“I’m gonna help you guys out,” Gonzo Garza types. He is responding to a message requesting the Speaker’s financial assistance for a long-shot political project in West Texas. “Go see Trent Thompson in Midland, and follow up with me after you talk to him.”

After he sends his response, Gonzo continues reviewing messages that he would have ignored if he wasn’t so eager to avoid talking to Tori Mangonel. Mangonel is drunk, and she is seated between Gonzo and Carol Ann King at a table in the private, wine cellar dining room at the Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse in Fort Worth.

Tia Martinez-Bahn is seated at the head of the table. She and the other guests have finished their meals, and they are waiting for the Speaker and his wife, who are expected to join them for dessert.

Olee Olye was also invited, and he promised to join them, if he can. Tomorrow is the start of early voting, and he is managing their campaign war room, which is flooding online communities with messages meant to encourage early voting in some parts of the state, and dissuade the participation of early voters in other parts of the state.

The West Texas contact with whom Gonzo is communicating responds to Gonzo’s message about Trent Townsend almost immediately. Gonzo shakes his head and thinks, “how foolish to be excited about a meaningless offer to help. Especially when the outcome of the request depends on the agreement of so many people other than me.”

Gonzo doesn’t like to be the bad guy. And, because the Speaker’s race has grown into a statewide referendum, of sorts, Gonzo believes that he must avoid saying “no” to people who ask for the Speaker’s help, especially now, when seven of his brother’s lieutenants are up for reelection.

In fact, polling retuned earlier in the day confirmed that which had been suspected for a long time: State Rep. Brown Keller, one of the Speaker’s key lieutenants, is likely to lose his race for reelection.

Brown, who is seated next to Martinez-Bahn, has been drinking too much. He is pouring himself another glass of wine and offers to do the same for Martinez-Bahn, who declines the invitation. But Brown, who is a fun-loving drunk, insists, and he sings to Martinez-Bahn as he fills her glass. Although she had only one glass of wine with her meal, she is having fun, and she is nearly as glass-eyed as Brown. She sings to him in response.

Martinez-Bahn and Brown are old allies, and they continue talking and laughing together until the sound of every mobile at the table vibrating simultaneously stops the table’s conversations cold.

“Reports indicate that a troubling conversation is trending online, details below,” was the introduction to the report that they all received.

It started as a series of discussions about the CDC’s plans to expand their presence in Texas through the establishment of a CDC installation in the Valley. While the U.S. has reduced the mortality rate of U.S. citizens infected with the Ebola virus through the use of anti-virals, Ebola continues to be a significant problem in Mexico’s poorest regions, hindering the efforts of county, state and U.S. officials to isolate and wipe-out the deadly virus.

As people move back and forth across the border between Texas and Mexico, many of those people are failing to follow the public health recommendations directed at anyone who may have come into contact with the virus. This is especially true for those who cross the border illegally, as many of those people are fearful of going to the emergency room when they develop symptoms, for fear of deportation.

In response to the online discussions regarding the CDC’s proposed installation in Texas, a series of anonymous sources are pointing to the ongoing development of the International Law Enforcement Training Center, saying that Texans could expect a similar level of corruption during the site selection process for the CDC’s proposed facility.

As the conversation gains traction online, more anonymous sources are reporting that Gonzo has purchased, through intermediaries, the tract of land in the Metroplex on which the International Law Enforcement Training Center will likely be built, if DFW is selected as the training center’s new home.

Gonzo looks up from his mobile to see if anyone is looking at him. Several sets of eyes are quickly averted.

“Someone sat still for a long time waiting for the right shot,” Gonzo thinks as he returns his attention to the reports. “It must be someone very patient to have waited this long to fire.”

He wonders if James Carlos Cates is responsible.

“What do they call Ebola in Spanish?” asks Rep. Brown as he reviews the reports. He seems disinterested in the corruption accusations.

“El virus del Ébola,” Martinez-Bahn answers distractedly as she reads. The fun is gone from her eyes.

“The Speaker’s not coming,” she says after she receives a message from the Speaker’s wife announcing such. “We better get back the war room.”