I guess I was a little naïve. My grandfather had never wanted to move up in office because he felt there would be too many people telling him what to do. From what I’d been told, he was a genuine power broker and seemed to get a lot done for the people he represented.
Then Ian changed the conversation.
“I hear you and Brook want to spend spring break diving.”
I looked in the rearview mirror to see how Brook wanted to handle it. She gave me a reassuring smile.
“Yeah. I guess we should figure something out,” I admitted.
“It’s only five weeks away,” Ava provided.
“Where do you want to go?” I asked Brook.
“Somewhere warm. Somewhere where the diving is better than a local farm pond,” Brook said.
“Do you have your passport?” Ava asked me.
“I had to get one for a photo shoot in the UK, and now I’m getting a visa because I’m filming a movie in Cuba this summer. I guess the studio is still working out some details with the State Department, and part of that was to give them a list of who all was going. They had to confirm that we all had passports. Anyway, my passport should be back before then.”
“Then you could go almost anywhere. You might go to Australia and experience the Great Barrier Reef. I hear some of the Pacific islands are great places to go. If you didn’t want to travel so far, you could do the Caribbean,” Ava suggested.
“Of course, we would go with you,” Ian dropped in.
Well, wasn’t that a kink in my plans to plunder his daughter for a full week. Glancing in the mirror, it was apparent that this was the first Brook had heard of these plans. I decided to be evil and see how committed they were.
“I could ask if my parents wanted to go as well; or, if you wanted to, you could do your own thing, and they could come with us.”
My parents would allow some frolicking, I was sure.
“That’s a great idea. I’d like to get to know your parents better,” Ava said, and she got her cell out and called my mom.
Who knew she had Mom on speed dial? I suspected my mom had been talking to more than Ava. I knew Mom spoke with Rita, Halle’s mom, and there had been some comments that made me suspect that she’d conversed with Ruth Pearson, Zoe’s mother. Brook leaned forward and smacked me in the back of the head. I guess I deserved that.
◊◊◊
Northern Illinois University was home to twenty-two thousand students. NIU was in DeKalb, a city of about forty-three thousand full-time residents. It was 65 miles west of Chicago. The campaign had scheduled the rally at the NIU Convocation Center, a 10,000-seat multipurpose arena on the west side of campus.
Ian directed me to the parking area. Max, a member of the governor’s campaign staff, met us. He and Ian had talked on the phone.
“Max, this is my wife Ava and daughter Brook,” Ian said as an introduction, and then turned to me. “This is David Dawson, Davey Dawson’s grandson.”
“Did you bring photos to hand out?” Max asked.
Caryn had me bring several big boxes of Stryker photos and a handful of Sharpies.
“They’re in the car. Do you need us to bring them in?” I asked.
“I’ll send someone out to get them. We should get inside so I can walk you through everything,” Max said, and he walked into the arena.
They took us to one of the entrances where there were several tables set up with a voter registration sign above them. Behind those was an eight-foot poster of my character, Stryker, with a table in front of it. Next to that was a poster of Birthrite and a similar setup.
“We plan to run everyone through these doors. What I’d like to have you guys do is help with voter registration. If someone signs up or can produce a voter registration card, they can meet either the band or David. Brook, can you help David at his booth tonight?” Max asked.
“Sure, I can keep him in line,” Brook said.
“Great,” Max said and then turned to me. “We’ll have the band go on stage half an hour before the senator and governor go on. The governor has asked if you wouldn’t mind playing MC, introduce the band, and then once they’re done playing, introduce all the guests. I’ll get you the information so you can do that.”
“I can handle that,” I said. “But first, I need to change. Where can I do that? Also, we haven’t eaten yet. Is there somewhere we can get some food?”
“We’re using the locker rooms as a Green Room and changing area. Let’s get you fed first and then you can get changed. Could I have your keys so we can get the photos and any luggage you might need?” Max asked.
“I’ll go out with them and help,” I suggested.
Fritz had someone install both dashcams and internal cameras in the SUV, so I wasn’t worried about anyone stealing anything, but I didn’t need to tempt fate, either. Ava might have some jewelry with her, after all. I walked out with a couple of the volunteers and had them pick up two boxes of photos while I grabbed my garment bag and a pair of dress shoes. Dakora had stepped up and paid for me to wear their clothes this weekend. Tyler seemed to figure out how to make everyone a little cash for things like this.
