AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll get right on it. Send me the video link and give me an hour or two. I’ll call back as soon as I have info.”
By nine o’clock, Niko was in the office amid constantly ringing phones: associates asking if he’d seen the ad, news reporters wanting a quote. “It’s deplorable,” he told one reporter. “Anyone who puts out a smear ad like that should have their character questioned.”
Despite the unfolding ad drama, Niko had a campaign to spearhead and a business to run. After a couple of interviews and dozens of phone calls, he headed over to Drake Realty for a business meeting. On the way, his phone rang yet again. It was the call for which he’d waited. He tapped the button on his steering wheel to answer it.
“Monique! I’ve been calling you all morning.”
“Yes, well, I called you all night.”
“Babe, so sorry I missed your calls. I turned off my phone, didn’t get your messages or see the ad until this morning.”
“Had I turned off the television as you suggested, I wouldn’t have seen it, either.”
“I’m as outraged and angry as I’m sure you are and already working to find out who did it. Their ploy is not going to work.”
“Really, Niko? You have no idea who’s behind this incident?”
“No. I don’t.” His brow creased at her choice of words and the sarcastic way they’d been delivered.
“Paid for by the Independent Citizens for a New Paradise—your party. You told me you’d do whatever it took to beat me, but this…”
“Wait, Monique, I—”
“Obviously I am a bad judge of character. My process of choosing friends and lovers is definitely flawed!”
“Monique, I swear to you, I had nothing to do with this.”
“That’s what I desperately wanted to believe. Yet I can count on one hand without using all my fingers how many people outside my law firm know why I was fired from that job. You took what I shared in confidence and used it to your advantage. Good move, Counselor. I guess all’s fair in love, war and political campaigns.”
“You’ve got this all wrong, Monique. And I’m going to prove it.”
“What you’ve proven is that after what happened the last time we competed, you are willing to do anything to not be defeated again. Was that your M.O. all along? Seduce me, become my friend and confidant and extract information for personal gain?”
“Monique, listen—”
“You’re right about one thing. The ploy won’t work. I still very much plan to win this race. Goodbye, Niko.”
Niko banged a fist on the console. The unthinkable yet plausible reaction he’d feared Monique might have had just been realized.
* * *
Monique drove a good five miles before noticing how hard she was gripping the wheel. “Calm down.” Easy to say when her life was anything but. Last night she’d doubted Niko’s involvement, but by morning he was the only one that made sense. She’d planned to hear him out, but his phony concern was beyond infuriating. He’d help find out the culprit? Yeah, right.
Her eyes became watery. She dared one tear to fall.
Since landing, she’d had a plethora of activities to keep her focused: securing a rental car, picking up Devante, going to the courthouse, meeting with his judge and talking to the family whom Devante would live with. From these visits she surmised that the negative ad wasn’t running in Los Angeles and from an earlier conversation with her mother gathered that it hadn’t hit the East Coast. She prayed that it wouldn’t, that for once the news in Paradise Cove would be like that of most small towns in America…unimportant.
“Who now?” Monique mumbled as her phone rang. She’d received several calls from thirsty reporters. Hopefully this wasn’t one. As upset as she was right now, there was no telling what she’d say.
“Emma.”
“Hey, Monique. Sorry I missed your call. Spent my morning at the DMV. How are you?”
“I’ve been better.”
“Uh-oh. That’s not good.”
“Not at all.” Monique told Emma what had transpired in the past twenty-four hours. “I was a fool to trust him,” she finished, gritting her teeth to stop threatening tears. “He played me like a fiddle and I sang his tune.”
