Page 44 of Indiscretion

Silently groaning, I answer. Maybe it’s something I can deal with for him, rather than him having to engage with her later. “Vice President Woodley’s phone.”

“Who is this?” I see her biting, snarky tone remains untempered with time or experience.

“This is Leo Cruz. I’m monitoring Vice President Woodley’s phone while he’s unavailable.”

An exasperated sigh grates against my eardrum. “Well, get him. I need to talk to him.”

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but he is currently unavailable. He’s—”

“Ha. I seriously doubt that. He’s been ducking me for a week. Get him.Now. I want to talk to him.”

Hmm. This will be a later topic of discussion with my pet once we’re alone and I can ask him about it. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but he’s—”

“You frickingheardme. And I want your name again. He’s mybrother. I’ll get you fired. Get him.Now.”

Whelp, I’m done being nice. “Are you near a TV?”

“What? Why?”

I grit out the words between clenched teeth. “Are. You. Near. A. TV?”

She hesitates, not used to people challenging her. She’s met me several times, but she likely won’t remember me because, to her, I’m just another suit-and-tie flunky. “Yes, why?”

“Put it on C-SPAN.”

Then I hang up on her.

Fuck her.

Stella Woodley is three years younger than Elliot and was spoiled rotten as a child. Unfortunately, she never grew out of that stage. She’s currently employed by a very conservative organization that, on its surface, appears to be a non-profit foundation which works for educational reform.

However, that’s not their true purpose. The dark-money billionaire backers who fund the organization are fundamental Evangelicals who want a return to a religious-based public education. Among the organization’s goals are banning the teaching of evolution from schools in favor of teaching creationism, diverting federal funding toward church-run private charter schools, that kind of bullshit.

The people Stella works for are also involved ears-deep with the people who are responsible for putting on the National Prayer Breakfast every year, a shadowy religious group of supposedly “loosely affiliated” people who sure as hell manage to coincidentally do some pretty shady shit together on the regular under the umbrella of “prayer groups.” I’ve managed to keep Elliot far away from them ever since I met him, because they’d love to get their hooks into him, I’m sure.

Oooh, yes, believe me, I’ve researched the hell out a lot of things over the years, have my fingers on a lot of pulses. One of the benefits of my particular profession.

Stella’s also a hypocrite of the biggest order but apparently loves that dark money flowing her way. In another of her gigs, she serves as the campaign manager for her best friend, US Representative Grace Martin. Grace ran for and won Elliot’s old seat from Kraige Panley, the conservative Democrat who was appointed to it after Elliot stepped down to run with Shae. The guy served two terms before Grace won it, when he was running for his third term.

A Republican, Grace has been accused plenty of times of being a RINO, and she is liberal in some ways. Because she’s Stella’s best friend, and because she did seem to be far more liberal than the incumbent back then, Elliot indirectly endorsed her over her Democratic rival when she ran the first time, mostly because she claimed to be pro-choice and the incumbent was pro-life. It wasn’t an explicit endorsement, but he attended a campaign dinner for her in Nebraska, which was seen by everyone as tacit approval, and pushed her ahead just enough in the polls to help her win over Panley in a real squeaker that pissed off the DCCC and DNC in Nebraska.

Fortunately, Elliot being VPOTUS helped the national party quash the state org’s whining.

Elliot flat-out told them to front a better candidate the next time, one who would stand up for the rights of women.

That wasn’t the incumbent’s only short-coming. Kraige Panley, it turns out, had a DUI, a personal bankruptcy, and some whispered innuendo about recent sexual harassment in his background. The last item didn’t emerge until just weeks before the election where Grace beat him, and those rumors were never fully verified.

Voters were willing to overlook financial issues, and personal issues, but the married father of four was torpedoed when it looked like maaaaabye he was a louse.

In retrospect, Panley was a better congressman, because at least the House Majority Whip could keep him in line with the rest of the caucus. While he would sometimes break ranks to vote with the GOP about things like abortion, he only did so to make a moral statement when his vote really didn’t matter one way or the other, and the majority leadership gave him cover. When his vote was really needed, he voted with the Dems.

Grace seemingly enjoys being courted by both parties. I think sometimes she votes the way she does just to fuck with people and keep them on their toes, not because she firmly believes in something. Initially, Grace said all the right things to win over voters from both sides of the aisle. She certainly seemed to be a great purple candidate. Unfortunately, she has a nasty habit of unexpectedly throwing her hat in with some of the far-right lawmakers to stymie key votes where her more liberal backing of a bill might help it pass.

At least she’s fucked over the GOP in the same way, when it seems to suit her. There was apoplectic howling from the GOP when she sided with the Dems over gun control legislation, when she’d received anA- rating from the nearly defunct NRA. It’s almost like the more she’s being counted on to vote a certain way, that will almost guarantee a last-minute reversal on her part, usually accompanied by heavy press coverage and many cable news network interviews with her.

Like she’s specifically courting the attention.

For reasons I have yet to put my finger on, it bothers me that Stella is in so deep with Grace. I suppose it would make sense if Grace was a conservative ideologue but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.