The Voting Machine

Strange Bedfellows

As I told my story, Special Agent in Charge Stevens waited patiently, never interrupting. When I was finished, he picked up his envelope from the table, holding it delicately.

"So that was your last meeting with Zeke?" he asked, while he unsealed the envelope.

"Me? No. We had a few more run-ins. We clashed with the Founding Fathers and their thugs so many times during the campaign. But David never met with Zeke again. I'd never seen David angry like that. David's heroes were people like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. He didn't believe in giving in to hate. But after what happened with me and Zeke, that changed."

"So they never met again? You're sure of that."

"Yeah. David swore to me. Why are you asking this? What's in the envelope, Mr. Stevens?"

Stevens opened his envelope and removed its contents. There were half-a-dozen photographs of David and Zeke standing in a parking lot. They seemed to be involved in serious conversation.

In a couple of the shots, they were both looking around nervously, as if they knew someone might be spying on them. In the final picture, they embraced like two men who owed each other an enormous debt.

"When were these pictures taken?"

"A few weeks ago."

"They were taken in October? That's months after what happened."

"I know, months after David and Zeke swore they'd never speak again."

"This doesn't make sense," I said.

"What would bring them back together, Temo? You can see the photos; they're concerned about something. They're hugging each other like they have no one else to turn to? Why would they do that?"

"I have no idea."

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