I was stunned when he called me yesterday to say he was coming to see me and had something important to deliver. I barely slept all night. I was devastated when he walked into my kitchen and slipped the simple white envelope out of a pocket of his suit. .
As I sat with him now, it made perfect sense that Benton would have trusted him this much. He knew Senator Lord cared deeply for me and would never let me down. How typical of Benton to have a plan that would be executed perfectly, even though he wasn’t around to see it through. How typical of him tó predict my behavior after his death and for every word of it to be true.
“Kay,” Senator Lord said, standing over me as I wept in my chair, “I know how hard this must be and wish I could make it all go away. I think one of the hardest things I’ve ever done was promise Benton I would do this. I never wanted to believe this day would come, but it has and I’m here for you.”
He fell silent, then added, “No one’s ever asked me to do anything like this before, and I’ve been asked a lot of things.”
“He wasn’t like other people,” I quietly replied as I willed myself to calm down. “You know that, Frank. Thank God you do.”
Senator Lord was a striking man who bore himself with the dignity of his office. He had thick gray hair and intense blue eyes, was tall and lean and dressed, as was typical, in a conservative dark suit accented by a bold, bright tie, cuff links, pocket watch and stickpin., I got up from my chair and took a deep, shaky breath. I snatched several tissues from a box and wiped my face and nose.
“You were very kind to come here,” I said to him.
“What else can I do for you?” he replied with a sad smile.
“You’ve done it all by being here. I can’t imagine the trouble you’ve gone to. Your schedule and all.”
“I must admit I flew in from Florida, and by the way, I checked on Lucy and she’s doing great things down there,” he said.
Lucy, my niece, was an agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, or ATF. Recently, she had been reassigned to the Miami field office, and I hadn’t seen her for months.
“Does she know about the letter?” I asked Senator Lord.
“No,” he answered, looking out the window at a perfect day. “I think that’s your call to make. And she’s feeling rather neglected by you, I might add.”
“By me?” I said, surprised. “She’s the one who can’t be reached. At least I’m not undercover chasing gun traffickers and other persons of such fine character. She can’t even talk to me unless she’s at headquarters or on a pay phone.”
“You’re not easy to find, either. You’ve been elsewhere in your spirit since Benton died. Missing in action, and I don’t even think you realize it,” he said. “I know. I’ve tried to reach out to you, too, haven’t I?”
Tears flooded my eyes again.
“And if I get hold of you, what do you tell me? Every-thing’s fine. Just busy Not to mention, you haven’t come to see me once. Now and then in the old days, you even brought me some of your special soups. You haven’t been taking care of those who love you. You haven’t been taking care of yourself.”
He had covertly glanced up at the clock several times now. I got up from my chair.
“Are you- heading back to Florida?” I asked in an unsteady voice.
“Afraid not. Washington,” he said. “I’m on Face the Nation again. More of the same. I’m so disgusted by it all, Kay.”
“I wish I could do something to help you,” I said to him.
“It’s dirty out there, Kay. If certain people knew I was here alone in your house with you, they’d start some vicious rumor about me. I’m sure of it.”
“I wish you hadn’t came here, then..”
“Nothing would have stopped me. And I shouldn’t be railing on about Washington. You have enough to deal