Kate piped up. “Listen to the man, Will,” she said firmly.
Will sighed. “All right, I’m listening.”
“I’d like to do a sort of preliminary survey for the Service,” Berg said. “Then I’ll contact them tomorrow to arrange for your protection from Saturday, and if you’ll allow me to do this now, I think I can save you some intrusion by a lot of agents.”
“Come into the study,” Will said. “Can I get you a drink?”
“Scotch,” Tim replied.
“Nothing for me,” Berg said.
Will introduced Berg to Kate, and they all sat down.
“Now,” Berg said, “let me familiarize you with what’s going to happen from the point of view of the Secret Service, and Mrs. Lee, I’m glad you’re here to hear this, because it’s going to affect you, too.”
“I’m all ears,” Kate said.
“The Service will likely assign you a detail of sixteen men, Senator,” Berg said. “A dozen of them will work in four-man teams on eight-hour shifts, and they’ll be with you wherever you go. The other four will float, depending on the circumstances. Mrs. Lee, there’ll be six assigned to you, and two will remain with you at all times.”
“I don’t think that will be entirely necessary, Mr. Berg,” Kate said, “since I work at the CIA, and that is a very secure environment. They can escort me to and from work, though.”
“Good point,” Berg said, taking notes. “Is there a downstairs bedroom in the house?” Berg asked.
“Yes,” Kate replied. “There’s a maid’s room at the rear. We don’t have any live-in help, so it’s empty.”
“Good. There’ll be two men in the house at all times, and that will allow them to take turns sleeping at night.”
“Do they have to be in the house?” Kate asked plaintively.
“I’m afraid so. Don’t worry, they’re trained to be as unobtrusive and discreet as possible. Senator, they’ll be in your office, as well, and in the corridor outside. And anywhere either of you goes, you’ll be driven in a Service automobile, probably a Lincoln Town Car.”
“How nice,” Kate said dryly.
“Who lives in the big house across the street?” Berg asked. “It’s dark.”
“The ambassador to Saudi Arabia,” Will said. “They’re not there much.”
“Good; maybe the Service can arrange to use it as an outpost. They’ll go through the State Department for that. What’s out back?”
“A garden, and beyond that another garden and another house,” Will said. “The owner does something at Justice, I believe.”
“Good. They’ll want to know about that. Your neighbors on either side?”
“The Times of London rents the one on that side for their bureau chief,” Will said. “The other one is owned by a lawyer with Ropes & Gray.”
“Neither of those should be a problem,” Berg said.
“Leo,” Will said, “I want you to stress to the Service that life on this street should not be disrupted in any way.”
“You’re dreaming, Senator,” Berg replied. “The first time something controversial happens in the campaign, you’ll have two dozen press out there, howling for a statement, and there’ll be sightseers, too.”
“Rather than have that happen, ask them to block off the street and allow only residents through,” Will said. “I mean it, Leo, I’m not going to let this disrupt my neighbors’ lives. Tell the Service I’ll be intractable on this point.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Berg said, making a note. “You have a security system in the house, of course?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll want to see the central box and then check every window and door. There’s every likelihood that it’ll have to be beefed up.”
“All right.”
“The Service will want their own phone lines in the house, too. I notice you have a garage downstairs.”
“Yes, the house is unusual in that respect.”
“Two cars?”
“Yes.”
“The Service will like that. What brand of garage-door opener?”
“I haven’t a clue,” Will said.
“I’ll check it out, and we’ll order some extra remote controls.”
“As you wish.”
“How many cars do you have here?”
“Two: a Suburban and a Lincoln Continental.”
“Is there someplace you can store them?”
“What?”
“The Service will want their sedans in the garage. Don’t worry, you won’t be needing a car between now and the election.”
“I suppose I could park the Suburban in my parking space in the Senate garage.”
“And I could park the Lincoln in the Agency garage,” Kate said.
“Perfect. Now, could I look around the house?”
“Sure.”
Tim stood up. “You go ahead and have dinner,” he said. “I’ll show Leo around.”
“Thank you, Tim,” Will said.
He and Kate went into the kitchen, and Kate took some steaks out of the fridge. “So, it begins,” she said, and there was a little sadness in her voice.
18
Will worked on a combination of Senate and campaign business through the morning; then, just before lunch, his pollster, Moss Mallet, arrived and was shown into Will’s office.
“It was tight, but I have the results of your poll,” Moss said.
“Tell me about it.”
“There’s good news, and there’s bad news.”
“Shoot.”
“The good news is that nearly a third of likely Democratic voters have heard of you.”
Will winced. “What’s the bad news?”
“The bad news is that less than a third of likely Democratic voters have heard of you.” Moss handed him a sheet of paper.
Will looked at the paper. “Jesus, nine years in the Senate, and I register with only thirty-two percent of Democrats?”
Moss handed him another sheet of paper. “Relax, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Only forty-six percent know who George Kiel is, and he’s the minority leader in the Senate.”
“So much for an informed electorate.”
“Listen, Will, this could be a lot worse. This is the first national polling we’ve done, you know, and I’ve seen guys you’d think were well-known who hardly raised a blip.”
“That’s comforting.”
“Okay, here’s something that is comforting,” Moss said, handing him another sheet of paper. “Of those likely Democratic voters who know both you and Kiel, forty-one percent would vote for Kiel, in a head-to-head race, and forty-six would vote for you.”
“What about the other thirteen percent?”
“A plague on both your houses, more or less.”
Will sighed.
“Can’t you see what this means?”
“Tell me.”
“It means of those who know you both, you get a more favorable rating than Kiel.”
“Should that make me deliriously happy?”
“I can promise you, it’ll depress the shit out of Kiel.”
“Well, that’s something, I guess.”
“Look, Will, if we can extend these numbers, it means that, as people get to know you, they’ll like you better than Kiel. What more can you ask?”
“I guess you’re right,” Will said.
“I promise you, Tom Black is going to love these numbers.”
“I’ll feel better if he does,” Will said. “Anything else?”
“That’s it for now. Later, we’ll do polling on issues, running mates, the works, but for right now that tells you where you have to go.”
“And where is that?”
“On TV, my friend, and the more often, the better. I’d recommend doing an immediate campaign designed to raise public awareness of you.”
“We don’t have the money yet.”
“Then get all the free time you can grab. Just remember, hardly anybody outside of Georgia knew who Jimmy Carter was when he announced. You’re a lot better off than he was.”