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Internet skills for a gal
in her late sixties.
    “Uh huh. And what’s that one with
movies?”
    “YouTube?”
    “Yeah. That’s the one. We’ll be setting
all-time records on there. Actually, we’ll probably set new highs
on all the platforms.”
    “The pundits are saying the convention
will be the most open and accessible in history.”
    “You have no idea,” Bunny said then laughed
in a carefree way I seldom saw coming from her.
    She was loving orchestrating all of this.
    “Are you saying that we’ll be in every living
room in America?”
    “Not just living rooms, darling. We’ll be on
every handheld screen the world over. And that reminds me, we’ve
got a meeting with Google regarding their YouTube live stream this
afternoon.”
    “We do?”
    “Indeed. This is one prime-time event people
will be watching on every device they can get their hands on.”
    I reached for the schedule that Bunny had
printed up for me. Sure enough, there was our Google meeting for
later this afternoon, to be followed by an Apps and Drinks event
with Facebook developers.
    “We’re having an App developed with our
convention message?” I asked, knowing that had to be exactly what
this meeting was about.
    All Bunny did was show me her
nothing-close-to-innocent smile.
    Yep. Sounds like we’ve got an App in the
works too, I thought. Damn, this woman doesn’t miss a beat.
    Back on my tablet, I perused Facebook’s goals
for the convention: “Giving delegates and convention attendees easy
ways to share what they’re doing, seeing, and hearing with family,
friends, and others on Facebook.”
    I had a feeling the Bellesconis were about to
take Facebook’s goal achievement to levels they’d never
imagined.
    And then there was Twitter. Tomorrow morning,
Bunny also had us down to meet with their strategic partnerships in
Washington. Who knew they had their own Washington team?
    Bunny Winston should have been a Public
Relations Specialist. Hell, I guess, for our family, she was.
    At the bottom of her schedule I saw a note to
make sure X was present.
    “Who’s X?” I asked, figuring it was our
contact from the SEC’s whistle-blower program.
    “X is the Chief of our Digital Staff,” Bunny
said, her nothing-close-to-innocent smile becoming an I’m-a-genius
smirk.
    “We have a Digital Staff?”
    “We do now.”
    The only person I knew of who was an ace at
computers, or rather an ace at hacking computers was...
    “Oh dear Lord, you didn’t?!”
    “I did. Who else could do that kind of job
like Grams?”
    Bunny took a sip from her morning Mojito. And
then a second sip. “Look, Zoey. Don’t look so distressed.
Conventions of this magnitude are very structured. People will be
really caught up in what’s happening and paying close attention.
We’ve got to make good use of that.”
    “And you think Grams is the key to good
structure? Have you lost your mind?! That woman is nuts!”
    “It’s gonna take the big nuts she has to make
this happen without a hitch.”
    “Oh, there’ll be a hitch all right. When
Grams is involved, nothing goes according to plan...let alone when
she’s in charge.”
    “I have a feeling Grams will single-handedly
be responsible for a huge surge in smartphone and tablet
sales.”
    Hmmmph. Or their demise, I thought. Grams, as
a digital strategist? Now, I’d heard it all.

CHAPTER
ELEVEN
     
     
     
     
    T here’s power in
being the incumbent. But there’s also a huge burden, especially
when the previous administration really fucked things up. And that
was the burden that President Ruvama carried. A burden that,
somehow, we Bellesconis and Berninis, had to take command of.
    Thanks to eight long years of a Texas
tycoon’s presidency, Wall Street’s Corruption hit a new high. And
because of where his campaigns and party got their funding, with
the help of evil maestros like Karl Cunningrove, Governor Crumley
and my Uncle Giotto, we had dangerous connections and warped
relationships with many of the