School of Public Affairs. State politics. Not federal politics. Texas, not Washington. Minor leagues, not the majors. He often felt like a baseball pitcher with a ninety-eight-mile-an-hour fastball stuck in the minors his entire career. Sure, he was playing baseball, but …
"So, Professor, what exactly is my job description?" Eddie said.
"Odd jobs."
"Odd jobs?"
Jim Bob nodded. "Your skill set uniquely qualifies you to handle certain tasks for me during the governor's campaign for reelection."
Eddie Jones was not educated or refined or possessed of a particularly pleasing personality, but he was handy to have around when it was dark out.
"Like what?"
"I don't know yet. But things always come up during the course of a campaign that require special attention. Unforeseen things. Unexpected things. Unpleasant things that require an unpleasant man."
Jim Bob Burnet would never get his candidate into the White House, but he sure as hell wouldn't have his candidate kicked out of the Governor's Mansion. So he had hired Eddie Jones as an insurance policy of sorts. The sort of insurance seldom needed but which could prove career-saving if needed. A stop-loss policy. The business of politics was often unpleasant and often required an unpleasant man. He turned to the TV. The news returned from commercial break to a female Yale law professor arguing in favor of ObamaCare. They listened for a minute, then Jim Bob pointed the remote and muted her voice.
"Damn," Eddie said, "that bitch's voice sounds like the brakes on an old Ford pickup I had back in high school. And she's ugly as sin to boot. Hope to hell for her sake she can suck a tennis ball through a garden hose, otherwise she's gonna have to pay a man to screw her. Cash money."
Yes, Jim Bob thought, Eddie Jones was the right man for the job.
"The governor, he is a very lucky man," Congressman Delgado said, "to have such a wife as you. And that I am not thirty years younger, for I would take you away from him."
"You're very sweet, Congressman. And thank you for the late lunch."
Lindsay Bonner was still high on adrenaline when she and Ranger Roy followed Congressman Delgado into his downtown Laredo office situated on the north bank of the Rio Grande. The receptionist took one look at the blood on her suit and jumped up.
"Mrs. Bonner—are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
She was more than fine. She was a nurse again. At least for a day.
"She saved a boy's life," the congressman said.
"The doctor saved his life. I helped."
"You were amazing. Awesome, as the young people say. It was very exciting—would the boy live or die?"
"What boy?" the receptionist asked.
"Mexican boy," the congressman said. "He works for a cartel, probably Los Muertos . The federales shot him. They could not take him to a hospital, so they brought him to the clinic. Jesse and Mrs. Bonner, they opened the boy's chest right there in the clinic—oh, Claudia, you should have seen all the blood. Yes, it was quite a day."
Ranger Roy's eyes had lit up at the sight of the congressman's pretty receptionist. So, like a good mother, Lindsay left her son to his awkward attempts at romance. She followed the congressman into his office. They had come back to retrieve their overnight bags. The state jet would be at the airport in an hour, and she would be back in the Governor's Mansion in two. Back in her prison, as if she had been given a twenty-four-hour furlough. She had escaped for a day and remembered how much she missed her old life. She had helped save a boy's life.
"Why would he work for a drug cartel?"
The congressman gestured her to the floor-to-ceiling window facing Mexico.
"Because on that side of the river, there is no one else to work for. The two main sources of income for Mexicans are money sent home by relatives working in the U.S. and drug money. The sad truth is, Mrs. Bonner, the Mexican economy would collapse without drug money. Even here in Laredo and other border towns on our side, the economy
"So, Professor, what exactly is my job description?" Eddie said.
"Odd jobs."
"Odd jobs?"
Jim Bob nodded. "Your skill set uniquely qualifies you to handle certain tasks for me during the governor's campaign for reelection."
Eddie Jones was not educated or refined or possessed of a particularly pleasing personality, but he was handy to have around when it was dark out.
"Like what?"
"I don't know yet. But things always come up during the course of a campaign that require special attention. Unforeseen things. Unexpected things. Unpleasant things that require an unpleasant man."
Jim Bob Burnet would never get his candidate into the White House, but he sure as hell wouldn't have his candidate kicked out of the Governor's Mansion. So he had hired Eddie Jones as an insurance policy of sorts. The sort of insurance seldom needed but which could prove career-saving if needed. A stop-loss policy. The business of politics was often unpleasant and often required an unpleasant man. He turned to the TV. The news returned from commercial break to a female Yale law professor arguing in favor of ObamaCare. They listened for a minute, then Jim Bob pointed the remote and muted her voice.
"Damn," Eddie said, "that bitch's voice sounds like the brakes on an old Ford pickup I had back in high school. And she's ugly as sin to boot. Hope to hell for her sake she can suck a tennis ball through a garden hose, otherwise she's gonna have to pay a man to screw her. Cash money."
Yes, Jim Bob thought, Eddie Jones was the right man for the job.
"The governor, he is a very lucky man," Congressman Delgado said, "to have such a wife as you. And that I am not thirty years younger, for I would take you away from him."
"You're very sweet, Congressman. And thank you for the late lunch."
Lindsay Bonner was still high on adrenaline when she and Ranger Roy followed Congressman Delgado into his downtown Laredo office situated on the north bank of the Rio Grande. The receptionist took one look at the blood on her suit and jumped up.
"Mrs. Bonner—are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
She was more than fine. She was a nurse again. At least for a day.
"She saved a boy's life," the congressman said.
"The doctor saved his life. I helped."
"You were amazing. Awesome, as the young people say. It was very exciting—would the boy live or die?"
"What boy?" the receptionist asked.
"Mexican boy," the congressman said. "He works for a cartel, probably Los Muertos . The federales shot him. They could not take him to a hospital, so they brought him to the clinic. Jesse and Mrs. Bonner, they opened the boy's chest right there in the clinic—oh, Claudia, you should have seen all the blood. Yes, it was quite a day."
Ranger Roy's eyes had lit up at the sight of the congressman's pretty receptionist. So, like a good mother, Lindsay left her son to his awkward attempts at romance. She followed the congressman into his office. They had come back to retrieve their overnight bags. The state jet would be at the airport in an hour, and she would be back in the Governor's Mansion in two. Back in her prison, as if she had been given a twenty-four-hour furlough. She had escaped for a day and remembered how much she missed her old life. She had helped save a boy's life.
"Why would he work for a drug cartel?"
The congressman gestured her to the floor-to-ceiling window facing Mexico.
"Because on that side of the river, there is no one else to work for. The two main sources of income for Mexicans are money sent home by relatives working in the U.S. and drug money. The sad truth is, Mrs. Bonner, the Mexican economy would collapse without drug money. Even here in Laredo and other border towns on our side, the economy
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