'The saw, for I must take the governor's head to el jefe.'
The soldado handed him the small serrated blade. They returned to the large bedroom and stepped over to the bed. Hector turned the bloody head over and-he recoiled.
'Who is that?'
'The governor?'
'No. That is not the governor. That is an old man.'
'Perhaps it is his father.'
They checked the other dead Anglos. None was the governor of Texas.
'Who are these people?' Hector said.
The soldado shrugged. They returned to the main room where they found the other soldado eating in the kitchen. He held up a chicken leg.
'Barbecue. It is good.'
Hector searched the room and found the mail. He read the name on the envelopes, blinked hard to clear his eyes of the gunpowder, and read again. He held up an envelope to his soldado.
'This is the Double V Ranch. I said Double B, as in boy. Not V as in Victor.'
Hector threw his hands up.
'Ay-yi-yi.'
THIRTY-SIX
Governor Bode Bonner stood naked-he had no teleprompter, just his handwritten notes-before the other forty-nine governors finishing off their chicken entrees and pecan pie desserts and the cameras carrying his speech live on cable television. He was the keynote speaker at that year's governors' conference in Dallas. He spoke in the voice of a man irrevocably changed by death.
'In the last two months, I killed six members of a Mexican drug cartel and survived two assassination attempts-but three people close to me did not. I went from obscure governor to American hero to leading presidential candidate to object of scorn and back to hero. After the last assassination attempt, I realized that I needed to reconsider my life. So I went back to where my life began, to the ranch that was my father's ranch and my grandfather's ranch before me, the land where Bonner men had lived good and decent and honorable lives for over a hundred years. I spent the last two weeks reevaluating my life-who I used to be and who I want to be. I decided I want to be the man I used to be.'
He glanced over at the Professor standing in the corner. His hands were spread and grasping his speech-the speech Bode was not giving that night. His expression was that of Dr. Frankenstein watching his creation think for himself. For the first time in his political career, Bode Bonner was his own boss.
'I used to be a cattle rancher. I wore old boots and old jeans and an old cowboy hat. I rode a horse. I drank beer. I never heard of Twitter.
'But once in the Governor's Mansion, I started wearing Armani suits and French-cuffed shirts and the finest handmade cowboy boots. I drank bourbon. I sprayed my hair. I became more concerned with polls than people, more worried about how many followers I had on Twitter than how many teachers I had to fire.
'That's what ambition does to a man.
'I stand before you a man seduced by ambition and corrupted by politics.
'Politics changed me. I was once a Democrat and then I became a Republican and then a tea party favorite. I was once a good man and then I became a politician. I once had character but then I became a character.
'But looking death in the eye changes a man.
'I stand before you a changed man.
'I lost my way. That happens to men in politics. We're driven by testosterone to make our mark on the world, but too often it's not a mark our children can be proud of. We play politics as if it's just a game, but it isn't a game to the people. Politicians have let the people of America down. I've let the people of Texas down.
'I'm going to try to do something about that.'
Bode Bonner walked off the stage to silence.
THIRTY-SEVEN
The next morning Bode walked into the Governor's Office to find Jim Bob waiting with the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House. Bode sat behind his desk.
'Governor, what's this all about?' Mack Murdoch said. 'Calling us in on a Sunday morning.'
'Mack, Dicky, we're gonna revise the budget.'
'How?'
'We're not firing teachers, and we're not closing schools. We're not cutting education funding. We're increasing it. A lot.'
'Bode-'
He cut Jim Bob off with a raised hand.
'Where's the money coming from?' the speaker said.
'Your ideas, Dicky. Reform the property tax and expand the business tax to services. All the revenues will be dedicated to pre-K through twelve education. Every penny.'
'We're gonna catch hell from the business community.'
'And we're gonna tap the rainy day fund. All of it.'
'We're gonna catch hell from the tea party.'
'Gentlemen, Texas is dying. The only way to save our state is to educate our kids. If we don't educate them, we're going to incarcerate them. I don't want kids sentenced to prison on my watch. We'll cut everything except education.'
'Why are you doing this, Governor?'
'Because we're those kids' only hope… and I don't want to make my wife a liar.'
Bode stood.
'That's the legislative agenda for the next session. Get to work, boys.'
'What about John Ed Johnson's special bill?'
'Forget about it.'
Jim Bob stood. 'Bode, he pledged fifty million to the Super PAC.'
There was a knock on the door, and Helen stuck her head in.
'Mr. Burnet, there's an emergency call for you.'
Jim Bob followed her out the door. Bode looked back at the speaker, who was eyeing him.
'What are you looking at, Dicky?'
'A real goddamn governor.'
'You cussed.'
'Special occasion.'
'Governor, I don't want to take the heat for raising taxes,' the lieutenant governor said.
'I'll take it.'
'I'll be by your side,' the speaker said.
'Aw, hell, now you boys are making me feel bad,' the lieutenant governor said. 'Guess we came this far together, might as well see how this story ends. I'm in. Let's kick some ass at the Capitol.'
The door opened, and Jim Bob entered. His face seemed pastier than normal. He walked to his chair and sat down hard. He stared at his hands. Bode glanced at the speaker and the lieutenant governor. Both shrugged. After a long moment, Jim Bob blew out a breath and spoke.
'John Ed Johnson is dead.'
' What? How? '
