The Coach tapped her temple.
“Comes in handy. Must be about a million people up in my skull—all different kinds. Bakers, butchers, cleaners, cooks, andcarpenters. Someone comes to me with a problem, I sit back and think on it, and before I know it, names start popping outof my brain like bread out of a toaster. But knowing the right people for the job is only the first part of what I do. OnceI have my team set up, I start to live up to my name. After all, a team without a coach is just a bunch of people playingwith each other.”
The Coach gave Leuchten a serene look.
“You know,” she began, “outside all this Coach business I’m as ordinary as you like. I’ve got a nice old husband, some greatgrandkids, and a garden that I dearly love. I’m about eighty-five percent retired, too. There’s not much to do in life, goodor bad, that I haven’t done.
“This Oracle thing, though,” she added, “this has my back up. He seems interesting, in a world that, from where I’m sitting, isn’t interesting enough. If you hadn’t called me on it, I might have tried to figureout who this fellow is myself. Nothing like a good mystery, right?”
Leuchten digested that.
“So, here’s my offer,” the Coach said. “I find the Oracle for you. You get control over the future again, one way or the other.I get to meet him—which is almost pay enough. This guy’s a mover and a shaker, tell you what.”
“Just like that?” Leuchten said.
“Just like that,” the Coach answered.
“I’ll need more. I need details. I can’t take this back to the president.”
The Coach stood up, pulled out the seat directly next to Leuchten’s at the head of the table, and sat back down. She leanedin. Behind her mildly stylish glasses, the woman’s eyes were very blue and very clear.
“Very respectfully, Mr. Chief of Staff, I don’t think you do need details. If you hire a plumber, do you get down there onyour hands and knees and watch him mess around with the pipes for three or four hours? Nope. You wait until he tells you thejohn’s unclogged. You don’t want to hear about all the shit he has to wade through to solve your problem.
“If we have a deal, then you’ll get the Oracle delivered to you, in person. He’ll be alive and well, and I’ll throw in whateverother information I discover about what he’s up to along the way. That’s it. Done.”
The Coach waited for Leuchten to respond, keeping her face close. She smelled like scotch and peppermint and damp wool.
“So what this means, ultimately,” Leuchten said, not pulling back, “is that we have to turn you loose, with absolutely nocontrol or authority over the actions you will take in the name of President Green, and in the name of the United States ofAmerica.”
The Coach inclined her head.
“And the price?” Leuchten asked, his voice clipped. “You said meeting the Oracle would almost be enough compensation. What else do you want?”
The Coach leaned back, a smile appearing on her face.
“Well, it’s not about money. I’ve made so much over the years, I don’t need a dime. Hell, I even cover my own expenses.
“Here’s how it’ll work. Someday, I might want your boss for one of my teams. Now, there’s no guarantee I’ll ever need PresidentGreen at all. I’m almost retired, like I said. But if I do call, then he’ll come, and he’ll do what I ask. I’ve got a fewex-presidents on my roster, but a sitting one is a whole other thing. He’s got a year and change left in this term, and I’llmake sure he gets a second one, so that’s over five years he could be available to help me out.”
“You’re insane,” Leuchten said. “The president cannot hold superseding allegiances. And thank you for the offer, but gettingDaniel Green a second term is my job. I think I can handle it.”
The Coach laughed a little.
“Maybe. But I’ll do it better. You broker this deal, you can just sit back and relax for another four years, Tony. Trust me.”
Leuchten considered this. Senator Aaron Wilson, the president’s esteemed opponent, was proving to be a wily competitor—hewas young, vital, with a clean background that included combat service in Desert Storm, and he was damnably quick with a soundbite. If that wasn’t enough, Leuchten was running Green’s campaign in the face of an amazing chain of unrelated events thathad somehow locked together to tank the U.S. economy—uncertainty over the Oracle, of course, but also unrest in South America,a couple of hedge fund failures that had shaken Wall Street, spiking gas prices, and on it went. If it weren’t impossible,he’d almost say it had been planned. Whatever the real cause, though, everyone blamed the president for their 401(k)s shrinking,even if there wasn’t a goddamn thing he could have done about any of it.
“I’m sorry, Coach,” Leuchten said, pulling his head back to the moment, “but you have to understand that the president can’tbe compromised in the way you’re proposing.”
“Well, he wouldn’t be compromised, sir,” the woman answered. “Oh, no, it’s not as bad as all that. For one thing, it would only be just the one time. I askhim to do one thing for me, could be anything from having me over for dinner to making a phone call—who knows? Once he helpsout, he’s done, and he never hears from me again. Nothing to get upset about.
“Here. Let me show you.”
The Coach raised a hand in the air and called out across the room.
“Hey, Fred. You want to come in here for a second?”
A beat, and then one of the Secret Service agents entered the room, his face set in the same emotionless mask that they allheld while they were on duty. Leuchten didn’t know his name—but apparently the Coach did, and apparently it was Fred.
“Nice to see you,” the Coach said. “Have a really quick question for you. Being on one of my teams . . . would you say it’sa good thing?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Fred