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“Vice Chairwoman Martinez,” I say, before turning to slowly scan the others’ faces. “Thank you all for taking the time to stop by. I know how busy you are, and I truly appreciate it.”

“We need this matter resolved as soon as possible, Mayor Crane. We can’t have feckless cretins like your attacker wreaking havoc on our towns. It’s our top priority,” Chairman Yates, the head of the committee, adds. Mom has never been a fan of his, though I’m not sure why. He seems a bit cold and overly serious, but I imagine that comes with the job. Yates gestures at Abe as I take the seat at the head of the table. “Is this thing behind you your uncle’s creation?”

My teeth clench at the way he describes Abe, or maybe it’s just the mention of Uncle Henrik. “This is Abe, my guard bot. I take it my mother told you about him?” Hopefully she left out the threat to take my powers away if I refused Abe’s company. I don’t need the committee looking at me as if I’m a stubborn child.

“Oh no,” Vice Chairwoman Martinez replies with a chuckle. “But word travels fast, you know.”

“Right.” I offer a tight smile before attempting to shift the focus back to why they’re here. “Do you have any leads? For the portal bomber?”

Vice Chairwoman Martinez clears her throat as she folds her hands together on the table. “At the moment, our primary suspects are Mayor Payne and the Nut brothers.”

The who? “I’m sorry…the Nut brothers?”

Chairman Yates swivels his chair toward me. “The Nut brothers are members of a motorcycle club who also make and sell boiled peanuts that are quite popular with Cedar Grove residents. Their last name is Nutting, but they prefer to be known as the Nut brothers. You encountered them in the mayor’s office when you arrived, did you not?”

Ah! The wildly unfriendly guys who were chatting with Mayor Payne when Ezra and I went to see him after our mall trip. “Yes, I remember them.” Could they really have bombed the portal? Why? What did I do to them other than interrupt their meeting? It’s not like we were eavesdropping. “You think they’re responsible for this?” I picture Ezra’s face, slack and pale as they lay in a hospital bed in a coma, and my fists clench at my sides.

“We can’t be certain of that yet,” Chairman Yates says. “But based on intel we’ve received, they’ve been pressuring Mayor Payne to approve a series of food carts, or Nut trucks, as they call them, so they can sell their boiled peanuts in government buildings, grocery stores, and the local mall.”

“Nut trucks,” I repeat, both stunned and fixated on the name.

“However, we’re not ruling out Mapletown residents,” he adds.

My muscles tighten defensively. “I can’t imagine any of my constituents following us to Cedar Grove simply to attack us. If they wanted me dead, I’d be dead by now.”

Yates scoffs. “Or perhaps that’s precisely what they want us to think. A supreme way to avoid suspicion, no?”

I suppose he’s right, but I still can’t imagine anyone who lives here being capable of such a violent act. I keep the thought to myself because I want to appear objective. A strong leader needs to remain objective. “Good point.”

Long after the committee leaves, the faces of Mapletown residents flash through my mind as I go through recent interactions trying to find a memory that stands out as odd. I’m so distracted I don’t realize a meeting I’m in comes to an end until Abe nudges my shoulder, and I’m left looking at the backs of the zoning board members as they file out of my office.

“What the hell was that meeting about?” I ask Abe. “Did I promise them anything?”

“You did not.” His lip curls up on one side into a smirk. “You nodded a lot but promised nothing.”

Mayor of the Year, Ziggy sends me from where he’s sprawled out along the window ledge.

I drop my head into my hands. “So embarrassing. I can’t believe I just spaced out like that through an entire meeting. What if it was about something important?”

It wasn’t, Ziggy sends back with a yawn for emphasis. He gets to his paws and stretches. Now it’s time to go home. He turns to me. Perhaps you should take tomorrow off.

Absolutely not, I send back. I just need to blow off some steam.

Ziggy rolls his eyes as soon as my head perks up with an idea. Here we go.

“Karaoke,” I mutter with barely contained glee.

I will not be attending. You’ll have to bring your giant walking computer to accompany you.

Fine, I send to Ziggy with a huff.

“Abe, let’s go.” I shoot to my feet and start gathering my things. “We need to get ready for Karaoke Night at Fast Glass Tavern.”

He watches me with concern. “You’re certain you wish to spend the evening in a congested drinking establishment listening to subpar singing?”

“Do bear shifters get offended when you ask if they shit in the woods?”

A blank stare is all I get.