Dissident by Cecilia London Read Free Book Online

occasionally say something funny on Twitter.”
    “Well, your approach seems to be working so far.”
    They continued to chat about their careers and families, their hobbies and quirks. Caroline did her best to answer Jack’s questions about Capitol Hill, and he returned the favor by telling her about his years playing college and European pro basketball, a topic she found fascinating. She even managed to talk about Nicky without crying, because Jack seemed honestly concerned for her loss. Soon the bottle of Moscato was long gone. Caroline yawned and glanced at her watch. It was almost five in the morning.
    “My God,” she said. “We’ve been talking forever. You’re probably the last one here aside from me. I’m surprised no one sent a search party to find you.”
    Jack followed with a yawn of his own. “It’s way past my bedtime. I normally only stay up until four.”
    “You’d better go, then. Are you okay to drive?”
    Jack stood up and stretched, pulling his suit jacket back on. “I’m fine. It’s not that far and you drank almost the entire bottle yourself.”
    She hadn’t realized that. Kitty Dukakis had morphed into Betty Ford. Caroline silently vowed to give up drinking in the foreseeable future.
    She rose to her feet, suddenly feeling awkward. “Well. Drive safe. I guess I’ll see you in a couple of days?”
    “Sure.” Jack stared at the ashes in the fireplace and Caroline got the feeling he was holding something back.
    “What?” she asked.
    “Would it be too forward of me to ask if I could see you again once we get to Washington? As friends,” he added hastily.
    Caroline knew that he wouldn’t want her to take his caveat as an insult, which was fine with her. She had no interest in getting involved with anyone anytime soon. But she’d had a good time with him, so what was the harm?
    She smiled at him. “Why not?”

Chapter Three
     
    Dr. Savage crossed and uncrossed her legs. She was sitting in one of the more uncomfortable chairs in Dr. Livingston’s office. It had to be at least twenty years old. Government work wasn’t supposed to be glamorous and the VA had always gotten the shaft when budgets were drawn but she sure as hell didn’t have to be happy about it.
    She’d been waiting for Bill for the past fifteen minutes. He was uncharacteristically late. She was never one to give in to paranoia but she’d been wondering lately if it was time for her to talk to someone. About her job. About her family.
    About everything.
    Maureen’s daughter Aimee was in her second semester at the University of Texas and she missed her terribly. After everything that had been happening recently, Maureen was starting to regret not encouraging her to attend a private college a little closer to home.
    The Savage family spent generations in Texas before Maureen’s husband dared to venture toward the nation’s capital after receiving his honorable discharge from the Army. Maureen still thought his parents resented her for that cross-country relocation, since he only stuck around after he decided to marry her. She was a San Antonio native herself but fell in love with the Northeast when she was an undergrad at Boston College.
    Her husband had passed away almost ten years ago, but Maureen smiled as she thought of him, secure in the knowledge that she’d done him right: his little girl had grown up to be a Longhorn. She crossed and uncrossed her legs again and bemoaned the fact that her cell phone was tucked away in the desk in her own office. She really wanted to hear Aimee’s voice. It might have made her feel better.
    Bill burst into his office in a huff. “CNN,” he gasped.
    “What?”
    “Turn on CNN.”
    Maureen looked at the TV in the corner, realizing that she could have been killing time by watching daytime television or ESPN News instead of waxing poetic about her only child. “Okay.”
    The channel was playing a commercial.
    “Shit.” Bill started pacing in front of the TV.
    “What is