‘I must admit,’ Davis Burton said solemnly after Curtis had played the tape and briefed him on the possibility of a cover-up, ‘this is arguably the gravest constitutional crisis the United States has ever faced. And I mean no disrespect, gentlemen, but if you hadn’t brought that recording with you I would have found it hard to believe,’ he added. ‘Although it wouldn’t be the first time men in high office have been seduced by power and money.’
‘I think Tom McNamara and Curtis are right though, Davis,’ Imran responded. ‘I’m not one for covering things up either, but exposure of the President’s involvement in something the magnitude of the Beijing conspiracy would do immense harm, not only to the United States, but to other nations around the world. The economic implications would make the Wall Street crash of 1929 look like a small bump in the road and anti-western sentiment would explode. This is one of those rare occasions when disclosure is not in the public interest. The trouble is, Davis, if Bolton is impeached – and he clearly should be – I don’t see how you and your colleagues can prevent it from becoming public.’
The great southern statesman was silent, wondering how he might deal with the crisis in a way that would best serve his nation and the wider world.
‘Not only that,’ Curtis added, ‘if I understand the impeachment process correctly, President Bolton would continue to act as President until the Senate decides he’s guilty or they acquit him. We can’t just bowl in to the Oval Office and arrest the President.’
‘If this was not so real it would be the stuff of movies,’ Davis Burton said. ‘You’ve actually given me an idea. It will depend on whether I can get my colleagues on side. It will be important for them all to remain silent until we’re prepared to act. There is a little-known section of the Constitution that allows just one person in this country to arrest the President. But you’re right,’ he added, ‘it would be unwise to attempt that in the Oval Office.’
It was a very risky strategy and one that could only be justified by the extraordinary circumstances that prevailed when a President or Vice President became involved in criminal activities.
As soon as Burton’s visitors had left, Randy Baker became even more intrigued. All of the Speaker’s appointments were suddenly cancelled. Randy wandered down the corridor to find a quiet place to use the mobile phone his generous mentor had provided. He felt a surge of excitement. Politics was where it was at and he knew that this was going to be a very exciting career.
As he was leaving, Curtis switched on his phone to find an alarming text from Kate. The vials of the deadly Ebolapox, together with those of the vaccines, had vanished and Dolinsky was nowhere to be found.
CHAPTER 92
K ate Braithwaite turned on the decontamination shower and let the water run over her face plate and the rest of her biosuit. She felt sick but she forced herself to remain calm and resisted the urge to cut the shower short, kicking herself that she hadn’t raised the alarm earlier when she’d questioned Dr Dolinsky about why he was preparing so many vials of the virus, and why there had been a semi-commercial production run of the vaccine.
Kate took the lift to the thirty-seventh floor and pressed the button beside the combination lock and swipe-card track. Neither she nor Imran had been given an access card that was programmed for Halliwell’s inner sanctum.
‘Can I help you?’ Simone Carstair’s voice sounded slurred.
‘It’s Kate Braithwaite.’ After an audible click, Kate pushed the heavy red door. Simone was not at her desk, but the door to Halliwell’s office was ajar. Simone was standing beside Halliwell’s desk with a large glass of whiskey in her hand, staring out at Stone Mountain.
‘Do you know where Dr Dolinsky is, Simone?’
‘No and I don’t care. Dolinsky hasn’t been around for the past two weeks,’ Simone said, swaying on her feet as she turned around. Kate realised she had been crying.
‘Are you alright?’ Kate asked. Simone Carstairs had not struck her as the type to give in to tears.
‘I will be, although I may not be around for much longer. I suspect I’m about to be replaced,’ Simone said thickly. The job application she had found in Richard’s drawer lay on the desk.
‘I’m sorry to hear that, Simone. Do you mind me asking why?’ asked Kate, surprised to find that Simone had been drinking heavily.
‘No, it will be public knowledge soon enough. Dr Halliwell has decided to replace me with a younger woman,’ Simone said, the alcohol loosening the grip she normally kept on her private life, ‘which is a bit rich after all the years I’ve given him here but that’s life on a rubber raft, honey. I told you he was a ruthless, ambitious bastard, I just didn’t think it would happen to me.’ She walked unsteadily towards Halliwell’s liquor cabinet and returned with the half empty bottle of Chivas.
‘Aren’t you going to fight?’ Kate asked, puzzled at the sudden change in demeanor of the fiery Simone.
‘I thought about it. I’ve got enough on that miserable, hypocritical prick to send him up the river four times over, but you know what? I’m over him.’ Her words were running into one another. ‘He’s a lousy fucking lover and if someone else wants to crawl over that prissy little wife of his when she becomes First Lady to get to him, then they’re welcome. I have myself quite a nice place in the Bahamas and I’m out of here.’
Kate didn’t hear Simone’s diatribe. She was staring at the roof of the Halliwell Level 4 laboratories. Something wasn’t quite right, then she realised what it was. When viewed from the thirty-seventh floor the area of roof was considerably bigger than the area she and Imran had shared with Dolinsky; not only that, Kate could count twice the number of venting systems.
‘Is there more than one entrance to the Level 4 laboratories?’ Kate asked.
‘Why do you want to know?’ Simone asked, sobering up a little.
Simone hadn’t denied it and Kate decided to probe further. ‘Can we sit down,’ she said, moving towards the leather lounge chairs. ‘Look, I know you’re upset at the moment,’ Kate began, ‘and I’m genuinely sorry to hear you might go but some of the programs that are running here are not all they seem. My colleagues and I think Richard Halliwell might be involved in some dangerous and illegal activities. If he is and you protect him, then your chances of getting to the Bahamas will be about zero. On the other hand, if you help us then you’ll be home free,’ Kate said, flashing her CIA badge.
Simone stared out at the gathering dusk. ‘Why not,’ she said, retrieving the key to the lift from Halliwell’s still-open desk drawer. ‘I’ve always wondered what was down there but first I gotta go to the bathroom, honey.’
It was amazing how alcohol could remove a veneer, Kate thought, as she punched in Curtis’ speed dial.
‘I can’t talk for long,’ she said. ‘I’m in Halliwell’s office. Simone’s legless but she’s about to show me a lift which I think leads to another lab at the back of the Level 4 complex.’
‘Where’s Halliwell?’
‘Not due back until the day after tomorrow, got to go,’ Kate said, not willing to risk Simone coming out of Halliwell’s private bathroom and finding her on the phone.
Halliwell negotiated the steps to his private jet almost before they hit the tarmac of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and he strode over to his McLaren that the valet parking service had brought around to the front of the VIP terminal. As he sped back to his headquarters Halliwell’s mind was racing. In two days time he had planned to return to supervise the dispatch of the vials of Ebolapox and vaccines to Beijing, and a visit by Professor Sayed to the office of the Speaker in Washington would normally not have concerned him. Halliwell knew the two men shared the same flawed views against the war in Iraq, but for him to be accompanied by the CIA agent in charge of P LASMID, and for the Speaker to cancel his entire program as soon as they’d left had rung alarm bells. Halliwell had already decided that Dolinsky and that stuck-up bitch Braithwaite would be meeting with a nasty laboratory accident as soon as the vials of Ebolapox were aboard his jet and on their way to Beijing, but Halliwell needed to be sure they were still safe.