Stuart Woods: Below the Belt

“I understand. How does all this affect what’s going on now?”

“While Ed was in prison he wrote an account of his years at the Agency, including the end of his career and how he surreptitiously helped Kate’s campaign. Apparently, he held nothing back, and his revelations could be explosive.”

“How explosive?”

“In the worst case, think nuclear. He named names — government officials, military commanders, top journalists, senators and congressmen on both sides of the aisle, Agency personnel — and he related everything in intricate detail and backed it up with documentation.”

“How’d he do that in prison?”

“He wrote the book from memory and hid the manuscript on a computer disc in the prison library, where he worked. Then, after he was pardoned, he went back to his retreat in Maine, where he had cached thousands of documents, and finished it there.”

“I guess it wasn’t published, or I would have heard about it,” Stone said. “What happened to his work?”

“He gave the manuscript and all the backup documents to Joe Adams on computer discs.”

“And what did Joe do with it?”

“Nothing. He still has it.”

“Is he threatening to publish it?”

“Certainly not. Joe’s Alzheimer’s has progressed slowly, and I’m told by Sue, his wife, that he still has lucid intervals — hours or even days. During one of those, he told Sue he wants to give Ed’s documents to me, and Sue wants them out of the house.”

“Why you?”

“Joe appears to believe that some of Ed’s revelations might hurt my legacy — or worse, damage Kate’s chances of reelection. I’m not worried about my legacy, but Kate needs a second term to finish what she started, and that’s very important to both of us.”

“And how did you hear about all this?”

“Sue got a message to me to get in touch with Joe, but carefully. I used someone else’s cell phone to make the call. That remains my only connection with Joe since he left office, and I want to keep it that way.”

“What do you want me to do, Will?”

“I want you to visit Joe and Sue, accept the package from them, and hang on to it until I let you know different. That could be after Kate is out of office, one way or the other. I can’t send a staffer for it or anyone the press might pay attention to.”

“All right, I’d be happy to do that for you. Where does Joe live?”

“He’s at his Santa Fe home, half an hour’s drive from where we sit. He moves among his three homes seasonally. As a former President, he has access to government business jets.” Will handed him a card with an address on it. “He’s high up on the road to the Santa Fe ski area.”

“When shall I do this?”

“Tonight. Stay at the party until we leave for the opera, then go to Joe’s house. I’ll meet you on the south side of the opera parking lot at, say, midnight. I’ll be in this car. I won’t be able to wait long — Air Force One will be on the ramp and ready to go.”

“All right.”

“You’ve met Joe, haven’t you?”

“At the convention where Kate was nominated I sat in a skybox belonging to Strategic Services, and Joe and Sue were there, too. As I recall, Joe and I drank some bourbon. Sue, too.”

“They both remember you fondly, and agreed to have you pick up the package. They’ll be expecting you.”

“Can you see that somebody takes Holly back to my house after the opera?”

“Of course.”

Stone scribbled the address on the back of his business card and gave it to Will. “I’d better get inside and speak to Holly.”

“She can ride to the opera with Kate and me and sit in our box, and an agent will take her home afterward.” Will shook his hand. “Thank you, Stone. You’re our good friend, and I don’t know who else I could have entrusted this job to.”

Stone got out of the car, pocketed Joe Adams’s address, and was escorted to the front door of the house and admitted by an agent. He saw Kate Lee on one side of the room and Holly on the other. He went to the President first.

She greeted him with a hug and a kiss and whispered in his ear, “Thank you so much, Stone. Will and I both appreciate it. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Be nice to Holly tonight,” he said, laughing. “She’s miserable from being shut out of the White House.”

“I will be nice to her, but remember, it’s for her own good, and yours. She needs the break, and you need to keep her... entertained.”

“I will take it as a sacred duty,” Stone said, then moved on so she could greet others. He went and found Holly leaning on the bar.

“Don’t ask how many I’ve had,” Holly said. “What was that all about with Will?”

“I’ll tell you later,” he said. “You’re going to ride to the opera with the Lees and sit in their box. While you’re doing that, I have to run an errand, and I’ll see you back at the house. Will Lee will send you home with an agent.”

“So, at least I’ll have a date. Shall I ask him in?”

“Let’s just say that, when I get home, I will fulfill any duties he might have dreamed of.”

“All right,” Holly said, “and I won’t have my third drink. You got here just in time.”

Stone set the Adams address into his GPS and followed instructions to the road up to the Santa Fe Ski Basin. As he ascended his ears began to pop, then, half an hour later, nearing the twelve-thousand-foot elevation, he saw the road sign and turned left.

He followed the unpopulated lane to an open gate at its end, and as he drove through it the front of the house was suddenly floodlit. A man in a suit appeared and tapped on his window. “May I see some ID, please?”

Stone showed him both his driver’s and pilot’s licenses.

“This way, Mr. Barrington.” He opened the car door, led Stone to the front door, and opened it for him. “Mrs. Adams is waiting for you in the library, to your right.”

Stone rapped on the door, and a woman’s voice invited him in.

“Hello, Stone,” Sue Adams said, rising from a wing chair before the fireplace and greeting him with a handshake and a kiss. “Thank you so much for helping us.”

“I’m happy to do whatever I can,” Stone replied, taking the chair she indicated.

The library doors opened, and Joe Adams rode in on an electric scooter. “Stone!” he cried. “It’s so good to see you!” The two men shook hands, and Joe motioned him to sit again. “We really appreciate your taking this thing off our hands.”

“I’m glad to help, Mr. President,” Stone said.

“It’s still Joe. I fondly remember our little party in the skybox at the convention,” Joe said. “I think I may still have a hangover.”

“That was a great evening,” Stone replied.

“Stone,” Sue said, “are you right- or left-handed?”

“I’m right-handed,” Stone replied.

She reached behind her chair and brought out a thick briefcase, then got up, walked around Stone, and snapped a handcuff shut on his left wrist.

Stone had never been handcuffed to anything before, and he was uncomfortable with it.

“Don’t worry,” Sue said, “Will has the key.”

“David, can you stay for a drink?” Joe asked.

It took Stone a moment to realize that he was being addressed.

“I’m afraid I have a date with Will,” Stone said, “and if he has the key to the handcuff, I don’t want to be late.” He stood up and shook hands with both of them.

“You take care of yourself, Tom,” Joe called as Stone was escorted out by the agent. Stone gave a little wave and followed the man to his car. It cost him some effort to get the case into the car next to his left leg, but he discovered the chain was long enough to allow him to use his left hand on the wheel. He started the car, turned around, and retraced his route to the main road, then turned right and started the descent to Santa Fe.