Page 35 of Call it Reckless

He moved to the door of his cage. “Come up and see me sometime,” he said in a pretty good Mae West voice, making me laugh. Anette had loved old movies. There was no telling what other lines he had stored up.

I sensed both Reid and Rich move up behind me. We watched as Sterling pecked at the door to his cage. “Hey, loser. Let me out.” He bobbed his head up and down.

When Rich didn’t immediately move to do Sterling’s bidding, he started to pitch a fit.

“Loser,” he cried louder and louder, until, red-faced, Rich opened the door with obvious reluctance, muttering under his breath. I was pretty sure he was claiming this was my fault.

In fact, it was his own mother that laughed when she heard that Rich had lost to a bird on the mayoral ballot eight years ago. Unfortunately for Rich, Sterling picked up on only the wordloser.

Sterling immediately settled down as he used his beak to hang on to part of his cage in order to swing down onto the open door. “Give me some sugar.”

Remembering our routine, I sat my notice on a small table and kneeled low enough so Sterling could hop onto my shoulder. He instantly nuzzled my cheek with his beak and made kissing sounds. I reached up and stroked his back, earning more nuzzles and kissing sounds.

“I’ll be damned. I’ve never seen him do that with anyone,” Reid said while Rich rolled his eyes.

I shrugged. “I used to spend a lot of time with him when I visited Mrs. Bowen. I guess we got kind of close.”

Rich eyed me suspiciously. “Close enough to tamper with the ballots?”

“Why, Mayor Bowen, how could you accuse me of such a thing?” I batted my lashes and did my best southern simper.

“Loser,” Sterling squawked.

I lifted Sterling from my shoulder and put him on the table. Kneeling in front of him, I said, “That’s not nice, Sterling. Mayor Bowen is good to you.”

He fluttered his wings. “That’s Mayor Sterling. Someone has to run this town.”

I gawked, then laughed. No wonder Richard Bowen sounded resigned when I asked to see Sterling.

I stood and faced the mayor, the human one. “So, about this violation notice. We planned to hold this in our parking lot, which is fairly large. If we have more people than we expect, then we’ll make sure they make use of the area around the building. We won’t be bothering other businesses because, let’s be honest, there aren’t any on that side of town. Think of us as making an effort to revitalize that part of town. Andthat,” I said, shaking a finger at him, “is in the best interest of this town and the surrounding area, which I know is what you want for Sterling Mill because, from what I hear, you always put the town’s needs first.”

His mouth opened and closed a few times while I smiled. I knew he’d have a hard time formulating an argument against that without looking like a jerk.

Sterling did a little tap-like dance on the table where I’d set him. “Mayor Bowen,” he called.

Rich did a double-take. “Did he just say…” His smile faded as Sterling chose that moment to poop, right on top of the citation paper. Sterling spread his wings with a little flutter before settling them and preening as if he was quite pleased with himself.

Reid’s hand flew to his mouth to cover a cough-like noise, but I saw his shoulders shaking. I did my best to hide a grin, as well. I guess Mayor Sterling had weighed in on the situation.

Mayor Bowen blew out a beleaguered-sounding sigh. “Have your opening, Ms. Allen.” He held his hand out to me. “And I truly wish you success.” He nodded in Reid’s direction. “And I hope I can count on the sheriff’s department to help control any crowd issues.”

“Of course.” Reid nodded. “I’ll let Sheriff Kirchner know.”

* * *

The sun feltwarm on my face as I stood on the steps of the town hall. “Well, that went better than I expected,” I commented to Reid, who’d followed me out.

“I’m glad it did for someone,” he mumbled. Then in a louder voice, he added, “The mayor’s not a bad guy. He’s a constant worrier and is a strict rule follower for sure, but that’s the kind of thing that helps make my job easier. Most of the time.”

I held my hand up to shade my eyes. “Is everything okay, Deputy? Need me to get Sterling to use his influence again?”

Reid chuckled. “I wish you could.” He stared at the downtown area before us. “Everything’s fine, just a step harder.”

I frowned. “Are you sure?”

Blue eyes swung toward me. “Let it be, Bristol. I can handle it.”

With nowhere else to go, I followed him down the steps of the town hall. I nearly plowed into him as he came to an abrupt halt before he whirled back to me.

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