Blindside

FOUR

T here was a cafe in the hotel where I was staying. Before going up to my room I decided to have another cup of coffee. I’m one of the lucky ones. I don’t have any trouble taking a nap after a day’s worth of regular coffee. And a nap was what I was planning.

The cafe was busy with people who had decided that the food here was what they wanted instead of the more dramatic feast awaiting them in the hotel restaurant. I found a copy of the day’s Chicago Tribune and took one of the few empty booths.

Tuning out the clamor took a few minutes. Dishes clattering, waitresses calling out orders to the cooks, laughter, the occasional shout of ‘We’re over here!’ and the hostess asking me if I was sure all I wanted was coffee. This was how she let me know that she didn’t like the idea — not at all — that I was taking up a booth for a lousy two-dollar cup of coffee. It wasn’t worth explaining that I would have been happy to sit at the counter but all the stools were taken.

The Trib did an extensive rundown of state races. According to their numbers we were only four points behind Burkhart. They noted that we’d been down but were struggling back now. This was the best kind of press and I hoped the local TV news people would pick it up. As much as they liked Burkhart, they liked the horse race even more. This was the kind of story they could lead with, even though public polls generally aren’t as reliable as our own internals.

The other story that interested me was about a Montana man who’d announced for governor saying that there were some who thought that this country would be better off if we tried the president for treason. It was too easy to claim, as too many Beltway media stars insisted, that what we were experiencing was just a silly season of nut jobs. But as I’d seen this afternoon, handguns and assault weapons made this season anything but silly. Insurrection was in the air. People came close to saying that the president should be murdered. And by now there was enough such talk that the mainstream media took it all in their stride.

‘You look angry.’

I raised my head to stare into the ice-blue eyes of Kathy Tomlin, Jeff Ward’s media buyer.

‘Not any more so than usual.’ She was nice enough to match my smile.

‘Mind if I sit down?’

‘Not at all.’

I’ve learned that when a pretty girl, and by God she was, offers to sit with you, the idea of turning her away rarely crosses your mind. She was a bit tousled and worn from the day but that only meant she worked hard and took things seriously.

‘I’m almost afraid to ask you what you thought of our staff. We’re all a little wasted.’

‘I’ve seen worse.’

‘That bad?’

‘Are you kidding? I once spent three days with a staff that had fist fights right in the office. The campaign manager got his nose smashed in the last day I was there. And three of the women were planning on filing sexual harassment suits.’

‘Wow. Could you give me their address? That sounds like fun.’ Very white teeth. You could fall in love with those teeth.

‘They’ve disbanded. The campaign manager went to the slammer for embezzling, one of the single girls got pregnant, two of the married women got divorced and one of the tough guys got punched out by a guy half his size.’

‘They were all on our side, of course.’

‘Of course.’

This time the smile was wan. ‘I used to be so idealistic.’

‘My father was a political consultant for most of his life. Jeff’s father saved his life, in fact. They worked together. I’ve always had the fever but I lost the idealism by the time I was fifteen or so.’

‘Your virginity.’

‘In a way, I suppose.’

A waitress hovered. Kathy ordered. She had just made the hostess happy. The booth was now occupied by at least one person who was ordering food. ‘They have the best cheeseburgers in town. That’s why I always come here after work. Especially nights when I have to go back to the office. My little treat.’

I sat back. ‘What’s wrong with Nolan?’

‘That’s a strange question.’

‘He was there in body only today. One minute he looked sad, the next he looked like he was having an out-of-body experience.’

‘I’m sure he’s just worn out like the rest of us. We’ve worked so hard. We planned on being six or seven points up by now. David was the only one who kept saying we weren’t taking Burkhart seriously enough. Jeff just laughed him off, said he was a freak. Turns out David was right. As usual.’

‘So you don’t know of any major personal problem he’s having?’

I had the sense she was holding something back from me. ‘No, no. He’s just a very serious guy. He works very hard mentally and sometimes he’s just off in his own little world. You aren’t eating?’

The transition closed off further questions. ‘I need to catch some sleep. I’ve had about four hours in the last thirty hours and it’s starting to take its toll. I’m supposed to look things over and see if I can come up with any ideas for improvement.’

‘So you’re really not going to suggest firing people?’

‘Yes, I am. And I’m thinking of starting with you.’

She said, ‘I think you like me. I don’t think you’d do it.’

‘I’d like you even more if I wasn’t falling asleep.’

‘I must be fascinating company.’

I stood up. ‘I think you know better than that.’

The dreams I had disturbed me. When the call came on my cell phone I had to claw my way through the afterbirth of the people and images I’d created. In that instant when I was free again I felt depressed, even a bit afraid.

Lucy Cummings was half shouting. ‘You need to get down here right away.’

‘Lucy?’

‘Oh God, Dev. Were you asleep? I’m sorry. The police are here and everything.’

‘The police?’

‘Somebody killed Jim Waters and left him in his car. I found him about half an hour ago.’

I almost said that Waters was supposed to have called me about dinner. But that was useless and pointless information now.

I was on my feet. ‘Is Jeff there?’

‘He was out at the local college for a talk tonight. But he canceled and rushed back here.’

‘All right. I’ll be there in a few minutes.’

In the bathroom I splashed water on my face. I kept thinking of the things Joan Rosenberg had told me about Waters. A lost soul for sure. I also thought about how he didn’t fit into the group around Congressman Ward. They were sleek pros. He was an awkward loner without any polish at all.

I grabbed a fresh shirt and pair of chinos and then worked into my dark blue suede jacket. I felt sorry for Waters the more I played back some of the things he’d said and the way he’d looked. But those feelings only made me wonder about what he’d been going to tell me at dinner.