Page 47 of Ruthless Prince

“Covertly, I hope,” Mom cutin.

“Of course. Rutherford has no idea,” he replied. “Anyway, the results weren’t what you hopedfor.”

“Howso?”

“Well… people do like you. In fact, most of them love you. You poll verywell.”

Mom scoffed. “So what is it, then? They still aren’t ready for a womanpresident?”

“It’s not that. Like I said, they love you, but they love Rutherford more. He’s the most popular president in recent history. You know that. Not only that, it’s very rare for a vice president to run against a president in an election. It’s even rarer for one to actuallywin.”

“So what are you saying? I shouldn’t botherrunning?”

“Sorry, ma’am, but that would be my advice. If you run against Rutherford in 2020, all the people who currently love you could turn on you in an instant. They would see it as a betrayal of the party.And…”

“Andwhat?”

“Like I said, Rutherford is very popular. Even if people didn’t see you running against him as some sort of betrayal, he’d still win over you. It’s a numbers game, and he has moresupporters.”

“So what would you do if you wereme?”

“I’d keep my head down and stay on as his Veep for now. He’s going to win the next election by a landslide with you as his running mate again, and everyone knows it. The Democrats are too unpopular right now to win an election anytime soon,” Jamie said. “So you stay with Rutherford until the end of his second term, and then you run in 2024. That way it doesn’t look like a betrayal, and you’ll likely have his full support thrown behind you. It’s a guaranteedwin.”

“It’s a guaranteed win six fucking years from now,” Mom snapped. “Christ, Jamie, do you have any idea what it’s like to be me? Being the VP is an abject humiliation. Everyone loves Rutherford, but he’s an incompetent baboon most of the time. I’m the one who gets everything done, even when he shuts me out of every meeting and keeps me locked up in the Eisenhower Building. I’m the one who should be fuckingpresident!”

“You’re right. I believe in you, ma’am, and I know you should be president. But this is just the way things are. I’msorry.”

“Shit. I can’t do this for six more years. I won’t. Screw it. We’re going with PlanB.”

“Plan B?” Jamie’s voice rose slightly. “Ma’am, that’s the nuclearoption.”

“Iknow.”

“We should take some time to considerit.”

“No. We’re doing it. I’ve had enough of Rutherford trying to crush my projects for all the stupid parts of his own agenda. It’s myturn.”

“Ma’am, with all due respect, we’re talking about killing thepre—”

That was when the two of them had become aware of my presence and cut their conversationshort.

I filled the Order members in on what I’d heard that night. Afterwards, they were silent for a longtime.

Finally, the interviewer spoke up again. “So you think they were planning an assassination? You think Jamie was about to say ‘we’re talking about killing thepresident’?”

I held up one palm. “It’s only occurred to me a few times that they might’ve been discussing something like that. Like when I’m half asleep and my mind goes to weirdplaces.”

“But it has occurred to younonetheless.”

I swallowed thickly. “Yes. But like I said, only a few times,” I said. “My mother is extremely ambitious, but I don’t think she’s amurderer.”

“You don’t seem so sure. Your heart rate has spiked, and you’re sweating quite alot.”

I gulped again, wishing I’d never had the truth serum. Wishing I’d found a way to lie or make up another dark secret to share with thegroup.

“When they realized I heard them, they said they were just talking about killing someone’s media image. That makes sense, right?” I said. The pitch of my voice had risen dramatically, and I sounded downright shrill. “Jamie could’ve been saying anything when he said that ‘pre-’ thing. He could’ve been saying ‘we’re talking about killing the press release’or even ‘we’re talking about killing the president’sreputation’. Anything like that ispossible.”

“Keep going, Willow. Tell us everything youthink.”