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By Root 349 0

a healthy dose of “me” in your veins. Of course, Colgate had honed a side of him that proclaimed to voters that he was deeply concerned with their personal lives and troubles, and he could turn that faucet on at will. At public gatherings, an aide was never far from his side to remind him that the next person he was about to greet had recently lost a spouse or child, or was going through chemotherapy. “The man is amazing,” Rollins had heard more than one person exclaim. “He’s never too busy to remember the troubles I’ve been having.” Colgate had that ability down to a science and it had held him in good stead throughout his political life.

There were times that Rollins questioned his own willingness to overlook the programmed, ingenuous aspect of his friend Bob Colgate, and to continue to play an important role in his rise to the apex of national politics. He knew the answer, of course. There was something intoxicating about sitting at the right hand of power and being highly valued as a source of wisdom. Too, there were the perks inherent in such a relationship, the invitations to events to which only the cream of Washington’s A-list were granted access. A VIP in a city of VIPs. And he didn’t kid himself: he’d taken part in enough of his own dubious, even unsavory deals over the years, advocating for clients for whom he had little regard and even less belief in their causes, cases in which his legal acumen, and, yes, his political connections, had prevailed on behalf of those who didn’t warrant it, at the expense of those more deserving of justice. He was good at rationalizing those incidents in his life, frequently calling upon the priceless words of others to buttress his self-explanations. His wife, a Shakespearian savant, once offered a sonnet to him when he’d expressed doubts about his chosen life. He recited it aloud on his way home that evening:

“Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud;

Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,

And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.

All men make faults.”

• • •

On Tuesday morning, the Washington Post ran two stories pertaining to Rollins.

A banner over a lengthy article on page one read:

NO BREAKS IN ROLLINS KIDNAPPING:

Lack of Contact by Abductors Concerns Authorities.

Chief Carter had been interviewed for the article. He assured reporters that MPD had pulled out all the stops, and was working in close cooperation with state and local agencies, the FBI, as well as with state police from neighboring states.

Chief Carter had called the house early Monday morning and spoken with Rollins. “I was wondering, Mr. Rollins, if perhaps this might be a good time for you and your wife to make a personal plea to the kidnappers.”

“You mean go on television?”

“Yes. There’s always the possibility that a direct plea might strike a nerve with one of them.”

“I don’t think so, Chief.”

“You’re sure, Mr. Rollins? We can easily set up the taping, or press conference.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Mrs. Rollins certainly isn’t up to something like that. We had discussed it before you called, and came to the conclusion that it would be inappropriate at this time. But I thank you for the suggestion and for all you and your officers have been doing for us.”

Of course, he and Sue had not discussed the possibility of going public and pleading with Samantha’s kidnappers. Had they engaged in such a conversation prior to Rollins’s meeting with Ziegler, they might have agreed to do it. But now that it appeared likely that arrangements would be made for Samantha’s safe return, he wasn’t about to do anything to muddy the waters.

The second story that morning was considerably smaller, and was part of a roundup of the day’s political news: Rival Camps to Meet on Miami Debate. The piece was based upon a press release issued by a Pyle campaign spokesperson. According to it, top Pyle political advisor, Kevin Ziegler, and senior advisor to the Colgate campaign, Jerrold Rollins, had agreed to meet the next day to attempt to iron out differences that stood in the way of a proposed debate in Miami.