“Anything I would watch?” Bill asked.
“Probably not. Hey, I don’t want to monopolize your time, I just wanted to introduce myself,” I said and then paused. “I do have a question for you. Right now, I’m in the process of getting my taxes done, and my accountant keeps telling me I need to donate some money to lessen the bill. Have you had them tell you that?”
“Not yet, but I get it every year,” Bill admitted.
“I have two charities that help cancer patients and unwed mothers. Would it be okay if I had one of my people contact your people to give you some information?”
“Just have them call me,” Elinor said.
I got her contact info and wished them a good night. Then I did it five more times and was told ‘no’ only once. I figured Caryn could make some calls on Monday.
“Okay, I see how you’re building your contacts, but I don’t see how you can tell which politician will be successful and which ones won’t,” Jack said.
I think Ian had started to see the light.
“This morning, Senator Dixon told me the thing he liked doing least was fundraising. This event is a straight-up fundraiser for politicians. Watch Governor Higgins. I can tell he was trained by my grandfather on how to work a room with a purpose. I sometimes do it just to get to know people, other times I do it with a goal in mind.
“If I were a politician, I’d make it a point to talk to each and every person in this room. I’d have a five-minute conversation to either solicit funds or make an appointment to do it later,” I said.
“I understand that money’s important for a campaign, but I don’t understand how you can equate that to success in an election,” Jack said.
“Well, it’s twofold. The first is you need funds to win. The second is you have to be likable. Watch your wife,” I said.
We watched for five minutes while she stood stiffly to the side. Occasionally she’d nod to someone.
“Look, I’m not saying this to be mean, but she’s acting like a DA. She’s holding people at arm’s length like she might have to prosecute them someday. Bev won’t win if people don’t like her, especially with the issues she faces. At the very best, people will be neutral towards her,” I suggested.
“He’s not afraid to share his opinions, is he?” Jack asked.
“No, but he’s righter than you might think. If I were Bev’s campaign manager, that would be the first thing I’d work on. The impression I get is she’s a hell of a State’s Attorney,” Ian said.
“But?” Jack asked.
“David’s right. She’s standoffish in a room full of supporters.”
I think Jack got it, and he made his way across the room to talk to his wife. Her head snapped around, and she gave me the evil eye.
“I don’t think she likes what he’s saying,” Ian said.
“Ya think?”
“Oh, oh. Here they come,” Ian said.
Bev came up and gave me a look.
“Jack says you believe I’ll lose my election,” she said.
“Come with me and let me teach you how to raise money,” I said with a smile.
She was a good sport. I took her around to meet people and gave my fundraiser spiel. Then I switched it up to ask for money for her campaign. All the time, I explained that she needed to make a connection first, ask, and then move on. Bev was terrible at it, but I gave her high marks for trying. She needed someone to raise funds for her. She did loosen up and began to get to know people. For her, that was the most important thing.
◊◊◊ Sunday February 21
I worked out hard this morning. Buying the baseball equipment had refocused me on my athletic goals. I wanted to have a big season. My goal was to prove that I deserved to be one of the 108 baseball players who were invited to represent the USA in a world baseball tournament.
I returned to my room, showered, and packed. We’d be attending the last event at Northwestern today. I had gone to the restaurant for breakfast when I spotted Bev Mass talking to two men whose appearance just screamed ‘cop,’ even though they were dressed in suits. She waved me over.
“David, this is Maxwell Grevy and Michael Lagan; they’re detectives with the Chicago Police Department. They need to ask you some questions.”
Was she really coming after me for my investigation into Brandon? I got out my phone and called Ms. Dixon.
“Hey, I need your help,” I said.
“You get lost or something?”
“No, I’m in the restaurant with Detectives Grevy and Lagan who want to talk to me.”
“Do you know about what?”
“Not yet. I called you first,” I said.
“Good boy. I’ll be right there,” Ms. Dixon said and hung up.
“My lawyer will be here in a minute. She’s in the hotel,” I explained.
“You’re not the focus of our investigation,” Detective Grevy said.
Bev held up her hand.
“He has a right to have his lawyer present, so don’t bully him. He’s also a minor who’s a personal friend of Senator Dixon and Governor Higgins. There’s no need to rush this,” Bev said.
Detective Grevy just nodded and waited for Ms. Dixon to show up.
Bev made the introductions.
“Yes, she’s Senator Dixon’s daughter,” Bev said to answer their unasked question.
“Yesterday afternoon, a University of Chicago student was the victim of what we suspect was an honor killing. We believe that her brother strangled her because of pictures she posted on social media. Specifically, because of an image posted of her meeting with you yesterday morning. We’re trying to piece together the last few hours of her life. We hoped that you might be able to shed some light on her meeting with you,” Detective Grevy said.
“Do you recognize this girl?” Detective Lagan asked.
He showed me a picture of one of the fangirls who had helped us set up chairs and whom I’d later talked to. I blinked a couple of times.
“She’s dead?” I asked in a weak voice.
“Yes, we suspect that her brother killed her. She was dragged out of her dorm, screaming for help. Witnesses identified the brother. The Detroit police talked to her sister, who said that her father and brother were incensed that she would post photos of herself with you. From what her sister said, the victim was warned that if she continued to embarrass the family, there would be consequences. Her father sent the brother to Chicago to deal with the young woman. Both the father and brother have gone missing,” Detective Grevy said.
All this because she dressed up as a character in my movie and took a picture with me. This was just insane. I couldn’t get my head around the notion that this young girl who’d been excited to see me was killed by her own family. It made me almost physically ill. How could you kill your own sister? I mean, Greg and I had gotten mad at each other, enough to want to pound the stuffing out of each other, but to kill him? There was no way.
“What do you need from me?” I asked.
“Just tell us what happened,” Detective Lagan said.
I told them everything that had transpired at the University of Chicago. There wasn’t much I really knew. I still couldn’t get over the fact that a picture with me would get the girl killed.
Detective Lagan then pulled out two photos. They were of the brother and father.
“If you see either of these two men, call 911 and don’t approach them for any reason. Assume they are armed and dangerous,” Detective Lagan said.
“Do you think they would come after my family or me?” I asked.
“We honestly don’t know,” Detective Lagan said.
I got my phone out and called Fritz.
“Code Black,” I said.
“Are you safe?” he asked.
“Yes. I’ll call in a little while and explain,” I said.
My phone had an alarm go off and showed the Code Black alert. This was part of the security measures Fritz had established to protect my family and friends. It was sent to anyone close to me. The alert was for use in extreme cases. If you received the alarm, you were to push a button twice to indicate if you were currently safe and get to a designated secure location as soon as possible. If you tapped only once, you were in danger, and someone was sent to wherever you were. Fritz had been worried about a kidnapping situation. He and his team could track everyone’s cell phone, smartwatch, laptop, and vehicle location. I tapped the button twice so everyone would know I was safe. Then I remembered I could have just used the app to trigger the Code Black. I was still getting used to having it and hadn’t thought about that until now.