Power Play Read Online Free PDF Page B

and saw that his napkin was in place.
    “Warn me? About what?”
    She hesitated a moment, appraising him with shrewd, probing eyes. They were grayish green, Jake realized. Hazel eyes: cool, like a lake up in the mountains.
    At last she said, “Politics can be a dirty business.”
    “So I’ve heard.”
    “It can get very unpleasant, Jake. Are you ready to face that?”
    He put his fork down and stared at her across the table. “I’m just giving Mr. Tomlinson some advice about science. I won’t be involved in the political side of things.”
    “Everybody’s involved in the political side, Jake,” Amy said, very gravely. “Once you’re in, you’re in all the way.”
    Jake shook his head. “I don’t think—”
    She interrupted, “Jake, you know there are gambling casinos in this state.”
    “On the Indian reservations, yeah, I know.”
    “Who do you think runs them?”
    “The tribes, I guess.”
    Amy gave him a don’t be so naïve look.
    Jake caught her meaning. “Oh, come on. You don’t mean the Mob.”
    “Straight out of Las Vegas,” she said. “The Mafia. They don’t call themselves that anymore, but it’s the same thing.”
    He tried to shrug it off. “Even if it’s true, it’s got nothing to do with me. I’m just dealing with scientific issues.” Then he tried to grin. “Unless calculating gaming odds is considered science advice.”
    “I’m serious, Jake,” she said. And he saw by her expression that she was.
    “The Mob.”
    “It’s not like The Godfather, but these people are real and they’re in Senator Leeds’s camp.”
    Jake spread his hands. “I still don’t see what that’s got to do with me.”
    Leaning forward slightly, Amy explained, “Leeds supports their casino operations. They support Leeds. If you come up with an issue that gives Franklin an edge, they won’t like it.”
    “Are you trying to scare me off?”
    “I’m trying to show you the whole picture. You have a right to know what you’re getting into.”
    He leaned back in his chair, staring at her. She looked completely earnest, intent.
    “Look,” Jake said, “I’ve lived with wiseguys all my life. In school they used to beat me up for my lunch money. Or because I got better grades than they did. Smart kids had to play dumb so they didn’t show up those bastards.”
    “In school? You mean, like high school?”
    “Grammar school. They start young. I stayed as far away from them as I could. One of the reasons I took to astronomy was that they had nothing to do with it. I could spend my time in the planetarium and be away from them.”
    Amy shook her head slightly. “If you work on the Tomlinson campaign you might not be able to keep away from them.”
    “Thanks for the warning.”
    “What are you going to do about it?”
    Jake thought it over for all of two seconds. Looking into Amy’s hazel eyes, he said, “Nothing.”
    “Nothing?”
    “I can’t let them run my life, Amy. And besides, I don’t think I’ll be important enough to Tomlinson for them to even notice me.”
    Very seriously, she asked, “But if you do become important enough…”
    He shrugged. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
    Amy broke into a happy smile. “That’s wonderful, Jake. You’re wonderful.”
    Before he could think of something to say, their waiter came to the table and gestured to their half-eaten entrées. “Is everything all right?”
    “It’s fine,” Jake said.
    “Lovely,” said Amy.
    She didn’t mention politics again for the rest of the dinner. When the check came, Amy insisted that the Tomlinson campaign would pay. Jake sat there feeling as if everyone in the restaurant were staring at him, allowing the woman to pay.
    As they left the restaurant and walked across the dimly lit parking lot, Amy pointed out her car: a silver BMW.
    “That’s a lot of automobile,” Jake said, impressed.
    “My one extravagance,” she said. “My apartment’s just a one-bedroom flat.”
    Jake