Masked Prey (Lucas Davenport #30)(111)

“I’m going to hunt,” Lucas said. “That’s what I do, John. I hunt.”



* * *



—

HENDERSON CALLED A THIRD time and said, “God help me, you’re the only guy I can talk to. If Porter heard about this, he’d soil his Depends.” Then he broke into a near-obscene cackle.

“Jesus, Elmer, that sounds really bad, whatever it is you’re gonna say.”

“Roberta Coil comes up for reelection in two years and from the outside, it looks grim.”

“I thought it was worse than that: I thought she was doomed.”

“Over in that direction, for sure. But! But! The Republicans down there line up to take shots at various political offices, and the Ag Commissioner has been guaranteed a shot at her seat. Name of Eric Gabriel. He’s already got some TV spots out there, paid for with dark money, of course, light shining on his head, and they call him the Angel Gabriel.”

Another cackle.

“Go ahead and tell me. I’m pre-disgusted.”

“A good ol’ boy down there snuck out of the Gwinnett County courthouse with a sealed juvenile court record that involves the Angel. Turns out, when Mr. Gabriel was seventeen, he got caught diddling ten-year-old twin sisters.”

“Ah, God,” Lucas said.

“We’re gonna unload that particular document about, mmm, three weeks before the election. Give it some time to settle in with the voters. Bob is going back to the Senate for another six years.”

“Everything about that is disgusting,” Lucas said.

“Hey. That’s where we’re at,” Henderson said.



* * *



—

LUCAS TOLD WEATHER about Henderson’s call and she said, “We really need to keep Coil in the Senate.”

“No liberal disgust?”

“Well, Roberta Coil didn’t do anything.”

“C’mon, Weather.”

“C’mon yourself,” she said.

“How come everybody in politics is a snake?” Lucas asked.

“It’s like your friend Elmer said—that’s where we’re at.” She shook her head and asked, “How’s the Coast Guard file coming?”

“Interesting,” Lucas said. They were in the living room and he picked up a fat manila folder full of computer printouts, that had been sitting on a coffee table.

“You look happy,” she said.

“Well, they’ve got some bad boys running around in Lauderdale. Bad boys.”