Chapter 5

Priscilla took the sedative up to Bob when it arrived and insisted that he take it. She sat next to the bed and held his hand until he fell asleep. She went back downstairs and turned on the television and watched the coverage of the murders until she couldn't stand it anymore. The news stations were digging into the relationship between Maggie and Ron and had discovered neighbors who said that they had seen Maggie coming to the Ron's house for months. There was even a grainy picture that was supposed to show the two of them together, but it was later proved to be a hoax. By far, the worst was the newspapers. They ran the pictures of the crime scene and began to run a series of interviews with the neighbors of Ron Toomey. The neighbors told of seeing Maggie and Ron together often and the next-door neighbor told of hearing a woman crying out in passion one time when the windows were open. Priscilla was glad that Bob was asleep. He didn't need this right now.

She went upstairs and saw that Bob was still asleep on top of the covers. She pulled off his shoes and went into one of the other bedrooms and pulled a blanket off of the bed. She went back to his bedroom and covered him up. The sedative was working and he hadn't even stirred. She went down to the living room and looked around for something to cover herself. She found an Afgan in the den and brought it into the living room. Priscilla curled up on the sofa and covered herself up and was soon asleep.

In the morning she woke up and went upstairs to check on Bob. He was still asleep and it looked like he hadn't moved all night. The street was filled with television trucks and there were about twenty television reporters and newspaper reporters walking all over the lawn. She fixed coffee and waited for him to come downstairs.

Bob walked downstairs rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He stopped when he saw Priscilla and then went to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Did you stay here last night?" he asked.

She nodded, "I slept on the couch."

"Damn Priscilla, there's four bedrooms in this house."

She smiled at him, "You're going to have to give a statement to the press. They're camped out on your lawn. You won't have any grass by the end of the day. I've written something for you, you might want to look it over and add what you want to it or just throw it away and make up your own."

He took the paper that she handed him and read it, "I'll give it just like it is. That's all they need to hear."

They sat drinking their coffee in silence. She kept watching to see how he was taking the lose of his wife. She saw that it was affecting him deeply and she gave him all of the space he needed to come to grips with his grief.

After he had finished two cups of coffee he went upstairs to get cleaned up and then give the reporters their statement. He dreaded these things but it was a necessary part of politics. When he came downstairs she saw that he had two different kinds of socks on and she went upstairs and got a pair that matched and made him put them on.

He went to the door to go out an give his statement. He looked at her and stood at the door for a minute as if waiting for something.

"What's wrong," she asked.

"Stand by me while I read this. I'm shaking so bad inside that I might have to have you read it for me."

She walked outside with him and stood next to him while all of the reporters shouted questions at him. He waited for them to calm down and then took the paper and read the statement. The statement told the press about the great love he had for his wife and how much he would miss her and how the public would miss all of the charity work that she used to perform.

When he finished the statement, he turned and started back into the house with the reporters shouting questions at him. Priscilla followed him to the house until she felt a hand grab her arm and hold her. A young reporter had fought his way to the front of the mob and shoved a microphone in front of her face.

"Ma'am, would you tell us who you are?"

"I'm Senator Parsons secretary. Senator Parsons and my father were business partners and best friends."

"Ma'am what is your relationship with Senator Parsons?" the young man shouted.

Priscilla turned to him, "What are you implying?'

The young man smiled, confident that he had his story, "We'd like to know what your relationship is to Senator Parsons."

"As I told you I am the Senator's secretary and I resent your insinuation and hope that your supervisors recognize you for the scum ball that you are for asking such a question at a time like this. I slept on the sofa last night. The cover that I used is still on the sofa if you'd like to come in and check. I will be staying with the Senator for the next week if you want to make up anything about that. If you will ask anyone who has lost a spouse, they'll tell you that it is not wise to leave a grieving spouse alone for a while. Now crawl back into your hole and try to have a little respect for the Senator's feelings."

She turned and walked into the house. Bob was standing in the living room smiling and shaking his head.

"You'd make a great politician."

The President was watching Priscilla's outburst on the television at Camp David with a smile on his face. "Bob Parsons has a fighter there. I like her."

"I guess that shoots down your plans to use him to sell the Amendment," the First Lady said as she walked into the room.

"Nonsense, we have the votes that we need in Congress. The hard job will be to sell it to the states. The first vote by the states on the Amendment is at least three months away. By then the people will feel so sorry for him that they'll believe anything that he says. Look at him, his wife is murdered in another man's bed and he has only good things to say about her. The public will love him for it. I couldn't have planned something this good."