by Max Hudson
Jack took in their rigid seriousness and broke out in a nervous chuckle. “Look, you can investigate me all you want, you won’t come up with a thing. It’ll be a big waste of your time. I’m just trying to help, okay?”
The agents shared another glance, then looked back at Jack as he handed them some business cards. “If there’s anything more I can do, don’t hesitate to call.”
“Sure,” Special Agent Hathaway said, reading the card, “we’ll be calling you real soon.”
Jack walked casually down the hall, trying to reassure himself. But he knew it had been a mistake to talk to them at all.They suspect me now,he realized. And they can come to any conclusion they want!
Jack’s stomach turned with nerves, but it was easy enough to calm himself.
No, they won’t find anything that isn’t there. And if I’ve spurred them on to investigate this properly and if they do find a blackmailer, so much the better for all of us! Probably make me a hero when the deal goes down. But even if not, at least Senator Sommers will see that I came through in the clutch. That is why I’m here, after all, gotta get some points for that at least.
By the time he made it back to Senator Sommers' offices, he’d put it out of his mind. Jack didn’t have too much time to think about it anyway, as Senator Sommers rushed him into his office and closed the door.
“Jack, m’boy, how are you, where’ve you been?”
Jack had to wonder,doeshe know what just happened? Is he baiting me? But Jack could only smile and say, “Nothing really to report, Senator.”
“Really? You didn’t have lunch with Senator Douglass’ water boy?”
“Well, yes, I did. How do you know about that? Are you having me followed?”
Senator Sommers shrugged. “Why should I have to? I saw you slither out of the office two hours ago.”
Jack nodded, not bothering to explain how many other things he might have been doing. Jack cleared his throat. “Progress may not come quickly here, Senator. I have to win this guy’s confidence before I can really learn anything.”
Senator Sommers nodded as he thought it through, crossing his office to the cocktail tray in one corner, decanters full of bourbon, Scotch and brandy. He filled two tumblers full of ice.
“Very good, Jack, very good. I knew I picked the right man for this job.” Jack wasn’t sure how to take that, so he simply waited for the senator to go on. “We’re limited, Jack, our resources, time especially; this is of the utmost importance.”
“And I appreciate that, Senator Sommers. But frankly, I think Senator Douglass has thrown this underling out at me to keep me at bay. I don’t think I’ll get anywhere near the senator himself, not now.”
“That’s fine, Jack, even better. You can use this fellow, turn him into an ally, even an unwitting spy.” Senator Sommers poured the glasses half-full of Scotch, then crossed the office back toward Jack, handing him the drink.
Senator Sommers asked, “Is he … one of them?”
“Who, Senator Douglass? I think that’s pretty well known —”
“No, the water boy, is he a gay?”
Jack thought about it, unsure of how to answer. “I suppose he probably is. I’m not though.”
Senator Sommers leaned back and laughed. “I should certainly hope not!” His mirth unwound, the senator shaking his head. “But seriously though, maybe you could, y’know, make this young guy feel that you sympathize with his lifestyle, even empathize, maybe even more.”
“Senator, I’m not going to sleep with any man for you —”
“No, no, of course not, I’d never suggest such a thing, not ever. Jack, it’s an abomination before God, do you think I would ask you to make that sacrifice, your immortal soul?”
Jack cleared a lump in his throat. “I don’t remember that being in the job description.”
“No, it certainly isn’t! But just because you may share some things in common, just because he may have certain ideas about your true feelings, that doesn’t mean you would have to act on them.”
Jack knew what the senator intended. “You want me to flirt with him, to win his confidence?”
“Bingo,” Senator Sommers said, “just a little flirting. That’s harmless enough, right? Y’know, a lot of this stuff, it’s not really sexual, it’s more about intimacy, closeness, trust.” After a cold second, Senator Sommers added, “If you can make the most of those, you got this town beat!”
Chapter Four
Jack noticed that he was attracting glances from the rest of the senator’s staff. The press secretary was glaring at him, the scheduler and her assistant were whispering behind the file cabinet as he passed.
What the hell is everybody freaking out about?But the answer was easy enough to stumble across. They’re jealous. I’ve been promoted, I’m on a vital mission, secret meetings with the senator himself. No wonder they’re starting to ice me out. But once I’m in power, I’ll forgive them, show them what real leadership is like.
But he wasn’t there yet, and it was beginning to concern Jack that he’d ever get to where he wanted to be, where he always pictured himself. And in the meantime, like everybody else in Washington, he had plenty of shit to eat.
“What the hell is going on?”
Jack turned to see Tabitha standing furious behind him, face even more pale than usual. “Tabitha, what are you —?”
“Come with me.” She turned and walked and Jack followed. He didn’t like feeling subservient to Tabitha, but he also knew that the office was probably being bugged and she seemed to have a reason to want to talk on the move.
Once in the hall, Tabitha said, “I won’t ask you again.”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. You were there when Senator Sommers briefed me —”
“I was just approached by those two Secret Service goons, Jack.” Jack’s stomach turned with nerves, but he chose to say nothing, hoping his worst fears were unfounded. When Tabitha added, “They asked me about you,” Jack knew they were indeed founded, all too well.
“What did they want to know? What did they ask?”
“They were oblique as usual, glaring at each other, making mental notes about who did what and where.”
“And what do they think I did?”
“Hard to say,” Tabitha said. “They mentioned blackmail.”
“Blackmail? I’m not blackmailing anyone!”
Tabitha stopped and spun angrily. “Then who is?”
“The senator thinks Douglass and his Log Cabin Gay Republicans. But I’m just not getting that.”
“And what are you getting?”
Jack rubbed his temples. “Right now, a splitting headache.”
It went on to be a long day, with Tabitha shooting daggers at Jack all day. Just before five, the senator called Jack back into his office.
“Again,” Jack asked, “tonight? Senator, this Tyler isn’t an idiot. If I come at him too strong, he’ll balk especially if he’s up to something or knows somebody who is.”
“That’s all well and good, Jack, but we’re quickly running out of time. Be charming, make some excuse. But if there’s any information out there, and you failed to bring it to me, that’ll disappoint me, Jack.” The senator looked at Jack, cold and cruel with his eyes sinking to threatening slits. “I’m not a man you want to disappoint, Jack. Now get it done.”
There was nothing for Jack to say, of course, nor anything to do other than back out of the office and go make a phone call.
“Tyler, it’s Jack.”
“Jack, how’s it hangin’?”
“Rough day. You?”
“Funny you should mention it, but it’s been … weird, y’know? Like there’s a bad buzz in the air.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“Let’s commiserate. Um, maybe some place not right here in town.”
Jack gave that some thought and it only inspired more questions. A quick Internet search found a good spot in Delaware,The Crying Towel.
It
was a dark dive bar with a pool table, a few pinball machines, and an empty band stage. The juke box did most of the entertaining, some female pop singer or another whining over a mind-deadening beat and synthetic strings.
Jack asked, “Why so far out of town, Ty? What’s going on in your offices back there?”
Tyler shook his head, glancing around as he took a sip from his cold bottle of beer. “Things are getting tense, the senator’s uptight.”
“He’s not the only one. Senator Cafferty’s suicide has our whole office on edge. Not that I’m making any headway on that.”
“Headway?”
Jack tried to shrug it off. “We’d all like to put it behind us.”
Tyler said, “I really don’t think there’s anything to those blackmail rumblings. Thank God for that.”
Jack nodded. “But what would make him shoot himself like that? What did the notes to his wife and kid say?”
“Family’s keeping it private, told the press he was deeply unhappy or something. Hey, it happens, more than you’d think. I know how exciting it is to be here, in Washington, the thrill of it. I’ll bet you think from time to time about what you’ll do once you’re in charge, how high up the ladder you might get. Can you hearHail to the Chief ringing in the back of your head, Jack, even now?”
Jack was impressed with Tyler’s insight, but he also knew that most people came to Washington with similar notions, probably even Tyler himself. Jack knew he’d have to stay on his toes, more and more as Tyler became more involved.
“But that’s what happens when you get what you want,” Tyler went on, “you discover how hollow it can all be. It’s bad here, in Washington, but it happens in Hollywood too, in all the pro sports. But here, disillusionment hits hard, Jack, worse that those other industries. People become politicians to change the world for the better, to improve the lives of others. When they find out that it’s not only next to impossible, but half the business is trying to do the exact opposite thing! It’s a heartbreak, Jack, and the further up the ladder you are, the more heartbreaking it can be.”
Jack nodded as he gave it all some thought. Tyler was as articulate and well-grounded as anybody he’d met in Washington. He couldn’t disagree and he didn’t want to. What he wanted, what he needed, was to know more.
“How about a game?” Tyler cocked his head, then followed Jack’s line of sight to the empty pool table. A quick visit to the bartender and a racking of the balls set them into play.
Jack broke, sending the balls scattering across the green felt with a loudclack!
“What about you, Tyler? Is that why you’re here, to change people’s lives?”
“Yes, Jack, yes I am.” No balls fell, and Tyler lined up his own shot. “There are people out there, people like me, who need a voice, who need a champion within the system. Senator Grant Douglass is that champion and I’m privileged to be working for him, in any capacity he wishes.” Tyler shot and sunk the five ball in the corner pocket. “He’s a great man doing a good deed against overwhelming odds, increasingly overwhelming as the months go on.”
Jack couldn’t argue with that either.
“And it’s not just about a lifestyle choice,” Tyler went on, taking another shot but missing, the yellow one ball rolling idle.
“Well,” Jack said with a sigh, “a person’s sexuality may be a natural state, I’m not saying it isn’t. But the choice of how to dress —”
“As an expression of that sexuality —”
“But itis a choice. Have you ever been to a gay rights parade?”
“Tons.”
“Okay, float after float of nearly naked men, waggling their crotches at thousands of onlookers while some diva’s hit song plays in the background. Can you really equate that to the Civil Rights marches in Selma or on Washington? RuPaul is all well and good, but he … or she ..., is a far cry from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. That’s all I’m saying.”
Jack took his shot, sinking the striped fourteen ball into a side pocket.
Tyler looked down at his cue stick, chalking it up. “But you’re wrong, Jack. Do you think that just because there aren’t police dogs and fire hoses that it isn’t just as vital an expression of personal freedom?” Tyler sank the four.
“And I’m in favor of the right of that expression,” Jack said, “and nobody’s trying to take that away from them, or from anyone. But not every expression, free though it may be, should be considered constitutionally protected. It’s a fine line, I’ll admit.”
“No men are free until all men are free, Jack.”
“Freedom is identified by its limitations, Tyler. If my religion were to be a nudist, for example, should I be able to walk around in public places, supermarkets and the DMV, movie theaters, bare-assed naked? Should I be able to sue anybody who tries to obstruct that? Suppose I go to a job interview and insist they have to hire me and not restrict my personal expression in the workplace?”
Tyler rolled his eyes. “It’s not the same, Jack.”
Jack chalked his own cue. “But it is, Tyler.”
“No, Jack, it’s the difference between hope and opportunity. But we both have hope, we both seek opportunity, without the one the other doesn’t stand a chance. They have to occur together in order for either to affect any change at all. That’s the truth of it, Jack, and the only truth.”
Chapter Five
While Jack was in Delaware with Tyler, Tabitha and Senator Sommers were tidying up the office and getting ready to dismiss the staff. The television was on, a news channel running constantly with the sound muted. But a familiar face on the screen grabbed Tabitha’s attention and she picked up the remote control, the sound quickly returning.
Senator Sommers looked at the screen too, the nameRachel Cafferty on the screen under the sad-faced, middle-aged woman, blonde hair graying fast.
“My family buried my husband today, a war veteran and a distinguished public servant. We appreciate the privacy and respect some of you have accorded our family at this time. But I must also address certain rumors which are going around about my husband’s motivations for his unfortunate and tragic decision.” Reporters cluttered around the Cafferty widow, sitting in her family living room.
“My husband was not involved in anything illegal or immoral or unethical. His suicide was the result of private struggles, but his reputation should not be besmirched. He was a faithful husband and a dedicated father, a good man, an honest man. Please don’t steal the one thing he had, the only thing he could take with him, or leave us: his reputation.”
Tabitha’s focus was pitched, pinpointed at that TV, the senator looking at her without her even noticing. He finally said, “Are you all right?” Tabitha was still fixed on that screen, but flinched and snapped out of it when he repeated her name, even louder. “Tabitha! How are you doing, Tabitha?” Tabitha looked over, distracted. The senator explained, “You seem out of sorts, that’s all.”
“Oh, um, it’s nothing, Senator; the recent events, Senator Cafferty, the upcoming rally and vote on our Fairness in Protection Act. Things are just getting a bit hectic, y’know?”
Senator Sommers smiled, setting a hand on her shoulder. “Yeah, I do, sure I do. But we’ve all gotta do what we can to keep it together, right?” Tabitha thought about it, nodded, but said nothing. Senator Sommers went on, “Our friend Jack, how do you think he’s holding up?”
The hairs on the back of Tabitha’s neck stood on end, but she tried not to reveal the nervousness his question inspired. “Fine. You know Jack, he’s so … together about things.”
“Got a real head on his shoulders. He shows promise, has real potential.”
“Yeah.”
“He’s not the kind of person who would just blurt something out carelessly, if he did know something.”
Tabitha tried to think out her answer, but she knew she was vastly outwitted by her devious boss. She cleared her throat to answer, “But if he was sent on an errand, he would do it to the best of his ability and wit
h total reliability and integrity.”
Senator Sommers gave that some thought, looking around. “But if he weren’t, on that off chance, then somebody close to him, somebody like you, you’d probably be the first person to see it.” A long silence passed, Tabitha feeling increasingly uncomfortable under the senator’s somber scrutiny. He finally said, “You and he have become somewhat close as I understand it.”
Tabitha shrugged one shoulder, stammering but saying nothing. So the senator said, “I understand. Working closely, the nights get long, there’s a lot to share, a lot in common.” Senator Sommers' fingers lingered near Tabitha’s naked ear and neck, reaching out from his hand and almost touching it. “There’s a lot of pressure in this line of work, Tabitha. We all need our little … releases from time to time.”
Tabitha nodded, unable to speak. The senator seemed to understand this and the reason for it. “But you know how it is here, the way things work. A young woman like you, beautiful and bright and ambitious, you need more than promise, more than potential.”
He leaned closer. “You need opportunity.” His other hand found her thigh, just above the knee. “You need a leg up in this town.”
Senator Sommers smiled as his lips neared Tabitha’s. She pouted a bit, a nervous gasp rising out of her quivering throat.
She did not resist him.
****
Jack and Tyler progressed from beer to cocktails, the smell of bourbon heavy in the air, the music suddenly sounding richer and fuller on the juke box.
They stood in the corner, tossing darts at a dart board or rather toward a dart board. Aim was no longer really an issue, however hard they tried.
Jack said, “I gotta tell ya, Ty, it’s good just to get out and have a little fun, y’know? These days, around here, seems like there's no such thing.”
“Because there isn’t. The walls have ears, my friend, the streets have eyes, and the streetlights have tits.”
“Those are hookers,” Jack said, the two of them breaking out laughing.