A Parliament for Owls

Money, sex, political power . . . and redemption. Ronald Lorten, CEO of Christian media giant WOWL, Inc., believes that conservatives can and must win the ‘culture wars’ and save the nation from a corrupt administration and its liberal agenda. Ready to use his celebrity and evangelical base to achieve political power, Lorten is stopped by a beautiful blackmailer who has a secret, that if exposed, could destroy his political ambitions and lead investigators to also find financial malfeasance. Desperate to hide the blackmail payments and corrupt business practices of his company, Lorten creates a humanitarian fundraising campaign for victims of human trafficking in Eastern Europe as a way to cover-up the blackmail payments and continue his bid for power. Even as the walls of his ‘empire’ come tumbling down, one genuine act of mercy sows the seeds of redemption for Lorten, if not salvation for his company.

When a young Roma girl is snatched off the street in a remote village in Romania, she is in danger of becoming just one of the thousands of faceless and forgotten victims of the modern-day sex-slave trade in Eastern Europe. But her best friend does not forget her. Or remain silent. On the same day that Nadia Iovan is abducted, thousands of miles and many time zones away in a mundane Department of Motor Vehicles Bureau outside Washington D.C., a successful radio talk show host, Eric Kissane, makes an empty gesture to impress a stranger while renewing his driving license. When Kissane checks yes by ‘organ donor’ he sets in motion the unraveling of family secrets and the eventual downfall of the Christian media giant (WOWL, Inc.) he married into to further his career. Hours later Kissane dies in a fiery car crash, but the secret he carries in his bloodstream does not follow him to the grave. Kissane’s secret leads to blackmail. And blackmail leads to a cover-up, which in a typical Washington outcome, is more dangerous than the crime. Convinced that the Christian Right can and must save the nation from a spreading liberal agenda, Ronald Lorten is in the midst of launching a presidential campaign with his loyal evangelical base when he is confronted by beautiful blackmailer. Aware that the scandal she threatens could ruin the family business and end his political career, Lorten succumbs to her demands and creates a humanitarian fundraising campaign for victims of human trafficking in Eastern Europe in order to hide the blackmail payments. In the midst of his self-serving schemes, Donald Lorten stops for a brief moment when he is face-to-face with a real victim, Nadia Iovan, and in one small redemptive act does the right thing for the right reason. Unknown to Ronald Lorten, the wheels of justice had already been set in motion against WOWL on another front. A disgruntled donor, who recognized financial malfeasance in the company, alerted the IRS. A liberal, and very ambitious IRS agent (Enoch Arnheim), sees the case as an opportunity to further his own career and bring down the right-wing Christian media giant. While pursuing the case, Agent Arnheim meets Kissane’s widow and estranged sister of Ronald Lorten. While they enjoy each other from the first meeting, Enoch and Rachel at cross purposes from the outset, hers to hide a secret and his to find and expose it. In the end, their relationship will complicate the choices they must make and the final outcome in the case of -- the IRS v WOWL, Inc.

Mary Reeves Bell is the author of a historical fiction trilogy for young adults that has also been translated into French and Norwegian. The first of these, The Secret of the Mezuzah, was honored by the Anne & Charles Corrin Jury at the Sorbonne for contributing to the remembrance of the Holocaust. Mary has written for Christian publications. She founded and devotes much of her time to a non-profit mercy ministry rescuing at-risk children in Romania. Mary lives with her husband, David, in the beautiful Virginia countryside.