BOOK NINE
It just so happened that Jay and Erin were at Raquel and Zelina's place for dinner on election night. None of the four were overly interested in politics, but they had kept half an eye on the Illinois gubernatorial race because Bayley Martinez was the candidate on the Republican side, and according to opinion polls it was a close race. Personally, Jay didn't want to see Martinez win. Not only did some of the things she professed to stand for go against his own beliefs, even worse, he didn't think she meant a lot of what she said anyway. He knew Bayley well enough to know that the power, the status and the money were her motivations for running, not to try and improve the state or the lives of the people who lived there. That kind of cynicism didn't sit well with him.
Pleasingly, as election night had unfolded, it had become apparent that Martinez was not going to win. She had done well considering Illinois was a blue state, but not well enough. Her opponent for the Democrats, Dominic Boyd, seemingly had the race won.
After dinner, the four friends (for over the past several months Erin had allowed herself to become friends with Raquel and Zelina, to Jay's great delight) had settled down in the living room with a Chicago news channel on quietly in the background while they chatted.
"Oh, here we go," Raquel said when a breaking news screen appeared. It showed renders of Martinez and Boyd, and said a result was to be announced. Both candidates were smiling on the screen, but only one would be smiling shortly in real life.
"We are now ready to make a projection in the Illinois gubernatorial race," a female anchor said as Raquel turned up the volume. "We call the race for Dominic Boyd, who currently stands at 52% of the vote, against 48% for Bayley Martinez. In some ways a good result on her part, but Boyd holds onto the governor's mansion here in Illinois for the Democrats."
Erin laughed. "Good. She even looks smug in that picture. I bet her face is a bit different right now. If only we could see it."
"Would be funny to see," Jay admitted.
"Yeah, well, I voted for her," Raquel said with some disappointment.
"Don't worry about it. Have some more wine," Zelina said, taking the bottle off the coffee table and topping up her glass. "Do you guys want any more?"
"We'd better head off soon," Erin said regretfully. "Henry has probably kept Kayla up all evening. It's a godsend having a nanny, but I don't know how she does it. He sleeps through the night when we're home, but he plays up big time if he's left alone with Kayla at night."
"How old is he now?" Raquel wondered, considering it for herself. "You've been off work about what now? Nine months?"
"Eight," Erin said. "I'm making plans to come back soon, maybe next month. I'm surprised I've not been leant on harder about it by Miller. I guess it helps that she's a woman."
"Yeah, definitely," Jay said. "It'll be good to have you back, even though Ruze has done a great job."
Raquel nodded. "He really has."
"Well don't worry, I'll be back in charge soon," Erin promised.
Elsewhere in Chicago, Bayley Martinez and her campaign staff had hired a conference room and suites at one of the city's finest hotels, in the hope of celebrating an election victory. There was a podium in the conference room, and it was full of supporters that she had picked up along the way. Combining the policy platform that had gotten Stephanie McMahon elected president with an endorsement from said president, and the fact that she was young, female and of Latin descent had made her campaign a formidable one. But it hadn't been enough, as had just been confirmed by Melina Perez, the head of the campaign, as well as by the news networks.
"Sorry, Bayley. We pushed him all the way, but we've lost," Perez had said glumly.
"Oh, Bay. I thought we were going to win," Kevin Atwater said to her. They were sitting together in the finest suite in the hotel, with news coverage on the large TV. He took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. The campaign had only strengthened their relationship, as he had done everything she had asked of him to help her. He was left wondering if somehow there might have been more he could have done, although deep down he knew that wasn't the case.
"Yeah, me too," she said with a sigh. "I guess I'd better call the son of a bitch and concede."
"Now, Bayley, remember to be gracious," Perez said gently, almost as if she was talking to a kid.
"Gracious? After that campaign? Boyd spent half of it calling me a criminal and a crook."
He wasn't wrong though, Atwater though. He hid the amusement that thought brought him, as it was hardly the time for it. Besides, he was genuinely disappointed that Bayley hadn't won. He felt bad for finding amusement in it.
"Don't worry, I'll be polite," Martinez grumbled as she took out her phone. She already had her opponent's number saved, so she found it and tapped the icon to place a call.
The call was soon answered, and Atwater listened to his girlfriend's half of the conversation.
"Yes, hi, Dominic, it's Bayley. I'm calling to congratulate you on your victory."
"Thank you, it was a hard-fought campaign, but I enjoyed it," was her next line, rolling her eyes at Atwater as she said it.
"Good luck, and goodnight."
Short and sweet, Bayley ended the conversation and tossed her phone onto a low glass coffee table nearby. Surprisingly, the impact didn't crack the glass.
"Hey, it's alright. We'll just find something else to do," Atwater said in attempt to console her. He leaned in, and they shared a gentle kiss.
A couple of days later, Jay and Erin found themselves watching election news on the TV again. This time they were at home, and Jay had eight-month-old Henry on his lap. Clementine was next to him, in between him and Erin. It was often how they sat these days, sharing family time.
Happily, Clementine had taken to her role as a big sister like a natural, and any concerns that she may have had in the back of her mind about becoming an outcast in the family were long gone. Jay, Erin and Kayla had done a great job of making sure that she wasn't left out of things, and that she never went short of attention.
The breaking news that was being announced concerned the Illinois gubernatorial election, they were told by a male anchor. A picture of Dominic Boyd was on the screen, a wide smile on his pudgy face, his thinning grey hair neatly brushed.
"Hey, what's this all about?" Jay asked, turning up the volume.
The anchor was in the process of telling him. "The news we're getting tonight is that an investigation into voter fraud has been launched in the Illinois gubernatorial election, which was won two days ago by the Democratic candidate Dominic Boyd. What we have here is what we're told is one of several pictures from CCTV footage, showing what is alleged to be boxes of votes being taken into polling places the night before the election. It is alleged that this happened in several polling places where the vote for Boyd was high, and that someone inside his campaign was directly responsible. This puts Boyd's victory in doubt, and you have to imagine that the Bayley Martinez camp will quickly be calling for him to withdraw from the election before he takes office, thereby handing the position of Governor of Illinois to her."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Erin asked Jay.
"Yeah," he replied.
"What are you thinking, mom?" Clem asked. Obviously politics was beyond the understanding of a thirteen-year-old, so what she was hearing on the TV meant pretty much nothing to her.
"I'm thinking that cheating at something as important as an election is a very bad thing to do," Erin said. "Cheating at anything is a very bad thing to do for that matter."
Jay knew that wasn't what Erin had meant though. She had just said that to use it as a way to remind Clem of something that she should keep in mind. What Erin had really been thinking was the same thing Jay had been thinking – that if there were any shenanigans going on around the election involving Bayley Martinez, especially ones that were possibly going to result in her winning the election, then she was likely the one responsible for it. Jay certainly wouldn't put it past her to do something underhanded and illegal to steal an election. Whether that was indeed the case or not, all he could do was wait to see how the news unfolded. Whatever investigation resulted from the news, it wouldn't be an Intelligence matter.
On the screen, several images were now being shown on rotation. They all showed men wearing black clothes and baseball caps unloading boxes of votes from the backs of unmarked white vans. It definitely looked like vote rigging, and if there was something concrete to link the people in the pictures to Dominic Boyd, standing down as governor-elect would likely be the least of his worries.
When the news broke, Bayley Martinez and Kevin Atwater were eating dinner at an expensive Japanese restaurant called Azubu. Kevin had gotten more used to experiencing the finer things in life over the past year or so. Before then, he would never have considered eating at Azubu, but now he greatly enjoyed dressing up in a smart suit and visiting such places with Bayley. To him, she looked like a million dollars on his arm, most often wearing a suit herself, as she was tonight.
"Thank you, that was wonderful," he said as they got up from their table. Bayley had insisted on paying, as she regularly did. The conversation over the main course and dessert had ended up being about the election, after she had seen the breaking news on her phone, and then received it again via a call from Melina Perez. Kevin was pissed that his girl had potentially been cheated out of something that she had worked so hard for, but now he hoped that she might win the governorship after all if Boyd had to withdraw in disgrace.
He helped Bayley to put on a smart coat over her suit. An extra layer was needed against the cold of winter in Chicago. She put on a scarf and a pair of leather gloves while he put his own overcoat on, an Armani one that she had recently given to him as a gift, and they were ready to leave.
They didn't even make it outside before one of Bayley's phones rang. It was the one that she used for her legitimate business.
"Great, unknown number," she grumbled to Kevin before answering the call. He listened to her side of the call as they left the restaurant.
"Bayley Martinez."
"Oh, hello. Yes, of course I'm aware of the news."
"A response from me? Yes, you can have a response from me. If it's found to be true that anyone inside of Dominic Boyd's campaigned carried out or ordered people to carry out voter fraud, he must stand down immediately, and anyone involved should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
"Of course. Thank you."
Bayley ended the call just as Kevin spotted Rodrigo, who had been summoned earlier to come and pick them up. He parked up as close as he could get to the restaurant.
"There's Rodrigo," Kevin said, pointing. "A good quote you gave them there. Honestly, I can't believe Boyd engaged in something so awful." What he actually meant was that he was angered by it, given the evidence at hand.
"No, neither can I," Bayley said. Kevin was walking slightly ahead of her towards the car, so he couldn't see the grin on her face.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left comments last time asking for more of this story. The response was overwhelming, and filled me with inspiration. I guess that's why I'm here with the start of Book Nine already!
Bayley Martinez lost the election, but it seems like she might get to governor position after all with the controversy now enveloping her opponent. Do you think she had something to do with it?