Winning Texas (27 page)

“
Annie Price, were you following me? Are you trying to harass me?
”
Rob was furious and loud.

“
We didn
’
t mean any harm, Rob,
”
she said.
“
We saw you leaving Stumpy
’
s Restaurant and needed to take the same route. Wondered what you were doing these days.
”

“
I have a good job covering music and local politics for the
Austin Comet
. So now you know,
”
he said.
“
It
’
s a fresh start for me. I
’
d hope that you wouldn
’
t deny me that.
”

“
Of course not,
”
Annie said.
“
Rob, this is Travis, my reporting partner at the
Times
. We
’
re actually here on a story.
”

“
And what would that be?
”
Rob said belligerently.

“
Since you
’
re working for a newspaper now, I
’
d better not say,
”
Annie said.
“
Competition, you know.
”

“
Does it have anything to do with the secessionist movement?
”

“
Can
’
t talk about that,
”
Annie said.
“
But since you mention it, we
’
ve heard that your Uncle Dan is still active in the cause, though he
’
s a fugitive. Has he been back in West Texas? Can you tell us anything?
”

Rob
’
s face changed quickly, but Annie couldn
’
t read it.

“
I
’
d be shocked if he
’
d been in Texas,
”
Rob said.
“
As far as I know, he and Alicia are hiding somewhere far away. Your guess is as good as mine. I
’
m just a law-abiding journalist these days.
”

“
Do you keep up with the Nation of Texas folks? Or is that group more or less dead?
”

“
Are you kidding?
”
Rob said.
“
As long as Texans love their state, the Nation of Texas will never die.
”

“
No, I
’
m prohibited from being involved in that group, as you may recall,
”
he added.
“
But things are even worse now than they were four years ago
–
terrible leadership from the President, Congress and the courts. Why would Texans want to be part of that?
”

“
I don
’
t know,
”
she said.
“
Could it be they believe in something larger than Texas? After all, our ancestors fought for our independence. Could it be that most Texans still think the United States is a pretty good country?
”

Rob shook his head and gave her a withering look.

“
You could have been part of a historic new republic, but you chose to do everything you could to hurt Texas,
”
he said.
“
I
’
ll never understand that.
”

“
Rob, we
’
ll never agree on this, so there
’
s no more to say,
”
she said.
“
Are you enjoying your reporting job?
”

“
I love my job with the
Comet
,
”
he said.
“
I
’
m doing exactly what I want to be doing. Sorry I sounded off, Annie.
”

“
Bye, Rob.
”

Rob nodded to her cordially, but turned to Travis with animosity.
“
Follow me again and I can guarantee that you
’
ll be very sorry.
”

He strode across the parking lot as they got back into Travis
’
s car. Annie shook her head.

“
Sorry, Travis. Bad idea. Following him didn
’
t work out too well.
”

“
What a nasty guy,
”
Travis said.
“
At least we know what he
’
s doing now.
”

“
Maybe,
”
Annie replied.
“
He
’
s working as a reporter, but he still talks like a secessionist.
”

CHAPTER 29

Soon after the encounter with Rob, Travis pulled into their budget motel on the outskirts of Austin. In the spirit of economy, Annie had made reservations at the cheapest of the chains. Travis noticed the parking lot had cracked in several places, probably from truck tires beating it down for decades. He checked out his small single room, pleased to note that it was next door to Annie
’
s. He sat on the double bed with its cheap floral bedspread, checking emails on his smart phone. She
’
d asked for time to freshen up, so they met twenty minutes later for the drive downtown.

He was annoyed to see that she
’
d dolled herself up, changing into a straight black skirt with a purple top that he thought showed too much cleavage, a black blazer with rolled-up sleeves and sexy, high-heeled sandals. She
’
d brushed her hair back from her forehead, put on mascara and eyeliner and outlined her lips with deep pink lipstick. Of course she
’
d want to shine for Satterfield, that hound dog of an ex-boyfriend. He felt protective of Annie and jealous of her attention to men who didn
’
t deserve her. He admired her in so many ways and felt sorry that she carried the torch for that bastard politician.

“
Nice outfit,
”
he said.
“
Should I change?
”
He was wearing khaki shorts and one of his more subdued Hawaiian shirts.

“
Thanks,
”
she said.
“
I don
’
t think so. You look fine.
”

She seemed preoccupied and didn
’
t smile, staring ahead as they passed office towers, gas stations and chain businesses on either side of the freeway toward downtown. He drove quickly and stopped to let her out on Congress Street. She
’
d walk to Jake Satterfield
’
s office from there. He
’
d park the car at a nearby garage before heading to his own interview with Sam Wurzbach.

“
Bye, Travis,
”
she smiled.
“
Check in with me later to let me know how things are going.
”

“
Are we going to have dinner together?
”
he said, trying not to sound too hopeful.

“
Let
’
s play it by ear. See how long these interviews take. We shouldn
’
t make definite plans yet.
”

Her noncommittal answer depressed him, but he tried to concentrate on his upcoming meeting with Wurzbach, the darling of the German-Texas movement. He arrived ten minutes early after exploring the Capitol and cooled his heels in the outer office. Wurzbach and most other legislators were housed in the fancy four-story underground extension to the Capitol. A fire in the 1980s had inflicted serious damage, and renovations included constructing a massive addition underneath and adjacent to the building. Located at the top of Austin
’
s Congress Street, the Capitol set a dramatic stage for trendy businesses sloping down to Lady Bird Lake, renamed for the late, beloved first lady. At night, when the Capitol was lit up, Travis thought its elevated, bronzed exterior looked as majestic as anything he
’
d ever seen.

He didn
’
t want to dwell on Annie
’
s meeting with the fat-cat Satterfield, whom he
’
d heard was dating their former
Times
colleague, Maggie Mahaffey. The stuck-on-herself reporter and self-absorbed politician deserved each other. Travis had never gotten to know Maggie, so he hadn
’
t exactly mourned her departure. He
’
d judged her as attractive but superficial, and knew she wouldn
’
t waste her time on him when she could vamp a powerful player.

Travis was attracted to Austin for its quirky blend of music, youth-oriented nightlife and lucrative tech jobs. Many of his college friends had migrated there for high-paying positions, but he loved journalism, so he
’
d settled in Houston because of its larger newspaper. What if Annie was right that print journalism was destined to devolve into a bunch of competing websites? He loved technology, but a website without a newspaper would feel as empty as a world without trees. He wasn
’
t sure why, but he guessed he had what the
Times
’
geezer subscribers were always talking about
–
an irrational need to hold onto something tangible, to feel the carefully curated package of news in his hands as he sipped his morning coffee. Seeing his byline on a printed page always felt special. If the print edition disappeared, he guessed he could move to Austin and become a wealthy techie.

Wurzbach came out of his inner office to greet Travis, who warmed to his quick smile and open manner. After a few pleasantries, he led Travis to a conference room, closed the door and they talked for several hours.

Travis learned that Wurzbach was a native Texan a couple of years older than Kyle Krause. They
’
d both attended high school in Fredericksburg and bonded as hard-working stars of their wrestling team. While Krause had chased his fortune in Houston with the topless industry, Wurzbach had persevered in the small town with his burgeoning chain of German bakeries. He
’
d kept in touch with Krause over the years and recently had persuaded him to invest in German Texas.

“
Doesn
’
t the name Wurzbach come from the Old Country?
”
Travis said.
“
Is that how you got interested in the concept of a German Texas?
”

“
The name
’
s about as German as you can get,
”
Wurzbach smiled.
“
My ancestors came to Texas in the 1840s, part of the first wave of German immigrants. It wasn
’
t an easy life for them. Farming in the Hill Country was tough.
”

He told Travis his ancestors had spread through the Hill Country and made a decent life for themselves until anti-German hysteria gripped the state during World War I.

“
My great-grandfather was persecuted during the war,
”
Wurzbach said.
“
He wasn
’
t physically injured, but some of his friends were horsewhipped, and even tarred and feathered, by fellow Texans just because of their German surnames. It was a terrible time.
”

“
I never knew that,
”
Travis said.
“
Did it happen in other states?
”

“
Sure,
”
Wurzbach said.
“
But it was worse in Texas because of the state
’
s isolation and large population of German immigrants. Texans developed an unreasonable fear of people who
’
d been their friends and neighbors for decades.
”

By 1900, he said, Texas had become home to about 200,000 people of German descent. Most were settled in ten counties where German Texans composed as much as ten percent of the population. Those counties are still regarded as
“
German
”
counties.