Chapter 5
Stan and Rebekah were excited when they got to the Fairmont Hotel for the fund-raising dinner for President Ford. The enormous dining room was festively decorated and packed with hundreds of tables, all set for the feast that was about to be served. Stan handed his ticket to the doorman, and he motioned for them to go inside. The tables were numbered, so Stan and Rebekah searched for their assigned number, 256. When they found it, Rob, Cindy, Kristina, and Commissioner Barnes were already seated.
“Hi, Cindy,” Rebekah said as she took a seat. “Isn’t this great!”
Cindy nodded excitedly. “Yes. This is the place to be tonight, huh? Having dinner with the President.”
Stan smiled. “I wish you two could come in with us and meet him. I asked if I could sneak you in, but they said I’d have to clear it with the Secret Service, and that would take several weeks.”
“Oh, well,” Cindy said. “Thanks for trying.”
“It’s alright,” Rebekah said. “I saw a great dress shop on the first floor. We can do a little shopping while they’re rubbing elbows with the President.”
Cindy’s eyes lit up. “Hey, now that’s an idea!”
“You can come to the press conference after the reception,” Kristina said. “Go to the press area when we go into the reception, and you’ll get a good seat. I doubt the reception will last twenty minutes.”
“I don’t know. We could spend a lot of money in twenty minutes,” Rebekah teased.
“Hmm. You can’t spend money we don’t have,” Stan reminded her.
“Sure you can,” Cindy said. “That’s why they invented credit cards.”
“Yes, Cindy’s got the art of spending money we don’t have down to a science,” Rob noted.
Everyone laughed. As they were talking, waiters began serving salads and rolls to the tables. Waitresses came around and poured coffee and iced tea. Before they began eating, the mayor, acting as Master of Ceremonies, welcomed everyone and then advised them a local minister would give the invocation. Soon, the auditorium was abuzz with lively conversation as people ate each course of the meal that had cost most of them $1,000 a plate. Fortunately, Stan and Rebekah had only had to pay $100 since they had helped organize the event. After they’d eaten, the Mayor gave a brief address and then introduced President Ford. The president spoke for forty minutes about Jimmy Carter’s misguided liberal philosophy, the state of the nation, and his vision of America’s future. By the time he was done, he had the crowd standing and screaming for his election.
When the President had left the podium and the crowd began to disburse, Stan, Rob, Kristina, and Commissioner Barnes headed for the private reception. When they got to the small conference room set up for the event, a Secret Service Agent checked their invitations and then let them in one by one. Stan was surprised they hadn’t been searched, as any one of them could have been carrying a knife or a gun. He figured the Secret Service must have checked out all the guests carefully prior to the event.
“This is exciting,” Kristina said. “I’ve never met a president in person.”
“I shook hands with President Nixon once,” Stan said. “What a disappointment he turned out to be.”
“Yeah. I think the job got to him and he got a little paranoid.”
“You want a drink?”
“Sure,” Kristina replied. “Gin and tonic.”
Stan and Rob went to the bar and got everyone drinks. Just as they returned, the door opened, and two Secret Service Agents stepped through, followed by President Ford. People started to drift over to him, shaking his hand and talking to him briefly. When he got to Kristina, he held her hand and smiled broadly.
“Hi. Kristina, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“You’re Shepard’s new campaign manager.”
“Yes.”
“Good luck with his campaign. It’s so nice to meet you,” the President said.
“We’re thrilled to have you here,” Kristina replied.
President Ford let go of Kristina’s hand and moved to Stan. “Mr. Turner, thanks for helping to put this event together. We raised a lot of money here today. It’s really going to help down the home stretch.”
“Well, I was honored to help, Mr. President.”
The president moved past Stan to Rob. “So, Rob, how’s the campaign coming? I heard you have a shot at taking the seat away from the Democrats.”
“Yes, I think we do.”
“Well, if I can help out in any way, let me know.”
“I will. Thank you, Mr. President.”
The president stopped and gave Commissioner Barnes a hard look. “Commissioner Barnes. So, you’ve finally come to your senses and joined the Grand Old Party, eh?”
Barnes smiled broadly. “Yes, Mr. President. The Democratic Party has gotten a little too liberal for me. I support your more moderate philosophy.”
“Good. I’ll see you later at the press conference.”
“Yes, sir, I’ll be there.”
The president continued to work the room until he had talked to everyone, and then he and his entourage left to go to the conference. Stan and his friends followed him to the press room to meet up with the girls and sit in on the press conference. The room was packed with media and supporters. Stan and Rob were glad to see the girls had saved them a place and squeezed through the crowd to join them. After a moment, the press conference began, and the president gave a short statement before answering question. As the press conference came to a conclusion, the president said he’d invited Commissioner Barnes to give a statement and say a few words.
Commissioner Barnes nodded and took the podium. “Thank you, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen. As you know, I’m the incumbent Democratic County Commissioner for Precinct Three. I’ve been a lifelong Democrat, but recently, I’ve seen my party drifting further and further to the left. Now, with Jimmy Carter as the likely Democratic nominee for president, I can no longer tolerate the direction the party is going. Therefore, I have decided to become a Republican.”
There was an outcry of support from the crowd, cameras flashed, and people began clapping. The president shook Mr. Barnes’ hand and went back up to the podium.
“As you know, Commissioner Barnes’ conversion to the Republican Party is not an isolated event. People all over the country are turning away from the liberal Democratic Party to become Republicans. Commissioner Barnes, I commend you for your courage and conviction and welcome you to the Grand Old Party.”
When the press conference was over and the President on his way to his next campaign stop, the crowd began to disburse. After Stan and Rebekah had said goodbye to everyone they headed for the parking garage. While they’d been in the hotel, a storm system had moved in, and it was beginning to rain. Lightning could be seen in the distance, and the wind was picking up. Stan was tired and had a little buzz from drinking too much, so Rebekah drove. She hated driving at night, and the rain made it doubly difficult for her.
When they finally made it home, the babysitter was glad to see them, as she hated thunderstorms and had been very nervous during the storm. Stan paid her, and she left. While Stan was undressing, Rebekah went upstairs and checked on their sleeping children. She found them all fast asleep and breathing normally. Stan was asleep when she came back downstairs, but Rebekah felt uneasy and didn’t think she could sleep. So, she made herself a cup of tea and watched the lightning show from their kitchen window.
After a while, she looked up at the clock and saw it was almost 3:00 a.m. Alarmed at how late it was, she shut the light and started toward the bedroom, but just as she got to there she saw headlights shining through the front window. She went over to it, peered outside, and saw two men in trench coats getting out of a white Chevy Impala. When they started up the front walkway, she ran into the bedroom and woke Stan up.
“Wake up, Stan! There are two men here!”
“Huh?” Stan said sleepily.
“There’s t
wo men coming to the door. They look like cops or FBI.”
The doorbell rang, and Stan sat up. “What do they want?”
“How should I know? Put some pants on and go to the door.”
“Okay, okay. I’m going.”
Stan slipped on a pair of jeans and headed for the front door. He looked through the peephole and saw one of the men holding up a badge. He assumed someone must have died and the police were coming to notify them. Oh, God, is it one of their parents? Fear shot through him, and his stomach tightened. He took a deep breath and opened the door.