DUTCH AND GINA: AFTER THE FALL Read Online Free

unless it was exactly as big as he laid it out. The way he explained it to me, the Speaker and the Vice President aren’t going to be calling for your impeachment, they aren’t even going to go that route. But they’re going to create the condi ons for the public itself to make the call; for the public to do their dirty work. And then they, being the good public servants they purport to be, will hold a press conference and magnanimously oblige.” Dutch shook his head in disgust. There were many days when he seriously considered leaving the presidency, especially on those days when his wife was being dragged through the mud. But he wasn’t about to let two pipsqueaks like Jed Brightman and Shelton Pratt force him out. Not those two.
    He looked at Liz. And his heart soared with even more love for her. “Thank-you,” he mouthed.
    She smiled, her heart soaring too. Only it was a sad flight for her, a flight fraught with that ever-present feeling of what could have been rather than the reality of what actually was. She stood up.
    “I’d better get back,” she said.
    Dutch stood too. “You don’t have to leave so soon,” he said, although he knew it would be a ba le with Gina if she didn’t. But she may have just saved his presidency. He couldn’t simply let her walk away.
    “Thank-you,” Liz said, “but I really have to get back.”
    “You just got here, Liz. You’ve come a long way.”
    “I know. And it was worth every second. I had a message to deliver, I’ve delivered it, you understand the stakes, so now it’s me for me to go. My job’s done.”
    “A job well done,” Dutch said, meaning it.
    Liz smiled, those lines of age appearing on the sides of her gorgeous hazel eyes, causing Dutch to let out a regre ull sigh. She wasn’t ge ng any younger. She was s ll as gorgeous as a woman half her age, but the years were beginning to be a harsh companion. And it ached him that she was s ll alone. She should have been married with kids long ago; she should have se led down. But she had held out some unrealis c hope for some perfect knight to come along, or even for the two of them to finally get together. Hope that should have died when he married Gina. But her hope could have sprung eternal anyway.
    “Just wanted to give you the heads-up,” she said, collec ng her handbag and briefcase. Then she stood erect. “Wes says Brightman’s going to the G-8 Summit as a representative of the US Congress.”
    “Yes, he’s on the manifest.”
    “Wes will be in his delega on. Maybe he’ll learn more. Or, who knows, maybe I will. But as soon as any new news comes down, I’ll get it to you. But you watch your back and take care of yourself, you hear?” She extended her hand.
    Dutch smiled at her southern twang, as he accepted her hand.
    Now that they were toe to toe and hand in hand, Crader was shocked at what a stunningly a rac ve couple they made. Both tall, both lean, both gorgeous in a way that beggars mere descriptors. And the chemistry between them just oozed all over the place.
    There was love there, Crader concluded. Given the vibes they were giving off, there had to be some serious, deep-down, unrequited, love-jones kind of love going on between them.
    Dutch knew it too, as his heart hammered when Liz reached out her hand. He although he took her hand in reached out her hand. He although he took her hand in his, that wasn’t going to be enough. Their rela onship was complicated. Because he worried about her s ll, and it was suddenly a powerful concern. And that was why he reached out, and pulled her into his arms.
    Liz’s breath caught when they embraced. Crader could see her eyes close ghtly at Dutch’s touch, as if regret, or wan ng more, or all kinds of contrary emo ons were coursing through her body. And when they pulled away, he kissed her on the lips.
    “ Take care of yourself,” Dutch ordered and Liz smiled that smile of age again, that smile that broke Dutch’s heart. She was alone in this