“And what are you going to do about that?”
“About what?”
“I’m a brigadier general in the United States Army, asshole. That’s supposed to mean something. Get off your stupid ass and do something.”
“Like what?”
“You tell me the answer to that. Get me a fucking TV. Get me books. Get me a cellmate, something, anything to keep me from going mad.”
“The Chief of Staff of the Army couldn’t get you a TV. This is part of the process.”
He began cursing and shaking his head like this was absolutely deranged. I allowed him to vent a few more seconds before I interrupted, “We’re going to ask a few questions. Nothing too intense, just a few start points.”
“Drummond, God damn it, you’re not listening to-”
“Question one,” I interrupted, affirming that he was right. “Did you betray this country?”
“What? No… of course not. It’s complete horseshit.”
“We’re your lawyers. Our conversations are protected and we need to know the truth to properly defend you. Did you betray your country?”
His face lurched forward and the veins stuck out in his neck. “Damn it, you asshole, I just told you. I never betrayed my country.”
“Why’d they arrest you?”
“I don’t know. Damn it, I don’t even know what I’m being charged with. How the hell do they expect me to defend myself when I don’t know what they’re saying I did? Huh?”
“The full range of charges hasn’t been filed yet. This morning’s newspapers say you began working for the Soviets in 1988 or 1989, that you transferred your loyalty to Russia when the Soviet Union collapsed, and you continued feeding them information through all these years. They say Ames and Hanssen were tossed to protect you. They say you’re the vilest mole in the history of espionage.”
This blunt soliloquy was intended to make him back down and stop climbing up our asses. I might’ve been more gentle had he not called me an asshole three times in one minute.
His eyes bulged. “Who’s saying this?”
“Unnamed sources leaking things in a torrent. And nearly every day leading up to the trial there’ll be a fresh revelation. And by the way, the CIA’s general counsel mentioned they may add murder to whatever charges they settle on.”
He was furiously shaking his head. “Oh, God damn it, no! This is so wrong. I didn’t betray anybody. I didn’t murder anybody. Nineteen eighty-eight? How did they come up with that?”
“We haven’t seen any evidence yet.”
“Get the fucking evidence, Drummond!” he shrieked.
“I’ve lodged requests with the CIA and the prosecutor. I’m not hopeful, though.”
“Why? They’d better produce something. What kind of fucking country is this? What kind of idiotic lawyer are you?”
Katrina soothingly said, “You need to get ahold of yourself. This is all part of the game.”
“It’s not a fucking game, bitch!”
“We’ll get the evidence.” She calmly said, “Your arrest put us on a treadmill. Right now, they control the pace. We’ll look for a way to reverse that.”
“And what the hell am I supposed to do in the meantime, huh? You assholes don’t know what it’s like in here.”
I said, “We’ll spend time tomorrow getting background. I’ll want to start back in 1988. I’ll need to know what you’ve been doing all these years.”
“Read my fucking record.”
“I did.”
“Then what the hell is there to talk about?”
“Job titles don’t help.” I added, “We need to know what you were doing, what you were working on, what you were exposed to. Then, when the evidence does come, we’ll have something to work with.”
He kneaded his temples and stared miserably at the table. I looked at my watch. It was nearly eleven-thirty. I said, “Tonight, think carefully about your actions over the past ten years. We’ll begin our questioning first thing in the morning.”
“I’m innocent,” he grumbled.
“Then fight to prove it. Get mad. Fight for your honor. Fight to see your family again.”
He looked up as though I’d just jarred his memory. “How’s Mary?”
“Fine. I stopped by her father’s house yesterday. She asked me to tell you she loves you.” Although that wasn’t really true, because now that I thought about it, she hadn’t said that. I added, “One more question… that father of hers, Homer?”
“What about him?”
“How can you stand that son of a bitch?”
He looked confused. “What are you talking about? Homer and I get along fine.”
Of course. Why had I even asked?
Once outside the prison and heading toward the car, Katrina, looking somewhat disapproving, said, “Your bedside manner sucked.”
“My manner was fine. You don’t get it.”
“What don’t I get?”
“He needed the shock treatment.”
“They teach you that in law school?”
“Our client is drowning in self-pity. Hard to detect, I know, but the clues were there.”
“And the shock treatment is supposed to… what?”
“To sober him to the realities of his situation.”
“But it has nothing to do with your dislike of our client?”
“Not a thing,” I replied, halfway believing myself. I asked, “And what about you? Was all that true? Everything you told him in there?”
“Everything?”
“Did you actually turn down Harvard Law?”
“I never applied. That’s the same thing, isn’t it?”
“And your IQ and won-lost record?”
“I might’ve gotten them mixed up.”
“Oh shit. Please tell me you really speak Russian.”
She smiled. “Are you questioning my integrity?”
Brian Haig
The Kingmaker
CHAPTER SIX
At 8:00 A.M., William Morrison was shackled to the table as Katrina flipped on the tape recorder she’d thoughtfully brought along. As with the night before, Morrison appeared moody and disgruntled, and like my whole life before this moment, I could barely stand to look at this pompous, bullying jerk.
I began, “Okay, General, start with this. If you’re innocent, why do you think they arrested you?”
“I told you, Drummond, I don’t fucking know. I never betrayed this country… I swear I didn’t.”
Katrina placed a hand on my arm and interjected, “We’re your attorneys. You’ve got our presumption of innocence. Help us think this through.”
“All right. Maybe somebody was jealous of me.”
Actually, I knew him, and he didn’t have my presumption of innocence, so I said, “Jealous enough to do this?” punctuating my words just so.
“Maybe… why not? Sure.”
Katrina quickly said, “Okay, it’s a possibility. Can you think of others?”
“I was framed.”
She asked, “By who?”
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be sitting here, would I?”
“Oh, Christ!” I exploded.
Katrina looked at him, then at me and asked, “Are you two enjoying this?”
I tried to look innocent. “Enjoying what?”
“This shit has to stop,” she said. “Why don’t I step out of the room so you two can pound the crap out of each other?”
Morrison said, “He needs to remember my rank. I won’t put up with his disrespectful attitude. He’s exploiting my position.”
I replied, “Oh, horseshit.”
“You,” she said, pointing at Morrison, “you asked him to be your attorney. Why?”
“I needed a JAG officer.”
“There are hundreds of JAG officers. You asked for him.”
“I was fucking desperate.”
“So desperate you asked for the guy who used to date your wife? Help me out here.”
“Okay, because he’s a prick… a first-rate prick. In a situation like mine, that’s what you look for. A real bastard.”
“It sounds to me like you know him well.” She began whirling an arm through the air, like she was reeling words out of his mouth. “Because you were with him in Lebanon and know he’s not a guy who’ll take no for an answer? And you know he’s tough and resourceful and smart, right?”
I smiled and nodded. That was me all right. No question about it-the girl had read me like a book.