“How’d he explain…?”
“He didn’t. He said you’d collapsed at your desk and had been taken to Walter Reed Hospital. Most of the press corps seemed surprised but not suspicious. One of them… a new man, from Boston…”
“Len Ryan?”
The President nodded. “He wanted to interview you here in the hospital. We let him see you this afternoon, while you were asleep. That seemed to satisfy him.”
“He wanted to make sure I was alive.”
“Apparently.”
“Sir,” I asked, “you are John, aren’t you?”
“Yes. There are only three of us left. It’s getting easier to guess, isn’t it?” He smiled, but it was the kind of smile a soldier makes after a battle, when he’s come through it alive but most of his buddies haven’t.
“Hunter didn’t tell them anything about last night?”
“Two nights ago. It was two nights ago that it all happened.”
“I’ve been conked out that long?”
“You took a powerful dose of tranquilizer.”
“But nothing was said to the press?”
“No. Not a thing. My father’s going to officially die of a heart attack in Aspen in a few days. Robert is out there now, getting things arranged. Laura…” He stopped, and for an instant I thought his control was finally going to break. But he went on, “Laura is going on a round-the-world trip. Under heavy guard. We agreed to keep her out of it, to keep the marriage going for the rest of my term. It won’t be the first White House marriage between enemies.”
“You’re going to try to cover up the whole story?”
His eyes flashed. “Try to?”
“You can’t keep it quiet forever.”
“For God’s sake, Meric, haven’t you had enough?” His voice rose. It didn’t get louder, but it got an edge of steel to it. An edge that could cut.
“What do you…”
“Four of us killed. My father. He may not have been the closest father a man ever had, but he’s dead. My wife. Because of you.”
“I didn’t…”
“You didn’t pull the trigger, but if you’d kept your damned mouth shut none of this would have happened.”
“And you’d be dead.”
“Maybe.”
“And Jackson would be on the throne.”
“It’s not a throne.”
“It would be, once he got his hands on it. He was insane, sir. Crazy. Power-mad.”
“He was my brother!”
“He would’ve killed you in a hot second! He killed three of your brothers. You were going to get yours right there in the Capitol. He told me so.”
He glared at me, teeth bared, hating the whole ugly business and hating me because of it.
“It’s true, sir. He would’ve killed you and taken over the Presidency and turned this nation into his own private dictatorship.”
“He couldn’t have gotten away with that.”
“He would’ve tried. He would’ve demolished everything you’ve been trying to accomplish. And you know damned well there are plenty of people around this town who would’ve gladly helped him do it. Including your father.”
The President looked away from me. He pushed himself up from the chair and went to the window.
After several minutes of silence, he said, very low, “You’re right. I know you’re right. But it still doesn’t go down very easily.”
“I don’t see how it could.”
He turned back toward me. “All right. It’s all over with. Finished. The ship of state has weathered another storm. The problem is, what do we do next? There are still some odds and ends to clean up.”
“Where are Vickie and Hank?”
“Solomon is in protective custody over at the FBI Center. They’ve pumped him full of truth drugs and wrung him dry, but otherwise he’s unhurt.”
“And Vickie?”
“She’s being held in one of the Federal housing developments in Anacostia. She has a very nice apartment and two friendly women security guards to see to it that she’s comfortable. Apparently she’s quite anxious to find out what happened to you.”
I let out a sigh of relief that I hadn’t known was in me.
“That brings it all down to you, Meric,” the President said.
“What do you mean?”
He spread his hands in a gesture somewhere between disgust and helplessness. “I can put Hank Solomon in a bottle and make certain he never bothers me. I can see to it that Ms. Clark is bought off, or moved out of the way…”
“You’d better not…”
“Listen to me,” he said, and it was a command. He pulled the chair around backwards and sat on it again. “My real problem is you and your damned Boston conscience. Are you going to keep quiet about this business or aren’t you? I can handle the others, but only if you stay shut.”
He folded his arms on the back of the chair and rested his chin on them. He was smiling! He was enjoying this… this game, this deadly round of give-and-take. It was the kind of thing he’d been born—no, raised—to do. The battle of wills. The old political infighting: I’ll give you this if you’ll give me that.
I looked at him for a long, long time. Seemed like years. Must have been a few minutes, at least.
“Well?” he asked. “I want your promise of silence. Everything is settled now, except for you. It all depends on you, Meric.”
“No, Mr. President,” I finally said. “It all depends on you.”
His chin lifted. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve got to tell them.”
“Them? The press?”
“The people. You’ve got to tell them the whole thing.”
“Never!”
“You’ve got to tell them there’s more than one of you, at least,” I said. “Use your father’s death as an excuse, if you want to. But you can’t go on with a committee in the White House. Not unless the people know about it and approve.”
“That’s impossible. No way.”
I felt my own voice getting stronger. “The people didn’t elect a gang of brothers. They elected one man. You. You’re the only one they saw; you’re the one who made the speeches and did the campaigning.”
“But I was using the expertise of my brothers,” the President said. “They put the ideas into the speeches. They worked out the problems and the solutions.”
“Tell the people,” I urged. “You’ll never be able to keep this thing covered up now, anyway. Too many people know about it. It’s going to leak sooner or later. For God’s sake… go to the people and tell them!”
“They’ll want me to resign,” he said.
“Maybe.” “Can you picture this country with Lazar as President?” he demanded. “It’d be a catastrophe.”
I answered, “Can you picture what Lazar will do when he finds out what’s been going on? I won’t tell him, but you know damned well somebody will. You can’t keep this quiet forever.”
“You think not?” And I saw some of Jackson’s power lust glint in his eyes.
“I think not,” I said. “The story will leak out. It’s too big to keep covered. If it doesn’t come out now, it certainly will in the next election campaign.”
He nodded grimly. “During the primaries.”
“Sir,” I said, “even Lazar as President would be better than a man the people couldn’t trust. Maybe you could call for a national referendum… a vote of confidence. Then if it goes against you, both you and Lazar resign and call for a special election.”
“That’s crazy. Nobody would go for that.”
“The people would.”
“I mean nobody here in Washington.”
“But the people would. It’s their Government, you know.”
“Stop mouthing sermons. This is politics. This is real.”
I took a deep breath. “Sir, I honestly think that the only way you can survive in the Presidency is to tell the entire story. Freely. Now. Don’t wait for somebody to dig it up and lay the skeletons on your doorstep.”