sins against the Free Enterprise System, so I don’t expect a campaign donation from the man, but he was a far cry from the other two; they’re just crazy irrational delusional.”
Sally’s cell phone went off. She pulled it from her purse and pushed her long red hair behind her right ear so she could read the display, a small smile creasing her lips.
“Mac?” Kate asked.
“Yes. I haven’t talked to him all day so I need to take this. If you’ll excuse me.”
“Say hi from me,” Shelby replied as Sally walked to the far corner of the conference room, placing her back to them. Then to McCormick she said quietly, “It’s her boyfriend, Mac.”
“McRyan? The St. Paul Detective?” McCormick asked through a mouth full of fried rice.
“Yeah. I’ll tell you, Sebastian, she’s loved working on the campaign these last few months, but I gotta tell you, it’s kinda cute how she misses him so much. Those two really have a connection.”
“Like us?” Sebastian asked with a twinkle in his eye.
Kate smiled back, “We’ll have to see, won’t we.”
* * *
Joyce Dixon had a middle initial of J. The J stood for Judge and that was a good thing. ‘Joyce’ simply didn’t fit for the mass of a man that was the Judge. The Judge was six foot four and pushed three hundred pounds, an impressive man in size and appearance. All of his suits were worn with suspenders to hoist his finely tailored dress pants over the girth of his stomach. His custom dress shirts always contained three things: a plain white collar regardless of the shirt color, his initials on the left cuff and two or three cigars in the chest pocket. The cigars were rarely lit during business hours, although the Judge could easily do so if he wanted as he constantly fiddled with a red, white and blue Zippo lighter in his fingers. While the Judge was now in his mid-sixties, his hair remained jet black, a large mane combed back and for the last ten years, a Fu Manchu mustache defining the mouth that produced a deep and booming voice.
Forty years ago, the Judge was an imposing starting defensive tackle for the Minnesota Gophers. From there he became an imposing federal prosecutor and US Attorney. His success as a prosecutor led him into politics, but not as a candidate. The Judge loved the conquests of politics, the competition, the thrill of victory, but not necessarily the governance. He never wanted to be a representative or a senator. Making the trains run on time was not his thing. He preferred the combat of lawyering or campaigning. He excelled at the process and sixteen years ago grabbed the brass ring, running the campaign that elected a junior senator from Tennessee to the presidency of the United States. At that point, the Judge figured he was done with political campaigns and took his just reward, attorney general of the United States. He served for eight years, amassing an impressive record as the nation’s top lawyer, despite the fact that he served in an administration that had its fair share of missteps and minor political scandals. When the eight years were up, the Judge, his reputation fully intact, became the man you went to if you were a Democrat and wanted to run for the Senate or consider a run for the presidency. He was the ultimate party player, broker and elder, and many a politician with national aspirations made the trek to St. Paul to get the blessing and guidance of the Judge.
While Judge Dixon liked his role as party elder, he didn’t like his party losing the last two presidential elections and, lo and behold, one of the best possible candidates for this go around was sitting in his own backyard. So he came out of his informal retirement and talked his good friend, Minnesota Governor James Thomson, into running for president. Getting the governor elected would be the cherry on the top of a brilliant legal and political career.
Other than running national political campaigns, another thing the Judge liked was mentoring bright young people. His newest students were Sebastian McCormick and, as of late, Kate Shelby. McCormick ran the governor’s last reelection campaign and had done so flawlessly. After Thomson’s reelection, the Judge reached out to McCormick and offered to serve as a sort of mentor. McCormick eagerly accepted. The Judge watched and mentored as McCormick successfully engineered Minnesota Senate and House campaigns for the party. It was