Miss Marcelle and Miss Delphine to take care of this problem.”
“Hallelujah,” could be heard from the audience. From Zep’s mom.
He shook his head. He knew exactly what was going on here. “I know she promised you ten percent, but ten percent of nothing is going to be nothing. Now, listen up, everyone. There is no rougarou. There is no tiger. There was an asshole who dumped a puppy he didn’t want, and some teens who didn’t know when to go to bed. I don’t know exactly what went on last night. But I promise, I will come out to your place, Sue, and I will check for tracks. I’ll check into every single incident until I prove to you that this is nothing more than Archie having an active imagination.”
“No you will not.” Roxie had her hands on her hips and was sending him that stare she got when she wasn’t going to be moved.
He wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong, but he caught sight of the girl with the camera coming in closer like she knew something dramatic was about to happen. At least this time she wasn’t climbing on top of the shed and losing her camera in someone else’s yard. “I thought you wanted me to be more involved.”
Roxie shook her head. “You are already far too involved for very little pay. Armie, are you going to pay him to answer every citizen’s call?”
“I was planning on seeing if I could pay him in beer, actually,” Armie admitted.
Zep turned toward the sheriff. “I am not being paid in beer.”
“You used to,” the sheriff pointed out.
“No, I was never paid in beer. And we’re going to talk about my rates because I’m not doing the work of an entire department for fun. I’m good at this and I deserve to be paid.” He was getting a headache, and that camera was on him. “Ashlyn, could you put that thing away?”
The teen didn’t flinch. “Sorry, it’s a school project. Could you talk more about the animal attacks?”
A gasp rippled across the audience, and he needed to get ahead of that. “There have been no attacks. None. We can negotiate my pay later. For now, I assure you all that I will help get us through this . . . is it really a crisis?”
“No, but it points out a problem the parish has,” Roxie said. “Mayor Martine, when are we going to deal with our animal issues? The sheriff’s department is not equipped to handle animal calls, and we don’t do a good job of it. What happened when the Nichols family found that nest of possums under their porch?”
LaTonya Nichols stood, her bag of popcorn in one hand. “My dad wouldn’t listen to anyone, and he went under the house himself to get them and got himself stuck. It took six hours to get him out, and he needed a rabies shot.”
Zep sighed. “The possum was likely only under the house to have her babies, and she would have been gone in a few weeks. If it really bothered you, I could have relocated them. Possums are also incredibly helpful animals.”
Another man stood. “Yes, they help themselves to my trash.”
He knew exactly how the man dealt with his trash since he had to pass it most mornings on his way to the restaurant. “You have to cover the cans, Lewis. You can’t toss bags in a can without using the lid the parish provided. I’ve told you a thousand times that’s how you attract animals. And the only reason we’re not overrun with ticks is the possum population. You start taking them out and everyone in this county is getting Lyme disease. There is a balance that must be kept.”
“You tell ’em, baby!”
He would love to blame his mother’s enthusiasm on inebriation, but she didn’t drink to excess, and she could be obnoxiously peppy fully sober.
“It’s good we have someone around who understands the balance,” Roxie pointed out. “Mayor, who answers questions about animal issues in city hall?”
Sylvie’s gaze had narrowed. “I believe I know what you’re hinting at, and we would need funding for that.”
“Funding for what?” Zep asked.
Roxie turned his way. “How serious are you about a career working with animals?”
Was she doing what he thought she was doing? “It would be my dream job.”
Roxie went back to staring at Sylvie like they were caught in important negotiations. “If I can find the funding, would you be open to it? There are numerous federal grants available