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veteran incumbent posts. Then, there was
the moral ineptitude of powerful men and women coming to the surface. You put a
man in a position of power for too long, there is bound to be some sort of
skeletons coming out of the closet.” He paused, smirking with irony. “I guess I
am susceptible too. Don’t look at me like that. I know. Anyway, we are falling
one by one. If we don’t play ball with them, then we lose our power.”
    “How is this related to people dying? I still don’t
understand.” Jake said. He tried to keep the frustration from his voice.
    “Let the man tell his story, Jake. We’re not up north,”
Hallie chastised him. “We take our time down here in the south to properly tell
a good yarn. Go on, Senator.”
    “I have let my country down. I have let Nancy down. She is
so tired. She has propped me up during those times when I thought I would break
down and bring my political career toppling around my feet because of my guilt.
One of their people contacted me six months ago. He met me for a brunch of red
velvet pancakes at the Terrace Café in Charlotte. Big guy. I won’t go into
detail right now. Let me just say that the ideas this guy was outlining were
scandalous. He expects the core of us that have been bankrolled by the
consortium, this collection of the most powerful people in the world, to ‘cut
the head off the snake,’ as he put it.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Well, to hear it from him, it all sounded so logical but
the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. I knew I had to do
something, but I didn’t. The attempt on the President’s life was real. It was
planned for next year, so I did not understand why you were in Atlanta at first.”
    “You knew about it?”
    “Technically, no, I did not know Gabriel was going to be
targeted so soon. I thought I had time. I thought they were going to do it
while I was campaigning against him for the Democratic seat.”
    “So, they were going to assassinate the President to put you
in?”
    “Nothing was guaranteed. It was all just speculation. I was
asked if I was ready to go to bat. It was my turn, he said. I was just so
greedy. I knew Nancy was sick again. I just thought...I just wanted her to have
that moment, you know. She has worked so hard, been through so much...”
    Jake looked at Hallie. Her eyes were sad. He knew what she
was thinking.
    “Senator, is that all?”
    He sniffled and wiped his nose with a white handkerchief
from the front pocket of his chinos.
    “No. Of course not. Like I said, I talked to the Speaker of
the House. He is in even deeper than I am. I am just another pawn after all. They
knew about Nancy. They were going to expose the news of her condition after the
assassination. It would destroy voter confidence in me. The Republicans would
win. They have money on both sides of the aisle. Whoever plays the nicest is
the one that gets the treat, I suppose. That is why there is bipartisanship to
begin with, we both serve the same entity. We both owe the same debt. The whole
system is corrupt. Not just here. All over the globe.” He sniffed and gathered
himself. Jake and Hallie knew not to interrupt.
    He started again. Slower now.
    “I called someone I know in the security community in France.
Someone like you but freelance. He knew these guys. He had mentioned it to me
one time when Nancy and I went to Switzerland with him and his wife. He told
me, with fear and whispers, that they had their hands in every European market,
every major employer. Not just that. Military Jake. Armies. Material. Missiles.
Ships. Tanks. They have it all.”
    “You are talking about a global coup? How can they possibly
expect to pull something like that off?” Hallie said, incredulous.
    “They are few in number, but they have power, Hallie.”
    “What does this have to do with us, Senator?” Jake asked.
    Senator Swane could not look him in the eye. He stared down
at his shoes, his shoulders slumped in defeat and grief, in guilt