McDonald Array - Divide and Conquer

“Sean’s on an eleven hour flight and you are going to sleep for each and every one of them,” she ordered. Closing the blinds in his office as the doctor checked his heart rate and blood pressure.

As the fussing stopped, he closed his eyes and was rewarded with the sound of his office door closing. Peace at last he thought. Eleven hours to work out how he was going to keep Sean from prison. A prospect that was dwindling. An email had arrived from the US Attorney’s office, detailing the name of the prosecutor who would be leading the case and requesting a time and date for Sean to be arrested on his return from Moscow. The speed with which they were moving was stunning and added credence to the warning he had received earlier, to say his goodbyes to Sean. All of this was, of course, academic. Unless he succeeded in Moscow.

The Boeing 747–800 VIP was Governor Rick Brown’s latest toy. As a man with more money than sense, the aircraft was the ultimate gadget for the billionaire and Sean tried his best to keep his cool. It was a truly amazing piece of equipment and should, as everyone expected, the Governor win the election, totally surplus to requirements. Despite being newer and far more luxurious than Air Force One, it had none of the hi-tech defensive or command structure capabilities that made Air Force One unique.

Sean jokingly offered to look after it for the governor for the four or eight years he wouldn’t be needing it. The governor thanked him but pointed out that leasing it while not in use actually made him a tidy profit and by tidy, he meant a few million.

Money did beget money thought Sean, it really was true.

As they settled in for the flight, the Governor caught Sean’s eye and nodded towards his private study. As they made their way towards the door, Katherine stood up to join them.

“Do you mind, Katherine?” asked the Governor, guiding Sean in. “This is rather personal,” before shutting the door on his Chief of Staff.

Personal, thought Katherine as she retook her seat. She had a few hours and a night flight to get to know Sean a lot better. She’d find out soon enough what was being discussed. She sat back and relaxed.

“Sean please take a seat,” suggested the Governor, the friendliness in his tone had become slightly more business like.

He handed Sean a sheet of paper and waited for Sean to read through it.

The header was not one Sean was overly pleased to see.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v’s MR SEAN FOX

Sean scrolled down the list of charges that had been leveled against him. Drug smuggling being possibly the only one he actually had any idea of the seriousness of.

“Quite a list!” said Sean.

“Indeed, is it true?” asked the Governor.

“Technically, yes!” replied Sean shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

“Jesus,” and I’ve taken you on this trip. “I’ll get crucified by the press!” The Governor had put his grief aside until after Moscow and as such was very much back in work mode and work mode at that time meant campaign mode.

“I can explain,” offered Sean.

“I’m tough on crime, especially drugs. It’s why they love me, Sean. I can’t help you with this!” he said shaking the sheets of charges.

“I’m not asking you to,” replied Sean indignantly which caught the Governor’s attention.

“OK, go, explain!” he suggested, taking a seat opposite Sean.

Governor Rick Brown stayed silent throughout, although his facial expressions gave away plenty. Sean detailed everything that had happened to him since arriving home.

As Sean stopped talking, the Governor remained speechless, not knowing what to say. Sean sat in anticipation before the Governor finally spoke.

“Holy shit, that is some explanation!” he offered shaking his head. “I’m not sure a jury in the land will believe it, mind you,” he added.

“But do you?” asked Sean.

“Yes!”

“Thank you,” replied Sean.

“Sean, they’re going to throw away the key!” he offered as a friend.

“We’ll see. What will, be will be.”

“And this Torres guy, the new boss, he still wants you dead?”

“Yep, I believe after they missed me in Mexico, he raised it to $30 million bucks. I don’t think I’m his favorite person,” smiled Sean.

“These guys come and go,” offered the Governor as some reassurance.

“This guy’s smarter than average. Trust me, he’s ensured that even when he’s dead they’ll still be hunting me down!”

“Sorry?”

“Escrow fund, pays on proof of my death!”

“Jesus, he is a smart cookie, so even you killing him doesn’t stop it!”

“Exactly, in fact killing him ensures it can’t be stopped! I think that’s one of the reasons the government’s so pissed. I’ve put this guy in charge and he is way smarter than them.”

“You’re remarkably calm for a man with one of the world’s most dangerous cartels after his head,” said the Governor.

“They have to be alive to collect and they’re going to get one hell of a fight from me. We’ll see how their resolve holds up after I’ve stopped a few!” replied Sean confidently, leaving the Governor in no doubt that he meant it.

The Governor got up. The chat was over. Sean got up and as he walked to the door, the Governor added. “Obviously, with all this, you can’t possibly accompany me to the Kremlin. We’ll get you a flight back when we land!”

Sean had the handle of the door in his hand as the Governor delivered the news. News that meant he’d get nowhere near Surkov nor be able to keep an eye on the Governor.

Sean released the handle and returned to the Governor’s desk.

“Do I just dial normally?” he asked as he picked up the phone.

The Governor nodded. Sean was, after all, a big powerful guy. If he wanted to use your phone, you’d let him.

Sean spoke first before handing the phone to the Governor. A heated conversation ensued before he thrust the handset towards Sean and stormed out of the room.

“Vincent, are you still there?” asked Sean.

“Yes, he doesn’t like not getting his way,” he said with a laugh.

“So what’s happening?”

“You’re back on. I told him if he refused I’d inform the Russians your plane had been hijacked and was going to be used as a weapon against the Kremlin!”

“Bit extreme?”

“So’s worry about fucking votes with Surkov around!” exclaimed Vincent.

“You realize when we land, the threat’s gone?!”

“Don’t worry about that. I also suggested I’d release details of a sordid affair to the papers!”

“Jesus,V, is that why he stormed out!” realized Sean.

“Partly, it was when I mentioned it would be with a guy that he lost it!”

“He’s going to be the next President!” reminded Sean.

“And if we’re right, it’s a presidency he would never want to win!”

Thanks to Vincent’s foray into team building, the remainder of the flight was uneventful. The Governor went to his room and didn’t surface until the captain announced they were twenty minutes from landing. Sean similarly crashed out. Having slept little, he fell into a deep and all consuming sleep. He had imagined a tap tap tapping at his door at some point during the night but it wasn’t until he received an exceedingly cold reception from Katherine that he realized it hadn’t been a dream. He had missed out on, he admired the view, something truly exceptional. He dropped hints about how deeply he can sleep when he is in safe areas but she wasn’t biting, a woman scorned.

As the wheels touched down, Sean took up his position next to the Governor. A position he would remain for the next twenty-four hours.