Booktree.ng_Forgotten-Witness

own unique and not always logical world. It takes an old hand
like mine to steer through it.”
“I am not naïve, Senator, but I am not going to turn a blind
eye to a possible informational thread,” Josie argued. “I simply
want proof one way or the other that he wasn’t talking about
Hannah.”
Patriota leaned back in his chair, seeming both annoyed and
amused by her tenacity.
“When I was a young Senator I thought as you. I wanted to
listen to everyone. But I learned quickly that this job is like
triage. I must weed through all the problems, and the broken
people, and the desperate tragedies until I find the one thing
that is possible to save and nurture.”
He sighed at exactly the right moment. He gestured just
emphatically enough as if this would prove his dismay.
“It used to be there would be a handful of these poor souls
running around, getting it into their heads that they had
something to contribute to the process or a solution to a
problem. In reality, they are the problem.”
“It must be difficult to deal with concerned citizens,” Josie
noted, her gaze even and her smile small.
Patriota’s eyes flashed. He was unhappy to be challenged in
this way but too practiced to lash out.
“I am not easily shamed, Ms. Bates, because I am a realist.
People like that man are not your concerned and curious
American citizen. If he were, he would have gone through
channels. He would have engaged the services of someone
able to articulate the problem and manipulate the system
appropriately. He might have sought out a lawyer, don’t you
think?” His eyes crinkled as if he enjoyed calling ever so
politely on to his personal carpet. “Although if he had done
that there might have even been more drama. Politicians and
lawyers, we are cousins, are we not?”
“I suppose the difference is that a lawyer gives the benefit
of the doubt,” Josie pointed out.