forgotten what a rose looks like.”
“Killjoy. Look-the president is about to speak!”
“I’m sure he will be just as enlightening as ever.” She grabbed her briefcase. “I’ll be in the office if-”
“Ben is right behind him.”
“What?” Christina was shoulder-to-shoulder staring at the television before another second passed.
The president was striding toward the podium bearing the presidential seal with his usual display of calm confidence. A band somewhere off camera was playing “Hail to the Chief.” She’d had greater appreciation for the song before that literature geek Mike explained that the words came from a poem by Sir Walter Scott that actually depicted the death of a Scottish chieftain executed by the British king. Apparently President Polk’s wife Sarah was irritated when her tiny husband entered a room and no one noticed, so she started ordering the band to play the blaring march whenever he made an entrance. The tradition stuck.
Ben was keeping pace, walking somewhat less forcefully-but then, he always did. Beside him was Senator Jeffrey DeMouy, the man who led the Republican senatorial delegation. The two stood at attention while the president spoke.
“…and so for the safety of this great nation, it is not only important that we move with all deliberate speed, but that we have the finest people the Senate has to offer leading the charge. It is my great pleasure to announce that I have chosen a truly representative cross-section of Congress to take this important leadership role: a Republican and a Democrat, representing both viewpoints and the bipartisan need for tightened security-one of the Senate’s most senior senators and one of the most junior, giving us both the wisdom of age and the enthusiasm of youth. Most important, they are fine men whom I admire and respect, men I trust to make this urgently needed constitutional amendment a reality-Senator Jeffrey DeMouy of Louisiana and Senator Benjamin Kincaid of Oklahoma.”
Christina’s voice dropped to its lowest tone. “No.”
After a spattering of applause, Senator DeMouy began speaking. Christina didn’t catch most of it. It was the same predictable twaddle she would expect from a presidential flunky with White House ambitions of his own. Her attention was focused on the smaller figure standing just to his side. The one she had recently married on the front steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building.
What did Ben think he was doing? And how could he possibly consider doing it without telling her first?
“…in these dire days, we must move quickly to tell the enemies of freedom that we will not be cowed by their cowardly attacks. This is a nation forged in fire. We have always been strong. We will remain strong. Quick action on this amendment will send a message saying that no matter what you do, we will fight back, and we will win. We will be resolute in our…”
His Cajun-flavored voice was like a droning buzz in Christina’s head. Enough with the claptrap already. Get to Ben!
Only a moment later, he did. After being introduced, Ben approached the podium. His lack of experience with press conferences was immediately apparent, but in a strange way, that lent what he said a genuineness that the other politicians lacked.
“As you know,” Ben said in careful, measured tones, “I was present during the April nineteenth attack. My wife and mother were put in jeopardy; my best friend, a law enforcement officer who has put his life on the line time and again for the betterment of the commonwealth, is still in critical condition, and we simply don’t know if there’s any chance that he will recover-or if he does, if he will resemble the man he once was.”
Ben turned, a pivot Christina recognized as shifting from Camera Two to Camera One, though Ben might’ve done it just because he was too nervous to stand still. “I have always been a firm believer that the rights of the people take precedent over everything else, that the increasing intrusion of government into our lives is a threat to our privacy, that the least government is the best government. But if the attack on April nineteenth brought anything home to me, it was that there are many dangerous threats to the American way of life, and those who make those threats are not playing by the same rules that we do. I would never support any measure that abolished the Bill of Rights or threatened to do so. But those rights have been suspended in the past when the need was great, and today we must face the reality that temporary suspensions of those rights may be necessary in the future.”
A flurry of hands rose in the audience, but Ben was apparently not yet ready to take questions. “This amendment is simply a temporary measure suspending some rights in times of great urgency-the rights most likely to shield and protect criminals and terrorists and those who present the greatest threat to our national security. The decision whether to implement this suspension, and the exercise of powers pursuant to any such suspension, appears to me to be placed by this amendment in the most competent, capable, and knowledgeable hands. Therefore, for the sake of all Americans, and in a concerted effort to make sure that nothing like 9/11 or April nineteenth ever happens again, I lend my full support to this measure, and I urge others to do the same.”
Christina stared at the television screen, her jaw agape. “I don’t believe it. I just don’t believe it.”
Loving laid a hand on her shoulder. “Take it easy, Christina. He’s only doin’ what he thinks is right.”
“But he’s wrong.”
“But he thinks he’s right.”
“He’s not thinking at all. He’s so torn up about Mike, he can’t see straight.”
“Are you sure? Maybe we need to be tougher on criminals.”
“You think we need to be tougher on illegal aliens. The ones who come from outer space.”
“I’ve been out on the streets tryin’ to catch bad guys, and lemme tell you, it’s no picnic.”
“This won’t make things better.”
“You don’t know that. There are two sides to this issue.”
“Yes, and Ben has just taken the wrong one.”
Loving took a deep breath. “Chrissy-are you mad at Ben because he’s supportin’ the amendment-or because just for once, he disagrees with you about somethin’?”
She turned slowly to face Loving, her eyes blazing. Her lips parted-then froze. No, she thought. Don’t kill the messenger. You may need him.
“I’m mad because he did this without even telling me.”
“Well…,” Loving allowed, “he probably could’ve handled it better.”
On the television screen, Ben was fielding questions.
“Have you discussed this with the Democratic leadership in the Senate? Do they support your position?” asked a salt-and-pepper-bearded reporter from The Washington Post.
“No,” Ben said, “I haven’t discussed it with anyone. I’m taking a position that seems to me necessary-even essential-in these difficult days. But I do know that there are others in the Democratic Party who feel the same way I do.”
“Enough to get the amendment passed?”
“I don’t know,” Ben said quietly. “I hope so.”
“I understand that you want to make the American people safe,” said the brunette reporter from The New York Times, “but isn’t there a danger that the price tag for that security is our fundamental American freedom?”
“We’re talking about fighting terrorists. Maybe it’s Saifullah, maybe it’s someone else. Domestic or foreign-it doesn’t really matter. The men who wrote the Bill of Rights could never have conceived of a threat of this nature. If they had, I shouldn’t wonder that they might’ve written an emergency clause like this one into the Bill of Rights themselves.”
The questioning continued, but Christina couldn’t stand it any longer. She snapped the television off.
“We have to do something,” she said, arms folded across her chest.
Loving gazed at her, puzzled. “Not sure what you mean, Chrissy.”
“I’m talking about someone doing some serious legwork. To be more specific-you.”
“Me? What’re you talkin’ about?”
“You are the office investigator, aren’t you?”
“I just got back from vacation!”
“But you are the office investigator, aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah, but-”
“So as of now, I’m giving you an assignment. Start investigating. The attack on April nineteenth.”
