The Senator's Daughter (7 page)

“You know how parents whose children have cancer pray every day for a cure? In this case, there is a cure—a simple surgery. You have no idea what it's like for a mother to watch her baby die.”

Kat reeled at the raw pain in Anna's voice. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her faculty business card with her email address. She hadn't gotten a campaign business card yet. Grabbing a pen off a nearby desk, she added her personal cell number. “Take this and please contact me. I will do my best for you.”

Anna nodded gratefully then left.

The rest of the morning was a whirlwind. Most appointments were scheduled for fifteen minutes, though some of the bigger players got thirty. Kat's stomach grumbled loudly as one o'clock rolled by. She'd been too nervous to have breakfast, and now she regretted the four cups of coffee she'd downed.

Watching Alex work was fascinating. He was gracious, charming and made everyone feel like they'd gotten what they wanted from him while giving away nothing. It was quite an art form.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

“Starving.”

“How do you feel about food trucks?”

“What?”

“Come on—we have a whole thirty minutes. I'll buy you one of the best meals in DC.”

She grabbed her purse and followed him out. They walked down the block to a street where four trucks were parked on the side of the road. Delicious aromas teased her nose.

“Looks like we have a choice of Italian, Mexican, crepes and fried chicken.”

“So it's not the same trucks every day?”

He shook his head. “It's whoever can get parking. They go all over the city.”

“What do you recommend?”

He pointed to the Mexican truck. “It's a little spicy, but to die for.”

She smiled. “Why not?”

They made their way over and he ordered an enchilada. She hesitated then ordered the stuffed poblano peppers. His lips quirked. “You know that's really spicy.”

“How bad can it be?”

“I don't recommend it. I'm used to spicy food, and even I don't order it.”

She gave him a coy smile. “Can't handle the heat?”

The vendor called their order and they picked up the take-out containers. He pointed to a bench and they sat down.

Kat took a bite of her pepper, savoring the sting of spices on her tongue.

“You really do like it?” He sounded surprised.

She laughed. “I actually love Mexican. Did you grow up eating Salvadorean food?”

He looked at her, arching an eyebrow.

“What? You think you're the only one capable of using Google?”

He took a bite of his food. “Salvadorean dishes aren't as peppery hot as Mexican food.”

“What's your favorite?”

He stopped chewing. “I was born here, and with the hours my mother worked, she didn't have a lot of time to cook. I grew up eating fast food like regular Americans.”

Something in his tone made her pause. “Where did your mother work?” she finally asked.

He took his time, downing a swig of his drink. “Here and there. She worked as a housekeeper. Still does.”

Without thinking, she put a hand on his shoulder. “My mother has a degree in biology. She used to be a high-school teacher but for the past several years she's barely held down jobs as a waitress, a check-out clerk at the grocery store, even a short-order cook at a fast-food joint. Making an honest living is admirable.”

He scoffed. “Listen to yourself. The worst your mother had to be was a short-order cook. My mother couldn't get that kind of job. The only work offered to her were things that regular Americans didn't want to do. Cleaning toilets, hauling out animal manure, clearing sewers.”

“Did you have to watch her at those jobs?” she asked softly.

He crumpled his napkin, threw it into his container of half-eaten food and closed the lid. “We should get back.” Standing, he threw the remains of his lunch into a nearby trash can.

Kat held on to hers; she was starving and would find a quiet moment to finish her lunch later. Alex had already started walking and she had to run to catch up to him.

“You didn't answer my question. Did you have to watch your mother at her job?”

He whirled, his eyes shining. Of all the times she'd seen him look angry, this was the first time she sensed a deeper emotion in his eyes. Something dark lurked just beneath the surface. “Why must you persist?”

His tone should have made her shrink back, but she stepped closer to him. She didn't want to lose this moment, perhaps the only honest moment they'd had together. He knew everything about her life, had taken it upon himself to be her protector, yet she knew very little about him beyond what he showed on the surface. “Answer the question, Alex.”

This time he stepped away from her. “Yes, I went with her. I watched my intelligent, capable mother degrade herself doing menial work just so she could feed me. I stood by while she suffered so I could have a better life. Now can we focus on work?”

The pain in his eyes was so raw that she longed to touch him, to let him know she saw it. But somehow she knew now was not the time to push him any further. He took out his BlackBerry and thumbed it all the way back to the office. When they entered, Mellie handed him a stack of messages and he asked Kat to sit out the next few meetings.

She followed him to his office anyway. When he turned to close the door, she put her hand on the frame. “I'm supposed to have full access. I didn't drive all the way over here for you to shut me out because I asked some personal questions.”

He narrowed his eyes but she stepped closer. She wasn't afraid of him. There was a real Alex behind the facade he presented; one she desperately wanted to see. He was the only man since Colin who didn't physically scare her, and she needed to know why.

His hand remained on the door. If she wanted to get by him, she'd have to squeeze past him. She wasn't going to let him intimidate her. Two steps forward and she would be barely an inch from him. The second she made her move, he took a sharp breath then let go of the door and backed up.

Kat smiled and took her designated spot on the couch from where she'd observed the other meetings that morning—mostly constituent briefings in which various organizations came asking for money for their initiatives. They all sounded important, but her mind kept returning to Anna Atao. Kat could still hear the anguish in Anna's voice. There was something haunting about it, as if Anna hadn't been talking about just any baby. She opened the take-out container to finish her lunch.

“You know, you want me to open up to you about my mother but you still haven't given me a real answer about your call with your father.”

She paused mid bite then finished chewing slowly.

“What exactly do you want me to say? He's a stranger to me. We exchanged pleasantries. He asked about my mother and to tell him about myself. It felt more like a job interview than a reunion.”

“He's a good man. He probably didn't know how to interact with you. Video calls can be awkward.”

“My mother tried to contact him when she found out she was pregnant. He wouldn't take her calls.”

“Relationships are complicated.”

Don't I know it.

“You don't abandon the people you love, no matter what,” she said. She pointed to the picture on his desk, the one hidden from visitors. “Is that a picture of your mother?”

He nodded and turned it around. She stood to take a closer look. He was standing next to a small woman with black hair and dark eyes who was smiling into the camera, her face filled with joy. Alex was wearing an ill-fitted shirt, his bushy hair tousled and his arm around his mother. Kat picked up the frame. “How old is this?”

“That was the day I graduated from college. Made her sacrifices worthwhile.”

The pain in his eyes was so fresh, her heart ached for him. She longed to ask him more, but a knock on the door signaled their next meeting had arrived.

Kat returned to the couch and opened the briefing folder for the meeting. The new arrivals were senior management at a defense contracting firm. Both were well into their sixties. One man was tall with a comb-over, while the other looked like his hair plugs were falling apart. They spent the first few minutes talking about mundane things. As with every other meeting, the men eyed Kat with obvious interest but were polite enough not to engage her further when Alex introduced her “observer” role. Kat watched Alex enthusiastically banter with them as if they were the only people he was meeting with all day. She'd watched him do this all morning, and she was exhausted just from watching.

Then they got down to business.

“Alex, m'boy, if the senator wants to continue with the IED bill, we've got to support the other guy. You know we manufacture the EAGLE. You'll put us out of business.” Comb-over shifted, the chair creaking under his weight.

From the reports she'd read, Kat knew the EAGLE was a robotic IED detector that a soldier could operate from a thousand meters away. The problem was how easily its sensors jammed with sand and malfunctioned in the heat. According to the reports, the Egyptians had improved the EAGLE technology, testing it extensively in desert climates.

Alex stood and opened a cabinet that Kat now saw contained a bar.

“Gentlemen, let me pour you some bourbon.”

Kat stared as he fished out three crystal glasses and a decanter. He held up a glass for her and she shook her head. Was this an episode of
Mad Men
?

He poured the dark liquid then added ice from a bucket that had also been hidden in the cabinet. How had that gotten there? Did he have elves to stock his bar?

The men, clearly accustomed to this treatment, sat back in their chairs. Unlike the morning meetings, which had been scheduled in fifteen-and thirty-minute increments, this one was penciled in for a full hour.

“You know as well as I do that the senator needs your support, now more than ever,” Alex said. “But the bill is his legacy, his last big endeavor before he runs for president. Tell me how we can make this work for you.”

Hair plugs leaned forward. “A contract committing to buying the EAGLE at current levels for the next ten years.”

Kat took a sharp breath. Alex gave her a warning look. The visitors didn't seem to notice. The EAGLE would be redundant if they bought the Egyptian technology, and no one wanted such a long-term engagement in Iraq.

“That's a tall order,” Alex said calmly, as if they were discussing a few hundred dollars' worth of product rather than a commitment of hundreds of millions.

“You know the Egyptians have already bettered whatever they're selling the senator right now. Give us ten years and we'll get you the best technology there is.” Hair plugs took a noisy sip of his drink.

“We don't want to be engaged overseas in ten years.”

“But you know very well we will be,” Comb-over said arrogantly.

Alex sipped his drink, contemplating the decision. “What would your commitment to the senator be?”

The men looked at each other then slid an envelope across Alex's desk. He opened it and pulled out what appeared to be a check.

“This is generous, but not enough.”

He slid it back toward the men.

Kat felt like she was on the highway watching a bad accident unfolding but unable to stop it. Barely five feet away from her, these men were playing with taxpayer money, making a deal that affected the lives of thousands of soldiers. They were doing it while drinking bourbon and talking cavalierly about millions of dollars.

The hour felt like ten. When the men stood to leave, they smiled and wished her luck, winking salaciously at Alex, who smiled back serenely.

The second they were gone, Mellie entered, carrying a tray with an ice bucket and new glasses. Alex helped her load the used glasses and store the new ones. Kat had seen him take several sips of his drink but now noticed his glass was mostly full.

The nauseating trend continued through two more meetings, each one worse than before in terms of the “ask” and the money they were willing to pay in campaign contributions to get what they wanted. By comparison, the morning meetings were amateur hour. None of the constituent organizations had offered money, and they'd all come armed with educational materials. For the afternoon meetings, various old men and one gray-haired woman had strolled in with checks and a sense of entitlement.

When the last meeting was done, Kat turned to Alex. “Tell me you don't actually deposit those checks.”

He rolled his eyes. “I didn't want you in here this afternoon. It was your father's idea. He wanted you to see how politics actually works. After reading your academic papers, he thinks it's time you opened your eyes about the real world.”

“To see what? That politicians really are crooked? That the biggest check determines the fate of the American people? You'd let babies die in Guam but give those EAGLE manufacturers millions of dollars for obsolete technology?”

“Did you see me take a single check this morning? Those organizations can't afford to buy their access, but I give them time.”

“I also didn't see you give them a full hour or pour them drinks.”

“That's because those were the real meetings of the day, the ones where we learn about the issues. They don't need drinks because they come armed with information and want nothing more than for us to listen. The meetings you just witnessed are what we use to make sure we have the staff and resources to get the senator reelected.”

“And what about the promises you made?”

“We try to keep them, but it's not always possible. The senator is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, but he can't guarantee we'll purchase the EAGLEs. All they want to see is that we put it in the budget proposal. It won't go in the House budget, and when we go to the conference committee for a final budget to send to the president, the EAGLE funding will disappear.”