“Because, when this thing is snuffed out, the disgusted and disillusioned masses will need a hero. Someone of unimpeachable character and battle-hardened judgment. Someone who has demonstrated by his actions and his sacrifices that he is a selfless servant of the nation who cannot be seduced by power or anything else.”
Not for the first time, Treven realized Hort was accustomed to operating at levels of manipulation, deceit, and strategy that Treven found alien. He didn’t know whether to feel envious, or relieved.
“That speech,” he said. “Dox said it sounded like you were running for office.”
“In a sense, I was.”
“What office?”
“If things go well, a blue ribbon commission will be formed to investigate the causes of the attempted coup, identify the plotters, and recommend changes to ensure such a thing can never happen again. I will be the head of that commission. And I will ensure that its work is in the best interests of the nation.”
Treven squeezed the grip of the Glock as though reminding himself it was still there. “But…you said you wanted the coup to be exposed for what it really was.”
Hort chuckled grimly. “Well…for what it almost really was.”
“What does that mean?”
“Following the recent string of attacks, it’s important the citizenry believes an insatiably greedy oligarchy was to blame. Even though the truth is, most of the oligarchy is pleased with the status quo and wouldn’t want to change it. The main thing is that people understand how close they came to losing everything. And that they never know I was involved in steering the course of events.”
“Because then you wouldn’t be able to steer anymore.”
“That’s right. And if I couldn’t, then this whole thing might go haywire. The coup could become permanent. At a minimum, the innocent could be punished along with the guilty.”
“But you are guilty.”
“Yes, I am. I have the blood of countless Americans on my hands now. I slaughtered them, men, women, and children, no matter that it was for a larger purpose, and if there is a hell, I will rightly burn there forever.”
He drew on the cigar and held the smoke for a moment as though trying to calm himself. Then he blew it forcefully out through the window.
“But while I am alive, I am determined to ensure their sacrifice was not in vain. And for that, I need your help. Because you have put me in an untenable position.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I wasn’t planning on resigning my position and making my speech quite so soon. I needed that position in order to continue to steer things in their proper direction. But then you people went and kidnapped my daughter and forced my hand.”
“I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What I’m talking about is, Dan Gillmor, the new head of the National Counterterrorism Center, who has been running the jihadist groups behind the attacks, is not yet satisfied that the country has been driven sufficiently insane for it to accept a suspension of the Constitution and the imposition of martial law. He has one more attack in mind. Which he believes will provide him with the blank check he craves.”
Treven felt the blood drain from his face. “A school.”
Hort looked at him. “Yes, that’s right. A mass casualty attack on an elementary school. With that, the president will be able to do anything he wants, and the rest of the government and the people will encourage him to do so. The coup will become a fait accompli. I will no longer be able to stop it.”
Treven was so angry he could have shot him. “Goddamn it, Hort, what the fuck were you thinking?”
“It doesn’t matter what I was thinking. What matters is where we are.”
“Bullshit. Why did you have to resign now?”
“Because I could not have disappeared to Los Angeles on the very day the president made me his counterterrorism advisor if I hadn’t. Because I believe there is only a slim chance I will be leaving this meeting alive, and coming out here to die without first having set the example I needed to set would not have been productive.”
“So you’re risking the lives of, what, dozens of school children? Scores? On top of all the people you’ve already killed? To save your own daughter?”
There was no response.
“You know what we should do, Hort? We should put a bullet in her head so you can know what it’s going to be like for all the parents that you’ve done the same thing to. The same. Fucking. Thing.”
The interior of the car was silent. A lone cricket chirped outside.
“Please don’t do that,” Hort said quietly.
“The only reason I won’t is because I’m not like you.”
“I know that, and I’m grateful. But Larison is. Please, don’t let him.”
“Larison can do what he wants.” He wasn’t sure whether he meant it, or whether in his anger he was just trying to torment Hort.
“Listen to me. I have given you the diamonds. You can kill me now, if that’s what you want. Put me in the trunk and drive me to wherever Larison is so he can piss on my body, I believe he would enjoy that. But if you care about your country, let me live just a little while longer. There’s no one else who intends to put things right. And no else in a position to do so.”
Treven shook his head in disgust. “You are the most self-serving, lying hypocrite I’ve ever known.”
“I’m aware my request that you let me live long enough to set things right is self-serving. I can only say that if you prefer, you’re welcome to shoot me here instead. Either way, please, Ben. I’m asking you. Let my girl go. She didn’t do anything to you, or to anybody. You don’t even know her. Please. Just let her go.”
His voice broke and he stopped. He cleared his throat, blew out a long breath, and wiped the back of his hand savagely across his cheeks, one way, then the other.
For a while, they sat silently, Hort’s cigar slowly dying in the darkness.
“The others,” Treven said, aware he was conceding something and that Hort would recognize as much. “They don’t want just the diamonds. They want you to clear us. Get us off whatever hit lists you’ve put us on.”
“I’m a civilian now, Ben. I can’t do anything anymore. I could though, as the head of the commission I mentioned.”
Treven stared at him. “You’re unbelievable.”
“I thought you might find it to be another disgracefully self-serving statement,” Hort said. “But it is a fact.”
Treven didn’t respond. Once again, it was what he expected from Hort. But that didn’t necessarily make it a lie, either.
“Look at it this way,” Hort said. “You have the diamonds. And I’m a civilian now, you can get to me anytime. Let me finish what I have begun. Help me stop the school attack. And let Mimi go. What’s the downside to you? Just let her go.”
Treven watched him. He’d never seen Hort look so diminished. He wasn’t sure if it was some objective thing that had happened to the man, or if it was the new light in which he was seeing him.
“Why’d you try to take us out at the Capital Hilton?” he said, after a moment.
“I didn’t try to have you taken out. I told you, I was after the others.”
“I’m not buying it. You would have told me.”
“How? You had no cell phone, at least not one you were ever using. And you didn’t check in with me.”
It might have been true. Impossible to know for sure. But he hated that he wanted to believe it.
“Whatever. Why’d you try to have the others taken out, then?”
“You know why. They know too much. About my involvement. About everything.”
“So do I.”
“I told you, you’re the only one I trust.”
“Even if I believed you, and I don’t, the others? As far as they’re concerned, you’re as motivated to kill them now as you were before. Maybe more so.”
“It may be that I still have the motivation. But I no longer have the means. You have to get it through your
