The Longer The Fall Aviva Gat (scary books to read .txt) 📖

“For the last ten years, I’ve been leading the Fraternal Order of Police, working hard to improve our forces so that the police who are protecting your streets have the best opportunities and are best situated to take care of you. And I want to tell you a story. In the last ten years, Madeline Thomas never talked to us. She never cared about how hard we work to keep you safe. But suddenly, she decided she needs my help. She invited me to her office, and of course, I went, because my job is to respond to every call. She wanted to know how we can align our interests and how she could convince me to support her.” The officer made quotations with his hands and exaggerated the words align and convince to emphasis that they had a somewhat different meaning when Madeline had said them. He looked back at the crowd behind him, which was now booing in response to what the officer had said about her. “Yeah, that’s right,” the officer continued speaking. “And that’s just the beginning of the stories I can tell you about Madeline. If you knew what I knew, you wouldn’t want her representing you in Washington. You wouldn’t even want her mowing your lawn. So I’m here to restore integrity for California. The same integrity that I’ve had in my longstanding career, I’ll bring to Washington and continue looking out for you just as I’ve done my whole life. Austin for Senate!”

The crowd behind him again roared, this time even louder than before. Officer Austin turned around and started shaking hands as the picture faded to a news anchor who started reporting on the announcement.

Madeline turned around to Hunter, who was sitting on the hotel bed, his back leaning against the wooden headboard. He didn’t look troubled by what they watched on TV. To Madeline, he looked rather bored, maybe annoyed even. He didn’t look like he understood what Madeline believed she understood.

“Well?” She said to him.

“Looks like you have a big fight coming up to keep your seat,” he responded as he stood up. “I guess I should go.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Madeline wasn’t sure what she wanted him to say, but that was definitely not it. Maybe he could have said that she would win, or that she shouldn’t worry. Or he could have said the one thing that Madeline had on her mind right then.

“I shouldn’t have come up here,” he said. “Have a good night, Maddy.” He left the hotel room, leaving behind a hurricane of anger that began swirling around Madeline. She was angry at Hunter for what he did and what he didn’t do, she was angry at herself for the same reasons and for not seeing Officer Austin as such a threat. She wasn’t angry at Officer Austin though. No, for him, she felt spite, malice, disgust even.

At a time like this, there was only one person Madeline could count on, one person she needed to speak with who she knew would be thinking the same thing she was. Things had been strange with Brandon for the last few days. The uneasiness in their talks, and her feeling of being caught wrapped around her. She picked up her cell phone and called him. “Hey,” he answered. “It’s late. I was starting to wonder what happened to you.”

“We had a lot of events this evening,” she responded automatically. “Have you been watching the news?”

“I saw,” he responded. “Officer Austin for Senate. It’s got a nice ring to it.”

“Do you think…?” Madeline asked without really asking. The truth was that the FBI had already investigated Officer Austin. He was on top of her list of adversaries, people who disagreed with her beliefs and spoke openly about it in the news. The FBI had investigated him after he didn’t show up to their first meeting the day of the bomb threat. They investigated further after she did meet with him in her office. The only conclusion the FBI developed was that no further investigation was needed. But, Madeline now began thinking, Officer Austin was a police officer after all. He had all sorts of resources at his fingertips. Maybe he even had connections at the FBI protecting him.

Madeline started to feel something she had never felt before. A small tick that came from outside her, making her feel like she was being watched. She turned around and scanned the hotel room, which appeared empty, save for the feeling of paranoia that was growing larger, like a weed taking over the room.

“I don’t know, Madeline. Your guess is as good as mine,” Brandon responded. “No, your guess is probably better than mine.” Madeline thought she heard a tinge of hostility in Brandon’s voice. It was so small, she couldn’t be sure it was there, but something—maybe the paranoia—was making her feel attacked by Brandon.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing, just that something isn’t adding up here,” Brandon responded. “Come home, we’ll talk about it. No use trying to solve everything over the phone like this.”

Madeline said good night and hung up. A moment later her phone rang again. She hesitated to answer, afraid of what news it could bring, but she knew she could not let it go. When she lifted the receiver, Jane immediately started talking. “I think we should try to schedule a debate with Austin. You would obviously win and it would be great television. I know it isn’t standard in Senate races, but why not? I’m trying to reach his campaign team. My friend who works in Sacramento is checking at the State House who filed Austin’s candidacy. I’ll contact them immediately…”

“Jane, I am going to hang up now,” Madeline said. “Talk to our staff and tomorrow we’ll go over the next steps.” When she placed the receiver back down, she felt suddenly