At Risk of Winning (The Max Masterson Series Book 1) Read Free Page B

memory was displayed on the large screen before him, and even though he was dreaming, the experience was as real as if it had happened seconds before. The sound of the notebook startled him awake, wondering for a moment where he was, and he sat in silence for a long time. Rising at last, he directed the machine to sign off and walked down the hall for his morning coffee.

u ChAPTER FIVE
    Masterson rowed his titanium and carbon rowing shell on the mirror-smooth surface of the Potomac as he had done many times before. he thought back over the years in which he had presided over the Senate Intelligence Committee, its constant challenges, triumphs, and disappointments. his fitness regimen called for three times on the water each week, but he was lucky to get in two with his busy schedule. The graphite oars feathered the surface into ripples that quickly disappeared, a repetition that lulled his mind into a state of alert relaxation. he took a mental inventory of the path that had brought his beloved country to the precipice. In one decade, beginning with the terrorist attacks of 9/11, a series of “government reforms” were launched.
    Over the ensuing years, the massive intelligence and military community gained the ability to hear and see anyone at any time or place. They had access to medical and psychiatric records, sealed court files, internet data galore, even library cards. They knew where you were going, who traveled with you, what you charged on your credit card, and what you ate for dinner. They developed devices that could see through walls, and surveillance devices were standard equipment in all of the electronics in the home. The intelligence community was massive and eminently capable of intruding into the lives of Americans, and did so, on a continuous basis.
    By the time he left Congress, Masterson had voted against thirty bills that gave the Department of homeland Security increased powers to intrude, but his nemesis, Pryor, had prevailed. Masterson was a member of a small minority who refused to rubber stamp the new laws. his terms in the Senate saw the president’s national security advisor morph into the secretary of intelligence, a position that controlled the combined might of the FBI, NSA, and CIA. All of it was legislated into existence to deter terrorism and promote national security, but the unintended effect was that they could direct their attention to anyone anywhere, and law-abiding Americans lost their right to be left alone.
    he steered the rowing shell toward the dock. It happened every time; each time he thought back over his gradual loss of control of the committee—his own domain—he rowed faster until he reached his maximum heart rate, and the day’s exercise came to an end. he seethed at the thought that he had presided over the stealthy erosion of a right he had taken an oath to uphold.
    After twenty-four years of distinguished service representing the state of Florida from Pensacola to Miami, he had finally reached the point where he had enough of politics. It resulted mainly from his failed attempts at passing legislation that protected the privacy rights of Americans. Every man, woman, and child in the nation lost the ability to be free from random surveillance by the government, and as long as he had a good breath in his body, he would not give up.
    he pulled the rowing shell into his private boathouse and activated the sling that raised it out of the water. As he cleaned his gear with fresh water sprayed from the hose and stowed the oars and rowing vest into their assigned spots, he thought of the big picture. It was insidious how Congress had done the unthinkable, but over a period of years, they had stolen a basic right from the American people: The right to be left alone.

u ChAPTER SIX
    The senator drove his classic Jaguar XKR convertible slowly down the long driveway toward the house. Although the car was designed for high speed touring on winding roads, he liked to savor his