved toward the front of the space, and donuts and coffee became the least of my worries. While we were out, a terrible accident