Political Suicide

By Kim Stewart

Candice knew she was one of the most powerful women in Los Angeles. She experienced love, loss, joy and took great pride in her children, one of who she would constantly bail out of trouble. She hated being married to Carl and she couldn't believe that she stayed with him for 33 years. She found herself wanting to put a pillow over his head when he slept at night. She loved James, 12 years her junior. She wanted to be with James even though he was bad for her political career. He had a bad reputation that would threaten her powerful political career. She didn't know how obsessed James was with her. She would find out soon enough. Her relationship with James could cause Political Suicide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Sep 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781490710235

Kim Stewart

Kentucky author Kim Stewart is an avid reader who loves to tell stories. Little Frog and the Butterfly fluttered around in her imagination for years before she finished it for her little girls. Stewart got her start in writing as a news reporter and editor. Eventually, she left the news business to focus on raising two daughters and writing her own books.

Book preview

© Copyright 2013 Kim Stewart.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

isbn: 978-1-4907-1024-2 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4907-1023-5 (e)

Trafford rev. 09/16/2013

11604.png

www.trafford.com

North America & international

toll-free: 1 888 232 4444 (USA & Canada)

fax: [phone]

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

I dedicate this book to my daughter Nicole.

Thank you for your love and support.

Introduction

C andice knew she was doing something that could damage her political career forever. She knew she should not meet him tonight but she couldn’t stop herself. What was she thinking? She was the mayor of Los Angeles and he was a man who had been in trouble with the law. She felt so alive when she was with him, nothing like she had felt when she married Carl. She had been married to Carl for 33 years and they had five grown children that they were very proud of. The spark in their marriage disappeared for Candice 12 years ago, the year her parents were killed in an automobile accident while in Texas. Something changed in her and she knew that some things in her life had to change. She vowed to herself the day of her parent’s funeral that she was going to live life for her children and for herself. It would be a long road but she needed to figure out how to make herself a priority in her own life. She had always put everyone first and now she felt like a shell of a person, especially now without both of her parents. She needed to work on what made her happy so she could be a better person, mother, and politician.

Candice knew what was right and what was wrong but there was something special about James, the man she was having an affair with, that kept her coming back for more. It wasn’t just because the sex was good, it was something deeper. She spent more time thinking of James lately than she was thinking about the election coming up the next year. Being mayor had been her dream and she had achieved that. She was thankful to the voters for electing her but now her needs and priorities were beginning to change. She went to bed next to Carl each night, softly crying herself to sleep, not knowing what to do next. Carl was a good man but she no longer loved him like she did when they were first married.

Carl turned over and started snoring. Candice sometimes found herself wanting to put a pillow over his head just for a moment to stop the obnoxious snoring. She wanted him to go to the doctor but he refused. Some nights she went to the spare bedroom so she could get some sleep. She was 52 and she knew getting at least seven hours of sleep each night was necessary for her to fully function at her job which was sometimes seven days a week.

She closed her eyes and prayed to God to help her decide what to do. There were so many things on the line if she left Carl. The most important thing was the kids. She knew that they would hate her for leaving their dad for another man, a man who was only 40 and had been recently arrested for embezzlement. He admitted that he embezzled $100,000 from his current employer. He apologized to Candice several times, begging for her forgiveness.

James knew that Candice loved him and he loved her too. He felt guilty for not telling her about his completely colored past. Candice believed what he had told her and never investigated him so she didn’t know that he had accidentally shot and killed a man when he was 18.

Candice had no idea that her life was about to change and it would change the lives of many others along the way. She could be making a mistake that might possibly cost her the prized possession of her life- her family. She had no idea that life was about to get complicated, more complicated than running Los Angeles.

Chapter 1

C andice slowly opened her eyes and saw Carl staring at her. What are you doing, she asked?"

I am looking at the most gorgeous woman in the world, said Carl.

Candice was annoyed that Carl was getting so sappy and emotional lately. Deep down, she knew that he was annoying her because she didn’t love him any more. Oh, Carl, you apparently didn’t get enough sleep, she said. You never compliment me like that until the last three months. What has gotten into you?

Carl took a deep sigh and told her that he wanted them to go on a vacation to Fiji. He was a retired investment banker so they could take off for a week and stay at the most luxurious resort that money could buy.

I can’t take off right now Carl and you know that. We have the downtown project that is finishing up. I need to be available for the opening ceremony for the Los Angeles Lakers and that comes up in two weeks.

Carl sighed. I know Candice that you cannot go for at least two months when your commitments slow down. I want to start planning on when we can go and enjoy ourselves. Our kids are grown and we are grandparents now so we now have the luxury of traveling when we want.

Candice felt anger and sadness at the same time as she listened to Carl. She was mad at herself for letting herself fall for James. She had affairs in the past but they were easy to pay off with no one finding out about them. She had fallen for several bad boys in the past but James was different. She could see herself spending the rest of her life with him. She was sad as she listened to Carl because she knew he really loved her, so she thought. What could she do to get out of this mess?

Candice took a deep breath, "I will think about it Carl. I just don’t know if I can get away for six months which then runs pretty close to when I should be concentrating on the election unless I do not run for re-election.

What! Carl almost screeched as he sat up in bed. What do you mean that you may not run for re-election?

I don’t know Carl, I love what I do but maybe I need to take a different position in politics, she said.

Carl was nervous now. He knew Candice had been changing the last few months but he had no idea that she might be considering dropping out of the mayoral race. This would totally ruin his plan to divorce her and get alimony. She took in $70,000 per month and he had gotten accustomed to the lifestyle that they had. He had made good money when he was working but decided to retire at 48 and was glad that he did.

Candice on the other hand, was not thrilled that he was going to be in the house all of the time, bothering her. She had no idea that he was contemplating divorcing her. She didn’t know that her assistant had been having an affair with her husband for over a year. She didn’t know that he was planning the trip for the two of them just to look good to the public.

He knew what it took to keep the public happy. He would wine and dine her in Fiji, knowing full well that there would be plenty of photographers taking their picture and putting it on every magazine cover possible. He was aware of her political clout. He would get the positive news coverage when he divorced her and the public would be outraged that Candice threw away their marriage by having an affair with a younger man.

He wanted to divorce Candice five years ago when the private investigator gave him pictures of Candice and James, walking hand in hand to an apartment in a less than comfortable part of town. Carl stopped loving her the same way he had before on that day. He couldn’t believe that she would destroy their vows. Now, he vowed to destroy her, one day at a time. He would take the kids from her by letting them know that she had an affair with multiple men and made sure she looked like the bad guy. Once he destroyed her and took her money, he wanted to marry Elise. She was everything that Candice used to be in the beginning of the marriage. Elise was classy, had sexy curves, and she had style and confidence. He knew men wanted to be with her, he caught them staring at her. He didn’t mind because he knew she would be going home with him that night. He couldn’t spend every night with her. He knew Candice took sleeping pills every night and was out by 10:00, or so he thought.

Little did he know, she was faking taking the sleeping pills. She didn’t want him to know she lay there awake until he fell asleep just so she could text James and talk sexy to him until they both fell asleep.

Chapter 2

C andice had her afternoon meetings rescheduled for the next day. She had sent a text to James and he was also taking the afternoon off from being an teller at the bank. He had been released the day before after being arrested for embezzlement. Candice couldn’t wait to be in James’ arms. It had been a few weeks since they had been together because of his legal troubles. She had to be extremely careful being seen with him in public now because of the recent arrest. She agreed to meet James at the motel on the highway, only 10 miles from her house. She knew that Carl was having a poker night with his buddies and she had sent the staff home so she could come and go as she pleased. She carefully chose a black lacy, push-up bra with matching lace thong panties. The dress she chose was low cut in the front and the back. She chose her open toed five inch heels that were one of James’ favorites. Behind her ears and on her wrists, she dotted a musky cologne that she knew drove James crazy. She waited until 8:15 when it was completely dark and she drove to the motel.

When she walked into room 18, their lucky room, she had anticipated that James would be there already in bed, waiting for her. She walked in and flipped on the light and it was empty which concerned her slightly because she was a few minutes late and James was always on time. She took off her dress and stilettos and crawled into bed, anticipating James to walk in at any moment. She waited for 30 minutes and he hadn’t showed up yet. She tried calling him but he didn’t answer. Now, she was starting to get concerned. It was getting late and she knew she only had an hour before Carl would be home. She put her dress and stilettos back on and started to leave the room when her phone rang. She was relieved because it was a call from James. When she picked up the phone, she gasped when the voice on the other end said that they had James and they expected $500,000 in three days if she ever wanted to see him again. I can’t come up with that much money, Candice told the person on the other end of the phone.

You have three days or you will find James with a bullet in his head, said the mysterious voice. By the way, said the caller, if you contact the police, we will kill James immediately and then we come after you.

Candice didn’t know what to do or who to turn to. Only one person knew of her affair and that was her long time friend Mandy who lived on a farm outside of Chicago. She would call Mandy and ask her what to do. Mandy was a very level headed woman who had endured a lot of heartache in her life. She called Mandy and she answered on the third ring.

Hey girl, she said.

Candice immediately told Mandy what had happened. Mandy was concerned about Candice’s safety. She knew that something bad was going to develop out of this relationship. She had told Candice of her thoughts on this but Candice said it was too late because she had already fallen in love with James and wanted to divorce Carl when the time was right.

Mandy told her to go to the police but Candice refused since the caller had told her they would kill James if she did. They? asked Mandy. Candice, you are dealing with more than one kidnapper and this is too dangerous for just you to handle. Candice started to cry and Mandy tried her best to console her but this situation was now out of control.

Candice told her that she would contact the bank and ask how much cash she had access to and could get into her hands within three days.

Mandy didn’t like the feel of this situation at all. I am flying out tonight to help you. Macy is doing great at college and I can get someone in Steven’s family to take care of the chores.

Candice tried to refuse but Mandy insisted so Candice thanked her and told her to call her when she got in.

Candice drove home, crying all of the way, not knowing how to get out of this mess. She had taken off her makeup, put on her gown and just crawled in the bed when she heard the garage door go up. She felt immediate stress because Carl was home. She pretended to be asleep so she didn’t have to talk with him. Communication had definitely dwindled in the past few months. Carl was in bed and snoring within 20 minutes. Candice got out of bed and went to the spare room where at least she could think and sleep in peace. She cried herself to sleep that night, wishing that she wasn’t in such a mess and scared that she wouldn’t be able to come up with the money for James’ life. She worried that the kidnappers would always come back and want more once she gave them the initial payout. This means that they could threaten her for years to come, threaten to ruin her political career, her marriage and her family. She took a sleeping pill that night because she knew that sleep wouldn’t come easily.

Candice’s phone rang at 10:30 in the morning. It startled Candice who was still in bed. She picked up the phone and stopped short of saying, James, is that you?. Mandy was on the other end, telling Candice that she had just flown in and