The Outer Circle (The Counterpoint Trilogy Book 3) by D. R. Bell Read Free Book Online Page A

are some things we can learn from him,” Morton inserted himself into the discussion. “His ‘virtual townhall’ approach proved to be cheap and quite effective. We should start looking for ways to undermine his campaign. Set up some traps, feed disinformation, watch for him to stumble.”
    “We can put round-the-clock surveillance on him,” chimed in Johnson.
    “Yes, talk to Erik about setting this up,” nodded Dimon. “Now, about Gettysburg and the whole ‘second Lincoln’ theme... can it backfire?”
    “No doubt, we have to be careful,” Morton was back in his element. “We’ll just create a setting and under no circumstances use Lincoln’s name. Let others bring it up, we’ll help them. We craft your speech short and sweet. Not as short as the Gettysburg Address, but keep it under a thousand words and fifteen minutes, don’t get bogged down in details, look solemn and presidential. A dose of theatrical show will go a long way. Create a sense of danger, make them feel we need urgent action.”
    “And which themes do we hit?”
    “The same we’ve been hitting all along: the greatness of America, why our enemies hate us, dealing with them from the position of strength, restoring our natural right to lead. Positive, memorable soundbytes, ideal for the internet. You, looking strong, humble, servant of the people with understated sex appeal. We don’t need a lot of people; just have FreedomShield bring in enough of their ‘volunteers’ to fill the video frame. Then we let Treadwell do his media thing and promote the hell out of it.”
    “Sounds good, Jonathan,” Dimon pumped his arm in the air, “Let’s all get to work!”
     

Los Angeles, USA
     
    Maggie looked out the window. Alejandro was outside, talking to men all dressed in workman’s clothing, wearing hats and heavy boots. Three pickup trucks were parked there, with what looked like gardening tools in their beds. Two people were carrying packages out of the garage and placing them in trucks. Alejandro was laughing, gesticulating, and patting men on their shoulders. Even in a casual conversation, he stood very straight, with confidence and power. The way he was looking at her last night... she’d have to handle him carefully.
     
    Maggie walked down the stairs and found her way into the kitchen. Seeing David’s figure at the counter, she tiptoed in. He was sipping his coffee, staring out the window with thick metal bars. The last two years were hard on him. He aged, hair turning gray, stooped some more. She knew David held himself responsible for things not working out as planned, for not being able to protect her, for not giving her the child she so desperately wanted. Maggie quietly came to him, put her arms around his waist, squeezed her face into the space between these familiar shoulder blades and closed her eyes.
     
    “All right, lovebirds, you are making me jealous!” Alejandro’s voice brought them out of the moment. “How did you sleep?”
    They both turned to him. Maggie felt Alejandro looking straight at her, lips curled in a smile, eyes serious.
    “I slept like a baby, thank you,” said David. “Although, there was a sound in the middle of the night that woke me up. It came with a vibration and felt like an engine was starting.”
    “Ah, it was the generator,” explained Alejandro. “The power grid has not been too reliable lately so we have a combination of solar panels with a battery plus a generator to handle any interruptions. There must have been one during the night. I am afraid I am used to them by now so I just sleep straight through. We also have a water cistern in the basement. There are ongoing water disputes between Northern and Southern California and sometimes our faucets would run dry. We are set for at least a week here.”
    “Alejandro, I was curious about the windows,” asked David, “they look kind of dark, like it’s an evening outside even though it’s still early.”
    “Good observation. All