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I was about to start yawning from the staged small talk, but he wasn’t suggesting anything else. This was my first time doing something like this, and my skin felt too tight, while sweat was starting to form under my arms.
Katie and Nat came down the hall from their rooms' direction, changing into comfy spa gear. Katie had her hand resting on the top of her stomach, and I heard her laughing at Nat about how it was almost a waste to get a pedicure since she couldn’t see her own feet.
They stopped next to us and gave me inquisitive looks, nodding politely to the councilman. I flinched again, warning myself not to shout my lines. Lines that I was making up as I went along.
“This is my sister and friend I was telling you about,” I said as Hardy held out his hand in that easy, jovial manner, he must have been perfecting all his years in public service. “And this is Councilman Hardy. I’ve been doing some work at his campaign office through my internship.”
Katie and Nat accepted this despite every word sounding stilted to my ears. None of it was exactly a lie, but the fact we’d set up this meeting in advance felt like a neon sign over my head. Hardy did the necessary “what a small world” bit and asked how long we’d be staying. It was all so amazingly normal that I was able to calm down and let Katie and Nat go ahead to their scheduled pedicure while Hardy asked if I’d like to grab a cup of coffee and catch up while his wife was getting her facial.
I kept a sharp eye on Katie, but her face showed no sign of suspicion. I should have gotten an award because inside I was so sick it was making me dizzy. I was free and clear to move ahead with my plan. Somehow, that only made my stomach feel worse.
At a table in the dining room, I rolled the edges of the beige linen tablecloth between my fingers, only forcing myself to relax when Hardy’s eyes cut to my fidgeting. We continued to talk about inconsequential things until after a server brought us a glass pot of herbal tea with flowers in it, along with a small tray of seed crackers and hummus.
Hardy dug in and leaned forward after crunching on one of the crackers. “Your employer is a dangerous man,” he said, as if he was telling me it might rain tomorrow. No one at the other tables would ever think we were plotting someone’s downfall. “You’re probably somewhat aware from working for him, but you might not know the depths of criminal activity he’s involved in.”
He went on to tell me all about Lev’s family in Los Angeles, and how Lev was busy trying to take over San Francisco to increase their hold on the state of California.
“It’s an empire that needs to topple,” he finished, shaking his head. He had a properly disgusted look on his face, but it wasn’t keeping him from snapping up the last cracker and spreading it generously with the hummus.
“How do you know so much?” I asked. “And where did you get the information?” I already knew everything he told me, and it came straight from Lev’s mouth.
“For the last year, I’ve been persuaded to go along with a lot of things he’s asked. No, coerced would be a better word. He threatens my position at every turn, so I have no choice but to go along with pushing through the new bills he wants, or making changes to zoning. All under threat, of course, and I only go along with it out of fear for my family.”
He didn’t actually seem scared, more gleeful to have someone so powerful on his side. I knew for a fact that Lev haddonated to his campaign, and I wondered if the things Hardy had done had also benefited him in some way.
“If I don’t keep doing what he says, he’s threatening my position,” he told me when I didn’t respond right away.
“But yours is a voted position,” I said. “How could he possibly keep everyone who’s voted for you in the past from turning out again in the next election? Your track record with city outreach should speak for itself.”
He shook his head bitterly. “You don’t seem to understand how powerful your boss is. He has—he can easily spread lies that would poison the voters.”
“So, what do we do? I haven’t been able to dig up anything concrete since you first contacted me,” I admitted. “Surely you have something we can use if he’s been threatening you all this time.”
“He’s a pro at this. I don’t have any proof of any wrongdoing either. But I have a plan where we can set him up to get caught. It’s clear how much Lev trusts you, and as his personal secretary, you’re the perfect one to help me put this into motion. I’d hate for you to get caught up with him, which will happen inevitably, one way or another. It’s better that you’re on the right side of things, and help hurry the process along.”
Was that a threat? I laughed nervously. “Oh, Councilman Hardy, you’re mistaken. I’m just a paid intern. I’m nowhere near as important as you seem to think.”
Fear that he might go digging and find out more had me frozen in place, and I didn’t like the coercive turn he was taking. I forced myself to stop gripping the sides of the table and leaned back in my seat, disappointed that this was a dead end, but also somewhat relieved. I wasn’t cut out for this kind of intrigue.
“You’re being modest,” he said. “From what I’ve seen, I believe you have enough influence to convince him to fall for my trap. The cops will be waiting, and the game will be over. The city will be out from under his rule.”
As much as I liked the sound of this awful game being over, I didn’t feel great about his little plot to trap Lev. From what I’d seen, he hadn’t exactly been out terrorizing San Francisco. His beefs were with other criminal organizations who messed with his people. Remembering that night at the bar where Lev first let me in on his life in the Bratva, all I saw was him helping that poor father and son who were on the verge of losing everything due to the attack. I was already on edge and plagued with second thoughts, but a setup to bring Lev down seemed shady and wrong.
“I thought you had hard evidence already,” I told Hardy, not hiding my disappointment.
“He’s much too professional for that,” Hardy griped. “Are you in or not? Do you care about doing the right thing and bringing down a criminal?”
“I want to do what’s right,” I said, letting it hang there. “Let me think it over.”
“You do that,” he said with a kind smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I feel confident you’ll make the right decision. I can see how dedicated you are to getting into politics when you graduate.”
I only nodded and hurried back to my room. Getting through dinner with Katie and Nat was a nightmare of trying to stay focused on what they were saying and keep up the appearance that I was having a great time. Thankfully, Katie was exhausted from the drive up and didn’t want to hang out on theterrace where there was a live jazz band, so I jumped on that excuse as well.
Nat looked disappointed, saying we single girls should scout for any single guys, and I nearly blurted out that I wasn’t single. Feeling like I might explode from all the secrets I was juggling, I faked a yawn and told her I’d only drag her down.
Of course, sleep eluded me, and I tossed and turned all night. Just as the sun was finally coming up and I could ditch the pretense that I was ever getting any sleep, I heard my phone ping. It was from Councilman Hardy.
Meet me on the hiking trails. I’ve just received urgent new info that changes everything.
