"Do I take it that my position on easing offshore drilling restrictions will affect your vote on the Guidelines bill? " '>Oh, I wouldn't put it that way. Let's just say I'm reserving my judgment until your bill gets out of committee." I see."
"It's horse trading, son, " Kramer said, getting folksy all of a sudden.
"It's what makes the wheels turn. I'm obliged to keep the home folks happy and prosperous. Remember, One person's pork-barrel project is another. person's wise investment in the local infrastructure."
"How about simply casting a vote for something because it's the right thing to do? " Gin heard a chair scrape against the floor.
"Because what's right for you isn't necessarily right for me. We'll talk again sometime, Hugh." Not wanting to get caught with her ear to the door, Gin hurried off.
She related the conversation to Alicia on their way to the Senate cafeteria in the basement of the Dirksen Building. The Hart and Dirksen buildings were attached, but the walls down here were brick, the doors a dark oak, in sharp contrast to the antiseptic decor of the newer Hart.
They passed the Senate Post Office, then turned into the of. "I'm not surprised, " Alicia said. She picked out a tuna salad and a diet Pepsi. "A lot of the people on the Hill don't think he's for real.
And the ones that do are leery of him." Gin took a turkey on rye and a Mountain Dew.
"Care to explain that?"
Alicia scanned the tables. "Let's see if we can get off by ourselves and I'll give you the true facts."
"True facts? You mean as opposed to the other kind? " "Exactly."
They found an isolated corner table. Alicia sat with her back to the wall and watched the room as she spoke.
"First off, you should know that Senator Marsden ruffled a lot of feathers right off by coming to town with a selfimposed term limit. He said depending on how much he accomplished, he might serve only one term, and absolutely positively no more than two. That was a no-no. " "What's wrong with that? " "Because term limits is a very touchy subject around here. The members like to think of themselves as elected for life."
" How can they? Congressmen have to run every two years."
"Well, as I heard one member say to another back in the eighties, You have to be a real bozo to lose this job. Incumbents average a ninety-five-percent reelection rate."
"Wow." - "I tell you, Gin, nobody wants to leave this place once they get here. And can you blame them? You're part of the most powerful government in the world. And the most expensive. Salary, perks, and privileges come to more than two million bucks per member per year. No other government even comes close. And the few bozos who somehow fail to get reelected don't go home, they hire out as lobbyists. It's called Potomac fever.
I understand it's incurable."
"Do you think Senator Marsden will catch it? " "Maybe, " she said.
"You never know. I think he's sincere when he says he doesn't intend to stay here more than two terms. But I'm in the minority, Just about everyone else on the Hill thinks it's a pose. A holier-than-thou act that he'll use to squeeze the PACs for big bucks later. They're all watching, waiting to see if it works."
"That's sick, " Gin said. "Why do you put up with it?
Why've you been at it for so long? " Alicia shrugged. Her smile was shy. "Potomac fever. We staffers aren't immune either. Who knows?
Maybe you'll catch it too. Maybe you already have." Not me, Gin thought. I'm immune to that sort of thing. She felt a twinge of uneasiness. At least I hope I am.
Gin was straightening up her work area, preparing to call it a day as a legislative aide and change into her doctor hat. Another frustrating round of writing reports on referral and utilization patterns and wondering if anyone would read them. She was also sneaking in time on a freelance report, using the Harriet Thompson case as a paradigm of how treatment guideiines can backfire. She hoped the story's poignancy might raise a little consciousness as to the human COSt of well-meaning guidelines when they were mechanically implemented.
Maybe in the process she could help Dr. Conway.
Alicia bustled by then.
"Got a maybe from Senator Hirsch, " she said as she passed.
" Gust a maybe? " That surprised Gin. Hirsch always seemed to have something to say about health-care policy. "I thought he'd jump at the chance." Alicia slowed but kept moving. "It's a joint committee, not a permanenr thing. Too ad hoc. It might screw up his ranking position on his other committees, ones that guarantee serious, long-term PAC attention." Gin couldn't hide her annoyance. "Is everything about money, dammit? " "Senator Mark Hanna said something you should keep in mind when you're working on The Hill, There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money . . . and I l can't remember what the other one is. That's from the horse's mouth.
But what this place is really about is influence. And influence brings in campaign donations. And campaign donations help you come back for another term."
"So you can increase your influence, " Gin said without enthusiasm .
Alicia laughed and gave her a thumbs-up. "Now you're getting it! " "I'm afraid I am, " Gin muttered as Alicia disappeared down the hall.
Then her phone with the seal of the Senate rang. It was Gerry.
"The report's back." Gin lowered herself into her chair. "I thought you said not until tomorrow."
"Your list helped. Much easier to identify compounds when you know what you're looking for. And besides, I told them it was for someone very important. So they rushed it." Gin couldn't help smiling as a warm rush washed through her. She liked this man more each day.
"And? " "And the analysis matches the list perfectly. Nothing in there that isn't supposed to be there." Gin sagged in her chair.
She felt weak all over. She was so damn glad she could have cried right then.
"Gin? You still there? " "Yes, " she said softly. "Thank you, Gerry.
You don't know how good that is to hear."
"How about dinner tonight?
That sound good? " "Tonight's a Lynnwood night, I'm afraid." A thought struck her. "But I've got a great idea. Come with me to my folks' house on Thursday night. It's Columbus Day and my father always makes a big deal of it.
It's crazy. You'll love it. And bring Martha. There'll be plenty of pasta with no meat."
"You're on.
A few minutes later Gin was on her way out of Senator Marsden's office, feeling as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. Duncan and Oliver were in the clear.
One less thing to worry about.
COLUMBUS DAY GERRY AND MARTHA WERE WARMLY RECEIVED INTO THE folds of the Panzella dan's Columbus Day celebration. Gin knew the welcome might have been a bit more guarded had her folks realized that Gerry was more than just an old high school friend she'd run into again.
Gin had already explained to her folks about Gerry's being a widower.
It probably wasn't necessary, but you never knew. Papa had a tendency to verbalize whatever was on his mind, especially after he'd been celebrating for a while. She could just hear him asking Gerry where Martha's mother was. Papa was looking forward to meeting him. He vaguely remembered his name from the Washington-Lee football team, and was intrigued by the fact that he was an FBI agent. Mama wanted to know all the details of his widowerhood, ducking and tsking and Madroneing as Gina told her.
What she hadn't explained was how she felt about him, the growing need, the building heat between them.
It went swimmingly. Papa and Gerry hit it off immediately, and Uncle Fiore used to be a cop so he wanted to talk shop with the Fibby. And Martha . . . well, Martha charmed the women immediately and before Gin knew it, the little five-year-old was in the kitchen, draped in an apron almost as big as she was, standing on a chair at the counter helping Mama and Aunt Maria roll meatballs and stuff shells.