“Garret said he would get the President to force Stansfield out and replace him with me.
With Olson gone no one would block my nomination.”
“Did the President know about your plans?”
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“I don’t know.” After several tense moments of static, the tape ended.
Roach and Stansfield shared a long, shocked look. Michael watched them from the other end of the table. O’Rourke knew that Stansfield was taking the new information the hardest. It was his agency that would suffer the most if the tape became public. Roach leaned over and whispered in Stansfield’s ear, “Is there any truth to the story about the
CIA assassinating two members of the French parliament?” Not wanting to give a verbal response, Stansfield nodded his head yes.
Roach took a deep breath and said, “We’ve got some major problems.”
“There’s more.” McMahon held up a white piece of paper covered in plastic. “This is addressed to the two of you.” McMahon looked at Roach and Stansfield and started to read aloud: “‘After hearing the tape, it should be painfully obvious to you why we left Mr.
Higgins’s body at Stu Garret’s house. If we were the crazed terrorists that the President and his people have portrayed us to be, we would release this tape to every media organization in the world. The damage to America would be devastating. We would become the pariahs of the international community, the office of the presidency would be ruined, the American people’s faith in the system would be destroyed, and the CIA would be shut down within twenty-four hours. “‘We do not want to see America torn apart over the selfish and evil actions of a select few, but the actions of Mike Nance and Stu Garret cannot go unpunished. In exchange for not releasing Mr. Higgins’s confession, we demand the following: Mike Nance will announce his resignation by noon tomorrow and retreat permanently from public life. Thirty days from now, Stu Garret will also announce his resignation and cease any involvement in the American political process, at any level.
Within six months, both Nance and Garret will be expected to convert half of their net worth and donate it anonymously to the families of the eight Federal law enforcement officers they killed. None of this is negotiable. If at any point Nance and Garret attempt to renege on this arrangement, we will hunt them down and kill them. “‘We are unsure as to what involvement President Stevens had in this plot and, for now, are willing to allow him to stay in office if he meets the following conditions: He will act as a bridge between the two parties and cease all partisan politics.
He will put together a balanced budget for the next fiscal year, and he will meet all of our previous demands regarding a national crime bill and a national sales tax to retire the national debt. If these demands are met, we will allow Stevens to run for reelection. If the
President wavers at any point, we will release the tape to the media. “‘The second part of our demands involves the FBI. Director Roach, we do not expect you to condone what we have done, but you must at least recognize the differences between what we did and what Mr. Higgins,Mr. Nance, and Mr. Garret did. We murdered four corrupt politicians in an attempt to restore some integrity and common sense to a political system that has none. Mr. Higgins, Mr. Nance, and Mr. Garret murdered two of the only honest politicians in Washington and eight Federal law enforcement officers, all for their own perverted self-interests. “‘If you agree not to prosecute Mr. Nance and Mr. Garret, you must also agree to never bring forth any indictments regarding the assassinations of
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Senator Fitzgerald, Congressman Koslowski, Senator Downs, and Speaker Basset. We understand the compromising situation this puts you in, but considering the piece of information in our possession, we think it a reasonable trade-off.
“‘For your own safety and the integrity of the FBI, we would also suggest that the
President, Mr. Nance, and Mr. Garret be kept in the dark about your knowledge of our deal. It would be best for all if Director Stansfield handled the negotiations with the
White House. We will await the announcement of Mike Nance’s resignation. If it is not made public by noon tomorrow, we will be left with no other option than to release the tape.”” McMahon set the letter down. Director Stansfield closed his eyes and gently shook his head. Everyone waited for him to speak. He rose and said, “Please excuse
Director Roach and me for a moment.” Stansfield walked to the side door that led to his office and Roach followed. Stansfield closed the heavy, soundproof door and walked over to the large picture window. “Well, that’s one hell of a confession.” Roach looked at
Stansfield’s back and asked, “Do you believe it?” Stansfield nodded. “Unfortunately, yes.” His answer was followed by more silence. Roach placed a hand under his chin. “I’m not sure it would be admissible in a court of law.”
Stansfield shook his head and waved his hand as if batting the idea out of the air.
“Let’s not even entertain that line of logic. If they release that tape, we are in serious trouble, and I mean the entire country. Arthur’s body has been identified by the media, and they have footage of him lying propped up against Garret’s fence. Those two French politicians were in fact killed back in the early sixties, and the CIA was behind it.”
Stansfield pointed toward the conference room.
“Brian, everything those assassins said is true. That tape will tear America apart.”
“What do we do then?”
“We have to take the deal, and we have to work fast.” Roach sighed.
“Can we trust these assassins?” Stansfield turned around with hatred on his face.
“Apparently we can trust them a hell of lot more than the national security adviser and the President’s chief of staff.”
“What in the hell were they thinking?”
