Excerpt: Hephaestus Falls

“I did a little homework about you,” Hollander said.

“You wasted your time,” I said, “There’s no dirt for you to dig up.”

“You aren’t kidding. No arrests. No lawsuits. No divorces. No financial problems. No controversial public statements. My people couldn’t even find any old coworkers or acquaintances who wanted to talk crap about you. Worst that came up was a speeding ticket on the MassPike from two years ago.”

“I’m sure you were disappointed by that,” I said.

Hollander shrugged. “The interesting part is what they didn’t find: No honors or awards. No charity or volunteer work. No public service. No military record. Registered to vote as an independent. No glowing character testimonials. Seems like everyone who ever crossed your path remembers you as a quiet guy, not particularly friendly. Kind of a cold fish. Good work ethic. Smart. Knew his sh**. Put in a lot of hours…but not really a great team player.”

“Sounds accurate.”

“Sounds pathetic to me,” Hollander said. “When I see that, I see the biography of a nobody. You don’t do much other than your job. You don’t seem to believe anything. You’ve never lifted a finger to help anybody."

“I’m here aren’t I?”

“That’s the part I’m trying to figure out. Why are you here, Townsend? Maybe it’s guilt. Maybe you decided to finally give something back to the community. But you know what I really think?”

“I’m sure you’re going to tell me,” I said.

Hollander continued as if I hadn’t said anything. “I think that because you are a nobody, a nothing, you saw this project as a way to leech onto to something great that somebody else is trying to do. Now you get your name in the paper. You’re the center of attention. All of a sudden people give a sh** about what a nobody like you writes in his little reports.”

“Gee whiz, Brad, you almost make me sound like a politician.”

“F*** you, Townsend!”

“Of course, if I was a politician, I’d be smart enough to know that the first guy to say ‘f*** you’ loses the debate. And I’d know enough not to send an airhead like Sharon DiNapoli on a sensitive intelligence gathering mission.”

Hollander smiled a toothy politician grin. He looked like a crocodile. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Of course not,” I said. “And that’s exactly what you’ll say when I go public with my accusations. Then it will be your word against mine. And there’ll be enough people in this district who don’t want to believe anything bad about the great basketball hero of Fillmore High that you’ll be able to stay ensconced in Albany as long as you want.”

Hollander shrugged and nodded. He was still flashing the crocodile grin.

“Then again,” I said, “Some of it will stick. Especially with people who are already looking for something to stick to you. Might be just enough to derail that Congressional run you were talking about.”

The smile left Hollander’s face. He looked out over the bridge and said nothing for about half a minute. Finally he said, “You’re talking nonsense, of course. I ought to punch in the face for making accusations like that against my character. But unfortunately, you’re right about one thing. There are enemies of progress out there who would latch onto anything to derail my career. What would it take to avoid that unpleasantness? What do you want?”

“I want you to back the hell off,” I said. “Let me do this research the right way without you trying to look over my shoulder or sabotaging it. Once my report is written, do whatever you’ve got to do to bullsh** the voters about what it means. But in the meantime, stay out of my way while I try to get to the truth.”

Hollander snorted a laugh. “Is that it?”

“Yep.”

‘Well, it goes without saying that my office respects the fair and methodical collection of data for a project this important.”

I nodded and started to walk back toward Skip’s. After a few steps I turned around and said, “One other thing, Assemblyman.”

“Oh here it comes,” Hollander said. “I knew you’d want more.”

“Stay away from Sharon. Nobody from your office calls her or visits her or threatens her in any way. I’m going to be keeping tabs on Ms. DiNapoli’s welfare from now on. If she so much as catches a cold or gets a parking ticket, I’m going to assume you had something to do with it and any agreements between you and me are going to fly out the window. Do we understand each other, Assemblyman?”

Hollander smirked and said, "You're going to put all your chips on the table for Sharon DiNapoli after she did you like that?"

I nodded, then turned back around and made my way to the end of the bridge.

As I continued walking, Hollander said to my back, “I overestimated you, Townsend. You’re not just a nobody. You’re also a chump.”

I kept walking.