“You mean having her kidnapped?”
“No, something else. Something much worse. And no, I can’t give you that. But Conrad only did what any of us would’ve done to protect the woman he loved.”
I wait for him to say more, but he doesn’t.
“Well, this has been very informative. Thank you,” I tell him, genuinely pleased with the intel he’s given me. It makes me wish I had been a little nicer to him yesterday and earlier this morning.
“Least we can do,” Cannon replies. “Guess our next topic should be the fundraiser event.”
“Okay,” I agree.
“But first, and I mean no disrespect, but we’ve got to do something about your…image, Madison.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, sounding defensive again as if a switch has been flipped.
“You’re too formal, too uppity like this,” he says, waving his hand in my general direction. “Women won’t like you. And while men will definitely find you attractive, it’ll take more than a pretty face to convince them to vote for you.”
“I’m not changing who I am. They can either vote for me or vote for him.”
“That’s not exactly the attitude needed to win an election,” he says with a chuckle. “And I’m not saying you need to change your ideals or whatever, just how you choose to present them.”
“And what do you propose I do differently?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.
“First, you have to stop acting like you think you’re better than everyone else. Maybe you are, but that doesn’t get you any votes from the middle class.”
“I don’t think I’m better than anyone!” I exclaim.
“Sure, you do,” Cannon says when he leans forward in his chair and rests his forearms on my desk. “You barely looked at me yesterday before you decided I wasn’t worth your time. And now, you’re singing a different tune.”
“I’m not…what are you talking about?”
“You’re a whole lot friendlier when I’m helping you. But isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I thought the first rule for all politicians was to say how much you want to be elected so that you can help others.”
“I guess that’s true…”
“But you have other motivations for wanting to be mayor.”
“I guess I do. Is that so wrong?” I ask in a huff.
“I don’t know. I guess it depends on what they are.” Cannon leans back in his chair again and then motions with his hand. “Come on, let me hear them.”
“Well, first and foremost, unlike Bailey, I’ve actually studied politics and have a law degree.”
Cannon makes a sound like a buzzer. “There you go again, thinking you’re better than him because you’ve got a degree and he doesn’t.”
“I have two degrees,” I correct him.
“And he has, what, ten years or more of experience running a police department. I’m guessing you haven’t ever been in charge of anything…”
“I was the campaign manager for a state senator who just won reelection.”
“Not bad,” Cannon says, not exactly sounding impressed. “But what else have you got?”
“I’ve got ideas on how to grow the city’s tourism and bring more arts to the area.”
“Let me guess, you’ll pay for all that by raising taxes?”
“Well, the city does have one of the lowest tax rates in the state!” I point out.
“And that’s because all hell will break loose if it goes up. The hotels and shit already get taxed heavily as it is.”
“Our property tax rate is incredibly low compared to the rest of the country! You just finished telling me how our former police chief wanted to ignore a string of kidnappings because it would be bad for tourism. Look, every year our crowds get larger and rowdier while our beaches get dirtier and our infrastructure continues to age. Our police are underfunded in this area, our emergency response teams are several minutes slower to respond than the national average, and don’t even get me started on our local educational needs and test scores. Yes, our local businesses are making great profits, but they are doing so at the expense of the common citizen who lives here all year round.”
“You want to expand the police department, even though under Bailey their corruption ran rampant?” Cannon asks me in disbelief.
“Especially because of Bailey’s corruption!” I snap back at him. “When we get a new chief, I’m going to ride him like my own personal little pony to clean up the ranks and reform the department. I’ll be on him from the moment he wakes up every day until I finally let him pass out at night until it’s done!”
Cannon recoils in his chair slightly, and for a moment I think he’s going to make some comment about riding him like a pony. He actually surprises me this time, however.
“I’m not trying to argue with you,” Cannon says.
“I find that hard to believe since we’ve been arguing for the past hour!”
“All I’m trying to do is suggest that you lighten up a little bit. Dress more like a twenty-something single woman and less like a sixty-year-old businesswoman.”
I gasp in outrage. “For one, I am not going to try and get votes by dressing like a slut. And two, it’s winter!”
“If you hold events inside, then you’ll be nice and warm,” he says. “That’s where you went wrong yesterday. Having an event outside this time of year when everyone is missing the summer sun isn’t going to bring crowds.”
“Shit,” I mutter.
“What?” he asks.
“I think…I think you’re right,” I reply, hating the words that come out of my mouth.
“You think I’m right? Did I hear that correctly?” He leans forward, holding his ear toward me.
“Oh, shut up,” I tell him with a roll of my eyes and a smile I can’t help.
“If I was right about that, then maybe you should consider that I’m right about other things too.”
I don’t like that thought very much, but it does make me reconsider.
“I’ve only got one shot at this,”
