Mandy: The Order of the Crossbones, #1

By Kore Rigel

After what was supposed to be a benign affair, after all, Tom had told Mandy that he and his wife were in an open marriage, they stayed together for the kids and his political campaign. All becomes revealed, as Mandy joins The Order of the Crossbones, and learns that Tom has opened up his marriage all over Washington DC. 

Mandy, a naive, Indiana native just graduated from college and began the start of her dream career as a legislative aide to junior Indiana Senator, Thomas Woodward. Senator Woodward develops a liking to Mandy and moves her to his DC office. There, they begin their affair. 

In the midst of their trysts, Mandy finds out that he has a number of conquests around DC. She is sought out by a secret society and becomes involved in their plan to expose Senator Woodward's underhanded oil deal with the UAE for campaign dollars. Find out if Mandy is able to keep her hands clean as she becomes integral in the plan to leak information about Senator Woodward to the press. This is the first installment of The Order of the Crossbones series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kore Rigel
• Release date: Mar 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386525714

Kore Rigel

Kore Rigel was named after the Greek goddess. In 2003, the name Kore became the name of a two kilometer moon of Jupiter. Her last name, which is coincidentally the name of one of the brightest star in constellation, Orion and is Arabic in descent. Kore grew up loving the science-fantasy genre, and is a proclaimed science nerd. Kore was born in Belfast, Ireland, and moved to the United States when she was a teenager. Her second love after science, is reading romance novels. Being a citizen of the UK, she has a fascination with Stonehenge and the ancient druids. Kore has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington in Political Science. She resides in Seattle with her husband and Pomeranian. She loves trying new recipes out on her husband. As fas as she knows, Pomeranians are the best dog breed in the world. Her dog, Winston, is the ultimate writing partner. Kore frequents the Pike Place Fish Market, where she acquires fresh seafood for her nightly dinner. She spends most of her days writing, journaling, and hiking. She can be found at one of the many Seattle coffee shops developing one of her characters or story arcs.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Driving down North Illinois Court, she pulled into the parking lot, using her brand new full-time employee badge. She loved her new job. It had only been two months, but it was interesting, and she felt fully engaged in her new position. As she walked into the building through the back-parking lot door,

Good morning, Mandy, the security guard said.

Good morning, Earl. Hope you have a good day, replied Mandy.

She stepped down the hall, and into her cubicle. She was beginning her dream of working in the geo-political sector. She had just graduated from Purdue University and interned at the office she works for now. She was brought on full time, after a successful summer and semester, interning for junior Senator, Thomas Woodward in his Indianapolis office. Senator Woodward, was elected to the senate the year prior after a successful stint as a congressman serving District 4.

Mandy loved the enthusiasm of the new senator and was enamored with the energy he ignited in the senate for the State of Indiana. The fervor for the new dashing senator was contagious. Senator Woodward was able to unite parties on several issues and to get several bills passed. He worked for the people of Indiana and was true to the value of the people he represented.

Amanda Barnard, who went by Mandy, didn’t want to be an elected official, but to make a difference by working her way up in the legislative field. Her first step to achieving her dream, was becoming a legislative aid, which she was able to obtain before walking in graduation.

Graduation was one of the best days of her life. She had completed her Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Purdue University. Her parents drove up from Lafayette, her grandparents from both sides drove in. It was a day of love, family, and friends. After the ceremony, the entire family went to a steakhouse for dinner. Her younger sister and brother were very excited and proud of their big sister.

A week after graduation, Mandy’s family helped her move to Indianapolis. That day signified that Mandy had grown up and was ready to take on the world. Despite her excitement for her new found freedom and independence, she was nervous of entering the real-world. Thoughts went through her head: what if she wasn’t good enough, what if she didn’t have what it took to work in politics, what if she couldn’t cut it, what if no one took her seriously? Even though she had these fears, she pressed on. She felt fulfilled in making a difference and helping the community.

As she walked to her cubicle and checked her calendar—thoughts raced through her head. Today, was a major day. Senator Woodward was in town from Washington DC to meet with constituents. She had prepared research on the water district that the legislative director in Indianapolis had requested. Mandy had wondered if she had provided enough information regarding the scope of the issue. She was fairly sure she did as she felt she was fairly thorough.

Senator Woodward had just walked in the office. He was accompanied by his chief legislative director, Jake Brown. Senator Woodward was dashing, standing around six-foot-two, slim, and impeccably dressed. The one thing Mandy loved about his appearance was his dark-brown hair, that was thick, and styled with the perfect amount of gel. As Mandy caught the first glimpse of him, she felt butterflies in her stomach. Her body began to swoon, and she thought to herself, he’s so gorgeous.

Senator Woodward walked into his office, and beckoned for his administrative assistant to join him, Sally, can you come in here? Senator Woodward yelled in a deep voice.

On my way! Sally said quickly, as she dashed in the Senator’s office and shut the door.

Today was going to be an intense day at work. Senator Woodward had lost some favor with support of a bill that passed, making several of the key movers and shakers in Indianapolis upset. Today was about damage control.

The Senator had a reputation for doing what was right for the people, regardless of campaign dollars. He also had a different reputation. There was never any definite evidence, just rumors.

Senator Woodward married his high school sweet heart after college. They had two kids who were both in elementary school. They remained in Terre Haute, so the kids wouldn’t be disrupted by changing schools, when Thomas Woodward was elected to the senate. That left Senator Woodward half of his time in DC, and the other half in Indianapolis. Returning to Terre Haute every other weekend. With Senator Woodward’s travel schedule and time away from his family, the rumors were running rampant that he had a girlfriend. The rumored girlfriend lived in DC and was a civil rights attorney named Stacy Miller. Stacy was tall, thin, and had long blonde hair down to her waist. The rumor was that they shared an apartment in DC, and that Senator Woodward did not have any intention on leaving his wife and family, and that was an arrangement Stacy was willing to have, since she was focused on her career.

Sally came out of the Senator’s office and quickly returned to her computer—typing vigorously. Just then, two men with suits entered. Mandy was working on research for the next several bills that were being presented in the senate. Sally greeted the two men and asked if they wanted coffee or water. Both men requested coffee.

Right this way, gentlemen. Senator Woodward is ready to meet with you, Sally said as she handed them each their cup of coffee.

Thank you, one of the men replied as he grabbed the cup of coffee and his briefcase while both men followed Sally to Senator Woodward’s office. Sally walked them in, and shut the door as she exited the office.

About an hour later, the door opened. The two men walked out with with Jake and Senator Woodward. As they walked out of the office, they all shook hands.

Thank you Senator. You’ve really cleared up several concerns that our office had said one of the men as he shook Senator Woodward’s hand.

It was my pleasure in alleviating any tension that your office might have had with the recent bill passing, replied Senator Woodward. I look forward to hearing from you later this week, he continued. Jake walked them to their car.

As Senator Woodward passed by Many’s cubicle, he knocked on the foam wall, Hey! Senator Woodward exclaimed as he got Mandy’s attention. He continued, Great research, it really helped smooth things over with the Indianapolis Water Authority. We were able to leverage a recent kickback to alleviate the increased operational costs.

Oh, thank you! Mandy replied. I was hoping that was what you needed.

It was exactly what I needed! Senator Woodward assured her.

Chapter 2

Mandy felt more confident in her position as she understood the scope of her of the job. Everything felt as though it was falling into place. She had a group of girlfriends who regularly met for a happy hour every Thursday night to catch up on things. She was living in a quaint studio apartment where she had a cat and even a plant. Things seemed to be taking shape, and her life as she visioned was coming together. Gone were the days of all-nighters and fraternity parties of her college years.

At a coffee shop, she had met a nice guy named Matt. They had began casually dating after he had asked for her number. Things were going well between them, and Mandy was having him over for dinner tonight.

This was Mandy’s first guest at her new apartment. Sunday night was a nice time to connect with Matt before the busy week. She had gone out with two of her girlfriends the night before and enjoyed the female bonding. Now, she craved connecting to her maybe-soon-to-be significant other.

She decided to make penne al vodka, one of her favorite recipes. She had gone through her closet 3-4 times and made 6 different changes just to nail the right look. She did not want to be too formal or too causal. She decided on black jeans and a top that showed off her assets.

As she was baking the garlic bread, and simmering the pasta on the stove, she heard a knock on