OF WOMEN AND MICE....PART 3

Councillor Skye Lovelady carefully leaned her gleaming silver ladies' bicycle against the red brick fence, took off her helmut and wiped the perspiration from her face and neck with the face cloth she always carried, well tucked into her bra.

She had ridden her bicycle from Smithfield to Woree, to the home of Enzo and Maria Bomboniere that morning, following a surprise phone call from Maria the previous evening.
Enzo Bomboniere was the Councillor for Division 3 taking in the Cairns suburbs of Bayview Heights, Mt Sheridan, WhiteRock, Woree and Portsmith and had been elected as one of Colonel Ken Cush's team to run the Cairns Regional Council.

Only just elected by the hair of his chinny chinchin! thought Councillor Lovelady, as she recalled the Council results last year, when Bomboniere had won Division 3 from the popular Rob Pyne by the merest margin of two single votes.

She wasn't surprised to get the phone call. She and Councillor Mingin, the aboriginal represenative for Division 5, had noted the increasing discomfort of Councillor Bomboniere in the Council Chambers. He had also supported both Lovelady and Mingin in their outrage against the wholesale killing of the roost of flying foxes in the city, undertaken without Council consent or knowledge, by Mayor Cush.

She turned towards the house just as a petite, dark haired woman walked down the pathway out to the front fence. "Hello there Skye," the small woman called, smiling prettily, "I'm Maria Bomboniere, and am I glad to see you. Come inside and meet Margie Piper."

Skye followed. She had no idea that Margie Piper would be here. Margie was the wife of Dom Piper, the Division 7 Councillor, who had also joined the protest against the killing of the flying foxes.

Margie Piper rose and extended a hand to Skye as soon as she entered the neat and scrupulously clean living room where a tray of cups and saucers and plates of cakes were displayed on a large coffee table. "So glad to meet you Councillor Lovelady," said Margie, "I've heard so much about you!"

They all laughed. "Call me Skye, please." said Skye sitting down on one of the comfortable looking chairs.

Skye decided to come straight to the matter. "It is a pleasure to meet you ladies, but I am wondering why you want to meet me? As you know I represent the Green Party, and not the Conservative Party which both your husbands represent in the Council. I am also not a member of Colonel Cush's Council team, but both your husbands are."

Maria and Margie nervously glanced at each other before Margie spoke:-

"Our husbands don't know about this meeting, Skye, so we are throwing ourselves at your, your uh mercy if you like, and begging your discretion in that you keep everything said here confidential, well.... for the time being........" Her voice trailed off, as she left enquiringly at Skye.

Skye nodded slowly. She didn't know exactly what it was all about, but she did know that women like Margie and Maria were loyal wives, good women, and if they were deeply worried about something, something which prompted them to share with her, then it was in her own interests to go along with whatever they wanted. For the time being, as Margie said.

"We are taking a risk, I know," said Maria. "But we both felt we could trust you!"

"It's about that awful despot Cush of course," said Margie. "That dreadful, unconscienable sociopathic porcine shit which has the temerity to masquerade as a human being."

Skye laughed. 'Well said, Margie, I couldn't have said it better myself!"

"The man is abominable," broke in Maria. "The things he has called my Enzo! I tell you, my Enzo, he is a good man, a very very good man and I love him with all my heart. I do. But, I tell you both, he is a weak man. He has no stomach for confrontation. I'm the strong one in the marriage and if that Cush man talks to me like he talks to my Enzo, I tell you, I will KICK THE BASTARDO UP HIS BALLS SO THAT THEY GO UP HIS THROATS!" Maria shouted the last sentence and thumped the coffee table so that all the cups rattled.

Margie spluttered over her cup of tea and spilled liquid over the saucer onto the floor.
Skye was so shaken at the change of voice and expression on Maria's face, that all her could do was to stare with her mouth open. Maria's entire face had changed from that of an angelic little chipmunk to one of a rabid chihuahua, face diffused with colour, dark eyes popping and all her tiny teeth displayed in a clenching of aggression.

Skye swallowed shakily, chalking up a nota bena, to never, never cross one Maria Bomboniere!!
Margie hastily wiped up the spilled tea from the floor, apologising profusely.

"Uhh," said Margie, finding her voice and trying to cover the situation, "I think we could all do that Maria!"

"Now you tell Skye what you told me last night Margie," said Maria, recovering herself and starting to look more like her normal elfish self.

Margie heaved and sighed. "Okies. Do you know Honora Horseman at all, Skye? She's Bob Horseman's American wife. She's wife number two I think, not that it matters."

"No I don't" replied Skye. Bob Horseman was the Deputy Mayor and represented Division 6 in the Council. His Division took in the suburbs of Redlynch, Brinsmead and Whitfield.

"Well the woman is revolting. Oh, not to look at. She's got the money for botox, face lifts, hair extensions, implants, plastic surgery. She looks like a Hollywood actress and carries on like one too, even down to having a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce. I was introduced to her once at a political fund raising function. Well, the first thing she asked me was "And what does your husband do?" And when I replied that Dom was a plumber, she literally crumpled up her face and turned away from me. She never spoke to me again. "

Margie shook her head. "The woman is an icredible snob. One of those unbelievable people who truly believe they are superior because of their own wealth. Anyway, that is not what I want to tell you......" Margie took another sip from her cup of tea.

"I overheard, at that function, Honora talking to another woman. I was up close behind them for some reason, trying to get into the ladies or something and they were talking close immediately outside the door. I heard very clearly Honora say, that her son-in-law was the very wealthy Chinese CEO of a Hong Kong Corporation, and that she and Bob were flying over to Hong Kong for Christmas."

Skye immediately twigged. "How interesting? A Hong Kong Corporation bought the waterside block of land, and in fact is building a high rise suite of condominiums on it right now."

"Yes," said Margie. "You got it. From what Dom and I can make out, the initial sale of the land was to Horsey's son-in-law, but from there, it was sold to another Corporation, another Hong Kong Corporation. We think something funny has gone on, but we don't know what. Dom told me that Cush, Horsey, Hooper and a couple of others were all in Cush's Mayor's office one afternoon all celebrating when the block of land sold so quickly. He's very suspicious that they all got some sort of kickback."

"So is my Enzo," said Maria. "He told me he thinks this Council is like the mafia, corrupt and rotten and all for brotherhood. My Enzo, he isn't one of that brotherhood!"

Skye bit on the bottom of her lip. Margie and Maria had only confirmed what she and Mervyn Mingin had suspected, that something corrupt was going on with Cush and several Councillors.

"But wait, there is more," continued Margie. "Dom walked in one day when Cush and Horsey had their heads together in the Mayor's office and Dom overheard Cushy say very clearly, "Munro Martin Park is too good to have indigenous layabouts littering it up. It should be put to good use."

This was news to Skye. "So you think Cush has some devious plans for a public park, I mean that land was bequeathed to the people of Cairns by the sisters Martin and Munro?"

Margie nodded gravely. "Dom is certain of it. In fact Dom thinks Cush might try and sell it to the American Military for some sort of American venture to accommodate the American marines he wants to bring to Cairns for R & R leave."

Skye's head spun. It was getting worse and worse.

Maria had fully recovered from her violent flare-up. "Another thing we don't like is the Adult Night Clubs which Cush has approved for Cairns. There have been people murdered there, and the police are worried about more and more drugs in Cairns because of those clubs."

Skye recalled the Council vote on the Adult Entertainment Clubs and how Enzo Bomboniere had absented himself from the Chamber for the votes. Dom Piper however had voted for them.
Only Mervyn Mingin and herself had voted against the applications.

Skye decided diplomacy was best in the situation. "I agree. There are two more applications coming before Council, and I won't be voting to approve them."

There was a silence in the room, as all collected their thoughts. Skye decided to wrap everything up. "So ladies, what do we do now?"

Maria and Margie looked at each other.

"I think we need to talk with our husbands, and suggest they offically leave Cush's team, or something." Margie said slowly. "The two of us together." Margie looked across at Maria, who nodded in agreement. "Maybe we could have a bar-b-que Maria, and get them talking?"

"Good idea," said Skye, rising from her chair. "And let me know how it goes, as well."

.......................................................

Brandi Cush worked out that morning in a rage. She pounded the treadmill, until she almost collapsed. Then she tackled the cycling machines and cycled until her legs ached. All the while she was thinking furiously of how to destroy Rhianna Silvers.

She would send the Drug Squad an anonymous tip that Rhianna Silvers had a good supply of Ecstacy in her handbags. She would wordprocess it on her typewriter and use gloves so that no fingerprints were on the paper.

She was doubtful that the Police would do anything, as Reg Silvers, Rhianna's husband was a multi-millionaire and that amount of money meant enormous power. However she could only try.

However, she had two photos of Rhianna in very compromising poses. Very. Brandi laughed when she finally found them on her mobile phone.

She had been at a rave in Melbourne a couple of months back. She was monged out herself on ganga and ecstacy, but having a good time. It was all mental. A really mental, monging time. There were AFL footballers, some rockstars and a heal of models, the usual crowd. Suddenly, Rhianna appeared prancing around in hugely high heeled stilettos, and wearing only a tiny red g-string.

Brandi had then produced her mobile phone and taken some photographs just as a well known AFL star had kneeled down and grabbed the front of Rhianna's tiny g-string with his teeth. Brandi had two photographs which clearly showed Rhianna's face and front, but the back of the AFL star.

It was enough, thought Brandi. Rhianna was clearly recognisable. She would send one off to Reg Silvers with a warning that "there were plenty more where this one came from". She would keep him guessing, make him more suspicious. She would also threaten to post the photos all over the internet on the social media sites.

She thought she would write something with the photos, something like...."How do you think the voters of Division Two would like this, if they saw it?"

Feeling quite proud of herself, Brandi finished her workout for the morning and took the lift back to the unit. She had a luncheon date with two female journalists from 'The Cairns Post" and wanted to show off her new makeover. She felt very very happy.

To be continued................