‘Then it sounds as though we have an interesting time ahead of us,’ Edward said, smiling as he joined her to walk to the second green. He tried to concentrate on his game while Florentyna went on talking.
‘I would also like to join the board of Lester’s. Richard always wanted me to find out how a bank worked from the inside. He never stopped telling me he paid his directors a higher salary than the President of the United States.’
‘You’ll have to consult William on that, not me.’
‘Why?’ asked Florentyna.
‘Because he’s taking over as chairman on January first next year. He knows more about banking than I ever will. He’s inherited all Richard’s natural instincts for high finance. I’ll stay on as a director for a few more years, but I’m confident that the bank couldn’t be in better hands.’
‘Is he old enough for such a responsibility?’
‘Same age as you were when you first became chairman of the Baron Group,’ said Edward.
‘Well, at least we’ll have one president in the family,’ Florentyna said as she missed a two-foot putt.
‘One hole each, V.P.’ Edward marked his card and studied the 210-yard dogleg that lay in front of him. ‘Now I know how you intend to occupy half of your time. So do you have anything planned for the other half?’
‘Yes,’ said Florentyna. ‘The Remagen Trust has lacked direction since the death of Professor Ferpozzi. I’ve decided to head it up myself. Do you know how much the trust has on deposit nowadays?’
‘No, but it would only take one phone call to find out,’ said Edward, trying to concentrate on his swing.
‘I’ll save you a quarter, said Florentyna. ‘Twenty-one million dollars, bringing in an annual income of nearly three million dollars. Edward, the time has come to build the first Remagen University with major scholarships for the children of first-generation immigrants.’
‘And remember, V.P., gifted children, whatever their background,’ said Edward, teeing up.
‘You’re sounding more and more like Richard every day,’ she laughed.
Edward swung. ‘I wish my golf were as good as his,’ he added as he watched his little white ball headed high and far before hitting a tree.
Florentyna didn’t seem to notice. And after she had hit her ball firmly down the middle of the fairway, they both walked off in different directions. They could not continue their conversation until they had reached the green, where Florentyna went on talking about where the new university should be built, how many students it should admit in its first year, who should be the first president. She ended up losing the third and fourth holes. Florentyna began to concentrate on her game but still had to scramble to square the match up by the ninth.
‘I’ll be particularly pleased to give your hundred dollars to the Republican Party today,’ Florentyna said. ‘Nothing would give me more pleasure than seeing Parkin and Brooks bite the dust.’
Florentyna sighed as she hit a bad short iron from the tee toward the tenth green.
‘I’m far from beaten yet,’ said Edward.
Florentyna ignored him. ‘What a waste my years in government have been,’ she said.
‘No, I can’t agree with that,’ said Edward, still practicing his swings. ‘Eight years in Congress, a further seven in the Senate and ending up the first woman Vice President. And I suspect history will ultimately record your role over the invasion of Pakistan far more accurately than Parkin has felt necessary. Even if you have achieved less than you’d hoped, you’ve made the task a lot easier for the next woman who wants to go the whole way. Ironically I believe if you were the Democratic candidate at the next election, you would win easily.’
‘The public opinion polls certainly agree with you.’ Florentyna tried to concentrate, but sliced her tee shot. ‘Damn,’ she said as her ball disappeared into the woods.
‘You’re not at the top of your game today, V.P.,’ said Edward. He proceeded to win the tenth and eleventh holes but then threw away the twelfth and thirteenth with overanxious putts.
‘I think we should build a Baron in Moscow,’ said Florentyna when they had reached the fourteenth green. ‘That was one of my father’s greatest dreams. Did I ever tell you that the minister for tourism, Mikhail Zokovlov, has long been trying to interest me in the idea? I have to go on that frightful culture trip to Moscow next month, which will be a wonderful opportunity to discuss the idea with him in detail. Thank God for the Bolshoi Ballet, borscht and caviar. At least they’ve never tried to get me in bed with some handsome young man.’
‘Not while they know about our golf deal,’ chuckled Edward.
They split the fourteenth and fifteenth and Edward won the sixteenth hole. ‘We are about to discover what you are like under pressure,’ said Florentyna.
Edward proceeded to lose the seventeenth by missing a putt of only three feet, so that the match rested on the last hole. Florentyna drove well, but Edward, thanks to a lucky bounce off the edge of a small rise, came within a few feet of her. He put his second shot only twenty yards from the green and found it hard to suppress a smile as they walked down the center of the fairway together.
‘You have a long way to go yet, Edward’ said Florentyna as she sent her ball flying into a sand trap.
Edward laughed.
‘I would remind you how good I am with a sand wedge and putter,’ said Florentyna, and proved her point by pitching the ball only four feet from the hole.
Edward chipped up from twenty yards to within six feet.
‘This may be the last chance you’ll ever have,’ she said.
Edward held his putter firmly and jabbed at the ball and watched it teeter on the edge of the hole before disappearing into the cup. He threw his club high into the air and cheered.
‘You haven’t won yet,’ said Florentyna, ‘but no doubt it will be the nearest you’ll ever get.’ She steadied herself as she checked the line between ball and hole. If she sank her putt, the match was halved and she was off the hook.
‘Don’t let the helicopters distract you,’ said Edward.
‘The only thing that is distracting me, Edward, is you. Be warned, you will not succeed. Since the rest of my life depends on this shot, you can be assured I shall not make a mistake. In fact,’ she said, taking a step back, ‘I shall wait until the helicopters have passed over.’
Florentyna stared up into the sky and waited for the four helicopters to fly past. Their chopping noise grew louder and louder.
‘Did you have to go to quite such lengths to win, Edward?’ she asked as one of the helicopters began to descend.
‘What the hell is going on?’ said Edward anxiously.
‘I have no idea,’ said Florentyna. ‘But I suspect we are about to find out.’
Her skirt whipped around her legs as the first helicopter landed a few yards off the green of the eighteenth hole. Even as the blades continued to rotate an army colonel leaped out and rushed over to Florentyna. A second officer jumped out and stood by the helicopter, holding a small black briefcase. Florentyna and Edward stared at the colonel as he stood to attention and saluted.
‘Madam President,’ he said. ‘The President is dead.’
Florentyna clenched her hand into a tight fist as the eighteenth hole was surrounded by agents from the Secret Service. She glanced again at the black nuclear command briefcase which was now her sole responsibility, the trigger she hoped she would never have to pull. She was reminded that moment what real responsibility meant.
‘How did it happen?’ she asked calmly.