“I know that. Armen agreed not to tell me, and he never did. My campaign manager found out before I ran for office, during my vetting. He’s the one who told me. I kept it from Eletha—even from Sarah.”
“But not Armen.”
“Of course not.”
“Were you hurt?” She seems so cool, I can’t help but ask.
“No. It was before we met, how could I be? He always wanted children and I didn’t, so I couldn’t begrudge him.”
Eminently reasonable. “Why did you give him the money?”
“For the child’s education.”
“How much did you give him?”
She checks her new Rolex. “Six hundred thousand. The rest he saved.”
“Six hundred thousand dollars? That much?”
“He needed it for the child. I’ll make sure Malcolm gets it when the estate is settled.” She claps her hands together to end the meeting; I notice that her funky silver bangles have been replaced by a thick gold bracelet. Power jewelry.
“You gave him six hundred thousand dollars for the education of a child he had with another woman?”
“Yes.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“That’s your problem.”
“Come on, Susan, let’s talk. It’s just us girls. What did Armen have that you wanted, that you paid him for?”
She checks her watch again. “I don’t have time for this.”
Which is when I finally figure it out. Remind me not to quit my day job. “That’s it, isn’t it? Time.”
“What?”
“Armen gave you a year. You wanted him to stay with you through the campaign, and you knew he needed money for Malcolm. So you paid him. You bought him for a year.”
“I needed him,” she says, and I see a glimmer of the lethal ambition that drove Ben.
It scares me. I say exactly what I’m thinking, unfiltered. “What did Armen see in you?”
“I’m an idealist and so was he.”
“An idealist? What are your ideals?”
“I am a liberal, freely admitted. I’m working for child care—”
She doesn’t want children.
“For the poor—”
That jacket is double my rent.
“I’m working for the American family.”
“You can’t
The courtroom door opens and the preppy aide lets Sarah slip through, but Susan doesn’t seem to notice. “You resent me,” Susan says.
I get up to go. “No. Mostly, I don’t understand you.”
“Do you know how important it is for women to get into government? Do you realize the effect we have, the role models we provide?”
“I think I do.”
Sarah comes over, looking vaguely senatorial herself. “Grace, how are you?”
I give her a warm hug. “Get out while you still can, Sar.”
She looks at me, puzzled, as I head for the swinging doors.
“Good-bye, Michael,” I say brightly, on the way out.
“Good-bye, Grace,” he says. “And have a nice day.”
I do a double-take.
* * *
His gaze is direct; eyes clear and intelligent, with a hint of crow’s feet at each corner. His mouth, now that I can see it without the underbrush, looks full, even sweet. His brown hair is trimmed, with longish sideburns. He’s not hard to look at as he sits at the conference table, next to the FBI bureau chief, the U.S. Attorney, Senator Susan Waterman, my favorite mayor, and the acting chief judge of the Third Circuit, Judge Morris Townsend, awake for the occasion.
“
“Isn’t he awesome?” Artie says, with an admiring grin. “You oughta see him play. As fine as Earl the Pearl.”
“He does look…different,” Miss Waxman says.
Eletha cracks up. “Real different.”
Susan gets up and makes a speech, blah blah blah; the U.S. Attorney and the others all make speeches, blah blah blah. God knows what they say, and who cares. It all sounds the same, each one taking full credit for an investigation in which I heard it was Winn who ended up strapped to a body mike, pretending to be Nick the Fish. On a tip by a secretary who trains toy poodles.
Please.
The FBI bureau chief takes the podium again and a thousand flash units go off, motor drives whining like locusts. He sips his water and says, “I would like to introduce Special Agent Thaddeus Colwin, who has been investigating this matter in an undercover capacity. You’ll understand that we can’t give you the details, because every secret we divulge is one less weapon in our arsenal against crime. Suffice it to say that we are extremely pleased with the results of the investigation. Special Agent Colwin?”
Winn gets up, and the courtroom bursts into applause. He smooths down a pair of wool pants uncomfortably, and by the time he reaches the podium he’s blushing. “There’s something I have to say before you start shootin’.”
The crowd laughs.
Sarah recrosses her legs.
“I’m happy that this investigation turned out so well, but I can’t take the credit for it. The real credit should go to two other people.”
I feel nervous; they promised to keep me out of it. The FBI chief looks as worried as I am; Winn is supposed to hand the credit up, not down.
“One of these persons chooses to remain anonymous, and I keep promises to my confidential sources. However, I have made no such agreement with the other person, and she is one of the kindest and bravest ladies I ever met. She testified yesterday at the government’s probable cause hearing, so now her identity can be divulged. Her name, friends, is Miss Gilda Waxman.”
I look over at Miss Waxman. Her hands fly to her cheeks; her eyes brim with astonished tears.
“Please stand up, Miss Waxman,” Winn says. He claps for her, and so does everybody else.
“Oh, my. Oh. Oh,” she says, from her seat. The woman has never had a moment in the spotlight in her entire life. She looks as if she’s about to have a heart attack.
“Stand up, Miss Waxman!” I say, half rising to grab her soft arm and pull her to her feet.
“No, I couldn’t. Really.” She tries to sit back down, but Artie covers the seat cushion with his large hand, palm up.
“Come on, good-lookin’, sit down,” he says, wiggling his fingers. “I dare you.”
She swallows hard, then faces the courtroom and her fans. She looks uncertain for a minute, then breaks into a shy smile.
34
I turn the Magic Eight Ball over in my hands and read the bottom.
