A More Perfect Union

by Carsen Taite

  Zoey stared at the crooked arm and shot a glance over at Sharp who was still getting an earful from Connie Armstrong. Something told her following Rook would be dangerous, but their interaction was nothing more than harmless flirting. Surely she could handle that on her own. She ignored the arm, but nodded. “Lead the way.”

  * * *

  Rook shouldered her way through the crowd, acutely conscious of Zoey right behind her. Two times in as many weeks, she’d swooned over this woman in uniform. Something about Zoey intrigued her, and she was going to find out what it was if she had to spend the rest of the night at her side.

  They were a couple of feet from the chief justice, but the group around Addison was like a wall with the outer edges ebbing and flowing, but never giving way. Rook reached back and grabbed Zoey’s hand and raised her other one as she waved to Addison. Addison waved back and murmured excuses to the throng surrounding her as she edged toward Rook and Zoey.

  “I need a stiff drink and a quiet place. Get me there, and I’ll owe you for life,” Addison whispered once she was standing next to them.

  “I’d be stupid to refuse that deal.” Rook noted Addison’s questioning look in Zoey’s direction, but she didn’t pause to make introductions. “Point the way to the quiet place, and I’ll get drinks.”

  “Up those stairs.” Addison pointed toward the sweeping balcony, and the three of them climbed away from the growing crowd. Zoey reached for the banister and Rook instantly missed the warmth of her touch. She followed Addison’s directions, down the hall, around the corner to a large wooden door that led to a beautiful library. The walls were lined with shelves, floor to ceiling, and filled with books and art objects. Rook was impressed, but Zoey appeared to be captivated. She walked over to one of the shelves and traced the spine of a volume of Emily Dickinson’s poetry that Rook bet was a collector’s edition.

  “I’m amazed every time I walk in here,” Addison said. “Feel free to look around.”

  Zoey jerked her hand back and came to attention. “My apologies, ma’am. I have a small book collection, but this…”

  Addison wagged a finger at Rook. “Look at you bringing a woman with great taste to my party. And a soldier no less. I knew you had it in you.”

  Rook shot a look at Zoey to gauge her reaction to Addison’s mistaken assumption and caught her shaking her head. “Madam Chief Justice, I’d like you to meet Major Zoey Granger, soon to be Lieutenant Colonel if the rumors are true. As much as I’d be flattered to claim her as my date, she is here as General Sharp’s guest.”

  Addison reached out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Major soon to be Lieutenant Colonel.”

  “The pleasure is all mine,” Zoey said. “And I’m afraid it would be a bit premature to believe any such rumors.”

  “Well, any friend of David Sharp’s is a friend of mine.”

  Rook watched the exchange. Connie Armstrong had filled her in on the promotion request that had been filed by Sharp. She had no doubt it was true, but now she wondered if Zoey had known about it. She didn’t look surprised at the pronouncement, but she did look slightly embarrassed. Stop overanalyzing and enjoy the evening. “Well, premature or not, I say we celebrate. Shall I go get us some fresh drinks?”

  “Or we could just find the bottle of ancient Scotch Julia keeps hidden up here,” Addison said, opening a cabinet door and pushing her way through the contents. “Somebody get the door before we get caught pilfering through her stash.”

  “I can do you one better,” Rook said, spying the bottle with the red bow she’d handed to Julia at the door. She picked it up and handed it to Addison. “Happy birthday.”

  “Hey, sis, are you bailing on your own party already?”

  A tall, handsome man who bore an unmistakable resemblance to the chief justice stood in the doorway. “You must be Jack Riley,” Rook said, noticing Zoey perk up at the mention of his name.

  “That’s me.” He walked in the room, his hand outstretched. Rook returned the firm handshake with one of her own. “Rook Daniels, nice to meet you.” She pointed at Zoey. “And this is Major Zoey Granger, a fellow soldier. Any chance you two know each other?”

  “I don’t believe we’ve met,” Jack said.

  “We haven’t,” Zoey said. “But we have a friend in common. General David Sharp?”

  “Ah, yes. Uncle David. Well, he’s not really our uncle, but we’ve known him since we were kids. He served with our dad,” Jack said, waving to include Addison in his remarks.

  “He’s been a mentor to me throughout my career.”

  “You couldn’t find a better man for the job. Where are you stationed, Major?”

  Zoey cleared her throat before speaking. It was a little thing and easily written off to allergies or the hours she’d spent talking while on the hot seat in the Senate, but Rook had noticed her doing it before and recognized it as a tell. Whatever Zoey was about to say wasn’t entirely true. “Most recently Fort Hood after I detailed back from Bagram, but I won’t get my new orders until next week. You?”

  Jack nodded knowingly. “I’ve been detailed with JSOC, but I’m at the Pentagon for a while riding a desk.” He pulled out a card. “If they drag you back here, look me up and I’ll show you my small part of the Puzzle Palace.”

  Zoey studied the card and placed it in her pocket. Rook watched the entire exchange with a small measure of envy. The tight-knit military club never failed to amaze her. These two had never met before, but suddenly they were fast friends.

  “So here’s where you’re all hanging out.” Julia stood in the doorway, shaking her head. “I’ve got a crowd of people screaming for cake and the guest of honor is nowhere in sight.”

  Addison raised her glass. “Sorry. All my fault. I corrupted this entire group, but I promise we’ll be downstairs in five minutes. But first, a toast.” She motioned for everyone to fill their glass. “To good friends and family. May we cherish what we have while we have it.”

  The group called out hear, hears and everyone drank to the toast. As they made their way back downstairs to the party, Rook sidled up to Zoey. “Having fun?”

  “More than I expected.” Zoey covered her mouth. “Sorry, that sounded rude.”

  Rook laughed. “Not at all. I spend a lot of time at parties, but they aren’t my favorite things.”

  “Oh, really. You seem like a natural.”

  “Professional partygoer. It’s on my résumé.”

  “What are your favorite things?”

  “Pardon?”

  “What kind of things do you like to do?”

  Rook pondered the question. It wasn’t hard, but she had a difficult time coming up with anything, probably because she hadn’t done anything just for fun in a very long time. “To be perfectly honest, I spend most of my time working.”

  “Too bad. Your driver, George, recommended a nighttime tour of the monuments as one of the best ways to see DC and I planned to go tomorrow. Any chance you want to join me? I know it’s probably cheesy to you, but it would be a small thing I could do to pay you back for saving me in the airport.”

  Rook started to decline. It was cheesy and she kind of hated to admit she’d never done any of the usual touristy things in DC. Not on purpose anyway. She didn’t really see the point. She’d seen parts of the White House and Capitol most tourists never got to see—anything else seemed like a waste of time. Besides, she had absolutely no interest in developing a relationship with someone in the military. But then again, Zoey was only here temporarily—it wasn’t like they were going to get involved for anything beyond the short-term. It’s not like you’re going to war.

  “I’d love to join you.”

  * * *

  “I’m sorry I bailed on you back there. You’ll learn soon enough no party in DC is purely about pleasure,” Sharp said as they drove away from the party.

  “Didn’t take me long to figure that out.” Zoey leaned back against the seat, reflecting on the evening. Her response wasn’t entirely accurate since
except for her initial encounter with Senator Armstrong, she’d spent most of the night in the company of Rook and Addison’s brother Jack who’d regaled them with stories about his sister as a child. Zoey had felt like one of the cool kids for the first time since she’d blown the lid off the Nine Tech scandal.

  Earlier in the day, she would’ve sworn it wasn’t important to fit in, but that’s what everyone who fit in said. For a fleeting moment she wondered what her family would think if she told them she’d spent the better part of the evening in the company of the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the president’s chief of staff. But she knew she’d never tell since their response would evoke a tirade about liberal judges and a president who’d rather help people in foreign countries than his own citizens. Never mind they were always the first ones in line when there was a handout to be had, especially her able-bodied brother with his lazy wife who pretended to homeschool the kids to avoid getting a real job. Both of them would rather tear down the establishment they didn’t really understand than do anything to fix it.

  “She’s respected in certain circles, but you’d probably do well to steer clear, especially until you have a bit more experience with DC politics.”

  Zoey looked at the general, hoping he didn’t have a clue she’d zoned out for the last few minutes. She cycled through the faces of the people she’d hung out with at the party, wondering exactly who he was talking about. “Senator Armstrong?”

  He laughed. “That one’s almost impossible to avoid. She’s got her nose in everything. Mark my words, you’ll see Armstrong for President commercials popping up next year. She won’t rest until she’s at the top of the heap. No, I was talking about Rook Daniels.”

  With a guilty thought about the date she’d scheduled with Rook the next day, Zoey casually asked, “So I take it you know her pretty well.”

  “I know of her and that’s enough. Not many people know her well. She’s a chameleon. Worse than a lawyer. Her allegiance goes to the highest bidder.”

  Zoey laughed. “Sounds exactly like a lawyer to me.”

  “Except lawyers take an oath and have some accountability to the court. Public relations experts, which is what she calls herself, act with impunity to make their clients look good, right or wrong be damned.”

  Zoey resisted pointing out Rook was a lawyer since she sensed this conversation wasn’t about facts, but impressions. Clearly, David Sharp was not impressed with Rook Daniels, which left her feeling a bit torn since she’d had exactly the opposite reaction.

  Chapter Five

  Rook leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. She’d been at the office since noon. At five o’clock, Eric’s preliminary analysis of the Diamond Credit hack had ceased to make sense, and she knew the problem was her, not him.

  “Do you want me to repeat all that?” he asked.

  “God no!” she said way more forcefully than she intended. “Sorry. I think I’m on information overload.”

  “I know it’s a lot to take in. I can try to break it down better, but the gist is whoever released Diamond’s files is intimately familiar with their system protocols. I’m close to finding out who it is, but I’m not quite there yet. I probably shouldn’t have bored you with all this until I had something more juicy to share.”

  “It’s not you.” She held back a yawn. “I need a nap or a triple espresso—maybe both.”

  “You know you could just take off the rest of the day like normal people.”

  “There’s one big problem with that statement.”

  “I know. I’m not normal either, which is probably why you hired me. But if you don’t need me for the rest of the night, I actually have plans that don’t involve churning through digital files.”

  “A date?”

  “Something like that.”

  Rook started to ask more, but held back, mostly because she didn’t want to start a back-and-forth that might involve her disclosing her own evening plans. In an hour, she was supposed to pick Zoey up and take her to Union Station for a tour of the monuments. Against her better judgment, she’d been looking forward to seeing Zoey but still dreaded the specifics of the outing. Faux trolleys filled with tourists, jostling to get the best selfies with Lincoln, MLK, and FDR—the prospect nearly gave her hives. Maybe she was a snob, but a good date was worth being a snob about.

  Date. Was this really a date or just a kindness to an out-of-towner she’d helped from a jam? It felt like a date, but she wasn’t entirely sure that’s what she wanted it to be. Zoey would be headed back to her base soon and that was best. Military people, especially career soldiers, were a mystery to her. She understood young people falling for the be-all-you-can-be slogans and using the experience as a jumping-off point to other things, but anyone who re-upped after their first tour had seriously questionable judgment from her perspective. Who in their right mind would agree to spend their lives wearing a uniform and pledge never to question orders? Blind obedience was the antithesis of her entire existence and had the very real potential of getting someone killed.

  Still, Zoey was charming and beautiful, and Rook was determined to enjoy their one night together since that’s all it would be. Struck with an idea, she sent a quick text to George and wrapped up her meeting with Eric. If she was going to suffer through a night of tourism, she was going to do it in comfort.

  After she sent the text, she said to Eric, “Let’s call it a day. I’ve got enough to do to catch up to where you are. We’ll go back at this on Monday.”

  Eric looked at her like she’d grown two heads. “You sure?”

  “Positive. Go, now, before I change my mind.”

  Rook shooed him out the door, and once he was gone, she made her way into the bathroom that adjoined her office. Lacy called it the executive washroom, which made her laugh since she was the only one who used it. The eight-by-eight room featured a glassed-in shower with a top-of-the-line massaging shower head, a closet stocked with expensive towels, and her favorite toiletries. The contractor who’d outfitted the office had deemed the room a luxury, but to Rook it was a necessity that allowed her to stay at the office whenever the team was in crisis mode. Her office featured a sleek leather sofa that folded out into a Tempur-Pedic bed on nights when she couldn’t make it home, and the bathroom was another extension of the home away from home.

  She brushed her teeth and finger-combed her short curls with a drop of product, wishing not for the first time they would obey her commands. The eyes looking back at her in the mirror were puffy and tired, and she dug through the drawers and found a bottle of eye drops. Other than the eyes, she supposed she looked okay. People told her she was handsome, which she took to mean not quite girly enough, but still good-looking. Her features were chiseled, which gave her a hard edge, and she’d spent many hours practicing an engaging smile so her audiences would warm to her for her clients’ sake. She laid one on now and was surprised it came naturally. Whatever mixed feelings she might have about the circumstance, she was actually excited about seeing Zoey again. After a few moments of messing around with her wayward hair, Rook changed into a maroon cashmere sweater and light gray pants, and sprayed a light mist of cologne to finish out her transformation.

  George was waiting at the curb, but she waved him back into the car before he had time to make it to her door. She sank into the cushy seat in the rear of the town car. “Did you manage to get everything?”

  “Full picnic basket right up here. Wynn didn’t have the wine you wanted, but she said this bottle is even better. Difference is on her.”

  “Thanks, George. You mind if I catch a few winks while you drive?”

  “You must be tired. No documents to review or phone calls to make?”

  “I think I might have reached my max for the day.” Rook caught his look of surprise in the rearview mirror, but rather than explain, she took advantage of the time alone and closed her eyes, letting thoughts of Zoey fill her dreams.

  * * *

  Zoey waited in the hotel
lobby since Rook’s text had said she’d be there at six and would come inside to get her. Zoey had offered to meet her at Union Station where the trolleys picked up their passengers for the tour, but Rook had insisted on this courtesy, and Zoey was glad not to have to navigate her way around, although she’d soon have to learn her new city.

  Sharp’s bombshell about the job at the Pentagon had left her with a boatload of logistics to consider. She’d been deployed for the last ten months, but many of her belongings were still at her base housing in Texas. She’d have the week to travel, pack, return, and find a new place to live. She’d spent the better part of the day online researching housing in DC. Thank God she was being promoted. She was going to need every dollar of her pay increase and step up in housing allowance to afford a place to live. If Sharp hadn’t cautioned her to keep the transfer under wraps until it was official, she would ask Rook for advice about options.

  Of course, she was ignoring Sharp’s other advice about steering clear of Rook in the first place. She’d spent some time after he dropped her off at the hotel last night considering whether she should cancel her outing with Rook in light of the caution, but ultimately decided against it. It was a casual outing, not a date. There was zero chance Sharp would be on a tour bus in the town he’d called home for years, and if they did run into him, she didn’t mind explaining she’d already made plans with Rook before his warning. Besides, she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. A civilian like Rook Daniels was no threat to her.

  She’d barely completed her thought when Rook strode through the double glass doors of the hotel lobby. She looked dashing in light gray wool slacks and a burgundy V-neck sweater that hugged her trim upper body. Zoey wrote off the accelerated beating of her heart to excitement about the tour, but she knew deep down she was fooling herself. Not a date. Not a date. She repeated the silent mantra in time with Rook’s steps until they were standing face-to-face.