Vince Flynn - Act of Treason

“How did it go at Langley?”

“She’s dead and she doesn’t even know it.”

“I think she does now.”

“What’s going on?”

“Drudge is reporting that the president is going to hold a noon press conference.”

“About?”

“He says Kennedy is going to resign.”

“You’re kidding!” Ross’s voice was filled with excitement.

“Nope. Can you believe it? It took less than a day and you barely had to lift a finger.”

“Where are you?”

“At the hotel. I’m meeting some clown from Indiana who thinks he’s going to be their next governor.”

“Keep it short. I’ll meet you in the bar at noon. We’ll watch it together. I can’t wait to see the dejected look on Kennedy’s face.”

“See you there.” Garret hung up just as his 11:30 came strolling into the lobby. The guy had to be six foot six. That was the first thing he noticed. The second was that he had the most pronounced Adam’s apple he’d ever seen. Unless the people of Indiana wanted a governor who looked like a stork, this guy didn’t stand a chance.

President Hayes was as relieved as Kennedy had ever seen him. After she’d finished the PowerPoint presentation, he admitted that he’d feared the worst when he’d read the piece in theTimes. For obvious reasons he did not want his administration to end with a scandal. Instead, he was going to leave on a high note. Gazich was guilty. There was no doubt about it. The Greek government had just this morning filed their official protest at the U.N. They’d jumped the gun and were about to find that out in a very public manner and, best of all, his critics and foes were going to have to eat crow.

Rapp’s idea to hold a press conference had been an easy sell for Kennedy. The president couldn’t wait to turn the tables onThe New York Times. Not only was he going out on a high note, he was going to be able to do what few presidents got the chance to do, and that was rub the press’s face in their own mistake. Rapp had been right when he’d told Kennedy that this was going to be fun. Her amusement, however, had been brief. Kennedy was filled with dread over how far-reaching the scandal might be, and she’d decided to share none of her deeper suspicions with the president. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, it was that she needed some proof. So far all she had were some very embarrassing photos, a theory, a deep distrust of Mark Ross and the fear that Josh Alexander was so power hungry he’d had his own wife killed to win the election.

Kennedy stood in the small hallway just outside the White House Press Room with Juarez at her side. She wanted him there so she could give the Clandestine Service some much deserved positive publicity. For Kennedy there was no time to celebrate. She was worried about the larger picture. Worried about the truth that Rapp might discover. A truth that would destroy a nation’s confidence in its elected officials and damage for decades to come America ’s international standing. Kennedy needed to be absolutely sure of what had happened and she needed to find out before Alexander and Ross took their oaths.

Kennedy’s phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw it was Rapp. She pressed the talk button and asked, “How did it go?”

“She had no idea they were having an affair.”

“You believe her?”

“Yes.”

“Did she confirm that she was the one who ordered him to ride in the second car?”

“Yes.”

“Hmmm.” Kennedy wondered if they’d just hit their first stumbling block. Part of her wanted it to end right here and now, but another part of her wanted to prove that her instincts were right.

“But, get this,” Rapp said. “Garret was the one who told her to make sure Cash and the wife went in the second limo. She said Garret told her the wife had specifically requested Cash.”

“And there’s no way of proving if she did or didn’t.”

“There is one way.”

“How?”

“I’ll grab that little piece of shit Garret and threaten to pluck his eyeballs out with my bare hands.”

“Mitch, we can’t go around doing stuff like that.” Kennedy glanced to her right and then left. “At least not without some more proof.”

“Fine. But do me a favor. The president is going to have you say a few words, right?”

“Yes.”

“Make sure you really play up the fact that we found certain records in Gazich’s office that have given us a good idea as to who may have hired him. Keep it real vague, but sound confident.”

Kennedy looked up and saw President Hayes coming down the hall with his press secretary. “I have to go. I’ll call you when I’m done.” Kennedy silenced her ringer and stuffed it in her purse.

“Are you ready?” the president asked with a confident smile.

“I’m ready if you are, sir.”

“Good, let’s go.” Hayes took Kennedy by the arm and led her into the cramped and hot White House Press Room.

The first thing Garret did was separate the stork from his staff. The five people seemed put off, but Garret didn’t give it a second thought. He walked the wannabe politician over to the far corner of the lobby, grabbed two chairs, and got down to business. The stork was a Baptist who attended church every Sunday, which in a state like Indiana was very important. Even more so for a Democrat. The family was loaded. Grandpa started out buying radio stations in the ’30s, Daddy added TV stations in the ’60s, and then further solidified the family’s fortune with a cable monopoly in the ’80s. In the ’90s, the stork, who’d graduated from Purdue with an engineering degree, saw the future and convinced Daddy to get into the satellite business. The company now had three communications satellites in orbit, and the family’s net worth was estimated to be somewhere in the five-billion-dollar range.

The stork claimed to be happily married and faithful to his wife of thirteen years. He had three kids, no history of drug abuse, and no perverse habits that he would admit to. Garret told the man that before he would commit, he wanted to run some preliminary polls to see what the people of Indiana thought of him. The stork said they already had polling data, but Garret was adamant that he would need to do a poll of his own. The aspiring candidate would of course have to foot the bill. Garret would also hire a private eye to check for dirty laundry. It was a steadfast rule of his to have all potential clients investigated. He didn’t like surprises. He’d been burned one too many times by candidates with an over inflated sense of importance and a selective memory.

Garret saw a Secret Service agent enter the main door. He vaguely recognized him as one of the agents assigned to Ross’s detail. The man stopped, swept the room from right to left with a robotic gaze, and then brought his left hand up to his mouth and spoke into a small microphone. Garret knew Ross would be coming through the door shortly, so he apologized for such a brief meeting and promised to call the stork early next week. Even if he didn’t need to meet Ross, he would have kept it short. He wasn’t about to dither with a potential client.

Garret saw two more Secret Service agents come through the door. One stopped to survey the guests while the other continued on to the elevator bank. A second later Ross entered the lobby. The murmurs started almost immediately. Those who saw him first whispered to the others and all heads turned to watch the party’s second most important person. One of the guests shouted something that Garret didn’t quite catch. Ross smiled and pumped his fist and then the other guests broke into applause.