She didn't know shorthand but the steno pad was a convenient size.
" I'm ready." She hoped she sounded confident. She was beginning to feel the weight of the responsibility she'd taken on. And she'd be shouldering it in public.
She'd watched congressional hearings on TV before and seen aides passing notes or whispering in committee members' ears, hard to believe people would be watching her doing. the same today. Her father was staying home from the store this morning to watch C-SPAN.
Senator Marsden winked at her. "And maybe when this is over you can write a more evenhanded op-ed piece for the Tiones-Piaaygne." Gin stiffened. "You know about that? " "Sure. Joe showed it to me shortly after the interview. It's his job to background anyone joining my staff."
"I was afraid it might put you off." He rose and tucked a bulging file folder under his arm.
"I spent forty years in business. I learned the worst thing you can do is surround yourself with yes-men. That's why I like to keep a devil's advocate around." Gin felt a burst of warmth for this man. Alicia had called him "one of the good guys" and now Gin believed her.
"I'll be it."
"Then let's go." The hearing room was gorgeous, paneled floor to ceiling in gleaming mahogany. The carved ceiling would have been at home in Versailles, nearly twenty feet high, white with delicate, hand-painted blue designs. Rich red carpet stretched wall to wall.
Three tall windows ran almost to the ceiling and were trimmed with black crepe in honor of the committee's departed member, Congressman Lane. Set between the windows and all around the room were giant brass sconces, designed like ornate torches that would not have been out of place in the Roman Senate. Each flared a wedge of light against the paneling above it. All the furniture, the curved dais where the committee members sat like knights of the semicircular table, the witness table, the visitor chairs, was fashioned of mahogany perfectly matched to the paneling. The red leather on the seats and backs of the chairs arranged in neat rows for visitors and witnesses and lined against the wall behind the dais for the committee members' aides matched the carpet, as did the leather inlays in the tops of the press tables flanking both sides of the room.
Chaos reigned. Photographers were jockeying for position in the space allotted them, reporters were weaving through the mix of legislators, witnesses, and visitors, looking for comments, sniffng for rumors, while the C-SPAN technicians made final adjustments on their cameras, one near the front and the other midline at the rear.
Gin followed Senator Marsden to the dais, why did it feel so special to stroll past the "Staff Only" sign? , and staked out a chair behind his spot at the apex of the semicircle. Zach would be with her. Charlie had stayed behind at the office. While Marsden began arranging his papers, she looked out over the milling crowd and was shocked.
Duncan.
"Senator, do I have time to talk to someone? " "Of course, ' he said, glancing up at the disorder before him. "We won't come to order for at least another ten or fifteen minutes." As she stepped off the dais, someone tapped her on the shoulder.
Another familiar face, one she was very glad to see.
"Gerry! What are you doing here? " "Just stopped by to say hello. " "But how'd you get in? " He flashed his FBI ID. "Never underestimate the power of the Department of Justice. I knew this was your big day and I just wanted to wish you luck. I'dtve brought flowers but, " "Oh, I'm glad you didn't. I wouldn't have known what to do with them." He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. "Knock em dead, Gin. " She gave him a hug. "Thanks. That means a lot." And it did. No one else had wished her luck, or thought she should even be here. She watched him go, then spotted Duncan on the far side of the room. He was talking to one of the committee members, Senator Vincent. Both looked to be about the same age, wore suits of similar cut, but Duncan's trim figure and aristocratic bearing somehow left the senator looking like a poor relation. And what had the senator done to his hair? A permanent?
She tapped Duncan on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, sir, " she said in an offcious voice. "Do you have a pass?
" Duncan greeted her with a warm smile and threw an arm around her shoulders.
"I was wondering when you'd show up. Senator Vincent, I'd like you to meet Senator Marsden's newest assistant, Dr. Gin Panzella. Also my surgical assistant. In fact, she assisted me on your procedure. " Senator Vincent glanced around uncomfortably as he shook Gin's hand.
"I wish you wouldn't, " "Don't worry, Senator, " Duncan said. "Gin is the soul of discretion, just like everyone else on my staff. You know that."
"You look great, Senator, " Gin said, and she meant it.
Except for the hair. But as far as the surgery, the improvement was remarkable. Amazing how all that redundant flesh under his chin had aged him. He looked at least fifteen years younger.
But that hair. Ugh.
"So I look okay? No sign that I had, that anything was done? " "Not a bit, ' Duncan said. "I predict you'll be the next bright star in the C-SPAN firmament." Senator Vincent laughed nervously.
"I'm serious, " Duncan said. "After your performance today, you're going to be on all the networks. Mark my words." Just then a beeper sounded. Duncan had his hand in his coat pocket.
Gin watched him pull out his oversized pager, the same one he'd had on the west portico of the Capitol . . .
. . . the day Congressman Allard fell down the Capitol steps.
He grunted and said, "Now, who could this be? " He looked at the display window and pressed a button. At that moment the hearing room's PA system began a feedback howl, and Gin noticed Senator Vincent wince and begin massaging the outside of his right thigh.
"Something wrong? " she asked him.
"I don't know, " he said. "For a second there it was almost like a bee sting. But it's better now." He glanced at the dock high on the rear wall. "We'll be starting soon. Excuse me." Gin turned to Duncan as Senator Vincent wandered off. "Anything important? " Duncan had already pocketed the pager. "One of my golf foursome.
Probably checking on our tee time And may I ask, who was that man with whom you were engaging in a public display of affection? " "Gerry Canney. An old friend from high school. He's now an FBI agent. " "And I suppose you embrace all your old high school friends whenever you see them? " Gin felt herself blush. "He's a little more than a friend."
"I see, " Duncan said, raising his eyebrows. "Well, I'm happy for you." Gin regarded him. Something different about Duncan this morning. He seemed wound up. Like a Thoroughbred owner before a big race.
'"Three guesses who's the last person I expected to see here this morning." -His eyebrows lifted even higher. "Me? I wouldn't miss this show for the world."
"It's the hottest ticket in town. How'd you get in? " '"Consider for a moment the names in my patient files, Gin, and tell me who in this Circus Maximus is better connected than yours truly." He cocked his head toward Senator Vincent. "Actually, it was the good senator himself who saw to it."
"You'd probably be better off watching it on C-SPAN."
"Nothing like. actually being there." He sniffed. "Catch that, Gin?
The effluvium of naked power waiting to be unleashed. Heady stuff."