“I have no idea.”
“Do you think the President knew what they were up to?”
“My gut tells me no, but I haven’t had enough time to thoroughly analyze the situation.” Stansfield looked at his watch. “Brian, we have to move on this. A lot has to happen between now and noon tomorrow. My decision is a foregone conclusion. We have to do everything in our power to make sure that tape never goes public.”
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Roach paused. “I don’t want that tape to go public either, but I sure as hell don’t like the idea of Nance and Garret just walking away.”
“Brian, I have a feeling that within the next year these assassins will take care of Mr.
Garret and Mr. Nance, and … if they don’t ..
. I will have them taken care of. That is between you and me, friend to friend, not director to director.” Roach looked into Stansfield’s eyes and reminded himself that his friend played by a different set of rules.
“We really don’t have much of a choice, do we?”
“No … so you agree to meet their demands?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure I can guarantee that no indictments will be brought forth. What if Skip finds out who these assassins are?”
“I’ll gladly deal with that problem if it ever happens, but something tells me we’ll never know who was behind this. They were right about another thing. You have to be left out of the loop. If this blows up in our face, the FBI must have complete deniability.
The American people are going to have to turn to something for hope, and if the FBI is implicated in the cover- up, it will really look bad.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Roach considered his options for a minute and then said, “Let’s go talk to the others.” Michael, sitting next to McMahon, was trying to stay in character. Acting mad was not hard, but acting naive was. He kept reminding himself what he should and shouldn’t know. Fortunately, everyone was so shocked by Higgins’s confession that they’d been too preoccupied to ask him questions.
Roach took a seat and Stansfield remained standing. The director of the CIA crossed his arms and said, “It goes without saying that this is a very difficult situation. For reasons that we are all aware of, Brian and I have decided to try and meet the demands of the assassins.
If you have any opinions, now is the time to voice them.” Stansfield looked to Irene
Kennedy first. Kennedy glanced up at her boss and shook her head no.
Kennedy knew full well that they were boxed in. The only reasonable action was to take the deal. McMahon was next. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I understand that our options are limited, but I think Garret and Nance are getting off way too easy. I
think they should be strung up by their balls and left for the vultures.”
“I can relate to your desire for retribution,” said Stansfield. “As I was just telling
Brian, I would be surprised if these assassins let either of them live for more than a year.”
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“What about my investigation?” asked McMahon. “If you catch them, we will cross that bridge when we get to it. Do you have it in you to let them go if it comes to that?”
asked Stansfield. McMahon glanced over at Roach while he thought about the question.
From the very beginning he’d had a gnawing respect for the unknown group. “If they turn out to be the type of people I think they are, and they really do have patriotic motives…”
McMahon paused. “I’ll look the other way.”
“Congressman?” asked Stansfield. Michael leaned back and said, “I’m not crazy about the cover-up, but given the situation, I don’t see any other alternative.” Stansfield nodded.
“We are all in agreement then.
Before we proceed, I need to know if anyone else knows about this tape.
Congressman?” Stansfield looked to Michael for an answer. With a calm face
Michael replied, “I haven’t told anyone.”
“Skip?”
“No. As soon as Congressman O’Rourke played the tape for us, we came straight here.”
“Irene?”
“Good.” Stansfield looked at his watch. “I am going to go to the White House alone to handle the negotiations.” Michael cleared his throat and got Stansfield’s attention. “Sir, I
would like to come along.”
Stansfield studied O’Rourke briefly and replied, “I think it would be best if I handled it alone.”
“I’m sure you do, but Senator Olson was a very good friend of mine. I want to see the look on their faces when they realize they’re not going to get away with this.” IT WAS
MIKE NANCE’S TURN TO BE NERVOUS, BUT YOU WOULDN’T KNOW IT by looking at him. He sat with his perfect posture and minimal movement.
