Dark Vengeance by Jeff Mariotte

Author:Jeff Mariotte
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Pulse

3

McKinley’s policies, particularly his unwavering support of the gold standard, helped build confidence among business-people and limited the effects of the depression,” Professor Crain declared. “Which, incidentally, cemented Republican domination until the 1930s, at which time they lost it, largely due to the much greater Depression, which had been the ultimate result. Short term, the economy seemed to be doing well. But the truth was, that period was called the Gilded Age for a reason. The rich got richer and the poor became ever more destitute, and the gulf between them had never been greater. Long term, that helped lead to a financial collapse that was the most catastrophic in our nation’s history.”

Rebecca tried to take careful notes when Professor Crain spoke. She had already learned that he mingled historical fact with personal opinion in his lectures, and while he welcomed analysis that differed from his, one had better be prepared to back up one’s differences. In any case, she found herself agreeing with him more often that not. Word was, on almost any other college campus he’d have a reputation as a bit of an ideologue, but this was UC Santa Cruz, where nonconformity was the norm and strong opinions were highly valued.

Anyway, his lectures were always stimulating, and the difficulty of his essay tests, while legendary, helped keep her interested. Lately, she’d been having a harder and harder time even getting out of bed in the morning. Reynolds, their cat, had taken to sleeping on the bed with her in the mornings, and as the year progressed and the weather cooled, the cozy comfort of her quilt with a purring cat pressed against her became more and more difficult to leave. Knowing that to miss even one of Professor Crain’s lectures would lead to certain disaster come midterms helped spur her up and out of the house. Three afternoons a week, after class, she worked at a local coffee shop called the Human Bean, and that was the other motivating element—if she couldn’t make it to school, she likely wouldn’t make work either, and she’d be fired long before she flunked out.

After class she stepped from the lecture hall, blinking in the bright sunshine. Hector Gonzales, a classmate she’d become friendly with, followed her outside. “Party tonight,” he said as he sidled up beside her. “You got anything going on?”

She didn’t. “I don’t know if I’m up for a party,” she said vaguely.

“It’ll be fun. Two kegs, limited guest list—it’s at a private house, some friends of mine. Not a frat kind of thing.”

She knew that her hesitation stemmed from the same root as her disinterest in leaving the safety of her own bed. One never knew what might happen, around which corner doom might lurk. She’d never been brave, but she also hadn’t thought of herself as a fearful person. She was well on her way to becoming one, though. She didn’t want to turn into one of those people who were afraid to leave their own homes, but she felt that she was heading down that road.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.