She held his gaze for a long second or two in which she thought of the conversation they had had in this same place twenty-four hours earlier. She thought of the barely-started options paper for Darfur on her computer, of the helicopters that this president was ready to send and the lives they would save. She pictured a Darfuri village about to be torched to the ground and the militiamen on horseback poised to set it ablaze; she saw them reining in their animals and turning around, because they had heard the sound of choppers in the sky that told them they would be seen and caught. She thought of all that and the certainty that nobody other than Stephen Baker would lift a finger to help those villagers.
All right, she said, still looking directly into the deep green of his eyes. We find him. Then what?
Stuart answered. We see what he wants. We ask what-
The President wheeled round to address his closest advisor directly. I hope youre not suggesting I engage in dialogue with a blackmailer-
Not you. Nowhere near you. A million miles from you.
You mean you?
Not even me. Or at least not a me that anyone could identify as me.
No way.
He said he has one more story that will-
Well, Im not going to authorize any such thing. And you know better than to ask.
Stuart gestured an apology, heaved himself up out of his chair, muttering a one, two, three under his breath as he undertook the necessary exertion. Maggie followed his lead and headed for the door.
Im not going to authorize any such thing. Both Maggie and Stuart knew what that meant. They had been given their orders. Deniability, the lubricant of high-level politics. The message had been clear. Do whatever you have to do. Just make sure it has nothing to do with me.
As they walked back to the West Wing, Maggie turned to Stuart. We better start drawing up a list.
A list of what?
Of everybody who wants to drive Stephen Baker from office.
8
Washington, DC, Tuesday March 21, 09.16
In the office of the junior senator from the great state of South Carolina, they liked to pride themselves on the knowledge that a visitor had only to cross the threshold to feel as if he had stepped inside the Old South. The receptionist on duty was usually blonde, under thirty, wearing a floral print and always ready with a welcoming smile, a Yes sir or a Yes maam. Nearly always a Yes sir. Outside that door, they could offer no guarantees. You entered the swamp that was Washington, DC at your own risk. But here, once you were a guest of Senator Rick Franklin, you were south of the Mason-Dixon line.
The visitor, once hed helped himself to the pitcher of iced water in the waiting area, would notice more than the Southern smiles. His eye would be caught first, perhaps, by the bronze plaque above the reception desk depicting the Ten Commandments, as if etched on two tablets of stone. Not for Senator Franklin the niceties of separating Church and State in a public building.
Then, if he were especially vigilant, he would spot the TV monitor tuned not to CNN or MSNBC, as would be the case in most Democrats offices, nor even Fox News, as in most Republicans, but to the Christian Broadcasting Network. Midterm elections might be nineteen months away, but there was fundraising to be done and it paid to give the folks the right impression.
That was the outer area. Once a visitor had pierced the perimeter, and entered the private office of the Senator himself, he would get a rather earthier glimpse of the realities of political life. In here, it was Fox or MSNBC, usually the latter. Know thine enemy, Franklin would say.
In the last twenty-four hours, however, it had hardly felt like an enemy. The network, usually pilloried in Franklin mailings as news for arugula-munching liberals, had been making the weather on the Baker presidency; and for those on Franklins side of the aisle it had felt like sunshine. Some of his colleagues had simply sat back and enjoyed the show. First, St Stephen of Olympia revealed as some kind of wacko, in need of treatment. The joy of it was that story still had some distance to run. What kind of treatment exactly? Were electric shocks involved? Was he ever an inpatient? Was there a facility that might be photographed, complete with exterior shots of a building reminiscent of the Cuckoos Nest, that could run on a loop on Fox?
Senator Franklin could feel the saliva welling as he imagined the meat still to be picked off that particular bone.
And this morning the Iranian Connection. Iron law of scandal: gotta have a good name. The Iranian Connection did the job perfectly. Exotic and dramatic, like a movie, but with the added threat of somewhere dark and scary. Sure the details were obscure, the experts unintelligible bald guys captioned on TV as forensic accountants, but that only made it better. The liberal editorial boards could sweat through their tieless shirts explaining that there was no case to answer, but that wouldnt wash with the folks. Oh no. They would see a blizzard of numbers and laws and rules and they would conclude that, whatever the fine print might say, Mr Perfect President was no longer as pure as the driven snow.
Which is why he had got on the phone to his Democratic colleague within minutes of the story breaking. Calling for an independent counsel was the no-risk move. If the investi gation found nothing, then Franklin could claim to have performed a public service, getting to the bottom of baseless rumours. If it found something, then bingo! And, in between, day after day of stories full of mind-numbing detail on campaign finance law and on the horror show that was the Iranian regime. The mere fact that these subjects were raised in the same breath as Stephen Baker would generate a quite perfect stench of scandal. Voters would be forced to conclude, as they had so many times before, Aint no smoke without fire.
He knew Vincenzi would be a reliable ally. Sure, he was a Dino Democrat in Name Only and sure, everyone knew he couldnt stand Baker, but Vincenzis presence at his side would give Franklin the lofty, bipartisan patina the media could never resist. This is above party politics, they had both said in their statements. The press always lapped up that shit.
As for the phrase special prosecutor, that particular bolt of inspiration had only come to him as he headed over to the hastily arranged press availability. The nerds would say it was inaccurate, but theyd be too late. The poison arrow would already be in flight.
So Senator Franklin felt able to hum Happy Days are Here Again as he straightened the blotter on his desk and moved the paperweight the one that, if you looked closely, revealed a Confederate flag preserved as if in amber inside the thick glass. Things were going according to plan.
He carried on humming even as there was a gentle rap on the door. Cindy, his Head of Legislative Affairs, coming in with a smile he hadnt seen since the night he was elected more than four years ago. It always gave him pleasure watching her move, her rear end tightly contained in a skirt that was never any lower than the knee. But now there was a spring in her step that gave him an extra pulse of enjoyment.
I can see you come bearing glad tidings, sweetheart.
I do, sir, I do.
They played these games, the Southern gentleman and the demure young lady, with dialogue sub-Gone With the Wind but only when the political or personal weather was clement.
Pray tell.
I do declare, Senator, she said with a girlish flutter that, even though hed seen it a hundred times, still sent electricity to his groin, that the source of MSNBCs recent tales of woe has been whats the word outed.
Outed? Already? What the hells happened? The game was over. Too important for games.
Daily Kos. Theyve named him. Seems some liberal hacker broke into the MSNBC system and found the emails between their Washington bureau and the leaker. Then went ahead and named him on his own website. Kos picked it up.
You sure the White House werent behind this?
Cant be sure. But Kos are adamant that it was some ultra-liberal crazy outraged his beloved Baker was being slammed. Seems to add up.
And what have they found about him?
The hacker?
No! Fuck him. The leaker.
All they have so far is that hes late forties, white and from New Orleans.
9
Washington, DC, Tuesday March 21, 10.55
Get in. Ill brief you in the car.
Maggie did as she was told, impressed by the authority of this woman, who could only have been in her late twenties. Maggie had seen her in the White House Residence, dressed like an au pair, young and unshowy. Her name was Zoe Galfano and she was the lead Secret Service agent assigned to the Baker children, with particular responsibility for Katie.
Its a classic threat message, Zoe said, as Maggie strapped on her seatbelt. Not especially unusual in the White House. Except this was different.
Its a classic threat message, Zoe said, as Maggie strapped on her seatbelt. Not especially unusual in the White House. Except this was different.
Because it was addressed to Katie?
That, and the fact that its not easy to get a direct message to her. Hijacking a Facebook identity took ingenuity.
Was it hard to trace him?
Zoe turned to look at Maggie with a smile. We dont know its a him.
Right.
No preconceptions. Thats part of the training.
And all this internet stuff, you learn that too?
I did. Figured I was never going to have the edge in the muscles department. She flexed a bicep. So I decided to focus on those areas where I could compete with the men on a level playing field.
I hear that, Maggie muttered, looking out of the window.
Graduated top of my class in psychology and computer studies.
They were driving out of the District and into Maryland, two other agents following two cars behind. It was strictly against protocol for White House staff to meddle in Secret Service business, but Goldstein had spotted a loophole: As of today, youre not White House staff any more. Youre a family friend. Katie Baker wants you there, so youre there.
Just before she had got into Agent Galfanos car, the identity of the alleged leaker of the MSNBC stories had begun to surface on a blog, though there had been no official confirmation from the network. And still no name. A white male from New Orleans was all they knew. Maggies first job was to see if the creep who had terrorized Katie and the guy whod been feeding MSNBC were one and the same.