Absolute Rage by Robert K. Tanenbaum Page A

it?”
    â€œHe promised me a quarter of the crop and a peck o’ salt. I thought it was a pretty good deal.”
    â€œBut now you’re ready to go to the beach and have a picnic, which your wife has lovingly prepared, despite the urgencies of running a vast and complex enterprise. You look remarkably sexy as a peasant, by the way.”
    â€œMistress like Ivan?” said Karp, throwing down his hoe and advancing on her all sweaty and filthy, and she shrieked and they had a little chase around the garden, while Giancarlo looked on with benign interest, like a faun.
    At the beach, they found Rose Heeney and her daughter, and Marlene set up her blanket and establishment adjoining and made the introductions. The boys and Karp ran off to splash around. Marlene looked sympathetically at Lizzie, who was making a good show of pretending that she did not care and rolled her eyes at Rose. “Men!”
    Rose’s smile in return was weak, and her face showed more strain than it had the previous day. She said, “Lizzie, go off and play with the boys. They have a raft.”
    â€œI’d rather stay here.”
    â€œNo, go. Build a castle, swim. Go ahead.”
    Lizzie took the hint and wandered off.
    â€œSomething wrong?” Marlene inquired.
    â€œOh . . . yes, as a matter of fact. Red called late last night. He came back from a meeting and found someone had shot Lady, our dog. She was dead in the yard. A big stupid mutt, loved everybody. Completely useless as a guard, of course. Dan used to say she was a reverse watch-dog. She barked continuously until a burglar arrived and then she’d shut up and go lick his hand.” Rose pulled her sunglasses off and stared out to the water. Marlene saw that her eyes were wet. “Stupid dog. I don’t know how I’m going to tell Lizzie. She practically grew up with her.”
    â€œDo they think it was a burglar?”
    â€œNo. It was some evil son of a bitch working for Weames. Escalating the threat.”
    â€œWeames is . . . ?”
    â€œLester Weames. Red’s running against him for the union presidency. The Union of Mining Equipment Operators. Known as UMEO. It’s a small outfit, basically covers strip mine operators in three or four states, very Appalachian and totally corrupt. Weames has been in there for eighteen years, screwing the workers and staying cozy with the mine operators.”
    â€œI thought they didn’t allow that anymore. I thought the feds came in . . .”
    â€œWell, you thought wrong,” said Rose bitterly. “Southern West Virginia is not really that much a part of the US of A when you come down to it. Weames keeps the coal flowing, and the coal keeps the lights turned on and the Internet humming. Yeah, there’ve been investigations, but he’s smart. He lives modestly and he’s got a gang of loyalists around him who keep him clean. On the few occasions the feds picked up something, they threw them a couple of small fry and they went back inside the Beltway feeling they did a good day’s work. The bottom line is nobody much cares, except Red.”
    â€œWill he win?”
    â€œOh, he might get the most votes. Red’s real popular among the rank and file. But whether Weames will let him actually take office is a whole other story. His guys count the ballots. It would be better for Weames, though, if Red just forgot about it. That’s been suggested in very strong terms.”
    â€œThreats?”
    â€œExpressions of displeasure, yeah. Phone calls in the middle of the night. A dead skunk in the mailbox. Tires slashed. Now, Lady . . .” Rose sighed. “That’s why I’m spending the summer here with Lizzie, instead of supporting him in McCullensburg, like a good wife. When they started to get rough, I discovered I was easily distinguishable from Mother Jones.” A self-deprecating laugh here, but Marlene saw it was