‘What are you talking about?’
‘I am talking about Domino. I am talking about the minute planning that went into your career. I am talking about where the money comes from to finance this gamble. And I am talking about why, suddenly, I have decided to go public, as they say. Do you want to hear the story, Donald?’
‘Of course,’ Hotchins said, but there was a nervousness in his tone.
‘Just listen to me,’ DeLaroza said. ‘Please do not interrupt until I am finished.’
Hotchins was somewhat mystified by the coldness in DeLaroza’s tone. He shifted in his seat so that he was facing him. ‘All right, I’m listening.’
‘When I introduced you to Domino, you were aware that I had known her for several months. When I first met her, she was a charming woman and of course her natural attributes were undeniable. She was like a bud and I nurtured the bud into a blossom of paradise. She was the perfect answer to my problem and my problem was you. You were teetering on the edge of disaster, my friend, consumed by loneliness. Depression hovered over you like a cloud. Domino was the perfect answer. It took several months, of course, to develop her latent treasures, but it was a task that was not without its rewards.’
‘Damn it, Victor —
‘Listen to me,’ DeLaroza snapped, his eyes afire. ‘When you met her she was the ultimate seductress because of me. I am the one who saw the incredible potential. And you know why? Because she understands that in order to satisfy others she must satisfy herself And she loves power as much as you or I. There was no question from the beginning. The infatuation would be total. She provided you with fire when you needed it most. And of course you took it, took it all. It was a dangerous game because it bad to end. Sooner or later she would become a liability. And the liabilities must be destroyed. The danger during the campaign would have been unbearable and — after you became president — impossible. So you see, dear Donald, her death was inevitable.’
Hotchins withdrew to his corner of the seat, his expression reflecting the terrifying truth in DeLaroza’s words. He could hardly speak and when he did his words came in a hoarse whisper.
‘Stop talking about her in the past tense.’
‘Why not? DeLaroza said, unwrapping his cigar. ‘She is past tense to me. I ordered her death.’
Hotchins was hollow-eyed. ‘You . . . arranged her murder?’
‘Of course. It was a political necessity. It was a political necessity from the day you met her.’
‘You planned it all along? You never considered an alternative?’
‘I considered all alternatives. Among them the danger of blackmail, or perhaps ghost-written memoirs filled with lurid details. No, there was never was an alternative.’
‘There has to be an alternative to murder.’
‘Not always.’
Hotchins shuddered and looked as if he were going to be sick. He beat on the front seat and yelled at Chiang. ‘Stop the car. I need some air.’
‘Get hold of yourself,’ DeLaroza snapped. ‘And if you are considering a lecture on morality, please spare me. We are survivalists, you and I. We survive at all costs. It is one of the things that attracted me to you.’
‘I won’t be made part of this,’ Hotchins said. i would never have sanctioned —‘
DeLaroza waved his hand at Hotchins. ‘Please. it is not just murder we are talking about. Where do you think the fortunes caine from to finance youx career — all the millions of dollars, all the small contributions, so carefully planned and perfectly legitimate? Everything above scrutiny. You never asked, did you? And we know why. Because you do not want to know the answer, right? Now you see the tip of an iceberg and suddenly you want to see the whole thing. Well, I say, forget it. Think about your alternatives.’
Hotchins could think of nothing but the horror. Like an insane newsreel, names and faces swept past his eyes. Sacks, the prison camp, the endless political campaigns, and the hollow personal life. And Domino and the energy she bad brought to him. Now all the years of planning and dreaming began to crumble in his mind. Was he going to lose it all?
‘The alternatives, Donald. it is really quite simple. You will either be the most powerful political figure in the world, or the most despised. Nobody likes a martyr. They are losers. If you should suddenly feel overly honest and decide to reveal all, remember that in six months no one will care whether you revealed the truth or not. Those who believed in you will feel betrayed. Those who are against you will be delighted. And you? You will be destroyed. What is it going to be, eh?
Hotchins leaned back and slumped into the seat. lie did not answer.
‘Let me tell you a quick little story. In 1945, at the height of the war in Italy, an American soldier disguised as an Italian peasant led eight mules loaded with gold bullion through the Brenner Pass in the Alps into Switzerland. The gold was stolen from the army. I spent five years in Switzerland, learning to speak like a Brazilian, manufacturing the identity of Victor DeLaroza. The millions we have spent financing your career? All of it started with stolen government money. It is not just Domino, my friend, It is your entire career. And every dollar of it is recorded, Donald.’
The bigger the prize, the higher the price, Hotchins thought to himself. And now it is lime to pay. The moment of reckoning.
‘They’ll find out,’ Hotchins said quietly. ‘Somebody always finds out.’
‘No. I have been at this a very long time. I am an expert at deceit.’
DeLaroza laughed, devils dancing in his turquoise pupils. The web had been spun with such care, such patience, spreading a strand at a time across so many years that no one could comprehend the maze. It was a work of terrifying ingenuity.
‘Everything is well covered, believe rue,’ he said. The last person who might have recognized me has been eliminated. There is only one danger to the entire plan right now. Domino.’
Hotchins said nothing.
‘She will realize we tried to kin her. When is she due back? Hotchins still said nothing.
‘Get bold of yourself, Donald,’ DeLaroza said with annoyance in his tone. ‘When is she due back?’
Hotchins looked down slowly at his watch.
‘Now. She is on her way back to the apartment right now.’
‘Then we have no time to lose. It must be done right this time.’
‘No!’
‘You prefer to be destroyed then?
‘She won’t say anything.’
‘Don’t you understand? Somebody was killed in her apartment last night. They will put her under lights. She will break down. They will find out everything. Is that what you want?’
‘I.. . don’t know.’
‘I have never known you to be self-destructive before. ‘I’ve never been involved in murder before.’
‘Ah. Yes, that is true. So, you are the leader. The one. man show who does it all. Tell me, shall I forget about Domino, then?’
Silence.
‘I am awaiting your answer, Mr. Senator. Now it is your decision.’
‘I. . . can’t....’
‘Of course you can. Think about it. The alternatives, Donald, the alternatives. What shall I do?’
Hotchins’s face was drawn. The web DeLaroza had spun was indeed awesome, Had he been a mere dauphin in DeLaroza’s grand scheme? The fear of deceit had lain deep in Hotchins’s subconscious for years. Now the knowledge of it was like a smouldering fire that could either be fanned to life by his conscience or smothered by his avarice.
‘The pluses and the minuses,’ he muttered aloud.
‘Ah, yes, the pluses and the minuses.’
In the end Hotchins knew he had no choice. When he stripped away the emotional considerations, as he always had, as he always would, it came down to the simple formula. The pluses and the minuses.
Well?’ DeLaroza said.