“I don’t think you want to do that, Ms. McCall.”
She looked up, startled by the voice emanating from somewhere behind Jones.
Jones drew himself up, obviously miffed. “I asked you to wait outside.”
“What we have to tell Ms. McCall can’t wait.”
“If I tell you it can wait, then by God-”
“It’s okay, Jones,” Christina said, stepping out from behind her desk. At the same time, two men, both in identical black suits, entered. One glance at them was enough to give her the creeps. Unfortunately, they had also piqued her curiosity. She preferred to take the risk that she would regret talking with them to spending the rest of the day wondering what they wanted. “Come on in.”
After they were in her office, she whispered to Jones, “Turn on Line X,” then closed the door behind him.
She retook her position behind her desk, while the two men sat in the chairs on the opposite side. They looked impervious to standard intimidation techniques, but if nothing else, she received some comfort from the hierarchical arrangement, her safely behind the desk, them watching from over yonder.
“What can I do for you, gentlemen? Is this business or pleasure?”
The taller of the two, apparently the designated spokesman, leaned forward, smiling a smile that Christina did not find warm or friendly. “We’d like to talk to you about the president’s proposed constitutional amendment.”
Christina remained calm. “That does seem to be the hot topic of the day.”
“We’re lobbyists…of a sort. For the amendment. We feel it is vitally important to the future of this nation that the amendment be passed.”
“So some people think.”
“We wanted to be sure we had your support.”
Christina brushed her long strawberry blond hair behind her head. “Oh, my-this is embarrassing. You must think I’m the senator. But I’m not. I’m just a lowly chief of staff. I don’t get to vote.”
The tall man once again smiled the creepy smile. “I am aware that you’re not a senator, Ms. McCall. But you’re married to one.”
“Guess I can’t deny that.”
“And there are many who feel you’re the most influential voice in the senator’s ear.”
“That probably depends on what I’m saying.”
“What most of my sources tell me you’re saying at present is-you don’t think the amendment is a very good idea.”
“I’m afraid there is some truth in that. But I still don’t get to vote. And Ben is very adamant about this amendment. You may have seen him on television. When the president made him his go-to boy for the Democratic Party. Or perhaps you heard him single-handedly sway the Senate subcommittee.”
The tall man glanced at his silent partner. The partner reached inside his suit jacket, but the tall man held up a hand, stopping him. Not yet.
“We have been very pleased with Senator Kincaid’s performance so far. That’s why we want it to continue, until we get this law out of Congress and into the hands of the people.”
“Do you have some reason to doubt his resolve?” Christina asked. “Because I certainly haven’t seen any.”
“There are those who consider him…unacceptably risky. A dangerous element that might turn at any moment. Especially if his newlywed wife starts putting pressure on him.”
Christina couldn’t resist arching an eyebrow. “And exactly what kind of pressure do you foresee me putting on him?”
The tall man smiled again. Yuck. “I’m sure you have your ways. Most women do.”
“Look, this has been fun, in a not-really-fun sort of way, but I’m done playing. Just tell me what you want and then I can tell you to go to hell and we can all get on with our day.”
The two men exchanged a look, one that took a good deal longer this time.
“Fine,” the tall man said, steepling his fingers, “we’ll play it your way. We want you to cease and desist putting any and all pressure on your husband to withdraw his support from this amendment. In fact, we’d take it as a personal show of good faith if you would lend your personal support to the amendment and tell him you’re backing him all the way.”
“Then all I can say,” Christina said, biting back her emotions as much as was humanly possible, “is that you don’t know me very well.”
“Yes,” the tall man replied, and his voice dripped with a sorrow that almost resembled something genuine. “I suspected that would be your response.” He turned to his companion and nodded. A moment later, a small packet of photos emerged from his breast pocket.
He tossed them onto Christina’s desk. “Don’t get any wacky ideas about running off with them. We have copies, obviously. And the digital files from which they were printed.”
Christina’s eyes narrowed to tiny slits. “Is this something I’m supposed to look at?”
“I think that would be a really good idea.”
Christina reached for the photos, silently dreading it, wondering what they might have caught her doing. She knew that she could be blunt, indiscreet, much too direct for this town. Had they somehow caught her doing something she shouldn’t? Browbeating a senator’s administrative assistant? Sneaking into closed meetings? Parking in a senator’s parking spot?
She pulled the photos from the folder.
They weren’t of her. They were of Ben! Ben with Her hands covered her face.
“I know this must hurt,” the tall man said. “Particularly given that you’re newlyweds. But Washington can be a stressful place to sustain a marriage. Temptation is everywhere. My sources tell me that the senator has spent many nights alone”-he paused when he heard the gasping sound from behind Christina’s hand and saw her shoulders heaving-“and even the best of men might…do things he might not have done had he stayed in the bucolic safety of Oklahoma. This is the big city and-”
He stopped. He didn’t like to hear a woman cry-who did? So he had not been listening closely. But it was impossible for him to avoid noticing the weird sound she was making. Those sharp intakes of breath. The heaving shoulders…
She wasn’t crying. She was laughing!
Christina moved her hand from her mouth, her face convulsed with merriment. “Did-did you really think-?” She couldn’t finish the sentence. She fell back into her chair, still giggling.
“I understand,” the tall man said quietly. “It’s a defense mechanism. You laugh so you don’t cry.”
“N-No,” Christina said, quivering as she spoke, “I laugh so I don’t kick you losers in the butt.”
“Ms. McCall, perhaps you don’t understand the gravity of the situation. Your husband, a member of the U.S. Senate, has been caught in flagrante delicto with a prostitute-”
“Oh, please.”
“My understanding is that her name is Brandi Delight and that she is quite popular in some congressional circles and that the…action was hot and heavy when the photographer by chance happened by-”
“In the hallway!” Christina screamed, still rippling with laughter. “When he happened by in the hallway?”
“I heard…something about a hotel room…”
“Do you think I don’t recognize the hallway outside my own apartment? What did you clowns do-throw her on top of him while he was getting the morning paper?”
“I assure you, the scene is just as it appears-”
“Well, it appears to me that poor Ben is stunned and desperate to get away from this floozy in the cheap Frederick’s of Hollywood getup.”
“I think I know a little more about this than you do-”
“No, sir, you don’t. Not even close. Or you wouldn’t be trying this stupid stunt.” Christina rose to her feet, hovering over her desk. “Ben would never be with this woman. He wouldn’t be interested in the first place, but even if he were, he wouldn’t do it, because he loves me.”
The tall man rolled his eyes. “Love is blind.”
“No, you stupid ass, love is knowledge, especially when you’ve loved someone as long as I have Ben. I don’t
