Capitol Threat (34 page)
Authors: William Bernhardt
63
C
hristina arrived at the office at the usual time, and was more than startled to see that Ben was already there.
“Now this is a surprise,” she said. “What on earth brings you to the office at the appropriate time of the morning?”
Ben rose from his desk and smiled. “I had a lot of plans to make.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Because I’ve got a list a foot long of things you need to do. Your mother called—you forgot her birthday again. And Loving wants to take an extended vacation. Evidently he’s got a new flame, someone named Trudy. I told him he could go, but I also said I’d be pretty irritated if he got married before I did. He just laughed; don’t ask me why.” She took a deep breath. “And there is that minor matter of whether you’re going to run for reelection.”
Ben walked around his desk and clasped both her hands. “You got a free hour or so?”
“Are you joking? I don’t have a free minute. I’m supposed to meet Senator Hammond before I—” She paused. “Which reminds me. Someone told me he came to your office last night. What did he want?”
Ben barely hesitated a moment. “Nothing important. Just tying up some loose ends.”
“Nothing bad about the Wilderness Bill?”
“Of course not.”
“That’s a relief.” She glanced down at her book. “But I still have a packed morning. I’ve got to meet with the administrative assistant for the—”
Ben pulled her close to him. “How would you feel about going on a little trip?”
“Huh?”
“I thought we might go visit Tad.”
“Tad? Tad Roush? Are you crazy? The Court is in session.”
“I called ahead. He’ll be waiting for us.”
“Why?”
Ben pulled her even closer, till they were practically nose-to-nose. “Christina—how would you feel about being married by a justice of the Supreme Court?”
Christina’s lips parted. For a brief moment, she didn’t even speak. “By—
what
—?” She tried again. “You mean, get married to you?”
“That was what I had in mind, yes.”
“You mean—
now
?”
“Can you think of a better time?”
“But this is awfully sudden.”
“Is it? Seems like this relationship has been dragging on for several novel-length years.”
“I meant sudden as measured in Ben Kincaid time.” She smiled softly, then touched the side of his cheek. “Are you going to run for reelection?”
“Does it matter? No matter what we decide to do, we’ll be…partners.”
Her crystal blue eyes sparkled. “Partners?” she said breathlessly. “Really? Partners?”
He pressed his nose against hers. “Till death do us part.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
W
ILLIAM
B
ERNHARDT
is the author of many novels, including
Primary Justice, Murder One, Criminal Intent, Death Row, Hate Crime, Dark Eye,
and
Capitol Murder.
He has twice won the Oklahoma Book Award for Best Fiction, and in 2000 he was presented the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award “in recognition of an outstanding body of work in which we understand ourselves and American society at large.” A former trial attorney, Bernhardt has received several awards for his public service. He lives in Tulsa, and readers can e-mail him at
[email protected]
or visit his website at
www.williambernhardt.com
.
Also by WILLIAM BERNHARDT
FEATURING BEN KINCAID
Primary Justice
Blind Justice
Deadly Justice
Perfect Justice
Cruel Justice
Naked Justice
Extreme Justice
Dark Justice
Silent Justice
Murder One
Criminal Intent
Death Row
Hate Crime
Capitol Murder
OTHER NOVELS
The Code of Buddyhood
Double Jeopardy
The Midnight Before Christmas
Final Round
Dark Eye
EDITED BY WILLIAM BERNHARDT
Legal Briefs
Natural Suspect
FOR YOUNG READERS
Equal Justice: The Courage of Ada Sipuel
(with Kim Henry)
Capitol Threat
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2007 by William Bernhardt
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
B
ALLANTINE
and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bernhardt, William.
Capitol threat : a novel / by William Bernhardt.
p. cm.
1. Kincaid, Ben (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Legislators—United States—Fiction. 3. United States. Supreme Court—Officials and employees—Selection and appointment—Fiction. 4. Libel and slander—Fiction. 5. Washington (D.C.)—Fiction. 6. Political fiction. I. Title.
PS3552.E73147C39 2007
813'.54—dc22 2006048503
eISBN: 978-0-345-49805-2
v3.0