The governor’s motorcade blew past us, so I decided to join the parade of big black SUVs. Having a state trooper lead the way with his lights flashing cut our commute time considerably. I noticed that Angel followed our lead, as did the band’s equipment van; they followed right behind us. We came to the entrance of the hotel’s parking garage and were ushered in. They had staff waiting for us to help take our bags to our rooms. I surrendered my car key and followed everyone to the lobby to get our room keys. While everyone else was focused on that task, I slipped my extra key to Brook.
The clock said it was ten. I debated whether to go to the governor’s suite or not, but curiosity got the better of me. They ushered me in, and I noticed the governor was in another room, deep in conversation with his staff and the senator. I was happy to see Jack and Bev Mass there. She would be with us for all the events tomorrow and even the one Sunday. Evanston, where Northwestern was located, was in Cook County.
“Just the two people I wanted to talk to.” I turned to Jack Mass first. “I’ve thought a lot about investing in Mass Construction. But there is one concern I have: will the issues surrounding Bev hurt your business?”
Poor Jack about choked on his scotch while Bev shook her head at me. I waited for him to talk while he cycled from shocked, to unbelieving, to understanding.
“You’re serious?” he asked.
“Yes, he is, and I think he has a point,” Bev said. “We’ve not really talked about this issue ourselves.”
Jack looked at his wife uncomfortably and then answered my question.
“Honestly, I doubt it. Mass Investments and Construction have been around for years, and I believe we’ve built a solid reputation. I don’t do any city, county, or state projects because Bev went into politics and I never wanted there to seem to be any conflict of interest. Even if we were to run into some backlash, I don’t believe it would be significant. Our clientele tends to think in terms of getting the best-built home, not my wife’s politics.”
“What do you think?” I asked Bev.
“I think the police shooting was a travesty and I can understand why people are upset. Heck, I’m upset. What I can’t do is throw all the police to the wolves because of one idiot. I expect there will be further internal investigations, and there’ll be training and counseling for the force,” she said.
“I understand you can’t paint everyone with the same broad brush, but that’s not how the public is reacting,” I said. “You see it across the country. They’re making claims that if you’re of color, the police treat you differently than if you’re white. I get the same sort of misconceptions for being an athlete. People assume I’m a dumb jock who’s a bully, and I’m sure that at times I fit that stereotype. Based on the reports I’ve seen, I’m confident the police respond differently based on the color of someone’s skin at times as well. I’m even certain that people will react to all police with more concern after an incident like this. I’d bet the press will highlight every single event from now on where there’s a police shooting of a person of color.
“What I want to know is if Bev, being in the position she is, is going to affect your business. I honestly don’t know how it’ll play out, but you’re asking me to invest my money. I believe you think you’ll be fine, but I’d appreciate you letting me know what my actual risks are,” I said.
Jack looked at Bev for some help.
“You bring up some good points, but I believe in my husband. There likely will be some backlash, but with the funds you’re offering, I expect his company will weather any storm that comes from it. I personally would urge you to help him. I’ve known him for almost twenty years, and he’s a man of integrity. Jack will do right by you.”
I smiled.
“That’s what I thought. Contact Caryn on Monday to get it done,” I said and shook Jack’s hand.
Jack offered to get us drinks. I decided to get a scotch. It left me time to talk to Bev about Brandon.
“Have you heard anything about the rape kits?” I asked.
She got a sad look.
“As a matter of fact, I received a call today. It looks like all the rapes are related to three individuals. Now that there’s a link, they’re going to reopen the cases and look at them with fresh eyes. They’ll run the DNA found through the database and hope for a match. The problem is that none of the men they suspect has ever had their DNA tested, so far as they know.”
“So, why don’t they just take Brandon’s DNA and test it?” I asked.
“It’s not that simple. Unless they get more evidence, it’s all just circumstantial. His dad would stop any attempt to take it against his will. I realize it sounds bleak. But now that the police are taking this seriously, I trust they’ll figure things out and get him and his fellow rapists in the end,” Bev predicted.
Jack came back and had Governor Higgins with him.
“David, Max was delighted with you and the band you suggested. We had about double the turnout we expected,” the governor shared.
“Max owes my grandmother. She’s the one who talked me into this.”
“She sent me the video of you at the Zoning Board meeting. You’ve got your grandfather’s flair. If he had your looks, he could have run for president,” Governor Higgins predicted.
“Heck, if you had his looks, you might win this thing,” Bev teased.
He gave her a look and then smiled.
“You might be right,” he admitted.
“I saw you huddled in the other room. Anything happening?” I asked.
“My eventual opponent in the general election is a jerk. There was an incident in California today where a couple entered an office building and shot a bunch of people. It looks like a terrorist attack. He’s all up in arms that I don’t have any plans to combat terror in the state. I think if he had his way, we’d have our National Guard roaming the streets, enforcing an after-dark curfew,” he complained.
“Well, there is the cheesehead issue,” I said, which got me some curious looks. “I think we need a fence to keep them out of the state.”
“Oh, dear God! I can imagine you as governor someday. I just hope I’m dead and buried before that happens,” Governor Higgins said.
About that time, Senator Dixon, and his daughter and my lawyer, Ms. Dixon, came up. The governor told them my plans for a fence to keep the cheeseheads from Wisconsin out of our state.
“If you need any federal money for your plan, let me know. I think I might be able to get the votes for something like that,” Senator Dixon said.
“Dad, don’t encourage him,” Ms. Dixon said.
There seemed to always be one in every crowd who had to be the fun police. My platform for governor was starting to come together. I would have to work in something for the Hawkeyes and the perverted Show-Me-State bunch. And what the heck was a Hoosier, anyway? We might need a really long fence to solve all those problems. I might start local and see what we could do to keep the yahoos from Eastside out of our town.
Brook sent me a text to tell me that her mom had just done the bed check. She suggested I might want to wrap things up.
“Well, I gotta go,” I announced.
I think they all might have suspected something, but at the moment, I didn’t care. Senator Dixon told me he wanted to have breakfast with me as I said my goodbyes.
◊◊◊
“We need to talk,” Brook hit me with when I came into the room.
“Yes, we do,” I fired back, surprising my friend.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“You first,” I said as I flopped on the bed and gave her a smirk.
“What are we going to do about our parents going on spring break with us?”
“My best guess is we’ll suck it up and live with it. I’ve never been able to talk my mom out of anything she really wanted to do. I have a bad feeling she wants a vacation,” I said.