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Even Ross was a bit miffed. The speeding car and the way the agents had reacted had caused his heart to race. “Yes, Stu?”
“I need to talk to you.”
It was classic Garret. No greetings. No niceties. No small talk, formality, or informality. The campaign manager, and head of the transition team, was forever in a rush.
“Great to see you too,” Ross quipped. “Did you get a new jacket?”
“I’m fucking freezing my ass off. If there wasn’t so much to do I’d get on a plane right now and fly back to California.”
Ross looked at the sky. It was a gray overcast afternoon with little wind. The temperature was probably somewhere in the high thirties. Not really that bad.
“You need to toughen up.”
Garret entered the inner circle and growled, “You need to pull your head out of your ass and turn on your damn cell phone.”
The smile on Ross’s face disappeared. “Excuse me?”
“Get in the limo.” Garret grabbed Ross by the elbow and pointed at the open door. “Let’s go.”
Jonathan Gordon tried to follow, but Garret put out a hand and said, “Ride in one of the other cars. I need him alone.”
Gordon was eye to eye with Garret. He had grown to detest this foul little man. Gordon had been with Ross since the beginning of his political career. It had been his job to temper Ross’s narcissistic tendencies without crushing his fragile ego. He had been fiercely loyal, even during the campaign when Garret had been brought in to shake things up.
“Jonathan,” Ross called out from inside the limo. “It’s all right. We’ll talk when we get to the house.”
Garret climbed in closing the door behind him. He sat in the seat opposite Ross and craned his neck around to make sure the privacy screen was up. It was. Garret spun back around, threw open his coat, and rattled off a series of expletives.
Ross kicked out his feet and said, “I see the holidays haven’t improved your mood.”
“Holidays…that’s a good one. Almost as good as you flying commercial.”
The limo started moving. Ross looked out the window and said, “Considering the fact that I was at an environmental conference, I think it was a rather good idea.”
“How was the conference?”
“It was nice. The skiing was great. The foot soldiers really appreciated me showing up.”
Garret leaned forward placing his hands on his knees. “He was right. You’re drunk on power.”
“What are you talking about?” Ross asked with a frown.
“Do you think I give a shit about the skiing, or how impressed the tree huggers were that you showed up?” Garret shook his head in disbelief. “I’m not kidding…you need to pull your head out of your ass.”
Ross’s face flushed with anger. “Stu, you need to watch your mouth.”
“My mouth is the least of your problems. Fuck.” He sat back and frowned. “I was on the phone with our friend for nearly thirty minutes this morning.”
“Who?”
“Our friend.” Garret tilted his head and looked at Ross to see if he was putting two and two together. “The one you had wine with last night.”
“Oh…that friend.”
“Yeah…that friend. He’s pissed. He says you’re delusional. You’ve somehow managed to rationalize this whole thing and wash your hands of it.?
?
“I’ve done no such thing.”
