He’d won the battle, but lost the war. A government was going to be established. It was like the Allied invasion on D-Day. The war wasn’t won that day. In fact, it would take nearly a year to make the Germans surrender. However, they did eventually win. Not that Patton wanted to liken himself to the Nazis, but the analogy fit. The committee took a beating, but they established a toe hold. It would only be a matter of time before they expanded their influence on Blue Creek.
His friends complimented Patton on his debating prowess and congratulated him on his “victory.”
“I didn’t win anything,” Patton said, surprising everyone.
Confused, Mike Wilson asked, “What do you mean? You just kicked the old man’s ass.”
Patton shrugged.
“That’s the thing. Just because I beat him tonight doesn’t mean that it’s over. People like him don’t give up. We have to keep paying attention to what they do. Otherwise, they’ll end up doing what it is they had planned all along.”
Mike, Frank and Shontae, and Jennifer were deflated. Noticing that he’d taken all of the fun out of the room, Patton tried to put a positive spin on it.
“But I did kick his ass,” he said, grinning widely.
“That son of a bitch!” Charlie screamed, throwing his whiskey glass against the wall. It shattered and sprayed bits of glass all over himself. The next morning he would notice the broken ceramic tiles on his wall where the glass had hit. Charlie resembled a child, standing there, just inside the open door. He held his chin to his chest, shoulders hunched, fists clenched. He was literally seething.
Why couldn’t they have killed Larsen when they had the chance? He walked to his bar and made himself a vodka tonic. He slugged it down and then made another. He fought the urge to throw the second glass. He had a big enough mess to clean up already.
How could that bastard have outwitted him so easily?
Charlie went into a small washroom and turned on the light. He splashed cold water onto his face. He looked at himself in the mirror. It was an ugly sight. Disheveled hair, bloodshot eyes, drawn and pale skin. Charlie would usually smoke some marijuana to take the edge off, but this was going to take something with a little more punch. Charlie reached into his nightstand and pulled out a small black leather case, unzipped it, and readied the contents. He removed a small plastic bag from his night stand. It contained an off-white colored powder, a spoon, and a lighter.
Charlie was trying to quit this habit, nasty as it was. Shooting heroin was like playing Russian roulette, he knew, especially when he was amped up. He prepped the dose using pure muscle memory. He could, and sometimes did, do it in the dark. Charlie depressed the plunger and untied a rubber hose from his arm. The rush was immediate and incredible. In his mind’s eye, the last thing he could see before drifting off was Anna’s glorious, naked body. Then… everything… went black.
CHAPTER 13
As autumn progressed so did preparations for the implementation of the government. Elections would be held in January and candidates were lining up to run for either the office of governor or as a member of the Council. A new government building was being built a block south of Main Street. A local architect had been commissioned to design it and his renderings were placed on the Microcosm.org website. It was going to be a very large and simple, yet beautiful red brick building. The design called for three stories, including a basement. The building and its annexes would swallow up nearly an entire city block. A groundbreaking ceremony was scheduled for January, just after the elections. A sense of calm was beginning to emerge. Many citizens felt that with a government in place, and with an official police department and fire department, the town’s residents would be much safer.
Insight spies were out, trying to gauge citizens’ feelings about the government. An unofficial poll of hundreds of voting aged residents showed that a large majority wanted a government and many felt that the experiment’s organizers had been irresponsible by not having a government in place. Along with the approval of the establishment of a government was the sense that following the U.S Constitution was the only way to go. The once divisive issue of establishing a government was beginning to reunite the people. A sense of calm, after the turbulent and violent summer, was beginning to return to the town, as was the sense of community.
The deadline to file petitions to run for office was October 1st, less than two weeks away. If Anna was going to persuade David to run for the town’s governor she decided she would have to tell him right away. That would give her a week to help him overcome any objections he might have.
There was another problem—Charlie. The thought of him caused Anna to reflexively roll her eyes. The physical relationship was long since over, something that Charlie complained about less and less. Her problem was that she needed him and his experience. He needed her for her youth, her energy, and her ability to network with younger people. They both acknowledged, furthermore, that they needed a face to their movement. That’s where David would come in.
Charlie could see the benefits of including David Asher. He was handsome and charismatic, relatively intelligent, and was articulate. However, he’d discovered through his spy network that Anna had become romantically involved with him. This fact irritated him every time Anna brought up David’s name. Still, there were bigger things to worry about. He was willing to overlook Anna’s relationship with the younger man, but it wasn’t easy.
Despite all of her reservations to ask David to join their consortium, he proved to be willing. Not just willing, but eager. What Anna didn’t know was that David had known for weeks that she was going to ask him to join her and Charlie’s enterprise. What she and Charlie didn’t know was that David Asher was no pushover. He would have his say, or he would not participate.
Anna and Charlie’s followers quickly got the signatures needed for David to run for Blue Creek governor. They were the first campaign to organize, to raise money, and to advertise. Before any other prospective candidates had even found campaign managers, the Asher campaign was already well underway.
Now that the battle with Charlie Henry and company was now over, Patton was able to concentrate on other things, namely his wedding. Once the dust settled from the government fight, he realized how much he’d neglected his fiancé and their planning. Most of the big things were already planned, but it was the small things that needed to be decided. A pianist for their ceremony and reception, final arrangements for the honeymoon, flight and lodging for his mother.
Patton was in a daze thinking about these things when he looked up and glanced at a billboard. It was one of only a few billboards in all of Blue Creek and he drove by it every day since it was erected. This time, however, something caught Patton’s eye that he had never noticed before. It was an image of a smiling man. He was at least ten years younger than Patton, possibly more. He was extremely handsome—even Patton had to admit that. He had blondish hair and crystal blue eyes. There was something about the smile that seemed familiar.
Patton stewed about it for the rest of his ten minute drive into his office. He’d seen that face somewhere before. Not just in passing either. Patton reached his building and parked. He walked to his office and greeted his employees as he always did. Still, his mind was on that face. He logged onto the Blue Creek intranet site. There was that picture again, the same advertisement. Patton finally took the time to read what the ad was for—the man was running for Blue Creek governor. He clicked on the ad and a new webpage opened up.