they knew you were coming.” He opened the door to a nearby equipment shed. They stepped inside and Blake closed the door behind them.
“There. That’s a little better.” He glanced at his watch. “Okay, Ben, you have exactly ten minutes before I take off for a secret meeting at an off-site Pentagon installation. What can I do for you?”
Ben knew there was no way to broach this subject gently, so he took a deep drink of air and plunged right in. “Mr. President, in the course of my own…private investigation into the tragedy of April nineteenth, I obtained a copy of your wife’s autopsy report.”
“What? Why?”
Ben continued, hoping that if he moved fast enough, there would be no time for outrage. “The first copy we obtained had been redacted, even though the information eliminated could not possibly pose any threat to national security. Who would have the clout-and the motivation-to get something like that done? The obvious answer, of course, was you.”
“Are you saying-?” Blake did a double take. “What the hell are you saying?”
“The redacted material I later learned revealed-let me apologize in advance, sir. I know this is exceedingly indelicate, but there’s no way to say it except to say it.” Ben took another deep breath; his eyelids fluttered. He felt as if he might faint at any moment. “At the time of your wife’s death, her vagina contained sperm cells.”
Blake gaped at him wordlessly. “What-the-hell-” His nostrils flared. “What business is that of yours?”
“Well, sir, it does raise some questions.”
“About what, you little farm country cluck? Emily and I had been apart for a week. We had a little private time on Air Force One before we drove into Oklahoma City. Why is this any of your business?”
“There’s a problem, sir.”
“You have a problem with me making love to my late wife, who by the way I loved very deeply?”
Ben’s mouth felt dry as stale bread. “No, sir, of course not. But you see-the coroner ran DNA tests. Your wife was carrying sperm-from two different donors.” He felt his knees wobbling, but he plowed forward. “She’d been with two different men. Within the previous eight hours.”
President Blake’s eyes were steely gray. He forced Ben back against the wall of the shed. “What is this about, Kincaid? What are you trying to do to me?”
“The only thing I’m trying to do is…understand.”
“What’s to understand, you little pissant? There was nothing-nothing-” His voice broke, and all at once his face crumbled like the walls of Jericho. “Emily was having an affair.” His voice cracked. “It had been going on for nearly six months. I knew, of course, but I never-never said anything to her about it. I-” He shook his head. Tears sprang to his eyes. “I kept hoping she’d come to me herself. I-I knew we’d been…growing apart. This job-it keeps you so damn busy. Spend all your time worrying about the fate of the world. It’s easy to forget about-about your wife. Until it’s too late.”
Ben stared at the floor, unable to make eye contact. “Do you-know who it was?”
President Blake nodded. “The leader of her Secret Service team. Gatwick. You probably met him in Oklahoma City.”
“I’m sure that was…very difficult for you.”
“You don’t know the half of it. First, there’s the shame. The knowledge that you drove the woman you love into the arms of another man. The knowledge that-you failed as a husband. But the problems are even greater when you’re the president. Something like this-well, it creates a vulnerability. The possibility of blackmail.”
“Someone was blackmailing you? The president?”
“All I’m saying is, it was a concern. Suddenly I found myself in a position where I couldn’t say no. Anything he wanted-well, how could I deny him anything, knowing what would happen to me if he went to the press? He could bring down this entire administration, just at the time when America needs to be strongest.”
“Sir, you told me before that this amendment originated with Homeland Security. Is that why you’re proposing it? Because you have no choice?”
“I never said that,” Blake said, suddenly stiffening. “I believe in this amendment one hundred and ten percent. We need it to keep our people safe. It’s vital to the security of this great nation.”
“But even if that’s true, you don’t have any choice but to support it, do you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Kincaid. I want this thing passed-as quickly as possible.”
“Who was the man, sir? Who was he? Was it-?”
“And let me tell you something else, Kincaid. My chief of staff tells me you’re a lot smarter than you act. I hope to God that’s true and that you’ll be able to accept this piece of advice. Don’t cross Homeland Security. Don’t cross anyone behind this amendment. Their eyes are everywhere. Their ears are everywhere.”
“What does that mean?”
President Blake wiped his eyes, then checked his watch again. “I have to catch a copter, Ben. Let me just reiterate: I want this amendment to pass. I’m counting on your support.” He leaned closer, making sure he had Ben’s attention before he finished. “And you need to be careful, Ben. Very careful.”
36
Jason Simic was careful not to tiptoe. That would be too telling. He didn’t really think there was any chance of him being spotted. But in any case, he didn’t want to appear to be in stealth mode. He wanted to seem to be what he always seemed to be: the hardest-working most effective chief of staff in the building, tireless, charming, productive. Every senator wanted him, but he was attached to Senator DeMouy.
And his wife.
That, however, was about to change.
He smiled at Effie when he entered the office. DeMouy’s faithful secretary of many years liked him almost as much as she did her boss, and he knew it.
“Boss still at work?” she asked. She had been working a crossword puzzle, a sure sign of just how late it was. She didn’t get many spare moments in the course of the day. Certainly not enough to finish a puzzle in The New York Times.
“Still dining with his wife. Those lovebirds might be gone all night at this rate.”
“Really?” He knew Effie had been around long enough to know the score, most specifically that DeMouy and his wife were anything but lovebirds. But he was planting seeds. “In the Senate cafeteria?”
“Love knows no boundaries. I don’t know what’s going on with those two, but something really seems to have rekindled. I think maybe the death of Senator Hammond made her realize just how lucky she is-and how fragile life can be.”
“It would be nice to think something positive came out of that monstrous act.” Effie glanced at her watch. “Do you think-?”
“He specifically told me to tell you to go home.”
A relieved smile crossed her face. “And you?”
“The same.”
“But you’re not going, are you?”
Jason smiled a winning, toothsome smile. “For once, I am, actually. I just need another five minutes in my office. The amendment, you know.”
Effie shook her head as she collected her coat and purse. “You’re a hardworking boy, Jason, and I admire that. But when are you going to get a life?”
“I have a life. Here, in the Senate.”
“Then let me be more specific. When are you going to get a girl?”
