Doramis
There was a knock at the Baez's residences. "Can you get that?" yelled Lucy from the bathroom.
Doramis was eating a bowl of cornflakes when she heard her mother. She gulped down her food and wiped her mouth. "It's probably for you. Why don't you open it?"
"Please don't be difficult, young lady. Just get the door."
"Whatever," said Doramis under her breath as she went to the door. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see who was there. "Mayor Pietro," she said, the shock in her voice audible. "And Sheriff Lawrence and I don't know you."
"Ashner," he said, aggravation in his tone. "Is your mother home?"
"Mom," yelled Doramis. "All the important people in town are here. Plus one."
Sheriff Lawrence laughed. "That's you," he said to Ashner.
"Funny."
"It really is," said Sheriff Lawrence, not being able to contain his laughter.
"Is it alright if we come in?" Mayor Pietro asked Doramis.
"Sure," said Doramis as she opened the door wide.
"Who is it?" asked Lucy as she came down the stairs and saw Mayor Pietro coming inside. Lucy stopped half way down. "Isabella, what are you doing here?" Lucy watched as Sheriff Lawrence and Ashner entered her house.
"I'm here to talk about what happened last night," said Mayor Isabella Pietro.
"What happened last night?" asked Doramis. "Did you get the bear?"
Isabella looked at Ashner. "Yeah, they got the bear." She returned her sights to Lucy. "But that's not why I'm here."
"Dori," said Lucy. "Can you take our guest to the living room?"
"Follow me," said Doramis as she led them to the living room. "If it's not about the bear, why are you here?"
Doramis gestured for them to sit down on the couches. Ashner and Isabella sat down while Sheriff Lawrence stood at the doorway as Lucy walked in.
"It's about the person who shot at me," said Lucy.
"Someone shot at you last night?" exclaimed Doramis. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because it was nothing for you to worry about."
"But someone shot at you?"
"Maybe."
"That's exactly the reason why we're here," said Isabella. "I want to know if you're certain someone was actually shooting at you."
"What's wrong Isabella, worried about little ol' me?"
"More like worried that someone has the balls to try and kill one of my citizens."
"Is that all I am to you, one of your citizens?"
"Stop messing around," cut off Ashner. "And answer the question."
Lucy glared at Ashner then turned her gaze to Isabella. "Your boy toy is no fun."
"I said cut it off."
"Quiet," said Isabella. "Lucy, this is serious. Was someone actually trying to kill you last night?"
"I can't say I'm a hundred percent sure someone was trying to kill me, but they shot a lot of awful times towards me. They didn"t stop until I shot back."
"You shot back?" exclaimed Ashner. "Why didn't you say so last night?" Lucy only gave him a shrug. "Did you hit them?"
"No idea. I guess you should check with the doctor and see if she's received any gunshot victims."
"Why would someone shoot at you?"
"There's multiple reasons. I know too many of the town's secrets. Anyone could be holding a grudge."
"You really think someone tried to kill you last night?" asked Ashner, disbelief in his voice.
"If you don't believe me, you can ask Jack. He was there."
"Jack was with you?" asked Doramis.
"Yes," said Lucy. "And be quiet and just listen." Doramis took a step back.
"We're going to talk to Jack next," said Sheriff Lawrence. "But I wanted to ask you first, do you want any type of protection? I can have an officer watch over your house."
"For what?" asked Ashner. "She can clearly protect herself."
"Be quiet Ashner," said Isabella. "I told you last night's idea was a bad one. We're lucky no one got hurt."
It was Ashner's turn to take a step back. "Yes ma'am. I'm sorry."
"Lucy," said Isabella. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Thank you for the concern but I'm fine. I was startled last night but I'm over it." She turned to Sheriff Lawrence. "And I don't need the protection. I can handle that completely on my own. Plus, whoever took a shot at me last night was probably a one time thing. Saw an opportunity to get revenge and tried to take it. As you can see, I'm fine."
"Mom," said Doramis in a low voice. "Someone tried to kill you."
Lucy put a hand up to her daughter's cheek. "Nothing is going to happen." She looked at Isabella. "We're not going to have any other hunts in the future, I suspect."
"Absolutely not," answered Isabella. "We got our bear last night and I'm never going to support mob mentality again."
"What's mob mentality?" asked Doramis.
"A group of people gathered up to hurt someone or something without really thinking about it, but only because everyone else is doing so. What happened last night was an example of that," said Isabella. She stared back at Ashner. "And I'm sorry for the part I played in it."
"I'm sorry ma'am," said Ashner. "But I believe it was the best thing to do to calm our citizens after what happened to Ivy. I was honestly doing what was best for our people."
Isabella seemed to lighten up on Ashner. "I realize that, but let's get past that and deal with the problem in hand. We need to find out who took a shot at Lucy."
"Don't worry about it," said Lucy. "I don't think it's ever going to happen again."
"Someone tried to kill you," said Isabella. "That's attempted murder. A crime. A serious one. Someone needs to be arrested."
"I agree," said Sheriff Lawrence.
"I don't know what to tell you," said Lucy as she shrugged and put her hands in the air. "I have no idea who did it."
"You must have a list of the enemies you have," said Sheriff Lawrence. "Most good detectives have one. And you're a great one."
"Thank you for the compliment, but that list falls in client confidentiality and you know that."
"Not when one of those clients tries to kill you."
"We don't know if it was a client."
"We know it's likely."
"I'm not going to break my reputation on likely," said Lucy as she crossed her arms. "So take your shot at talking to Jack. He might have seen something I didn't."
Sheriff Lawrence was clearly frustrated and they saw he was about to say something but stopped himself.
"Okay," said Isabella. "Seems we have heard enough here. Can everyone leave so I can have a conversation with Lucy alone."
Sheriff Lawrence and Ashner left without another word. Doramis stayed.
"Dori," said Lucy. "Go upstairs."
"She can stay," said Isabella. "This has to do with her too."
"You want to talk to my daughter?" said Lucy as she walked over to her couch and sat down.
"I want to talk to you, but she can listen."
"You're piquing my interest. What's this about?"
"It's about the future leadership of our town," said Isabella. "I'm the last of the Pietro family so after I retire, that'll be it for the Pietro family running our government. Since you're one of the original families, I want you to succeed me."
"You want me to do what!?" exclaimed Lucy.
"I want you to be the next mayor after I retire. It only makes sense it should be you."
Lucy let out a laugh. "Yeah right. You really think the people of this town will vote for me. One of them tried to kill me last night," she joked.
"And I'm sure you're going to figure out who it was on your own," said Isabella. "I'm sure you're already making a list of suspects in your head as we speak. Maybe you already made that list when you got home last night."
"Nah, you're wrong. I'm going to let that go."
"Stop," said Isabella. "Don't act like I haven't known you forever. You liked playing detective since we were in high-school. Just cause you retired a year ago doesn't mean you're not going to investigate who took a shot at you."
Lucy rolled her eyes. "You're still crazy if you think I'm going to replace you as mayor. Most people hate me."
"I'm sure you have enough dirt on them to change their votes."
"Now you want me to blackmail them."
"I want you to do whatever you need to do to win. You're the proper person to replace me."
"Why not Ashner? I'm sure there's no one who knows your job better than him. He's basically attached to your hip. He's probably outside having a stroke right now due to being so far from you."
"While Ashner would make a good mayor, he is not one of the original families."
"If you want one of the original families to replace you, then why not Paloma. Matter of fact, I would say Paloma would be an excellent choice."
"I don't want one of the Silvas to replace me. I don't trust that family. I'm sure you have plenty of dirt on them."
"There's no dirt to have on them," said Lucy a little too quickly.
"I find that hard to believe."
"I don't know why. They're all ex-military and very disciplined, which like I said before, makes them a great replacement for you."
Isabella scrunched her face at Lucy.
"Don't make that face at me," said Lucy. "I would be a terrible mayor."
Isabella looked at Doramis. "What do you think? Do you think your mother would make a good mayor?"
Doramis looked at her mother. "Do I think my mother would make a good mayor?" repeated Doramis. "I've never thought about something like that. She's …. She is very laid back but when she wants to do something right, she does." Doramis turned her sights to Isabella. "My mother isn't you, but I think she would make a good mayor in a different way."
"Insightful girl you have there," said Isabella. "I think she would make a great successor to you when you retire."
"Me as mayor?" said Doramis as she pointed at herself. "That I don't think is a good idea."
"You say that now but give it a few years. I bet you end up being a better mayor than us both."
"I still haven't agreed to succeed you," said Lucy.
"Sleep on it," said Isabella as she stood up. "I should get going. We still need to interview Jack and never mind everything else I have to do." She looked at Doramis. "Here's a word of advice to you, find a different boyfriend than the Silva boy. You can do a lot better."
"Ken isn't my boyfriend."
"Good, keep it that way."
"What's your problem with the Silvas?" asked Lucy as she stood up.
"I don't trust them. Something seems off there."
"You're just imagining things."
"Nah, I have instincts for this. But let me get out of here. Stay safe Lucy, I really want you to be the one who replaces me as mayor."
"Not going to happen," said Lucy as Isabella left.