“Perhaps someone can help change his mind about things, Eli. Perhaps not. Either way, he’ll get his way, with you or with another. He’s tired of nameless trysts in backrooms, Eli. He wants someone he can…do things with here at home or when he’s traveling. Less risk, you see?”
“And his former assistant?”
“Oh, Miss Carnegie. She…set up a few dates for him, but no, they never had relations.”
Eli felt dirty, like he’d never be clean again, and he gulped the hot tea, hoping to burn his tongue enough to take his mind from the filth that was collecting there. “Mars…”
“I realize it’s not ideal. You are sitting in the pit of the town, in with a person that others have voted in to better serve them, and like most, they serve themselves. You had to know this employment wouldn’t be easy or morally sound.”
The warnings from his friends, the red flags of his own, hadn’t stopped him when they should have. “Now, it’s too late. Isn’t it?”
Mars sipped his tea, stalling the inevitable. He said it, though, when he could see Eli was waiting. “Yes, Mr. Bloom. I’m afraid it is.”
After finishing the tea and tense information, he bid Mars goodnight and went up the stairs. So much made sense. His room so close to Lee’s, having the money hanging over his head, all of it.
He got no sleep, but was up with little trouble, his mind constantly noisy, worry filling him. He got on the computer and got into the daily email from the anonymous sender, aptly handled[emailprotected].Once he read it over, his blood began to boil, and he knew then what a mistake he’d made.
Most of it spoke about the bait and switch. Since several of the party’s highest leaders were being investigated, they were to keep the public looking somewhere else. In this case, like in so many in the past that Eli had guessed at, it was pointing to a former leader of the other party’s side. Being a strong woman had been enough to spark so much ire from the old boys’ club, but being she did so much for other women, that was the kicker.
So, this week, they were sending out a lie about her involvement in a deal when she was still in politics. That was twelve years earlier, but that didn’t stop them.
“Jesus.”
Other talking points were bad enough, but as Eli read down the sheet, they were touting another bill in another state that would seriously curb the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
As he read over the entire list, he grew angrier, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t matter, not in the scheme of things. He couldn’t tell anyone what he knew. If he did, he’d be hunted for life by the party and their voters.
He showered and changed, heading out of his room with the list on his tablet. As he left his room, he nearly ran into Mars as he carried a tray with Lee’s breakfast to him. “Good morning, Mr. Bloom.”
“Morning, Mars. Is he awake?”
“I was just about to wake him. Please, come in.”
The doors opened and it was so dark, he could barely see, but Mars set the tray on a side table, flipping on a dim lamp. “Senator, sir, good morning,” Mars said to the sleeping man.
Lee stretched, opening his eyes and they landed right on Eli. He yawned but then, as the yawn faded, his lips twisted into a smile that was dark and menacing. “Good morning, both of you. Eli, you look rested.”
That had to be a lie since he hadn’t rested a bit. The words were hollow even to himself as he said low, “Morning, sir.”
Mars placed the tray over Lee’s lap and poured his coffee for him. “Stocks are up this morning in Japan, sir.”
“Good. Eli? Did you receive today’s memo?”
“Yes. I did.”
“Good. Pull that chair over to the bed here and let’s get started.”
Reading down the list, he heard his own voice, how it dripped with disdain as he read over the bait and switch and the talking points against his community. “My,” Lee said as he laughed and straightened his blue silk tie. “Someone has a hair across their ass.”
“Senator…you’re…okay you’re not, but you do things that could be seen as gay. Why are you going after the community? This kind of thing ruins lives!”
“I didn’t propose any bill like that. Those are from state legislatures. No bill like that is coming up in the federal level.”
“Still, this is your home state, Senator. Can’t you…stop them?”
“No! It’s on the talking points, Eli. We’re moving close to ending abortion, so we need another cause for the one issue voters, or we could lose them to the other side.” Lee reached over to pull out the drawer of his nightstand, and there, under a bottle of lube, was the Bible. He pulled it out and said, “Open a page and stick your finger there while closing your eyes.”