Stuart Woods - Below the Belt

“Ah!” Holder said. “We stayed at your L.A. hotel a few months back, and it was damned fine!”

“I’m glad you had a good experience,” Stone replied.

Ozick spoke up. “I’m in the hotel business, myself,” he said, “as housing the gamblers at our casinos.”

“Yeah,” Holder said, “I’m in the cattle business, too.” Everybody laughed, except Ozick.

“Nelson,” St. Clair said to Knott, “I was interested to read of your interest in the presidency.”

“Thank you,” Knott replied in a deep, beautifully modulated voice. “I’m grateful for your interest, Christian.”

“What sort of planning are you doing?”

“Well, we’re forming a new party, to be called the Independent Patriot Party, and we’ve started work on getting on the ballot in all fifty states.”

“And how’s that going?”

“We’ve just gotten started, really, but it’s going to be more expensive than I had first thought.”

“And how are you going to finance your campaign?”

“I’ve already loaned it fifty million dollars. That’s a start.”

“A properly run presidential campaign is going to cost north of a billion dollars,” St. Clair said. “Are you going to self-finance all the way?”

Knott laughed, revealing the best teeth Stone had ever seen, or the best dentistry. “I certainly hope not.”

“Well, the Republican Party is in pretty bad shape, after the last election, but Kate Lee is going to be very well financed, don’t you think so, Stone?”

“I expect so,” Stone replied.

“I think Kate has done a creditable job as President,” St. Clair said, by way of needling Knott, Stone thought. He also thought that St. Clair knew all of what he’d just asked Knott about, and he was just getting the recital for the benefit of his guests.

“The last presidential candidates in either party that I had any respect for were Joe Adams and John McCain,” Knott responded.

“Nelson, I don’t know if I mentioned that Holly, here, is Kate’s national security advisor.”

Knott beamed at Holly. “So, it’s your fault,” he said, laughing, and the others laughed with him.

“I’ll take all the credit I can get,” Holly replied, beaming back at him, “whether I deserve it or not.”

Knott loved that, though his wife was looking at Holly as though she were about to throw a steak knife at her.

“What are your politics, Mr. Knott?” Holly asked.

“I’m for what’s right and what works,” he replied. “And please call me Nelson. May I call you Holly?”

“Of course,” Holly said. “You’re a pragmatist. How refreshing.”

A steward refreshed everyone’s wineglass.

“Ideology doesn’t interest me,” Knott replied, “not any party’s. I’m for American rights.”

“Does that include a woman’s right to choose?” Holly asked, and everybody froze.

“Of course,” Knott said. “It’s not my way, but it’s the law, and I’m not going to stand in the way of the law.”

“How very nice to hear it put that way.”

“Excuse me, if I disagree,” Ozick said, and his face had gone pink.

“We’ll excuse you for disagreeing, Hal,” St. Clair said, “as long as you’re not disagreeable at my table.”

“Then I’d better keep my mouth shut,” Ozick said.

“As you wish.”

The plates were taken away and a Stilton appeared on the table, along with a decanter of port. They were shown the label: a Quinta do Noval, 1966.

“And whom do we thank for this?” Stone asked.

“That is from your host,” Holder said. “I don’t know a damn thing about port.”

They all raised their glasses to their host and drank, and the cheese was passed around.

“And where, Christian, do you find such superb Stilton in Maine?”

“From Paxton & Whitfield, Jermyn Street, London. Just around the corner.”

After they had made love and were catching their breath, Stone said, “What did you think of Nelson Knott?”

Holly sat straight up in bed. “I think he’s a very dangerous man.”

“Why so?”

“He’s smart as a rattlesnake, but with a lot of charm when he wants to use it.”

“And how did you learn this?”

“Don’t you ever have trouble sleeping?”

“Never.”

“Well, I do, and at three in the morning, Nelson Knott is about all the company you can find on TV. That man is the slickest thing you ever saw, and if he’s as rich as Forbes said he is, and if he’s doing what he says he’s doing in all fifty states, he’s going to be a handful.”

“Really?”

“You just watch — the press are going to love him.”

Stone and Holly got dressed the following morning and went up for breakfast. A hot buffet had been set out under the afterdeck awning. Harold and Cassandra Ozick were already seated at the table.

Stone and Holly helped themselves and sat down. “Good morning,” Stone said to the Ozicks.

Ozick muttered something unintelligible, but it didn’t sound welcoming.

“That was a great dinner last night, wasn’t it?”

“It was,” Ozick admitted. “So, you’re a member of the Democrat Party, are you?”

“No, I’m a member of the Democratic Party.”

“Whatever.”

“And you’re a very big contributor to the Republican Party, aren’t you?”

“I buy men, not parties,” Ozick said. He caught himself: “That is, I invest in them.”

“Interesting,” Stone said. “I read somewhere what you did in the last election, but it slips my mind. How much did you invest?”

“Higher than you can count,” Ozick said. “And I’ll keep doing it as long as there’s a Democrat in the White House.”

“Tell me,” Stone said, “are you happy with your return on investment?”

“We’ve still got the House.”

“But that’s not enough, is it?”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Who are you going to... invest... in next time?”

“I may have to give it a fresh look. That fellow Knott has already asked me for a hundred million.”

“What do you like about Nelson?”

“I like it that he’s already a celebrity,” Ozick said. “I don’t have to invest in making him one.”

“And, if he’s elected, what do you want from him?”

Ozick looked him in the eye. “Favorable consideration,” he said.

“Can you really get a hundred million dollars’ worth of ‘favorable consideration’ out of a President?”

“I’m not just in the casino business, you know, I’ve got money everywhere, some of it in defense industries.”

“Ah, now I get the picture.”

“Do you really, Barrington?”

“I think so. You invest, then when, say, a new fighter jet is up for bids, you get the nod.”

“A contractor always wants the nod.”

“But, because you’ve invested, you expect to get the nod.”

“I hope for an improvement in my chances.”

“So, there are no guarantees. It’s like at your gaming tables — you put down your money, and you take your chances.”

“I expect to improve on the margins I get at the casino.”

“Because, by your investment, you’ve stacked the odds in your favor.”

“Barrington, you’re a lawyer, do you expect me to answer that out loud?”

“If I were your lawyer, I’d advise you to stand on your rights under the Fifth Amendment.”

“Consider that done.”

“How long have you been a big political contributor, Hal?”

“Oh, the last half-dozen elections, I guess.”

“But you’ve lost the popular vote in five of those.”

Ozick just glared at him. Before he could speak, Nelson and Clarice Knott joined the table.