The Longer The Fall

by Aviva Gat

  “Regarding the picture, based on the angle it appears to be taken from the security footage from the convenience store across the street’s security camera,” Agent Murray offered. “The footage from that time period is gone, but we spoke with the store’s owners and employees and none of them seemed to even know who you are.”

  “Don’t you have any other ideas? You’re the FBI, this is supposed to be your expertise right? Political blackmail?” Brandon’s voice sounded strained and angry.

  “We are following our protocol and I am sure something will come up,” Agent Jones said. “We’re still conducting interviews with all of Madeline’s past competitors and their staff members, as well as anyone rumored to be running against her in the next election. We’re also looking at other political adversaries that Ms. Randall mentioned.” Agent Jones nodded toward Jane who was also sitting at the table, typing on her phone.

  “I gave them a long list,” Jane responded, without looking up from her phone. “From Senator Coldwall, who has already come out against the SAVER Bill to Senator Hill, who you accidentally wore the same outfit as during that photo op at the UN a few months back. Senator Hill does seem like the kind to hold a grudge for something silly.”

  “So if you’re interviewing everyone who disagrees with me politically and all their staff members, that, well, that’s a long list of interviewees,” Madeline said after holding her tongue while Brandon interrogated the agents. “Let’s say you conduct ten interviews a day, and that’s generous, right?” The agents looked to one another, nodding their heads in agreement. “Alright, seven a day, it will take you months.”

  “Well we’re starting with people who are more likely to have a motive to hurt your political career,” Agent Jones reasoned. “Senator Hill and her staff are very low priority. We’re focusing on potential opponents. People who could be hurt by your success, or have something to gain from you losing office or political clout.”

  There were many who didn’t want to see Madeline succeed. Democrats who wanted her seat back on their side. Republicans who called her a liberal, like it was a dirty word. Senators who had wide support from police unions and were receiving flack now that her SAVER Bill was being talked about on every news program.

  “What do we do if you don’t catch the person by my reelection campaign launch in a few weeks?” Madeline asked, trying to analyze the worst-case scenarios that were playing out in her head.

  “Well, we expect to find the person by then,” Agent Murray stated. “However, if not, then we’ll have to see what happens. This could be an empty threat to get money. Especially since you have been faithful to your husband and therefore whatever proof this person may have is fake or doesn’t hold water. Like the picture from the Langham, it doesn’t prove anything. The second possible scenario is that they release something to the public. If this happens, it will actually be quite easy to track them since they will have to be in contact with someone to get ‘proof’ out there. Should this happen, we’ll be able to catch them easily.”

  Catching them won’t be the issue then, Madeline thought to herself. At that point, it wouldn’t matter who was behind this. All that would matter was that everyone would be talking about this scandal. No one would remember Madeline as the champion of the SAVER Bill or the promising young senator who could make it to the top. Her name would be scarred forever by this smear campaign. If she were lucky, she wouldn’t have to resign. If she were lucky, she could maybe even get another term in the Senate. But that would be all. Her career would have peaked before she knew it and it would be downhill from there, with no possibility of climbing back up.

  Madeline thanked the agents, saying she didn’t want to waste any more of their time while they had so much to do. After they left, Brandon kissed Madeline on the forehead and headed out for work, leaving Jane and Madeline sitting together in the kitchen.

  “Shall we get going?” Jane asked, still typing on her phone. “We have a meeting with the Penhursts who are sponsoring the reelection campaign launch party. They wanted to have coffee this morning to talk about our vision for the event. Just ten minutes.”

  Madeline nodded and followed Jane out the door. She had a great vision for the reelection campaign launch party. She wanted the party to focus on inclusivity and the New Republican Movement. She wanted to convince police chiefs to attend and show their support. She wanted to portray to everyone that a vote for her was a vote for taking America in a new direction. But she feared the event would go differently. Instead of lauding her for being a visionary, she would be chastised for ruining her family, for not upholding the family values that she so cherished, even if other mothers from her children’s school couldn’t see it. The wheels in her head were already turning, how she could get ahead of this, make sure the world was on her side even if she were under attack.

  Chapter 9

  Madeline sat in her local office waiting for the regional leader of the Fraternal Order of Police. Since she had announced the SAVER Bill, the police organization had been actively speaking out against her proposed policy. They said it wasted valuable police time, forcing officers to spend time volunteering instead of protecting citizens, and that the stations were already underfunded as it was; they didn’t need any more obstacles to receiving the funding they needed to keep America safe.

  Madeline had read every news article, press release, and blog post on the Internet that quoted members of the FOP and other police organizations discussing her bill. In fact, she had a dedicated staff member whose entire job it was to comb the Internet for anything related to Madeline or her politics. This staff member started her job at midnight every night, compiling everything that had been written the previous day and catching all the new articles published in the early hours before newspapers would hit the stands. She had alerts set up on her computer for Madeline’s name, her opponents’ names, and more than 100 keywords relating to Madeline’s policies, and past political actions. After reviewing all the alerts, the staff member started reading the major newspapers, blogs, commentary sites, to see if anything was missed. By 5:00 am, she had bookmarked, printed, hole-punched and organized every article by importance, filling at least one 3-inch binder every morning. There was an entire system for organizing the articles. Many were repetitive and these took lesser priorities. Some were absent of facts, and these were organized by their likelihood of gaining traction. The highest priority articles were those that quoted Madeline, or revealed something new about a colleague, adversary, or policy that could affect Madeline’s work. The Binder, as it became known, was dropped off at Madeline’s house every morning by 5:30 am. Each morning, this staff member held the binder close to her as she left the office and drove to Madeline’s house. She had a key to the back door, where she would quietly let herself in and place The Binder on the kitchen table, ensuring it was secure from anyone who might be interested in learning about what Madeline was interested in. Then, she would let herself out, lock the door, and be relieved of her job until the following evening.

  Madeline flipped through The Binder every morning, reading all the headlines and as many articles as she could. She couldn’t read everything, it would take her the entire day, but that’s what her staff was for. Every article placed in The Binder was also distributed to at least one of her staff members. Articles about Madeline’s personal life, family and looks were distributed to her image consultant. Articles about specific policies were distributed to the staff member with that expertise. Jane, of course, also received a binder the size of Madeline’s and she too read whatever she could in the early morning hours.

  That morning there had been several articles quoting different police chiefs and members of the FOP about Madeline’s SAVER Bill. Nothing new had been said, but Madeline reviewed these articles closely in advance of her morning meeting with the regional leader of the FOP. She was ready to personally hear all of his arguments about the SAVER Bill and she had her own arguments in response, which she was sure would convi
nce the police leader to at least consider changing his mind. Would it waste police officers’ valuable time? Certainly in the beginning. But this was a small sacrifice to save time and lives in the future. Madeline rehearsed her talking points in her head. Imagine, she would tell him, that each of your police officers spent two hours a week volunteering in a school largely filled with minority students. Because that’s all it would be, really, two hours. If you have 20 police officer in your department, that means each one needs to complete 5 hours a month volunteering and you easily get the 100 hours a month. In fact, that’s nothing, barely any time, if you think about it. It’s less than the amount of time officers spent in meetings every week, or writing up reports about their shifts.

  In those two hours, the officers could play basketball with students. They could help them with homework, eat lunch together. In fact, it would be fun for the police officers! They could join students during physical education classes, or recess. It would be like a break for them. During this time, they’d get to joke around with the students, get to know them, talk to them about their families and friends, they could even commiserate with the students about how annoying their teachers were. Maybe give them advice about crushes they had.

  Now, these students, who grew up spending a couple of hours a week shooting hoops with Officer Steve or Officer Bill—who of course is wearing his uniform while volunteering—maybe they have a different perception of police officers. Officer Steve and Officer Bill are their friends. They may suck at shooting hoops, but they are fun to beat! On the other hand, Officer Steve and Officer Bill now have relationships with these students. They know what they like to eat for lunch and what bothers them at school. Maybe they even feel affection for them, and have been able to provide them some advice that had proven helpful.

  Let’s now imagine, that these students are getting older. One of them is driving late at night with a broken taillight and is pulled over. It’s not Officer Steve or Officer Bill who pulls them over—that would be too much of a coincidence—but this officer also volunteered at a different school. This officer comes up to the window and is reminded of a student he mentored earlier that day or week, or maybe years before. The man pulled over is reminded of a time Officer Steve almost made a basket. The two men speak to each other cordially and respectfully, and the traffic stop is completed according to procedure. The driver gets a warning to fix his taillight and the police officer bids him good night. The two continue on their way, and no one thinks twice about this routine event. It made no difference to the officer that the driver was African American, and the driver had no preconceptions that the officer was evil.

  Of course, this is optimistic. Maybe you think I am naïve for thinking this could happen, but can we agree this is a very possible scenario? Maybe even a probable one? If this traffic stop ends this way, weren’t those two hours a week worth it for the officer?

  At this point in the conversation, the FOP regional leader would have to agree. Two hours—ones that could even be an enjoyable break for the officer—could lead to years of cordiality, respect and understanding. Yes, maybe you’re looking at the short term, but let’s focus on the long term, because this is a long-term solution—something politicians rarely seem to think about. Long term, the effects will be life changing, even lifesaving. Doesn’t that make it worthwhile?

  To address the FOP’s second concern, that it added more obstacles for them to receive funding, Madeline would ensure them that the process for applying for federal grants won’t be much different. Yes, the application will be different, but police stations are already filling out these applications and filing reports for the grants. So what if the applications and reports have changed?

  Yes, there was no disagreeing with these arguments, Madeline thought. She just needed the FOP regional director in her office so she could convince him. Her eyes drifted to the clock on her wall, on which an American flag was painted on the face under thick brass hands. 10:11 am. The FOP regional director was late.

  Suddenly, Jane burst into the office holding her phone to her ear. “Madeline!” she screamed. “We have to go! Evacuate! Now! Up! Let’s go!”

  Madeline didn’t take a moment to think. Her instincts took over, she jumped from her desk following Jane out her office door, through their lobby and down the stairs—they couldn’t take the elevator, Jane insisted!—out of the tall office building where her office was housed. The staircase was full of a stream of people all running, pushing each other, screaming as they rushed down.

  Madeline stayed behind Jane, seeing the rest of her office staff members dispersing through the stairway as they all rushed down. “What’s going on?” Madeline yelled to Jane, hoping she would hear.

  “A bomb!” someone else in the staircase yelled. The exclamation was met with further screaming, a wave of fear rolling down the crowded staircase like a heatwave. Madeline looked at Jane who was yelling into her phone. Jane caught her eye.

  “This building received a bomb threat,” she said into Madeline’s ear, pulling Madeline close. Madeline nodded and continued down the stairs. She had many more questions, but this stairwell was not the place to ask. Once they reached the bottom and spread through the lobby’s bottleneck entrance, Madeline and her staff gathered around in a circle in a park across the street, far enough away from the perimeter being set up by the police who had already arrived.

  “What else do we know about the bomb threat?” Madeline asked.

  “I’m on the phone with my contact at the police station,” Jane said, the phone still at her ear. “They received an anonymous call at 9:53 this morning saying that a bomb was placed somewhere in this building. The call was made from a cell phone that was found in a trashcan a couple blocks away. The police are searching for the caller and in the meantime they are evacuating the building to check for bombs. The bomb squad is on the way. They aren’t sure if it was just a threat or if it is real. They’re already checking surveillance of the building and all nearby cameras.”

  Madeline looked at her staff members who, she was sure, were all thinking the same thing. She also had the same thought and let it out in the open. “Do we think it has something to do with us?” All of the staff members must have believed it was possible Madeline was the target of the bomb threat because of the SAVER Bill. There were so many against it, some opponents could even be crazy enough to try to stop it with force. Was someone trying to stop her from meeting with the FOP regional director? Why was he late for the meeting? But there were other questions running in Madeline’s head. Was this connected to the blackmail letter she received the previous week? Was someone trying to take her down from several different angles?

  Jane shrugged and nodded at the same time. “I would guess, but we don’t know anything yet.”

  “I suggest everyone go home,” Madeline said to her staff. “You can all work from home today, and we’ll be in contact regarding tomorrow.” Her staff members nodded and dispersed, leaving Madeline and Jane together.

  “We should talk to the agents,” Madeline said. “This may be connected to the letter.”

  Jane nodded and raised her finger signaling that her contact on the phone had returned and was talking. “They think it was an empty threat, that it was nothing,” Jane said. “They’re of course still doing a full sweep of the building.” Jane hung up the phone and looked to Madeline. “Yes, I’ll talk to Agent Murray. And Officer Austin from the FOP. We’ll reschedule that meeting, but it’s strange, no? He’s late, there’s a bomb threat? There are easier ways to cancel!” Jane let out a fake sounding laugh.

  Madeline smiled. It was fishy. Even more so that the police were so sure it was an empty threat without doing much investigation. There were a few other meetings scheduled for that day, Jane said she’d try to reschedule or change their locations, but in the meanwhile they could work from Madeline’s kitchen. On the drive, Jane called the FOP offices for Officer Austin. They answered quickly and Jane was put through to the officer’s dire
ct line. It rang and rang with no answer.

  “I guess he was already on the way,” Jane said, putting her hand over the phone. Then, when the voicemail tone clicked, she immediately changed her tone. “Hi, Officer Austin! This is Jane Randall from Madeline Thomas’ office. So sorry for the inconvenience! Madeline needs to reschedule your meeting. I so hope you aren’t already at the building. If you are, you’ll see it was closed off for a bomb threat! Maybe you could even give us more insight about the incident! OK, well, please do get back to me! Thanks so much!”

  Chapter 10

  Madeline sat with her eyes closed as the plane landed in California. She wished the flight were a little longer, maybe they could get stuck on the tarmac for a while waiting for a gate to open up. Maybe she could just stay there, sitting in the large first-class seat with an eye mask on for a few more minutes. Maybe they wouldn’t notice her when they were cleaning the plane, she really did need just a few more minutes.

  But to her dismay, her on-time flight pulled up to the gate and the flight attendants quickly opened the doors for the rest of the eager passengers to deplane. Madeline stayed seated, letting everyone else pass her by. She’d deplane later she said, she wasn’t in a hurry. Well, she was, but a few more minutes couldn’t hurt.

  She had spent the last 48 hours in Washington DC. After the bomb threat at her California office, she and Jane had started working at her kitchen table. Then they got a call about an emergency session in Congress that Madeline just couldn’t miss. Senator Shuker was calling for a vote on his bill that granted additional autonomy to insurance providers to choose which procedures could be covered. This bill, of course, became a battle ground for abortion rights, with pro-choice supporters railing that this bill could allow insurance providers to decide not to cover abortions, specifically medically necessary abortions. Madeline was right at the middle of this debate, as one of the few republican senators who openly opposed the bill. It meant that every time this bill was discussed, Madeline received hundreds of press calls for comment and was requested by her democratic colleagues to attend all hearings and speaking engagements. This time, a group of senators were planning to filibuster the bill—meaning they would be giving speeches on the Senate floor against it until Senator Shuker decided not to pursue a vote. It was a process that could take days, weeks even, which Madeline didn’t have. But she agreed to come support the filibuster, to throw in her own two cents while the filibustering democrats took bathroom breaks.