09/11/2024
Are you ready for a suspense-filled journey through the heart of Monticello, Georgia? My latest fictional work-in-progress dives deep into the tangled web of corruption, power, and deception that lurks beneath the surface of this seemingly quiet town.
Here's a sneak peek:
"To us," said Louise. "The best triad ever."
"What's a 'triad'?" asked Cassie.
"It means three of something, Cassie," answered Angelina. "Geez. Read a book."
"Hey, I'm the chief magistrate judge around here, lady," snapped Cassie jokingly. "I don't need to know big words or anything else as long as these morons keep electing me."
The three embezzlers shared a hearty laugh and took a drink from their large glasses of watered down mixed drinks as their loud voices caused some of the others in the restaurant to look their way.
"And as long as we're in power, you don't need a dictionary," laughed Louise.
"No, I don't."
The other two nodded their heads in agreement and they made one last toast to finish off their drinks.
Sitting at a table across from them was Marne Petakis, the head of Warriors for Citizens, the self-anointed local government overseer group, an association dedicated to exposing corruption and overspending by government officials. Marne often used the cover of this organization, with its misleading banner of a public statement to seek out corruption, to attack those in power and those seeking power from staying in or even coming into positions of importance with the county. She clothed herself in the good deeds she espoused to the citizens of the county and had gained a small but strong following, when in reality she was an autocrat, a suzerain, a would-be despot, a woman seeking not only to elevate herself in the eyes of the public but also to also destroy as many good public servants, and non-public servants for that matter, as possible in her quest.
She had subtly orchestrated the outcomes of local elections, often paying people to run for office as a third candidate for the purpose of busting up the vote enough to force a runoff, knowing that only a very small percentage of voters cast their ballots in runoffs and thus her candidate would have a better chance of winning. She often moderated candidate forums, events in which all candidates appear before a large room full of citizens to tout themselves, but despite describing herself as the "moderator", she regularly placed signs for her favorite candidate in her yard and often had "plants" in the audience to ask questions of the candidates she opposed, while never asking a question of her own pick. A lonely, angry widow in her early-50s she had one child, a son who often distanced himself from her whenever he could.
As she sat at her table enjoying her roast beef sandwich she was careful to keep her face turned away from them so as to not be recognized. But she had been able to hear bits and pieces of their conversation, just enough to give her a strange suspicion. She finished her meal and listened intently, but by now the noise of the lunchtime crowd was too loud for her to hear anything they were saying. The three finished their meal and, each by now feeling the effects of the three drinks they had, wobbled out of the booth and went back to the courthouse. Marne waited until they were out of sight, left the waiter a tip, paid her tab at the counter and left.
"I wonder what they're up to."
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Let’s unravel the mystery together! 🕵️♀️📚
