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Ibrahim Shoob’s body floated in the C&O Canal like a mass of dissolving bread, long drained of any blood. David got there as fast as he could. Tory had called his office from hers, sobbing, to tell him the news. David felt a pang of remorse, a sense of failure as he stood staring at Ib’s body. The air overpoweringly stank of rotting meat. Tory gripped his arm with both hands and stared helplessly.
The corpse was the color of dirty canvas and bloated from days in the cool water, jammed in the dark under a bridge until a kayaker had dislodged it this morning. Small fish and maybe a turtle or two had nibbled at it. The eyeballs had probably been a delicacy—if the kidnappers hadn’t gotten them first. Tory turned away, retching, and David felt overwhelming pity for the dead NCO. Police divers were searching the area for evidence, a murder weapon, anything that would explain his grisly fate. A stainless steel wrist bracelet gave Ib’s name, rank, and blood type. “It’s official,” Tory said. “He’s no longer missing, and I’m sure they’ll declare it a homicide. Although”—she gave the dissolving sea cow-shape a last look—”it may be hard to learn much from that. Poor Ib.”
That afternoon, David accompanied her and two Coast Guardsmen to the Shoob home. It was a journey he didn’t want to make, but he went to help Tory. Hala Shoob let out a wail as she saw the four uniformed persons step out of a U.S. Government vehicle—David, Tory, a Captain, and a Master Chief. A cousin, same age as Hala, appeared and chased a crowd of children out of the living room. Hala was more pitiful this time, anger overwhelmed by grief. A heavy person like Ib, clutching a hankie, she collapsed sideways on the couch and cried loudly and heartbrokenly. After a time, she composed herself and made coffee. The cousin helped, distributing sweet pastries at a living room table. It almost turned into a ceremony of welcome rather than a liturgy of bitter farewell. David supposed keeping busy afforded Hala some relief from her pain. As the many pictures of her and Ib around the room attested, they had had a wealth in family togetherness. There were smiling kids, a smiling Ib proud in his dress uniform, a smiling Hala proud of her husband and children. Tory excused herself after a while. Hala thanked her, wringing Tory’s hands and thanking her for having been a good officer. She wrung David’s hands also, gazing up at him with fiery Arab eyes: “My husband,” she said with a sob, “my husband loved the United States more than most Americans do. He was a fine patriot. You find those men who killed him, you find those men and bring them to justice. Do you promise me that?”
“We’ll help the police in every way.” Tory and David saw themselves out, while the Coast Guardsmen continued their vigil with the family. David and Tory walked to his car. Because they were in uniform, he had to remind himself not to touch her hand or kiss her. “Thank you for coming,” she said. Her eyes spoke kisses.
“I’d do anything for you,” he said, a flood of emotions boiling between them. She reached out and they shook hands, enjoying the lingering touch of one another. “I hardly know you,” she said in a very quiet voice, “but I sure like you a lot.”
He wanted to say something clever, but the words stuck in his throat. “Me too,” was all he managed. He took a deep breath and watched her walk away.
ALLISON MIRANDA: We have this breaking story from the Atlantic Hotel and Convention Center. ANN has just learned that a floor vote has taken place. I repeat, a floor vote has taken place, and the ten-amendment limit is no longer in effect. Here is our reporter in the field, Peggy DeMetrio, with the latest developments. Peggy?
PEGGY: It’s an incredible scene here, as you can see and hear in the background. The main hall is in sheer bedlam as delegates are trying to out-shout and out-shove one another in order to be next to speak. This is a severe defeat for the center moderates as the radicals of the left and right combined to ignore Committee and simply threw out the limit. So far, 26 amendments have been submitted and many, many more are on the way, including: mandatory school prayer; outlaw divorce; death penalty for abortion; life in psychiatric prison for gays and lesbians who do not repent; evolution teaching outlawed; funds cut off to universities that do not establish creationism centers. And here are a few from the left: Civil rights status for gays; death penalty for child abuse; no death penalty but life in prison without parole for capital offenders; civil rights status for mothers of young children so they can get jobs, training, and the like. The list gets longer by the moment. These delegates may eventually say enough and close the Agenda. It’s clear now that many of the delegates who ran for their office under the Congressional Act of Convention simply lied about their agendas. Stealth candidates, you would call them. In the meantime, things are rough on the floor. I have seen several floor fights—fisticuffs—in the past hour.Under the same Congressional Act, these delegates are immune from civil proceedings, so I don’t know how order can ultimately be kept here. Back to you, Allison.
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