“You’re having a party?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
Karen smirked.
“Seems a bit premature,” I said, recovering.
“Hardly,” Karen said with a laugh. “The next election is just a formality. We did exit polls. More of Ida’s voters said they would pick Hunter over you if they had to choose.”
Shit.
“Ta!” Karen said. “Enjoy your evening losers.”
I dragged myself up the stairs, following Kate, who was waving a wine bottle at me to try to get me to move faster. My phone went off as I was fiddling with the keys to unlock my apartment door.
“Hot date?” Kate asked.
“No…” I frowned, reading the email. “It’s Frank from the bank. He said he’s trying to process a mortgage for his cousin and his cousin’s wife, but they’re missing a piece of paperwork from the city.”
“Not sure how you can help.”
“He wanted me to file it with the city tonight as a favor for them, or they’re going to lose the house to the next bidder, which is surprise, surprise, one of the Svenssons’ shell LLCs.” I unlocked the door.
“That sucks.” Kate waltzed into my apartment and flopped on the bed.
“I know exactly which form it is. It’s the 4020 instead of the 1460-D. People constantly confuse those. One of the things I had wanted to do was to streamline some of these forms. But hey, if they’d rather have Karen and Hunter, then they can suffer.” I fiddled with my purse strap in the doorway.
Kate gave me a knowing look. “Are you going to get them the form?”
I shut the door and pulled the cheese tray out of the fridge. “I shouldn’t keep doing favors for people.” I ate a slice of cheese and prosciutto then turned on my printer. “I bet they didn’t even vote for me.”
“She says as she prints out the forms!” Kate teased.
“Maybe I’ll turn it in in the morning,” I replied, setting the papers on the counter and eating more cheese. Kate grabbed them.
“They definitely voted for Hunter,” Kate said, checking Facebook. “The dude and his wife are at the big victory party.”
“Serves them right if Hunter takes their house.”
“Aw, the post before is how happy they are to have their new home. They have a corgi!” Kate squealed, holding up the laptop.
“Ugh, I wanted a dog. Uncle Barry always claimed he didn’t like them. Now I have nothing.”
“You have a cricket.” Kate pointed.
“Gross!” I shrieked and opened the window to shoo it outside.
Kate handed me the form. “Filled it all out for you, and I put your notary stamp in your purse.”
“Fuck,” I grumbled, grabbing my bag.
* * *
The party wasin full swing when I went to the town square. The Svenssons must have spent a fortune on the alcohol alone. People were wasted.
“You’re crashing the party?” Susie asked me when she saw me walking down the sidewalk. She was leaning against her police cruiser.
“There was a form mix-up. I need a few signatures. Have you seen a couple with a corgi?”
Susie pointed.
