Authors: Dee Dawning
trying to get ahold of Ms. Cummings or her lieutenants who are getting ready for a large rally in Denver, Colorado. As soon as we get a comment from them
regarding this incident we will bring it to you. In the meantime, here is Ellen Day with some other news of the day…"
Ten minutes later, Jeff Golem was back. "Good news, Tim Allen has Lee
Casey standing by. Tim?"
"Thank you, Jeff. I have Lee Casey, co-chairman of Stand Aligned for
Equality with me here at a stadium in Denver." He turned to Lee Casey. "Good afternoon, sir. I assume you've heard the accusations from portions of the
media?"
"That's correct, Tim."
"And? Does Sally Cummings have a response?"
"She may choose to respond to this vile nonsense, but I recommend against
it. In the meantime, let me say this. I was there and I can tell you unequivocally that nothing happened. I am not surprised by these unsubstantiated smear tactics from the right—it is how they operate—but I challenge these false witnesses to
provide one crumb of evidence."
"Well, sir, what's unclear is in which room and which bed everyone spent
the night."
"You know it's really no one's business, but I will tell you. I spent the night in bed, in room 1627. Because the Ritz Carlton was fully booked and I was a last minute addition, Winfred Opry's personal aid, Dillon Reed, was unable to book a
third room. Therefore, Sally and Lindy graciously agreed to share room 1625,
and nothing happened! Case closed!"
"Excuse me sir, but if you weren't in the room, how do you know?"
"Because, I could hear them talking and once they said good night, I never
heard anything else. What do the other parties have, other than three people
shared two rooms—out of necessity, I might add?"
~ * * ~
Three days later Crowe went to meet his mole.
As Crowe entered Starbucks he wondered which persona Melissa would
present. First thing, he glanced to the corner table where she always sat. Crowe frowned. Melissa!
Melissa had made it patently clear she didn't want to be seen meeting with
the RNC chairman while working for the Pinks.
Crowe got into the short line. He dared a short glance her way. She nodded.
There was a scowl on her beautiful face. Instantly, he averted his gaze. What's
up?
"Here's your Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino, Mr. Magnon." He glanced
up. The plump, young barista smiled as she held out the candied coffee drink.
Crowe chuckled inside. Too many Chocolate-chip Mocha Frappuccinos.
Crowe recalled his Mistress's scowl, and his hand began to shake as he
reached for the container. She's mad about something. Taking the cup, he
steadied his hand with his other hand. Time to visit mole-lady.
Crowe sat at the table and took in Melissa's countenance. As usual, she
looked yummy. She wore a bright, floral summer dress. "Hi, Melissa. You're
looking exceptionally beautiful this morning."
Apparently, unmoved, Melissa held her hand out. "You have something for
me. He passed the envelope containing her half-million-dollar check. She slit it with her weapon-grade fingernails, glanced inside and flashed a one-sided smile.
Promptly, she handed a sealed envelope to Crowe. "Here are the latest stats."
Crowe opened the envelope. "Why are you acting so—?"
"Businesslike, aloof, irritated?" Melissa suggested.
"Yes, all of those things."
"Crowe, I can't do this anymore."
"Why."
"These aren't mean, nasty people like you work for. These are kind, loving
people who want what's best for the country. Not just the obscenely rich, but the whole country.
"I just love them and I can't put any of them through what happened with
Ritz Carlton-gate again. They're going to win, you know. I'm going to do
everything I can to help them win, and when they do, everything will change."
"What about all the money you've been making?"
"I don't need that any more. Since becoming known as Sally Cummings
clothier and beauty consultant, my boutique and spa are doing extraordinarily
well." "What about being my Mistress?"
Melissa grinned. "I will miss mistreating you, but I need to move on. Don't worry, I know a dominatrix I can refer you to.
Crowe was taken aback, but not so much that he didn't remember Rogue's
ominous warning. We need someone in their camp. If you can't do it, I'll find
someone who will.
Crowe took his former mole's hand. "Melissa, please. I need you there. If
you quit me now, my boss will fire me and hire someone meaner and nastier.
You wouldn't want that would you?"
"Of course not. You're really not a bad guy. I've really learned a lot about your party since I've been with SAFE, and you're one of the nicer men over
there."
"Then don't quit."
"I have to. For the last several weeks I've felt like a traitor to my friends."
"You won't have to. Hear me out. Keep the job and the fantastic money. Just give me weekly stats, which I think you'll agree are harmless and weekly news
reports. Nothing scandalous, just things like Sally gave a speech in Podunk,
Georgia or maybe Lee Casey drinks Samuel Adams beer. Just one innocent news
report a day. That way, the people you hate could help fund the people you
love's candidacies."
"When you put it that way…Can I still give them dresses and mark them
up?" "Sure, same deal."
Melissa smiled and held out her hand. "You got yourself a deal."
~ * * ~
Days later, as Melissa pulled into the SAFE headquarters parking lot,
several police patrol cars and an ambulance with red and blue flashing lights
were parked around the building. Oh my God! What happened?
Lindy and Brenda talked with to two officers while other officers surveyed
damage and affixed crime scene tape. Two medics burst through what was left of
the front doors, pushing a gurney, and lifted the injured person into the
ambulance. Broken glass covered the sidewalk. Oh my God, every pane of glass
is broken.
Melissa parked her Beamer next to Lindy's SUV, jumped out and rushed
toward her friends. About ten feet from the group an officer intercepted her.
"Whoa, where are you going ma'am?"
"I, ah, work here."
One of the police officers with Lindy and Brenda yelled, "It's all right, Jim.
These ladies vouch for her."
Jim removed his hand. "Sorry ma'am, just doing my job."
He waved her through and she rushed to her friends. A siren wailed and
the ambulance took off in a rush. "What happened? Who was injured?"
The officer answered, "There will be an investigating team here shortly.
What we know for sure is your nighttime security guard was shot in the arm."
The other officer continued, "The obvious assumption is that since gunplay
was involved in the security guard's injury, the windows were shot out, but
crime scene analysts will sort that out."
By then, Sally, her secret service agents, Lee, and several other workers had
arrived. Sally asked the policemen, "When could we have use of the building again."
The officer whose badge read Steve asked, "Who are the suits with you?"
"They are my Secret Service detail. Now, will you answer my question?"
"That's up to the lead investigator."
"Where is he?"
"I just saw him and his partner enter the building."
"Can I go in there and talk with him? I have people here showing up for
work and I need to tell them what to do."
When a panel truck pulled up and three more detectives—crime scene
investigators—fanned out, Steve called out to one of the new arrivals, "Hey, Gilchrist."
One of the crime scene people turned toward him. "What?"
"Can you ask Dirks to come out here and talk to these people?"
Ten minutes later a sloppily dressed detective, who could have been
Colombo except for his bald head, came out and addressed Steve, who pointed
to Sally. "This lady needs to know what to do."
He turned to Sally and offered his hand. "Sergeant Dirks." As Sally shook it, he said, "Sorry for your troubles ma'am."
"That's all right. The main thing is we catch these thugs."
"Yes ma'am, we'll do our best. I haven't been here long, but my initial guess is two or more participants used your building for target practice from points
unknown. I'm sorry, but we are going to need full access to your headquarters
for twenty-four hours. Maybe longer."
With a frown, Sally turned to everyone. "Go home for now. If you can work
from home, please do. Brenda and Millie will notify you when you can return."
As all of her co-workers and friends returned to their vehicles or the bus
stop, two TV vans pulled up. Melissa decided it was a good time to skedaddle, so she started her car and drove off, passing two reporters as they drove in.
~ * * ~
The more Melissa thought about what had happened, the angrier she got.
She just knew Crowe was involved somehow and if he wasn't directly involved,
he knew about it. She drove straight to her boutique and texted Crowe.
Call me. Important.
Mel
A half hour later, Crowe called. "Hi baby, What's up?"
"I'm not your baby, asshole! Why'd you do it?"
"Why'd I do what?"
"Don't play coy with me. What happened at the SAFE headquarters this
morning is right out of the Republican 'winning is everything' playbook."
"Sweetheart, I really don't know anything. Why don't you calm down and
tell me what happened."
Melissa began to question her assumption. Could he not know? Everything
goes through the RNC, but he really sounds confused. "I'm not going to tell you anything. If you don't know, you should know. The news should be breaking on
the internet and TV by now. When you find out who did this, call me, or I'm
quitting for sure."
~ * * ~
Crowe hadn't managed to find his remote to turn on Wolf News before his
intercom rang. "Yes Priscilla?"
"Mr. Rogue is on line one for you."
"Thanks."
"Morning Boss."
"Good morning, Crowe. Brilliant move at the House of Pink this morning."
Crowe didn't know what Rogue was taking about, but he wasn't above
playing both sides of an issue. "Thank you, sir. As you can imagine, I'm
extremely busy with what's happened. Can I call you back?"
"Certainly."
Crowe was searching for the TV remote control when Willie Joe Flounder
walked in. "Hey, Boss. Wasn't that something at SAFE Headquarters this
morning?"
Geeze, at this rate I'll be the last person in D.C. to know what happened.
"What's that?"
"The shooting this morning. Aren't we behind it?"
Crowe grit his teeth. "I didn't say that. I just wanted your impression of
what went on."
Willie Joe grinned. "It was so cool. Persons unknown shot out every
storefront window in SAFE headquarters. Wounded a guard though, and that
wasn't so cool."
"I know. Must'a been a ricochet."
"Anyway, just came in to say good job. Lunch at the Body Shop? I'll buy."
Crowe grinned. "Sounds good."
Chapter Nineteen – Five Weeks to Election
"Because women's liberation is a movement of the powerless for the powerless, its attraction is not immediately clear to the powerless, who feel they need
alliance with the powerful to survive." -
Rosemary O'Grady
Though SAFE had stopped reporting the numbers of their membership,
Pundits estimated by October first, the party membership numbered
somewhere between 38 and 40 million. The Pinks, as people commonly called
them, had also stopped reporting the number of their candidates.
Nonetheless, one enterprising group managed to come up with a number
by checking every state, county, city and township ballot in the country—a
mammoth task—and came up with a total of 15,432 candidates.
Media coverage of the shootings at SAFE's National Campaign
headquarters was intense. Police confirmed that three different rifles were used from a rooftop approximately a hundred yards away to shoot out the SAFE
windows. The culprits seemed to have vanished. Police continued to investigate
the incident, but life moves on and soon the incident faded from media coverage
and the public's memory.
In the meantime, Lee Casey coached Sally thoroughly, for each of the
October's debates, which ultimately drew record interest and viewers.
~ * * ~
The first debate, held October 3rd at the University of Denver, was hosted
by Washington Post/ABC. Sally hadn't quite recovered from a four-point drop in
the polls due to the Ritz Carlton non-scandal, something the other parties played for all it was worth. So the debates were viewed as a way for Sally to regain her momentum.
Lee had coached Sally mercilessly, and though he claimed she was as ready
as anyone he'd ever coached, she was quite nervous. After all this wasn't just for her or her country. It was for the women across the world, too.
In the end, all their hard work paid off. Though the public thought there
was no clear winner, most agreed Sally had the best answers.
~ * * ~
Three days later, with Melissa in tow, Lindy rushed into Sally's office.
"Sally, have you seen the new poll numbers?"
Sally glanced up. "Are they out?"
"Is our office pink?"
Sally laughed. "Well, Ms. Campaign Manager, don't keep me in suspense."
"I have them right here." Lindy set the sheet in front of Sally. "This sheet is the approval rating poll. Cooper has thirty-six percent to your thirty-three