Page 42 of Xavier

Following several cars, I park in a nearby parking lot where most of the town has parked.

When I get closer to town hall, I see John standing at an outside podium, looking like the mayor he is with his wife, Elizabeth sitting on his left and Brianna sitting on his right.

This seems a little too formal for a post storm clean up meeting.

Is he planning something else?

A re-election speech, perhaps?

From the growing crowd, I’d say the entire town is here waiting for a town-wide update on the storm damage, and whatever else John has up his sleeve.

He clears his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Good afternoon, everyone. I hope everyone stayed safe during the storm. I did my first preliminary trip around the island, and I’m happy to say that overall, we have been blessed.”

Several people clap and cheer for him as he pauses to gaze around the crowd.

He smiles before continuing. “We have some houses with roofs destroyed and missing, and several large trees are down. It will take a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but I know we will, once again, come together to help our fellow community members.”

The claps and cheers cause John to pause his speech once again.

With another enormous grin, he continues. “With the sun shining brightly above us, I am hopeful about the future of our town. I’m hopeful that we will continue to prosper and thrive as a community. And I’m hopeful that power will come back on today.”

I never would have guessed that he would give a speech about hope, but I know in stressful situations and uncertain times, hope is all it takes to keep going.

His comment about power coming back on today is complete bullshit, but people are eating it up.

I’m more realistic. With half of the island still under water, we will be lucky for power to be restored in a week.

Besides, the government won’t send help for days and insurance companies won’t pay for months.

We are going to have to come out of pocket for these repairs if we want to continue living in our houses.

When the claps die down, John waves like he’s royalty.

It’s over the top and too excessive. A pit forms in my stomach and suddenly I’m overwhelmed with the feeling that he’s about to say something stupid.

“On a separate note, I want to give my praise to my daughter, Brianna, for being incredibly heroic. Two days ago, she witnessed a break in and an altercation that ended up with a man being murdered in cold blood.”

My gaze meets Hudson’s as several gasps echo around me.

Didn’t the police warn everyone to keep quiet?

He rolls his eyes before returning his gaze to the mayor.

“The murderer and his accomplice are still at large. I don’t know if they stayed in town to weather the storm or if they left before the storm hit. I promise you, the police department is working around the clock to find them and bring the killers to justice.”

Gossip immediately starts up as soon as John stops speaking.

I make my way over to Hudson and say, “Why would he tell the entire town this when they have bigger issues to worry about?”

“Maybe he thinks the town can help find them.”

I lower my voice to a whisper. “I bet they are still hiding out in the old abandoned warehouse.”

“I’ll check it out after the meeting is over. If there’s activity inside, I’ll drop an anonymous tip to the police department.”

“I can come along with you, if you want the backup.” He shouldn’t be going alone, especially since that part of the island is still flooded.

“That sounds great, but there’s a certain blonde that can’t keep her eyes off you. What’s going on with the two of you?”

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