Veil of Civility

Chapter Fifty

The Constitutional Condominiums stood six blocks northeast of the U.S. capitol building and overlooked both Stanton Park and the medievally designed Imani Temple. The eighteenth century brick building with its aged stone accents and arcuate windows was four stories tall, six stories wide and housed twenty-four one-floor, two bedroom apartments, all occupied by employees of the United States Senate, or in the case of David Kemiss, the senator himself.

Kemiss massaged his temples with one hand as he sat in the fourth floor, fully furnished corner unit the U.S. taxpayers were providing for his lengthy stays in the nation's capital. The residence was small by his standards, but luxurious, and it was all he needed during the week. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were served at the capitol building and he took advantage of it as he worked long hours.

He stood up from the leather sofa, crossed the room to a doorway leading into a small bathroom and turned on the faucet. He was tired, having barely slept in nearly five days. The dark circles around his eyes looked familiar. He was used to late nights, and little sleep. Politics in the United States had become so divisive over his last term that negotiations and filibusters lasting into the early morning were common. Thankfully the crisis he was currently handling, the reason for his complete lack of sleep, would soon be over. A tip called into the FBI hotline had placed Declan McIver on a plane belonging to an Irish entrepreneur and by now, the Irish Garda would have taken him into custody and would be making the necessary arrangements to have him transferred back to the U.S. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any lengthy delays over whether the death penalty would be sought in any trial. As far as he was concerned, the Federal Government could guarantee that McIver wouldn't get more than a slap on the wrist because, as he saw it, the chances of him making it to trial were slim.

He splashed cold water over his face and toweled off his hands before exiting the bathroom through a different door, into his bedroom. He pulled back the sheets on the king-sized bed and kicked off his shoes. As he sat on the edge of the bed and prepared to lie down, he heard the sound of his cell phone ringing inside the computer bag he'd left in the living room. He crossed the tiled bathroom floor quickly and retrieved the phone from the bag.

"Tell me they've got him," he said, as he answered the call.

He gripped the phone, his body rigid, as he listened to the answer. Placing a hand to his forehead, he sighed in aggravation. "How can one man keep dodging the complete manpower of every government agency sent after him?"

"I don't know, sir," the voice of Robert Evers said. "The tipster must've been mistaken. It looks like the United States Government is going to owe the executives at McGuire & Lyons Industries a big apology."

"So we'll send them a big basket of fruit!"

There was silence on the other end of the phone line. Kemiss held the phone away from his head and took a deep breath. "So we're back to square one?" he asked, when he'd collected himself.

"It looks that way, sir. I'm sorry to have disturbed you with this tip just for it to turn out to have been bogus. We'll go back over everything we have and I'll let you know what we come up with, but until then, I'm afraid he's still out there somewhere."

"Thank you, Mr. Evers," Kemiss said, with a tone of resignation.

"Sir, if I may?" Evers said, before Kemiss could hang up.

"Go on."

"I hope the people of Virginia realize the kind of man they have representing them in the Senate. And I'm not saying that to kiss ass. You've been an integral part of this process and without you we'd be much further behind this scumbag than we currently are. I hope you'll use this in your next campaign. Men of your integrity are hard to come by in Washington these days."

Kemiss bathed in the glow of the compliment for a moment before responding. If only he could use this in a campaign. "Thank you, Mr. Evers. Please call me with any updates as soon as you have them."

"Of course, sir," he heard Evers say, as he moved the phone away from his ear and closed it. He turned around and caught sight of his reflection in the window behind his desk. He looked even more tired than he had moments ago in the bathroom mirror. With Seth Castellano dead, he didn't know how much longer he could keep up the charade he was putting on. He crossed the bathroom floor, quickly undressed, and slid into the bed.

As soon as he'd closed his eyes, his phone rang again.

"David," a familiar voice said as he picked up the line. It was Lukas Kreft.

Kemiss adjusted himself in the bed and took a slow breath. "What is it now?"

"Baktayev's made his choice. We need all the documentation there is on it, now."

"Okay. Okay. I'll take care of it."