“Oh yeah. I had no information about any threats against his life. But I have been concerned about the safety protocols at the Senate. Three senators dead, a fourth almost killed. It’s frightening. I told them I was considering getting out of politics.”
“That’s bull.”
“Yes, it is. But they don’t know that. And they never will.”
She took his hand and walked him to the sofa. “Jason-you didn’t tell me you were going after Senator Kincaid, too.”
“There was no point. I didn’t need you to play lovey-dovey with Kincaid. No one would connect you with that crime.”
“But since there were two attacks-both against the leaders of the pro-amendment faction-the police seem convinced this was politically motivated.”
“Yes, I am brilliant. You’re welcome.”
“How did you do it?”
“Easy. I switched cell phones on him while he was conferencing with DeMouy about the amendment. Then I planted the envelope. Then I made a call at the last minute to make sure he went for the envelope. Used my falsetto and a static inducer to mask my voice. Pity he survived-but it doesn’t really matter. The diversion was the important thing, and the police now seem entirely diverted. Because, as I may have mentioned, I am brilliant.”
“Yes, you are. But a little scary, too.”
“Oh, but you like that, don’t you?” He leaned in close till she could feel his hot breath on her face. “The danger. The rough edges. Makes you all wet, doesn’t it?”
“Jason…stop.”
“Whatever you say, darling. I’ll wait till you want it,” he added, because he could see from her dilated pupils and heaving breasts that she already did very much want it.
“I can’t believe we got away with it,” she said, her voice becoming softer and more breathless.
“It isn’t over yet,” he reminded her. “But we do appear to be in the clear.”
“How long do you think it will be before we can…you know. Go public.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“About us. How long until we can stop hiding?”
“Soon, baby. Soon,” he said, although he knew that would be insane. He needed her money, yes, but he now realized that marrying his murdered boss’s widow would be too risky by half. Just plain stupid. And he was anything but stupid.
But he decided to keep those thoughts to himself. At least until he had the money.
“You do want to marry me, don’t you, Jason? You want to be with me?”
“Of course I do.”
“I’m not just a…a plaything for you?”
“Of course not.”
“When will we be together? When?”
Time for a distraction. He pressed her down on the sofa and clamped a hand over her gauzy breast. “We’re going to be together in about one minute. Two at the outside.”
“No, I mean-”
“Strip for me.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Strip. Slowly.”
“If-that’s what you want.” She began fumbling with the strap of her adroitly designed brassiere.
“That’s what I want. I want to feel your breasts pressing up against me. I want to stroke them. I want to taste them. I want to put them in my mouth and feel your nipples getting hard.”
“Oh, Godddddd…”
“Then I want you to go down on me. Then I’ll go down on you. And then I’m going to screw you in a way you’ve never been screwed before.”
“You-you are?”
“I’m going to pound you like a hammer and suck you till you can’t stand it anymore, but I’m going to keep on doing it anyway, until you cry out and squeal and beg me to stop but I won’t stop, and you’ll come again and again and again.”
“Oh, God, Jason. Oh, Godddddd-”
“Then I’m going to take you from behind. Right here on the sofa.”
“Take me, Jason. I want you so much! Take me now!”
And he would. Whatever it took to keep her happy, and contented, and quiet.
Until he didn’t need her anymore.
Then he would give her something altogether different.
44
Ben had been quiet all the way down Memorial Drive, from the Lincoln Memorial, across the Potomac, and through the portico that capped the main entrance to the cemetery. It seemed appropriate, not only because this was a somber occasion, but also because he felt chastened and subdued by the fact that another public servant had fallen to this never-ending wave of terrorism. Not to mention the knowledge that he was almost the next victim.
As the driver approached the destination, Ben marveled at the stoic majesty of this most famous of cemeteries. The green hills were lined with row after row of what appeared at a distance to be identical white grave markers stretching off into infinity. They passed the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and, shortly after that, the Eternal Flame that marked JFK’s burial site. Ben had not even been born when JFK was slain, but that president’s legacy of hope and vision still had a special meaning for him.
Arlington was a military cemetery, but as Ben knew from his morning briefing, there were a few exceptions, a few special individuals of national import who had been buried here even though they were not military casualties or even veterans. Pierre Charles L’Enfant, the architect who laid the design for Washington, D.C., was buried here. Four Supreme Court justices, Thurgood Marshall, William O. Douglas, Potter Stewart, and Harry Blackmun, were buried here. Two Capitol Police officers, John Gibson and Jacob Chestnut, who died in the line of duty, were interred at Arlington. And the ashes of Marie Teresa Rios Versace, author of The Fifteenth Pelican, which became the basis for The Flying Nun television show, were scattered here. Ben wasn’t entirely sure how that one fit in, but it must’ve seemed like a good idea at the time.
More recently, Arlington had served as a final resting place for many people who died as a result of terrorist attacks. Julian and Jay Bartley, killed in an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. Dana Falkenberg, killed in the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. Michael Hammer, murdered by guerrilla fighters in El Salvador. The Secret Service agents who died in the attack on April 19 shared a tomb, not even fully completed yet. Senator Hammond had been buried here. And now the government and his family jointly had decided that Senator DeMouy should be buried at Arlington.
As Ben stepped out of the car, he saw a wide array of people had come to pay their respects. President Blake was here; he was scheduled to deliver the primary eulogy. Even though he would not specifically refer to the proposed constitutional amendment, his presence at the funeral of yet another victim of terrorism was sure to make a statement. He stood at the head of the grave site with his chief of staff, Tracy Sobel, and the senator’s widow, Belinda DeMouy. Ben also spotted Homeland Security Director Carl Lehman with his deputy director Nichole Muldoon.
Ben walked slowly to the head of the gravesite. He knew the Secret Service would want time to identify and
