BAD WINE CRAPPY CHOCOLATE

CHAPTER TWELVE-3

Cybil looked at him with anger in her eyes.

"First you lie to me about who my parents were. Now you keep this invasion of the people's privacy from me. Do I really know you, Chris? You're supposed to be the one person in this world that I could always trust. I thought you were the great reformer, the man who restored the people's faith in the government. But you're really no better than the politicians you replaced!"

"I guess that's the price a reformer pays for being successful," Chris conceded. "You're still part of a system, only it's the new one instead of the old one that you serve. A leader often has to do some undesirable things out of the public view.  But who knows, maybe you'll be different.  Just remember, there is one thing you can always be sure of. I'll do anything for you. You have my heart."

"But not the truth," Cybil said bitterly.

Chris put his arm around her shoulders before going back to the communication station. He caught a glimpse of Max Bardy standing just outside the door. There was a grin on the thief's face.

"Good evening, senator," he said. "Are you sure you didn't mean decrease its defectiveness?"

Chris ignored him.  The voice of Wilfred Manning, the head of the Business Bureau, filled the room.

"You're up early this morning, senator. How can I help you?"

"I'm sorry to bother you at this late hour. But there's something going on at Allisours that I believe needs looking into."

"And what might that be?"

"There's been an accusation made that the company is attempting to undo the results of the election."

"What!"

"I know it sounds incredible, but I'm concerned about it. I'd like you to interview the principles of the company and also review their records—especially the ones pertaining to their internal communications."

There was a long period of silence before Manning spoke again.

"Senator, I'd like to discuss this in person. While we technically have the authority to conduct an investigation, I still need a reasonable cause to justify it."

"I understand. I'll be in your office tomorrow morning. Please keep this conversation confidential."

"I will. Good night, senator."

"Do you really believe they'll accomplish something, senator?" Bardy asked in an irreverent tone after the communication session ended. "Allisours bought the people who are supposed to be watching over them years ago."

"Wilfred Manning is a dedicated public servant.  I can trust him to do his job objectively and effectively.  Trust is what makes a government viable.  It's the coin of this realm. You wouldn't know anything about it, though. You've been dealing with nothing but slime."

"And that makes me an expert on slime, even when it's disguised as someone respectable.  He's only dedicated to himself."  Then Bardy said to Cybil: "Have you heard from Brandon?"

"No," she said ominously.

"The stiffs must have grabbed him.  I think we should get Cori out of here."

"How?" Cybil responded. "There's only one suit left."

Bardy thought for a moment.

"We'll have to send her alone. I can get someone to meet her."

"There's no need for that," the senator told her. "No one's going to invade the house. Cori is safe here. This thief is the one who needs to leave."

Before that moment, it would have been unthinkable for Cybil to choose the advice of someone like Max Bardy over the counsel of the man who had raised her. Then Cybil's Mibil came to life. Jesse's image appeared in her mind. She told her that the Irish had to go and abruptly ended the communication. For a moment Cybil was confused, but then recalled Cori's ancestry.

"She has to go!" Cybil suddenly exclaimed.

Roger Rainer entered the room. Chris had contacted him after leaving Foster to discuss an investigation of Allisours. The political advisor preferred to discuss the issue in person.

"Is there something wrong, senator?" he asked, noting Cane's crestfallen expression.

Chris believed that his daughter had taken Bardy's advice over his, not being aware of the message she had received. He felt diminished, but quickly recovered from her slight and addressed Roger.

"There might be. Brandon's disappeared. The Security Bureau may have arrested him. Go down to the Justice Center and see what you can find out. I know the day hasn't begun yet, but see if you can scare up someone in the know."

"I'll call you as soon as I know anything," Rainer told him.

Cybil and Max went up to Cori's room. Ironically, this was the first night she had managed to fall into a deep sleep since coming to Chicago. Bardy had to shake Cori in order to rouse her.

"Max, what's going on?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"The stiffs are coming," he said with urgency in his voice. "You have to get out of here."

"Where are we going?"

"You're not listening. I said you have to get out of here. "

Cori got out of bed. She noticed Cybil standing behind Max. Her sleepy mind tried to make sense out of what she had been told.

"But Brandon is the one they're after. No one even knows me. Why do I have to leave?"

Cybil stepped forward and put her arm around Cori's shoulder.

"The people from Allisours want to kill you. That's because you're my mother, and Brandon's, too."

Cori was awake now.

"But I don't have any children."

"You will eventually," Cybil said in an emotional voice. "I'm really your daughter."

Cori looked at Cybil in wonder, as if seeing her for the very first time. Being told that this woman was her flesh and blood was a clarification of something she already sensed on an instinctive level, but could not clarify on a conscious one. She could see herself in her daughter's soft brown eyes. Cori now understood the protective feelings that both Brandon and Cybil aroused in her. She reached out, tentatively at first, and caressed her daughter's face, which now openly displayed a child's love for her mother.   

"I want to nationalize Allisours, because Vitala is so important to the people's well being," Cybil explained, after wiping a tear from her cheek. "Foster and the rest of them decided to kill you to get me out of their way. If you die now, I'll never have been born."

"So Brandon was trying to save me all along," Cori thought aloud. Then to Cybil: "You're beautiful."

They engaged in a long embrace.