Carol King furiously types a response on her mobile: “My opinions of Ted and his efficacy have not changed. Yes, he may surprise us, but we have lots of real, face-to-face experience with him on which we can base our bet.  Has he ever helped us advance our objectives with the Governor? How many times has he been a dead-end? He’s either ineffective or he doesn’t respect us. Are either of those attractive to you?”

King sits straight-backed, waiting for Gonzo Garza in the private bar above his office. Her face is stoic, but her frustration with the situation shows in the aggression with which she types, the tension in her shoulders, and the way she pinches the inside of her cheek between her canines while she is drafting her response in her head.

Gonzo is aware that King is waiting for him upstairs, but he remains at his desk.  Keeping her waiting is a shallow power play, but Gonzo has never been one to rely on complex strategy.  He prefers to confuse and overwhelm opponents with his chaotic application of carrots and sticks.

That’s why he holds their weekly meetings in his bar, where he can have a drink while they talk shop – a practice King despises.  “Poisonous” is how she describes the convention of drinking while working.

Gonzo finally trudges heavily up the spiral staircase to the floor above, where she is waiting.  The short climb winds him, but he shows no signs of it as he steps behind the bar without addressing her. He pours himself a tequila, neat.

“Drink?” he asks.

She declines, as always, which makes his well-fed gut churn uncomfortably.  He knows that she disappears and drinks alone sometimes, but she never drinks with him.  She never lets her hair down in public.  No one drinks with King, as far as Gonzo knows.

“What is happening with James Carlos Cates?” he asks in a friendly, casual tone.  He takes a long pull of the tequila.  While he drinks, his eyes never leave her eyes, nor does the smile leave his face.

He continues to smile at her as she goes through the motions of answering his question, and he goes through the motions of listening to her answer. He’s merely monitoring the conversation, looking for signs that she is saying something he does not already know.  He’s read her report and he’s been through the monitor’s findings.  While she talks, he thinks about the calls he’d made earlier that afternoon to friends in Uvalde.

Their friends in Uvalde know Cates well.  They believe Cates will definitely throw his hat into the ring.  They noted that Cates has the personal resources and family insulation to play big and bold – and he has some significant wins already under his belt.

They also suggested that Cates has made his share of enemies during his political career, and that those enemies might be enlisted to help undermine his campaign.

Gonzo looks at King and thinks, “There are your answers, you crazy bitch! Straight from the mouths of the Texans who live there.”  He wonders again how she could think that “scientific” polls and out-of-town focus groups are the answers.

“What should we do about him?” he asks, interrupting her.  He can see the contempt on her face.

She tells him what he already knows they must do: publicly, they will remain silent. Behind the scenes, they’ll invest in some research and set in motion some of their assets on the ground in Cates’ community.

Gonzo finishes his second drink and pours another. He considers some of the vulnerabilities that will be in play if they are forced to engage Cates:

There was that wastewater work they had done. Their city government friends were grateful for those water concessions that continued to anger some entrenched, rural interests, who were once considered close friends.

And they have political baggage all along the border, where Cates is strong.

He has a lot of business connections down there, and the business community in that area are angry about the impact of the border security measures that had been enacted under the Speaker’s watch.

Gonzo remembers the cold way that their old friend, George Boyd, spelled it out for them: “Border security slows the economic growth of border communities.”

Gonzo sighs inwardly. “What a waste of time,” he thinks, watching King talk. “There is so much we haven’t talked about, and we both know it.”

Somehow, even when they are discussing the Speaker’s enemies, Gonzo feels as though the war they are discussing is between Gonzo and Carol King.