Page 57 of Secret Silver Nights

“Exactly.”

Monique yawned loudly. “Wow, excuse me. That’s my cue for sleep time.”

“Busy day tomorrow?”

“Yes. Devante is a traffic stop away from going back to jail. I have to do some work on his case. Hopefully I can do all I need from here and not have to fly to L.A.”

“You were afraid that he might pick up old habits by going back there.”

“Hard to avoid when the other perpetrators are relatives.”

“He’s lucky to have you in his corner. You’re a good woman, Mo Slater.”

“Why, thank you, Mr. Drake. For someone running as an independent, you’re not bad yourself.”

The sound of his laughter as she ended the call was the last thing she heard before drifting off to sleep.

Chapter 25

The following Tuesday at 7:00 a.m., every mayoral candidate assistant was at the Cove Chronicle offices, ready to snap up that week’s publication. The true yardstick of the past weekend’s debate, the latest election polls, were between these pages, and everyone’s camp wanted to know how well they did.

Lance was first in line, grabbing his copy and making a beeline to his truck. Within minutes he was at Monique’s house, ringing her bell.

“How do we look?” Monique asked as she opened the door. She’d been up since dawn, handling some of her attorney obligations after a heartwarming phone call with her parents.

“I don’t know. I came right over.”

He handed her the paper. As expected, the article on the mayoral debate was front-page news. The Race Is On! was the story’s caption, with the poll numbers front and center, bolded and set apart with a text box.

“Wow! We’re closing the gap!” Monique’s eyes shone as she sat at the dining-room table and spread out the paper.

Lance joined her. “‘Drake, thirty-three percent,’” he read. “‘Slater with thirty’! Oh, my goodness, Ms. Mayor…we’re only trailing by three percent!” He reached for Monique, pulled her out of the chair and began dancing around the room.

“Okay, Lance, calm down!” Monique demanded, amid a peal of laughter. However, it was hard not to be giddy. Last month they’d trailed Drake by over 10 percent. She returned to where the paper lay and continued to scan the article. “‘While Drake remains the front-runner, Slater is gaining ground by obviously drawing supporters from both the independents and Republicans. This is most evident in the decrease in Republican candidate Dick Schneider’s numbers, which are down thirteen percent from the poll taken two months ago. Currently, he is carrying twenty-seven percent of the vote while Libertarian candidate Buddy Gao remains at ten percent.’”

“This is great news! We’re going to beat them, Mo. We can do it!”

“It’s very good news, Lance, but we can’t get comfortable. There are still three weeks to go. Anything can happen. So we have to stay focused, keep knocking on doors and passing out flyers, keep calling our constituents and asking for their support. If I’m elected—”

“When you’re elected…”

“—there will be plenty enough time to celebrate.”

* * *

Niko sat at his parents’ dining-room table, where at his mother’s insistence he’d joined the family for breakfast. Ike had just read aloud the newspaper article on the mayor’s race. Everyone had an opinion.

Niko reached for his cup of coffee. “There’s no denying it. She was excellent the other night, as I knew she would be. I’m not surprised at the jump in her numbers. But I’m not worried, either.”

“Son, I wouldn’t be overconfident. I’ve been reading up on her via the internet and she’s quite accomplished.”

“Easy on the eyes, too,” Terrell added.

“She is rather attractive,” Jennifer added, pouring more tea into her cup. “But she’s definitely more than a pretty face. Niko, as confident as I am in your skills, I think you may have met your match.”

“I never underestimated Monique’s abilities. If you’ll remember, she was the one who bested me for the championship in a college debate.”

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