The Frankenstein Candidate by Vinay Kolhatkar Read Free Book Online

left the master bedroom, heading for the medicine cabinet. Her physician had given her prescriptions for Valium and temazepam and warned her never to take them both at the same time. Temazepam for sleep and Valium for an anxiety attack. She rarely needed the Valium. She broke the temazepam tablet into two with her pill cutter and took a half tablet, as she often did when she got up in the middle of the night.
    Olivia went back to bed and closed her eyes. Usually, the tablet took twenty minutes to take effect. She started thinking about her meeting today. Colin Spain had asked specifically for her. Colin had declared himself a presidential candidate. The whole world was in economic stagnation. She trusted Colin as a leader in bad economic times. She trusted herself as the champion of social justice. She could help Colin fix things—and things needed to be fixed.
    She thought of Georgia again. Why did her nine-year-old think she only wanted boys? It was just something Georgia said as she got out of the car as Olivia was dropping her off at school. Olivia needed to ask her later.
    And that was the last thought she had before she fell asleep.
    Her alarm went off at six thirty. Gary was already up. She could hear him downstairs. Work or no work, he acted busy. He rushed off to his morning jog, came back and had a shower, made the girls and himself breakfast, and got them ready for school. Then he made Olivia’s breakfast and sat down to discuss how they would manage their day. When Olivia could not drop the girls off at school, which was on most days, Gary dropped them on his way to work. At work, Gary spent most of the day reading newspapers and meeting prospective clients. Then he would pick the girls up from school, bring them home, play with them in the yard, and make dinner.
    One thing she felt happy about—Jacques, her chauffeur, had recovered fully. He even wanted to get back to work straightaway, but she had insisted on him taking a month’s break. The Hill had a used Volvo in its fleet and had loaned it to her while she collected her insurance and bought herself a new one.
    Olivia got dressed. At seven fifteen a.m., she woke her daughters up and got them ready for school. At precisely seven forty-five a.m., she was out the door, getting her daughters into the three-year-old Volvo X99 wagon. As she dropped them off at school, they hugged and said good-bye to each other. How wonderful that felt. She never got the feeling of dread when she was with Georgia and Natasha.

    Olivia got to Colin Spain’s campaign office before eight thirty. Colin was already there. “Good morning,” he said.
    Colin Spain was a striking man; he was dressed immaculately in a smart suit and tie. A career politician, tall and suave and in his mid-sixties, he had served as a senator for California for four consecutive six-year terms that finished in 2018. At sixty-four years old, he didn’t seek a fifth term. If people thought that meant retirement, they were wrong. Colin was anything but ready to retire. He was tanned, fit, and always energetic.
    “Good morning,” Olivia replied.
    “Larry will be here soon,” he said.
    Larry Fox was by far the most experienced and thorough campaign manager and a strong blue-collar faithful. Some called him the Democrats’ answer to Scott Howell. Larry, they said, had been singularly responsible for two winning Democratic gubernatorial campaigns and had influence in several other races.
    “I’ve met Larry. Will he be running your campaign?”
    “Not exactly,” Colin said. “He will be what I call the chief strategist. I have someone else in mind for running the logistics of the campaign per se, doing budgets and the fundraising. She will also be here soon, same time as Larry.”
    Olivia narrowed her eyes.
    “Her name is Katrina Marshella.”
    Olivia had heard of her. A rookie, she thought. She had never run anything this big. Olivia believed she was only thirty at best.
    It was as if Colin read her