Page 13 of Hawk on the Hunt

“Exactly,” Ben said with emphasis. “The voters will get a say soon enough. It would have been terrible if the governor of Idaho had left the seat vacant. There are way too many important bills that his vote is needed for. The margins are thin enough.”

Zara took off her jacket and hung it over the back of her chair, before she placed her handbag in one of the drawers of her desk. She liked Clara and Nicky, but she could take Ben only in small doses. He was the typical ambitious staffer who would do anything to climb up the ranks and make the right political connections that would help him later in his career. He wasn’t beyond sucking up to anybody just to get ahead.

Zara herself only saw her job as a way to making a living and staying in Washington D.C. rather than move into the suburbs. The work wasn’t difficult and consisted mainly of dealing with the senator’s correspondence, and helping Clara schedule meetings for him. She also spent a fair amount of time fielding telephone calls from constituents and triage what issues had to be brought to the senator’s attention.

Zara grabbed the stack of mail that Clara had already placed on her desk and started reading it, making decisions on how to respond. By the time she’d gone through half the stack, making notes as she went along, the door to the office opened, and the senator entered.

“Morning,” he greeted everybody cheerfully, and received the same greetings back from his staff.

He was a handsome man in his early forties, his looks very similar to his father’s: a strong chin, chocolate-brown eyes, a tall stature with an athletic build. His hair was dark brown and full, while his father’s had been almost completely grey at the time of his death. Not a single grey hair could be found on the young senator’s head, making Zara wonder if he dyed his hair to make himself look even more youthful and virile. His dark-blue suit with the lapel pin that identified him as a member of the U.S. Senate, didn’t look like it was from the rack. His fancy cufflinks only confirmed that assumption.

“Clara,” he said, walking up to Clara’s desk. “Anything happen while I was out?”

“You had a couple of calls,” she said, looking at a notepad. “Your meeting with the Speaker of the House has been moved to 11 a.m., and the Senate majority leader wants to talk to you about the pro tempore vote.”

“Thanks, Clara. I don’t think I have time for the Senate majority leader today. Can you figure out a time tomorrow or the day after?”

“It sounded urgent,” Clara added.

“Everything is urgent,” he said with a shake of his head. “He can wait a day or two.”

The senator marched toward his office. Zara took an invoice from the pile of mail that had arrived and rose. “Senator?”

He turned. “Yes?”

“I received this bill for utilities,” Zara said and approached him, turning the bill so he could see it. “It’s rather high and addressed to your father, but I don’t recognize the address. It’s not for the apartment he kept in D.C. Or did he have any other properties in D.C. that I’m not aware of?”

“Let me see.” He took the bill from her hand and looked it over. “Oh, that’s not addressed to my father.” He pointed to the address. “That’s meant for me.”

“Okay,” Zara said and reached for it. “I’ll go ahead and pay it.”

He didn’t hand her the bill. “Not necessary. It’s actually something I have to pay for from my private funds, not the taxpayers’. I’ll take care of it.”

“All right.” Zara nodded, then remembered something. “Oh, and will you need me to show you the way to the Speaker’s office since you’re still new? It took me months to find my way around the Capitol when I first started working here.”

He smiled, and Zara could imagine that his charming smile would convince many voters to cast their vote for him. “That’s so kind of you, Zara. But that won’t be necessary. Even though it’s barely been a month since I’ve taken over for my father, I spent lots of time in both the Senate building and the Capitol as a kid and young adult, visiting my father. He showed me every nook and cranny.” He winked. “I bet I know even a few secret hideaways that you’ve never seen.”

“You’re probably right. I worked for your father for only a year. It feels like no time has passed at all since…” She stopped herself, not wanting to get sentimental.

He smiled back at her, before he pivoted and entered his office, closing the door behind him.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon when Nicky rushed into the office, returning from delivering papers to another Senate office, out of breath as if she’d been running.

“Turn on the TV,” she demanded, and pointed to Ben, who stood at a filing cabinet nearest to the television mounted on the wall.

Alerted by Nicky’s insistent voice, Zara looked up from her computer and stared at her. Ben switched on the TV, and Nicky pointed to the news program. “There!”

Zara read the scrolling banner prefaced with Breaking News on the bottom of the screen, her heart suddenly beating into her throat. Vice president’s son gravely injured.

Ben turned up the volume, when the door to the senator’s office opened, and both he and Clara emerged.

“We have confirmation now that David Grossman, the son of Vice President Miriam Grossman, has been gravely injured in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan,” the newscaster reported.

Everybody in the office gasped in shock.

“David Grossman, who’s a sergeant in the U.S. Army, is in critical condition, and is being flown to Ramstein, Germany to be treated at the army hospital in Landstuhl. The vice president and the president received the news an hour ago. According to White House sources, arrangements are being made…”