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paused so Sean could scribble down the information, then continued. “Sean, both Pete Ferrucci and Jack Gehring were interviewed live on the community TV station this morning. Topic of the day is how you vetoed the plan to widen the bridge.”
    “That proposal was nothing more than a scam to line Jack Gehring’s pockets,” Sean replied. Gehring ran the largest construction company in the county. He had amassed a fortune in contracts by underbidding the competition, to the point where practically every major building project had Gehring’s name on it. “Ferrucci and Gehring are just making noise,” he reassured his secretary. “The police department hired safety experts to look at the Bellemer Bridge proposal. Their conclusion was that widening the bridge would only encourage people to drive faster. Besides, Evelyn, you said the accident happened at the curve approaching the bridge.”
    “I don’t think Ferrucci, Gehring, or any of their cronies care about petty details like that. They’re having a field day.”
    He cursed silently. “Well, I’ll deal with the town council members after I’ve visited the hospital.”
    “No, sorry, Sean, you’ll have to deal with the waste management services first,” Evelyn informed him. “This morning at eight, the head of the union announced a general strike. Effective immediately.”
    “What? We went over the contract with a magnifying glass. Every item was okayed.”
    “That was then, this is now.”
    Exasperated, Sean rubbed his face with his hand, and then spoke directly into the mouthpiece. “Call the union rep; tell him I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
    He was still talking as he exited the plane.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Today was one of those days when all of Evelyn Roemer’s organizational efforts were blown to smithereens. Sean’s carefully planned schedule was transformed into a mad dash, with him racing from one disaster to the next. The only truly good news came early, when he visited St. Francis Hospital. Hank Ritter, the little boy who’d been trapped beneath crumpled metal in the car crash, was miraculously unharmed. The doctors were keeping him overnight at the hospital for routine observation only. When the nurse on duty ushered Sean into Hank’s room, he was sitting up in bed, slurping chocolate pudding and watching a cartoon program on Nickelodeon. Sean got a casual, “Hi,” and a, “Yeah, I’m okay,” from him before he switched his attention back to the TV show. Sean left Hank’s room considerably lighter of heart.
    Mrs. Ritter and her other two children had been exceptionally lucky, too. The kids suffered a few bruises and Mrs. Ritter was sporting an egg-size lump on her left temple. The police had already interviewed both Mrs. Ritter and the other driver, and made a preliminary examination of the crash site. From the angle of the crash, it looked as if both drivers had taken the curve too wide, making a collision unavoidable.
    There was also a strong suspicion that Mrs. Ritter had been driving one-handed—sheer, reckless folly. When the police examined the wrecked car, they discovered her cell phone still on, lying underneath the accelerator. They’d confirmed that the automobile lacked any type of hands-free device designed for cell phones.
    After Sean had checked on the rest of the Ritter family, he arranged to meet with the police chief and the head of the Department of Transportation to see what additional measures could be taken to improve safety on the bridge. From the hospital, he then hightailed it over to the other end of town, where the Sanitation Department’s office was located. It took an hour and a half of heated wrangling over workmen’s comp and pension benefits—issues Sean and the union’s spokesman had previously agreed upon—before he was able to walk away with the promise that the town’s garbage men would return to work and stay there until the town board could vote on the proposed changes.
    Sean had never stared