best.â
She said it with a finality that silenced him for the moment. In reality, as a Red Cross evacuee she had as much right to take a flight to Los Angeles as to Nairobi. She was also a nurse who had obviously taken to the boy. He had no reason to suggest she do anything against her wishes, regardless of how wacky they seemed. It was a wacky world.
âFine,â he said.
She nodded. âGood.â
4
Minus 2 days
C HARLES C RANDAL STOOD TALL AND COMMANDING , a confident smile curving his lips just so, basking in the winds of political favor, his arms thrust over his head in a victory sign. Four thousand of San Diegoâs citizens had discarded any notion of spending a day at the beach in favor of hearing this man shake the rafters with his call to power. They stood on the parkâs green grass with fists lifted to the sky, young and old, male and female, mimicking the victory sign. Paying homage to Charles Crandal, who had persuaded them that he should be the next president of the United States.
Blane Roberts watched him from the side of the podium, intrigued by the manâs ability to bring out their affections. Crandalâs shiny bald skull flexed with his smile. He wasnât particularly handsome, but even there, looking at the women crying out to him, you would think him a rock legend. John Lennon resurrected. In these moments even Roberts wanted to believe the stump speech. There was a sort of redemption in unity alone, he thought, regardless of its focus. It could be Hitler up here with a flat palm saluting the fine residents of Southern California and they would hardly know the difference.
They were chanting, âPower to the people . Power to the people,â which was a slogan Roberts had come up with (yuk, yuk) , and it might just as well have been, âWeâll follow you to hell . Weâll follow you to hell,â for all they knew. Either way it didnât matter; people like Crandal were destined to rule. This campaigning stuff was Americaâs road to power, but in reality, when you really got behind all the flags and the dancing girls, true leaders made their own roads. And in the case of Charles Crandal, Roberts was as much the road builder as the man San Diego was going batso over at the moment.
Crandal turned, made one last gesture to the peopleâan open-armed we-are-family gestureâand walked toward Roberts, who smiled and nodded supportively.
They walked off the platform together and headed directly for the black limousine waiting on the parkâs driveway. Their bodyguards, Bone and Carson, followed at ten paces as demanded by Crandal. âYou had even me going there,â Roberts said with a chuckle.
âKeep smiling, Roberts. I know it doesnât come natural, but humor me.â
âIâm smiling; Iâm smiling. I heard from our people in Eritrea.â
Crandal turned to meet a reporter who had slipped past the line and ran to catch them. A security man was striding to intercept, but Crandal waved him off with a casual hand. It was Donna Blair, political correspondent for NBC, her trademark blue eyes smiling even now at twenty feet. The blond anchor-turned-correspondent did not possess the muscles required to frown, Roberts thought. The wind had disheveled her short hair, but the look only complemented her.
âNo interviews, Donna. I thought I made that clear.â Crandal said it with a grin, but his voice carried a slight bite.
âWho said anything about an interview?â She pulled up and smiled pointedly, a gesture that made most men blink. âHow does it feel to be ten points up on your opponent eight weeks before the election?â
âSounds like a question to me.â Crandal paused, studying her. âTen points, huh? Which poll?â
âOurs. And itâs a word of congratulations, not a question. How about a sit-down in Los Angeles next
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