David Baldacci - Daylight

“I have personally questioned seven of them on that very point. Their answers were remarkably the same: They were ashamed and they couldn’t bring themselves to tell anyone else their secret. And after they used their official positions to further their blackmailer’s biddings, well, it became legally impossible for them to admit to anything without suffering the consequences. That is a blackmailer’s stock in trade.”

Robert Puller said, “So how bad was the damage?”

“Very bad,” said Graham grimly. “It will take us years to unravel it all. But it does explain many decisions and acts by public officials and companies and other interests across a broad spectrum. They were serving another master, not the people of this country. The public servants violated their oath of office. The others committed serious felonies. This thing has apparently been going on for quite some time.”

Robert Puller said, “But Gorman and the like were being paid by others to blackmail these people to take the action they did. What about those folks? They are definitely enemies of this country. There needs to be consequences.”

“We’re interviewing people and compiling those lists. More indictments will come, as I said. I can tell you preliminarily that other nation states, foreign and domestic companies, and other monied interests are on those lists. If they couldn’t win by healthy competition, they apparently resorted to cheating by having folks in positions of power side with them for fear of their own sordid secrets coming out. Blackmailers usually just want money. Gorman and the others were playing a more sophisticated game. A court decision here, a law passed there, a merger okayed or not, a criminal prosecution dropped, a company making a decision to leave a market, the possibilities were endless.”

“Why did they have the parties up there for Tony Vincenzo and the others?” asked Blum.

Graham said, “They were filming them, too, and many of them were doing drugs and other illegal activities and engaging in things that might be embarrassing if they were ever made public. They figured it was a way to keep them in line down the road. Stay the course or the film ends up with the cops.”

“What about Peter Driscoll?” said Pine.

“Ironically, we could find no evidence that Driscoll was involved in this. But he’s not entirely blame free, either. Turns out his grandson, Jeff Sands, tried repeatedly to meet with him to seek help for his drug addiction. Driscoll never did so, apparently afraid that conceding that he had a drug-dealing relative, even one who was trying to beat his addiction, would tarnish his own reputation.”

“And Nora Franklin?” said Pine.

“One of the first recruits to the scheme. We’ve thoroughly interviewed her. That trip she and Gorman took overseas? It was to get her into the fold. She came back and immediately sought political office, backed by Gorman and his associates. And she won, and kept winning, gaining seats on powerful committees and relaying top secret information to Gorman, who, in turn, sold it to our enemies for top dollar. And she gained a fortune in the bargain.”

“And the opponent in her last election?” said John Puller.

“Became a significant threat. Franklin had begun to ignore her constituents. A local and charismatic businessman who was running on a campaign of reform came out of nowhere and was leading her by double digits.”

“How did they blackmail him?” asked Puller.

“They couldn’t find a way to do that, so they took a different angle. He grew seriously ill and had to drop out of the race. The doctors couldn’t identify what was wrong and he was still suffering. But knowing what we did, we had him tested for a variety of poisons. It was an industrial chemical that he was somehow exposed to. Now that they know, he can be treated. He’ll never be cured, unfortunately. But it can be managed.”

“Well, he’s luckier than Jerome Blake or Agent McElroy,” said Pine. “Jerome died because he knew about Jewel’s having sex at that penthouse. They were afraid of who he might talk to. And while McElroy was the one to die, I think they were aiming at John and me. But regardless, they were always going to pin it on Jerome to get him out of the way and scare Jewel into never talking.”

“I think you’re right about that,” said Graham.

“What about Lindsey Axilrod?” asked Pine.

“Her real name is Svetlana Semenov. She was an agent with the FSS, which is the successor to the KGB. She’s been in this country for years after having her real identity thoroughly laundered through three different countries. She is a real IT expert, and that landed her the job at Fort Dix.”

“But I thought you said foreign states were not involved in this,” said Robert Puller.

“Semenov wasn’t working for the FSS, at least not for the last ten years. We’ve had discussions with our counterparts over there. She went AWOL around that time. I think she eventually hooked up with Gorman and they decided to go the private route, with money as the objective.”

“And what will happen to her?” asked Pine.

“That will largely be up to DOJ and the State Department. She could be a powerful chit.”

“You are not thinking about a prisoner exchange or anything like that,” said Pine sharply.

“If it were up to me, the woman would never see the light of day, but it’s not up to me,” retorted Graham. “Then again, sending her back to the Russians, after she screwed them over?” He smiled. “That might be the best thing we could do to punish her.”

“And what will happen to Franklin?” asked Pine.

“Oh, she’s going to prison. We’re going to do a deal with her to avoid the need for a trial. The charges will remain sealed. She will never speak of it publicly. The basic rationale will be put down to financial misdeeds.”

“So it will all be buried,” said Pine. “I just don’t get that, sir.”

“I never said I was in agreement with it, Pine. And that decision came from several levels above me. The down-and-dirty explanation I was given was that if the public found out, they could never trust their leaders again.”

“Well, they apparently can’t trust their leaders, so isn’t that the point?” interjected Robert Puller.

“Well, even with the breadth of this scheme, these folks only represent a small fraction of people in positions of power and influence.”

Pine said, “You know some journalists are going to start digging into this and they’re going to uncover the truth and people are going to win slews of Pulitzers off this.”

“And part of me hopes that they do,” replied Graham. “Freedom of the press is in the very first amendment, after all.” He paused again and surveyed them. “But with that said, you will have to hold this in the strictest confidence all the way to the grave. I’m certain I can count on you for that.”

It wasn’t spoken as a question.

Then Graham said, “I was told to make that statement to you, and I did. What I wasn’t told to say is what I’m going to say now. Each of you put your lives on the line for your country. If it were up to me, the public would know all about it and would be singing your praises, and you would be given all the awards and recognition that you undoubtedly deserve. That would be in an ideal world. We, unfortunately, do not live in that kind of a world. But I want you to know that certain people do know of your sacrifice and loyalty to this country, and they wanted me to extend their thanks and through them the heartfelt gratitude of a nation. And now I will stop making speeches, and all of you can go on with your lives. However, if there is anything that you need, all you have to do is call me.” He glanced at Pine. “And my old friend, Clint Dobbs, is lucky to have you out there in Arizona. Tell him to be careful—other field offices might want to snatch you up, starting with this one.”