“Can’t this wait?” Kessler said.
“Knowing you, it can’t,” Levering said. Kessler was always doing three or four things at once. Levering wanted his undivided attention.
“Ermanno,” Kessler said. “Why don’t you give us a few minutes, huh?”
With an Italian version of
“I want you to start thinking about impeaching Hollander,” Levering said.
Kessler remained impassive. He was a cool one. One didn’t get the speakership without developing an iron poker face.
“That’s pretty extreme, don’t you think?” Kessler said.
“Just start thinking about it, that’s all.”
“Are you nuts?” Kessler said, his cheeks starting to show the first blossoms of pink. “I don’t like the idea of messing with the Supreme Court.”
“What if the Supreme Court, by a slim majority, starts messing with our issues?”
Kessler shook his head. “Sam, you’re talking about the third arm of government. I don’t want to lead our party down that path.”
“Do you have any idea what might be at stake?”
Kessler pulled the apron off his chest and leaned forward. “Sam, listen. That’s going way too far. There would have to be a big public outcry for impeachment first.”
“You watch,” Levering said calmly. “There just might be.”
“There’s more to this?”
“I said watch. And be ready.”
Kessler ran his fingers through his incomplete hairstyle. Soon it would be lacquered down so even a typhoon couldn’t damage it. Levering had always admired Kessler’s hair.
“Look,” Kessler said, “I’m not going to make any commitments. At the most, I’ll wait and see.”
“You don’t have to wait to see. I’ll tell you how to proceed.”
A thin smile came to Kessler’s face. “You wouldn’t be trying to put the Arnold on me?”
The Arnold was code on the Hill for strong-arming. “Let’s just say the president and I would much appreciate this little act of kindness.” Levering felt like Marlon Brando in The Godfather. It almost made him laugh.
“What if I refuse?” Kessler said.
“You won’t.”
Kessler’s soft cheeks became hot pink. “You think I’m going to sit here and let you – ”
“How’s your wife back in Sioux Falls?” Levering said.
Kessler’s eyes opened a little wider.
“Still in the first stages of Parkinson’s?” Levering asked.
“You slime.” Kessler said it softly, haltingly.
“Your social activities never need to get back to the old hometown,” Sam Levering said. “We’ll be in touch.”
On his way out, Levering dropped a dollar in the barber’s tip tray.
4
Friday’s conference with the justices was like watching a slow, virulent cancer take hold in the body of the Supreme Court. Millie managed to make it through, but strain was clearly seeping into the chamber.
So she was more than grateful when Helen called, inviting her to lunch. She said she would come around with a driver and they’d go out to a secluded place by the Potomac for a picnic. It was the perfect plan.
The car entered the Court garage at one o’clock. It was a large black limo with tinted windows. Helen certainly knew how to do a D.C. power picnic, Millie mused as the driver opened the limo door. For a moment she thought she recognized him from somewhere.
When she got in, she knew. Seated next to Helen was Senator Sam Levering.
“What is this?” Millie asked. The door slammed behind her.
“Millie,” Helen said, “we have to talk.”
Speechless with shock and anger, Millie glared at the senator. The last time she had been in a limousine with him had not exactly been a pleasant experience.
“Madame Chief Justice,” Levering said with a nod.
“Helen, what is going on?” Millie asked.
The limo started up and Millie practically fell back into the seat. Outside the sun was shining. Inside the air was foul and close.
“We need to talk,” Helen said. “Sam – Senator Levering – and I are really concerned about what’s going on.”
Levering folded his ruddy hands across his stomach. “Madame Justice, do you know what Ambrose Bierce once said about politics?”
Millie just looked at the senator, anger rising in her like a flame.
“He said politics is nothing more than the ‘strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.’ A wise man, Bierce.”
“That politics should be without principle?” Millie snapped.
“You miss the point,” Levering said in his smooth, practiced manner. “We are awash in a strife of interests, that’s all, and you’re right in the middle of it. I want to see if I can help you out before the politics gets to the Court.”
Millie felt the tone switch to mild threat. She was livid. Threaten the Court itself? She would fight to the bitter end to protect the honor of the Court. “Just what is it you are suggesting, Senator?”
“A chance,” Levering said softly.
“A chance for what?”
“To survive.”
“The Court is strong enough to survive,” Millie said, “and so am I.”
The phony congeniality melted off Levering’s face. “Look, Madame Justice, what I’m talking about here – ”
He stopped as Helen put her hand on his leg. “Let me,” she said to the senator. Then to Millie: “What Senator Levering is trying to say, Millie, is a concern I share as well.”
“Why didn’t you come to me first?” Millie asked.
“It’s all bollixed up,” Helen said. “So much has happened. The point isn’t the past, though – it’s the future. Yours and the Court’s.”
Millie felt like screaming at them both to leave the Court alone. “Why don’t you both come out and tell me what you want?”
“I’ll take it,” Levering said firmly. “Many of us in Congress are very uncomfortable about you mixing religion and politics and the law. Very uncomfortable. Especially after a bunch of us went to bat for you. Not only to be CJ, but when you first came up as a nominee. You made certain assurances – ”
“No, Senator,” Millie said. “I never locked myself into a position on any
