Dev Conrad - 03 - Blindside Read Free Page B

Helen Agee two years ago. The good old lesbian smear. It was ridiculous but they made it work. But fortunately David’s got some ideas to help us.’
    She finished, sounding expectant. Nolan would pick up her cue and take it from there. But he didn’t. He was still staring off into the distance. Apparently he could no longer endure staring at the screen.
    â€˜David,’ Kathy repeated softly.
    â€˜Oh.’ He looked neither flustered nor embarrassed. He just seemed confused. ‘Oh, right.’ He sat up straight in his chair. Lucy and Waters studied him. I wasn’t the only one puzzled by his behavior. ‘Right.’ He tried a smile that was more a grimace. Then he turned in my direction. ‘You must be Dev Conrad.’
    â€˜That’s right.’
    â€˜Jeff’s father has a lot of faith in you. I hope you can help us.’ His eyes weren’t quite focused. And then he stopped talking. I wondered if he was physically sick. His face gleamed with sweat. ‘What was I saying, Kathy?’
    â€˜The right-wing contributions for Burkhart.’
    â€˜Oh, yes, right.’ His attempt at a smile was embarrassing. Around the table the eyes studied him with silent alarm. He settled back in his chair, as if he was relaxed now. In control of himself again. But when he began to speak it was obvious he’d either forgotten or chose not to talk about the right-wing group Kathy had talked about.
    I wondered if he’d had a stroke. His behavior certainly suggested that. I wasn’t alone. The three staffers looked at each other anxiously.
    He reached for a silver pitcher of water to fill the glass in front of him. His hand was trembling so badly he dropped the pitcher almost as soon as he started to raise it. It landed hard. Though it was in no danger of spilling, the staffers automatically started to rise in their chairs to grab it.
    â€˜Oh, God,’ Lucy half whispered. ‘David, are you—?’
    â€˜What was I saying?’ Nolan said as if he was unaware of his strange behavior. ‘Oh – right. Well, I contacted this group of investors who frankly think it’s time to do a little business with our side. They know everything’s up for grabs in this election but they still think it’s time to have a sit-down with somebody we know in the administration. They’re willing to spend thirty million dollars on making and airing some generic commercials that favor us. They won’t spend it all on our district; they want to make it as national as possible.’ He stopped talking. An engine that had run down.
    â€˜What makes this so interesting,’ Kathy said quickly, ‘aside from the money is that three of the products they want some federal funding for – they need further research – are very eco-friendly. That means the other party doesn’t want anything to do with them. Unfortunately, a lot of our senators and reps are on the same payroll and will vote against us. But I think we’ve still got enough votes. And David thinks so, too, don’t you?’
    The smile that was a grimace again. Was he in pain? ‘Right.’ His eyes brightened. There was strength in his voice now. ‘I’m hoping we get at least four million. We can put a lot of that into radio and some extra TV.’
    Lucy and Waters did the power fist.
    â€˜I’ll bet Jeff was happy when he heard about it,’ Lucy said.
    Nolan’s jaw clenched. He said nothing.
    â€˜We haven’t had a chance to tell him yet. But he’ll be happy as hell. You can bet on it.’ Kathy touched Nolan’s arm and said, ‘Good work, David.’ She was a nurse talking to a very sick patient.
    â€˜Excellent work,’ Lucy said in the same way.
    The accolades didn’t free him from whatever mental prison he was in. The smile was a little less pensive at their words but something troubled him so much that he was barely