Page 66 of Power
I sit at my desk, firing up my computer as I search for my glasses. “I’m going to lose the election,” I start. “It’s only a matter of time before the public finds out about Reece, and when that happens, I’ll be out.”
“You don’t know that.” I look up at Liam before resuming my search for my damn glasses. “You’re probably right though.”
“I want to look at gun reform.”
Liam groans and rolls his head back to look up at the ornate ceiling. Folding his arms in front of his chest, he sighs. “May I speak freely?”
“Of course, Liam.”
“This is career suicide.”
“I’m out either way. Let’s go out swinging. Gun violence in our country is an epidemic.”
“What are you proposing?”
“We need to look at other countries that don’t have the gun violence we do.”
“Japan, United Kingdom, Australia, Norway and New Zealand have low gun violence. However, they have a combined population of under two hundred million people. They don’t compare to us.”
“But what’s their gun violence rate per one hundred thousand people? If it’s lower than ours we need to look at it and try to figure out what we can do to lower ours. I have the reforms from New Zealand, let’s start with those and look at what we can do.”
“You’ll have half the country wanting to overturn your term.”
“And I might have the other half wanting to keep me.”
“You know this isn’t going to be easy, and the likely chance of it happening is...” Liam stops talking as he shakes his head. “But you still want to try?”
I sit back in my chair and loosen my tie. “This shouldn’t be the next guy’s problem. We can’t keep seeing these kids die because we’re not doing enough to curb violence.”
“What are you talking? What exactly do you want to do?”
“I don’t know, Liam. But, I need ideas on how to try and move in a more peaceful direction.”
“People are going to be rioting if they think we’re going to take their guns.”
My point exactly. “Liam, I don’t ever want to see again what I saw today. Children’s lives were taken from them simply because they were out enjoying themselves. I spoke with a woman who lost both of her children. She’d bought them tickets to the festival as a Christmas gift.”
Liam steps backward and slowly nods. “Let me do some research and present you with some workable options.”
“Thank you.” I’m interrupted by my cell vibrating in my pocket. I slide my phone out of my pocket and instantly smile when I see Reece’s name. “Hey,” I say as I lean back against my chair and close my eyes.
“I saw you on the news.”
“I had to see the destruction for myself. Show my support for the families.”
She sighs into the phone. “You don’t need to justify your actions to me. But I just wanted to see if you’re okay.” I don’t answer her immediately, because I’m trying to formulate a reasonable response. “Bennett?”
Opening my eyes, I stare down at my laptop as my shoulders droop forward. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get that image out of my head. It’s burned into my memory.”
“You’re avoiding my question. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sure I am,” I say as I shake my head in contradiction.
“You need to talk to someone about this.”
I scoff at her ridiculousness. “No, I’m fine.” I rub at the tension across my forehead. “I’m fine,” I repeat.
“Why are you lying to me?”
