The Plot by Kathleen McCabe Lamarche Read Free Book Online Page A

to mark the passing of this remarkable man," continued her voice as a video showed the crowd leaving the church.
    At the sight of none other than a grinning Hamilton Bates walking beside the Vice President, who appeared to be telling a joke, Max suddenly sat up straight, fully attentive. From their expressions, it was clear they were unaware that the camera was focused upon them.
    " Among those attending were the Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations, the Vice President, and Hamilton Bates, CEO of the international conglomerate, Bates Enterprises." An impeccably dressed Asian man joined the Vice President and Bates as the video clip ended and the face of the anchor-woman reappeared. “ As a young man fresh out of Yale University, Madison Hart served as war correspondent during the last years of the Vietnam War and was later in charge of the Asian office for Bates Press Service in Hong Kong." An old film clip of a young man dressed in camouflage, holding a microphone and speaking from an embattled airstrip, appeared on the small screen. He looked remarkably like his daughter-thick black hair, oval face, round blue eyes.
    " With the return of Hong Kong to Chinese control, Hart was reassigned to Washington, D.C. and later was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his book, Linchpin , an in-depth study of the Bill of Rights. He died Tuesday in a traffic accident," Genevieve Stone said, reappearing on the screen.
    "Traffic accident?” Max asked aloud, leaning back against the soft cushion. “How did yesterday's ‘hit-and-run’ become today's ‘traffic accident?’ My God. Can't these news folks ever get the story straight?"
    " In other news, the Vice President arrived in Los Angeles today on the first leg of her presidential campaign through the western states and is expected to raise millions of dollars from Hollywood supporters for what she calls her ‘Era of Enlightenment ’ campaign. She received a warm welcome from Mayor James Jefferson and a large crowd of well wishers. Meanwhile, the Conservative candidate for President was met by nearly fifty student protestors at a Dallas-Ft. Worth speech attended by an estimated five thousand people. The protestors carried signs decrying his ‘regressive’ policies ."
    Spin, spin, and more spin, Max thought, swirling his drink so the ice clinked against the glass. Not much doubt about which candidate this channel supports. Fifty protestors in a crowd of five thousand? Big deal. I wonder how many protestors greeted the Vice President. He shook his head. What was it Alice used to say? “The world is spinning out of control.” He swirled his drink again, downed the last of it, and shook his head. Not out of control, Alice darling. Spin is in control. Era of Enlightenment, my ass. Someone ought to enlighten the media.
    He only half-listened to the rest of the report as he went to the kitchen to freshen his drink, pausing to look in the refrigerator. It was empty except for the left-over pizza he'd ordered two days ago, a half quart of skim milk, and some wilting, ready-to-serve salad. He put the pizza on the tray in the toaster oven to reheat and returned to the living room. The anchorwoman was signing off, her face partly obscured by the credits scrolling down the screen.
    A childhood friend used to taunt him for not reading the credits. “Everybody knows who the stars are, but does anyone pay attention to who the hair stylist is?” he had asked. Max leaned against the wall and watched, determined to know who had done Genevieve Stone's hair and makeup. Maybe it would make for interesting dinner conversation someday. If he ever went to a dinner party again. But it wasn't makeup or hair that caught his attention. It was the small print at the very end: “Copyright by Bates Enterprises. All rights reserved."
    "Good grief,” he muttered. The man is everywhere-like kudzu. He was at the hospital where they took Hart's body; he hovered over Cassandra Hart while we interviewed her; he