“Then Carlson died, and Jensen saw his opportunity when Maddux lost his mentor and protector. Jensen turned on Maddux. He ordered Maddux’s execution so he could absolutely distance Red Cell Seven from anything Maddux had done, especially after the assassination attempt failed. In the last few weeks he has subtly convinced the rank and file that Maddux is truly a defector of his own doing. And that the man must be taken out if RCS is to maintain its sterling reputation among the few senior intel people in this country who know about it.”
“That’s why he begged me for more time to find Maddux,” Dorn whispered.
“What, sir?”
“Bill told me that Maddux was responsible for the assassination. He’d blamed it totally on the guy, of course. Said he was rogue, operating completely on his own. I told Bill I couldn’t allow the FBI to continue searching blindly for my assassin. It was too much wasted time and money, and besides, the country needed to know who’d shot their president and that the assassin would be punished. I told Bill that very soon I’d have to put the FBI onto Maddux, anonymously, of course.”
“Of course.”
“That’s when he begged me for time. We had that discussion when we were up in the residence.”
“Interesting.”
“Bill did not want me putting the FBI onto Maddux. He was very firm on that. He told me he wanted to find Maddux and deal with the man himself. He claimed he was afraid Maddux might try to cut a deal with the authorities if he was apprehended. He claimed Maddux would spill everything he knew about Red Cell Seven to try and get leniency.”
“Sir, I believe that was simply an expertly crafted cover story. A story Bill put forward to mask a hidden agenda, Mr. President.”
“What do you mean?”
“Bill Jensen had a more personal reason for finding and dealing with Shane Maddux himself, another reason that was literally much closer to home for him.”
“Which was?”
Baxter grinned smugly. “Do you remember when I asked Bill about Rita Hayes the other day?”
“Of course. He was sitting right where you are now.”
“He got animated, very upset.”
The president nodded. “Yes, he did. I remember that.”
“Rita Hayes was his longtime executive assistant at First Manhattan. She’s an attractive woman.”
Dorn’s eyes widened. The code was clear. He understood immediately why Baxter had used the word attractive. “Bill was having an affair with her.”
“That’s right,” Baxter confirmed. “And Maddux knew about it. He had a video she’d secretly recorded of Bill and her having sex. You see, Rita Hayes was working for Shane Maddux. Maddux was afraid all along that Bill wasn’t loyal to him, so he did something about it. He recruited Rita to be his eyes and ears at First Manhattan. Now Maddux is convinced Bill knows he has the video. Maddux believes Rita might have told him about it if he’d threatened her, and Bill is desperate to eliminate any possibility of the affair coming to light.”
“For obvious reasons, Bill wants to make certain that tape is never played, especially because of all that happened with his wife and him so long ago.”
“Cheryl has never truly trusted him since,” Baxter said. “That’s my information, anyway.”
“Would you trust him if you were she?”
“Of course not. So,” Baxter continued, “the only way to eliminate the tape coming to light is to eliminate Shane Maddux.”
“What about Rita Hayes?” the president asked. “She could talk.”
“I don’t think so. I think that’s why Bill got upset when I mentioned her.”
“Why?”
“She’s disappeared. No one can find her. He was worried about me digging deeper into all that.”
“Do you think…” Dorn’s voice trailed off.
“Do I think Bill had her murdered because he found out she was being disloyal?” Baxter nodded. “Absolutely. And he has plenty of people who’d do his bidding.”
Dorn stared steadily over the desk at Baxter for several moments. “We must destroy Red Cell Seven, Stewart, and this is our chance. They are weak.”
“I agree, Mr. President. But we have to wipe them out completely.”
Had Maddux told Baxter everything? Dorn wondered. “Where is it that you believe we start?”
“You mentioned it earlier.”
“What? What did I mention?”
“The Executive Order Richard Nixon signed back in 1973,” Baxter replied. “I know you said you don’t care about it, but if we’re really going to wipe these guys out we have to care.”
“I know,” Dorn agreed, frustrated by the obvious.
“Maddux told me that Nixon signed two originals in 1973, giving Red Cell Seven the power and authority to exist and to carry out the laws of the land as an agent of the executive branch of the United States government. Apparently, Roger Carlson took both of them after a meeting he had in the Oval Office with Nixon and his two top aides, Haldeman and Ehrlichman. We must get possession of at least one of those original documents, sir.”
“We need to get both originals, Stewart. If we do, then RCS has no credibility, no authority to exist.”
“Maybe not,” Baxter disagreed gently. “If we have one of them, we’ll know what we’re dealing with, and I believe we’ll be able to prove that RCS is effectively unconstitutional. Remember, history has not been kind to Richard Nixon. We may be able to get that Executive Order overturned simply on the basis that it was he who wrote it. Most people around the world regard Nixon as a criminal. I’m willing to bet the current members of our Supreme Court will, too.”
The president smiled thinly and nodded. Baxter was very good at this kind of thing. Despite the man’s notoriety for being a consummate prick, he was incredibly valuable. Down deep, Dorn didn’t like the man very much, though maybe his feelings were starting to change based on this conversation. “You’re probably right.”
“Here’s the other thing, sir,” Baxter continued. “According to Maddux, one of the original documents may be lost forever anyway.”
“Why?”
“It was the document Roger Carlson kept for himself, the one he always kept close by. According to Maddux, Carlson never told anyone where he kept it, so it may be lost permanently.” Baxter held up his hand, indicating that he wasn’t finished, when Dorn began to speak. “But we may be able to find the other one.”
“How?”
“Maddux told me that RCS agents greet each other with two phrases. One of them, the first one, is ‘Decus septum.’”
“Honor to the seven,” Dorn spoke up.
“You obviously took Latin in college.”
“It was high school, Stewart, and I saw that phrase penned in some of the files Bill gave me. There was another phrase written in those files, usually just after Decus septum.”
“‘Protect the peak,’” Baxter said.
Dorn nodded. “Yes.”
“Maddux told me that ‘protect the peak’ is the second part of that traditional RCS greeting.”
A chill raced up Dorn’s spine so fast and furiously it almost hurt as the meaning dawned on him. “The hiding place of the second original document.”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?” Dorn asked breathlessly.
“Maddux couldn’t tell me.”
The disappointment was palpable for Dorn. He’d felt they were suddenly so close. Now they were back to being miles away. “You mean wouldn’t tell you. His desire to be your confidant clearly has its limits.”