Chapter 1
“...Although the senator remains coy about the possibility of a presidential run, it’s clear to all observers that his star is on the rise.
Since appearing on the political scene several years ago, Emmett Shaw has been the darling of the ultra-conservative Family Ethics Group. Becoming a standard-bearer for the Group’s push to ‘restore traditional values in America,’ Shaw has championed bills seeking to overturn marriage equality, cut funding for family planning clinics that provide abortions, and to protect public and private employees from charges of discrimination provided they are acting on a sincerely held religious belief.
Critics have called these measures unquestionably unjust and un-American, but the choice to support these bills, Shaw says, was an easy one.
“I’m a parent of two fine children myself,” the senator tells me, leaning back in his office chair and producing a family picture. “When I’m presented with legislation that really comes down to a question of morals, I ask myself what kind of future I’d like for my son and daughter, what kind of legacy I want to leave them. And then the path forward becomes clear. There’s nothing on earth more important than my family.”
His pride in his children is clear, and Shaw seems to have every reason to be proud. His daughter, Arcadia, a runner-up for Miss Tennessee last year, has been an active part of her father’s staff since his first campaign, and his son, Cain, a second-year law student, has taken a semester off to help his father raise money for other Family Ethics Group candidates around the country. Certainly, the younger Mr. Shaw, with his classic good looks, has become a campaign favorite, inspiring many young voters to explore the Group’s platform and to become more politically involved.
“My boy is loyal to his family, and committed to doing the right thing,” Shaw beams. “My children are a joy, both of them.”
Though the senator speaks easily of joy, he’s also a man who’s all-too-familiar with tragedy. It was just over a year ago that his best friend, Levi Seaver, along with Seaver’s wife Charlotte and their future daughter-in-law Amy McMann, were killed when their private plane crashed into a Tennessee mountain on the way to visit the Shaw family.
Levi Seaver was best known as the genius behind Seaver Technologies, the company that he and Emmett Shaw, along with mutual friend Jonathan McMann, founded more than two decades ago.
The cause of the crash was found to be pilot negligence, but because the pilot, Damon Fitzpatrick, was killed along with his passengers, he never formally faced charges.
Shaw says the shock of the loss made his family closer than ever...”
Cain’s stomach churned as he read the words. The lights of the crowded function room suddenly seemed far too bright, the air starved of oxygen. He clicked his phone off without finishing the article, and glanced at his sister as he slid it back into his pocket.
“Jesus. This article is…” He shook his head as he struggled to complete the sentence.Disgusting? Ridiculous? Outright lies?
“Brilliant! Iknow!” Cady squealed, staring at her reflection in the mirror over the bar and smoothing down a non-existent flyaway from her long, blonde hair. She swiveled on her stool to face Cain, excitement on her face. “That’s why I wanted you to read it. Such a major coup for Daddy to have Gary North writing about him in the first place, and for him to have garnered this level of attention without even officially declaring his candidacy.”
She made an excited noise so high-pitched the dolphins in the Harbor outside could hear it, and Cain motioned to the bartender to refill his water glass, wishing it was something stronger. That sham of an article - hell, of the whole spectacle tonight, could really only be swallowed with alcohol.
Cady took a tube of lip-stuff from her tiny purse and dabbed it on her already-pink lips, then hopped down from the stool. “You ready to get your game face back on? The photographers are going to want a couple of pics with just the two of us for Daddy’s donors’ Christmas cards, and then a couple more with Ed Burke.”
Cain’s blank face must have given him away, because Cady sighed. “Ed Burke? The conservative candidate for senator here in Massachusetts? The one the Family Ethics Group endorsed? The one we’re here to raise money for?”
Jesus. Right.
Cain pulled his lips into a grotesque smile and widened his eyes, approximating the look of utter rapture that Senator Emmett Shaw’s campaign donors no doubt wanted to see on their holiday cards. His reflection above the bar showed he looked like Jack Nicholson fromThe Shining.
Perfect.
Cady caught his expression and rolled her eyes, before casting a surreptitious glance around them, likely making sure no one had captured his comical expression on a cell camera, but she knew better than to say a word. After two months of being forced to attend back-to-back fundraisers, two months of living under his parents’ iron-fisted control, it was probably obvious to anyone who knew Cain even a little that he wasthiscloseto a breakdown.
Of course, nobody close enough to recognize the symptoms actually gave a shit about his mental state.
He put a hand on Cady’s waist and guided her toward the crowded area near the front of the room where his father was holding court.
“I’m sure it’s great that this Gary North person has written the article, but am I supposed to have any idea who he is?” Cain asked, mostly to distract himself from the growing horror of stepping closer to the laughing, fawning flock of conservative voters who hung on Senator Shaw’s every word.
It could always be worse,he reminded himself.You could be trapped under a rockslide or dangling off a balcony. Oh! Or actually stucktalkingto the donors, rather than smiling and shaking hands.
Cady turned to him in surprise. “Duh! You don’t know who Gary North is? I mean, I know you were pre-law, not journalism like me, but the guy is a big deal. I mean, a flamingliberalof course, in case you couldn’t tell by the fact that he writes forThe Herald.But he just won an award for some undercover reporting he did.”
Cain nodded mechanically, already tuning out her words as they drew closer to the senator and took their appointed places at his side. As always, the photographers’ flashbulbs turned in Cain’s direction.
He sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out.
Another day, another photo op.
It could always be worse. Pits of lava. Hungry sharks. This is a cake-walk, he reminded himself. But he couldn’t quite make himself believe it.
