Page 59 of Not the Plan

“You disappeared early. Found a friend and took the party elsewhere?” Julian’s grin soured Karim’s stomach. He decided to remain discreet.

“The meal was good and I did enjoy chatting with my colleagues. But I drove back here. Had to get to bed early enough for a good night’s sleep.”

“Did you? Guess the Johnny Cash look wasn’t as successful as you’d hoped.” Julian sidled in and took one of the seats across from Karim’s desk.

Discretion.

“Guess not,” Karim said.

Julian smirked. “Well,” he said. “Back to business. SB 317. Have you seen it?”

“No, I haven’t,” Karim said, turning a little in his chair to wake his laptop. “What’s it about?” He went into the bill search system and typed in 317. The summary indicated that it would create an obligation for each voter in the state to have a new identification card in order to participate in any election.

Julian grinned when Karim looked up from the screen.

“New voter ID? That’s quite an ambitious undertaking,” Karim said. “Why not just ask people to use their driver’s licenses? If any identification is necessary at all?”

Julian’s eyes narrowed.

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those social justice warriors who wants a free-for-all when it comes to voting. Of course we need identification. We’ve been too lax. Shouldn’t have just anyone doing it. Should be the right people. Andour peopleknow that. Senators May and Davis. They represent the more conservative parts of the state; they already have support for the bill in terms of votes and donors. It’s the bit about requiring a new identification card that will bring the money in for us. Think of all the private vendors who will be thrilled at the opportunity to get a piece of the action.”

Karim was a bit lost.

“But if it’s a state-issued ID…”

Julian smiled.

“That’s not what the bill requires,” he said.

So it was about money. Money and making sure only therightpeople could vote. Karim’s skin was crawling. Julian stood up.

“Get familiar with the bill,” he said. “Then go have a chat with May and Davis’s directors. They need to be on board. This will be a fight. Senators Douglas and Knight have already been very vocal in opposition. But they’re from San Francisco. You know howthose peopleare.”

Uh, no. How?

Karim cleared his throat.

“But, um, Julian. How do you plan for this sort of a measure to hold up? Voter identification attempts are frequently struck down in court. If you’re making everyone use a new form of identification, you’re creating a new cost burden on every single voter in the state. Voting ID is already an inflammatory issue. Why make it worse? And set up a legal battle?”

Julian waved his hand in the air.

“It will all come together. And the money will be rolling in before anyone goes to court. Just get the bill going, Karim.”

He turned and left.

Karim sat a moment. His boss was disgusting. He’d guessed Julian was two-faced at Ike’s that night; Julian had shown him that he was socially inappropriate at the stadium. And now he’d putthe nail in the coffin in terms of Karim’s opinion of him on political issues. Karim didn’t have anything lined up yet, though. He’d never expected to be 100 percent in alignment with a boss, but this was going too far. So he’d go talk to May and Davis, these Capulets. Make notes to show Julian that he was doing his job. And he’d start making friends with the other side.

There was only one Montague who truly interested him, though. He wondered what Isadora was up to that morning. Their offices weren’t on the same floor, so he rarely had a chance to run into her in the hallways. There was the occasional possibility to cross paths with her when he was on his way to a committee meeting. He’d been holding his breath for those chances just to see her, but now…He smiled. Now he could reach out any time he wanted to. Even though she had to know who his boss really was. Could she be playing him? Trying to get an ally inside of Julian’s team? She’d certainly been there long enough to know who was who and what was what. But her interest in him seemed genuine. And there was most certainly a risk for her too. She’d referred to it on the drive. He wanted to reach out again. But he didn’t want to annoy her. Though she’d said she wanted to learn more about him. He wished they could go out together and get to know each other. But their bosses were outright enemies. No way they could be seen in public together, especially if their mutual interest was visible.

As Karim stepped out of the elevator and headed toward Senator May’s office, his personal phone started ringing. He fished it out of his pocket, letting himself hope it was Isadora, even though he knew it wouldn’t be. The caller ID flashed a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, number.

“Hello,” he answered.

“Mr. Sarda?” a young woman’s voice said. “Attorney Sanders calling for you. Is now a good time?”

“Oh, yeah, now’s good,” he said. He looked around and ducked into a darkened committee meeting room. There wasn’t an agenda posted on the panel by the door, so he figured he’d have some privacy.

“Karim, how’s it going?” his attorney said when he got on the line.

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