William Bernhardt - Capitol Murder

“No.” Marshall looked up at him, almost smiling. “And I suppose taking hostages isn’t, either.”

Ben tilted his head to one side but said nothing.

“You go check on your girl, Ben,” Marshall said, still weeping. “And you take good care of her, understand? Remember-every day the two of you have together is a gift. A rare and precious gift. Every single day.”

“I won’t forget.” Ben took the gun and motioned to the FBI officers he knew were watching through the fiber-optic cable. “Thank you, Marshall.”

“Thank you for listening. If-if my Delia were still around, I think she’d take a shine to you, Ben.”

“She is still around,” Ben said. He laid his hand softly on the side of Marshall’s face, wiping away the tears. “And thanks to you, she always will be.”

“W ell, I gotta hand it to you, Chrissy,” Loving said. “You’ve worn some crazy getups in the past. But this one takes the cake.”

“Ha, ha,” she said, with simulated acerbity. She was wearing a hospital gown, a thin pale blue linen number. “I think the floral pattern goes well with my eyes.”

They were all standing around her hospital bed-Ben, Jones, Loving, and Lucille. The small private room was festooned with flowers, gifts, and a host of greeting cards dangling from a banner stretched across the head of the bed.

“Wanted you to meet my new, umm, friend,” Loving said, gesturing to Lucille. He winked. “I thought the two redheads in my life should meet. She was a big help to the investigation.”

“Aw, he did all the hard stuff,” Lucille said, blushing. “All I did was dress up like a floozy and play the tease.”

“Sounds like hard work to me,” Christina said. She turned to Ben. “Has there been any word about Marshall? And Marie?”

“She’s going to pull through,” Ben replied. “It’ll take a while, but the docs say she’ll make a full recovery. I’m amazed-but I guess I shouldn’t be. She’s a tough woman. And Marshall is being treated by some of the best mental health specialists in the country. Todd is paying the bills.”

“No criminal charges?”

“Not at this time. I doubt he could be found competent to stand trial. I just hope he gets the help he needs to recover the man he once was.”

The phone rang. “Would you get that for me?” Christina asked.

“What?” Ben said. “Just because you got a little bullet wound to the leg, you can’t answer your own phone?”

“I could. But I’m currently wearing a gown that exposes my rear end.”

“Well, we don’t want that,” Loving said, rushing to the phone.

There weren’t many times in his life when Ben saw his strapping investigator at a loss for words or action, but on this occasion he seemed to be lacking both.

“Loving?” Christina said. She jabbed him gently on the side. “Is it for me?”

Slowly he shrugged off his stupor and found some small measure of animation. “No. It’s for Ben.”

“Really?” Ben frowned. “Who is it?”

He swallowed. “The governor.”

“The governor? Of what?”

“Of Oklahoma,” Loving said, eyes bulging. “And he wants to talk to you!”

Ben took the phone. Loving and Lucille excused themselves, saying they wanted to check on Beatrice.

“Congratulations on a job well done, son.” Ben immediately recognized the voice of his state’s top politician. “Glad it all worked out and your assistant is going to be all right.”

“Partner,” Ben said, still dumbfounded. “She’s my partner.”

“Right, right. Listen, I don’t want you to feel like you’re getting the bum’s rush, but I have exactly three minutes until my next meeting, and this has to be dealt with, and I wanted to feel you out before I made any public announcements.”

“Public announcements? About-me?”

“Are you kidding, pilgrim? I guess you’ve been in DC. Back here-you’re the local hero.”

“I am?”

“Even The Oklahoman has had some nice things to say about you and, given your political leanings, that’s nothing short of a miracle.”

“I didn’t know I had political leanings.”

“You handled this case with class, and that closing argument you gave was brilliant. Moved me to tears when I read it in the paper. And then when it turned out you were actually right and Glancy wasn’t guilty-of murder, anyway-that was even better.”

“I still-don’t-”

“And then that heroic rescue of your girlfriend. Marvelous stuff. Marvelous. Ballsiest thing I’ve heard of in my life.”

“It was really no big deal.”

“Well, the papers are talking about it like you were James Bond. Your approval ratings are sky-high. And not just with women. Wish to God I had ratings like that. Your fame may be fleeting, but I still wouldn’t mind leaching a little positive spin off it. Which leads to the reason for my call.”

Ben was baffled. The governor was talking fast-much too fast for Ben to process what he was saying, much less anticipate what was coming next.

“There are some preliminary questions I’m required to ask,” the governor continued. “Did you vote for me in the last election?”

“Well…”

“Didn’t think so. Are you even a member of my party?”

“Well…”

“My staff was right. And you have no political experience at all, correct?”

“I was briefly at the DA’s office but… no, not really.”

“What the hell. Part of my stump speech has been that blather about overcoming petty partisan concerns and seeking out excellence. And it’s only for a year.” He paused. “You seem like a hell of a good guy, Kincaid, and the public loves you. Want to be our next senator?”

Ben’s jaw dropped with such alacrity he was surprised there was no thudding sound. “Can-can you do that?”

“Can I? I have no choice. Constitution requires it. Glancy has resigned; I have to appoint a substitute to fill his remaining term. So what about it, Ben? Are you my man?”

A thousand thoughts ran through Ben’s brain at once. “Can-can I think about it a little while?” He glanced at Christina, who was sitting in the bed staring at him with an extremely puzzled expression. “Talk to some friends and… associates?”

“Of course you can. Well, you’ve got till six o’clock. Then we have to either announce or move on to someone else.”

“I’ll call you back as soon as I can.” He took the governor’s number and hung up.

“What was that all about?” Christina asked.

“Tell you in a minute. There’s something else I want to discuss first.”

“Ben! Don’t be such a tease! Was it really the governor?”

“Yup. But-” He paused, shifting awkwardly from one leg to the next. “You know, Christina… back at Glancy’s office, when you were hurt…”

She leaned forward a bit. “Yes?”

“I know you were half out of your head and probably weren’t aware-”

“I heard every word you said.”

Ben swallowed. “You did?”

“Damn straight. And I haven’t forgotten, either.”

He looked down at her, the billowing red hair he had become so fond of, the deep blue eyes, the adorable freckles. He couldn’t imagine getting through a day without her. And didn’t want to try. “I know I’ve-I’ve-never really said-”

She reached out and took his hand. “You don’t have to, Ben. I already know.”

“Really? Really?” He laughed with relief, and she laughed, and then they were both laughing, and then all at once he crouched beside her, picked up a pair of scissors, and snipped off her hospital ID bracelet.

“What on earth are you doing?” she said. “You’re going to get thrown out of here.”