we shunt him aside.”
“Right. That’s all. Talk to you tomorrow.”
“Bye-bye.” Will put away his cell phone and continued to the family quarters.
Martin Stanton was sitting before the fire when Will walked in. “Congratulations, Mr. Vice President,” Will said, shaking his hand. “That went about as smoothly as we could have hoped for. Have you talked to Sam Meriwether?”
“Yes, Will, and thank you again for the appointment. Where’s Kate?”
“She’ll be here in a few minutes. Can I get you a drink?”
“I’ll have some of that bourbon you like,” he replied.
Will tossed his jacket on a chair, loosened his tie, and went to the bar.
“I hear you handled Charlene Joiner nicely last night.”
“Yes, but not so well this morning.” Will told him about the early-morning encounter.”
“She really expected you to pardon the son of a bitch?”
“Charlene is a force of nature,” Will said, “and she’s accustomed to getting what she wants. Did you know she went to Atlanta and screwed the governor of Georgia to get Moody’s death sentence commuted?”
“I’d heard that, but I thought it was just a bawdy joke.”
“Nope. The embarrassing thing is, I facetiously suggested she do that, just to get her off my back. I was astonished when she actually pulled it off… ah, so to speak.”
Stanton laughed. “That’s unbelievable.”
“So is Charlene,” Will said, sipping his drink. “Oh, don’t mention her when Kate gets here.”
“Right.”
“Don’t mention who?” Kate said, closing the door behind her and kicking off her shoes.
“Never mind,” Will said.
“Congratulations, Marty,” Kate said, pointing at the bar. “Will, I’ve got to talk business for a minute. You want to go down to the double O?” They had a rule about not talking business in the family quarters.
“Oh, go ahead,” Will said.
“It’s not good news. We’ve got a report from a previously reliable source in Pakistan that the nuclear warhead taken from the last of the missile sites, south of Islamabad, has disappeared and has, possibly, fallen into the wrong hands.”
“Oh, shit,” Will muttered.
25
The President and Vice President of the United States and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency dined on the coffee table, sitting on the floor. The White House kitchen had sent up rack of lamb, new potatoes, and haricots verts, with apple pie for dessert.
“I suppose,” Will said to Kate, “you’ve alerted the Joint Chiefs about this warhead, so they can alert their intelligence people.”
“Yes, and I have an eight-o’clock meeting with them tomorrow morning,” she said. “I don’t think you should attend yet. If word got out, it would get the media all stirred up. As it is, we can call it an unsubstantiated rumor, which it pretty much is.”
“Then let’s say no more about it this evening,” Will said, “and just enjoy our dinner.” He tasted the California cabernet and poured them all a glass.
They had finished their dinner and were on brandy when the phone rang. Will picked it up. “Yes?” He punched the hold button and turned to Stanton. “For you-your wife.”
“I’ll take it in my bedroom,” Stanton said, getting to his feet.
“Hello?”
“Marty?”
“Yes.”
“I hope I’ve called at an inconvenient time,” she said, and there was acid in her voice.
“I’m having dinner with the Lees. What’s wrong?”
“I had a meeting with my lawyers this afternoon. They want me to hire a forensic accountant.”
“What’s a forensic accountant?” Stanton asked, and he had an idea he wasn’t going to like the answer.
“That’s who a party in a divorce hires when she believes the other party is hiding money from her.”
“Betty, have I ever lied to you?”
“I’m beginning to wonder about that.”
“Why do you think I’m hiding money?”
“My lawyer says that, because you have family ties in Mexico, it’s very likely that you have money hidden there.”
“I’ve never lied to your lawyer, either. I gave him a complete and highly detailed financial statement, accompanied by all the backup documents, and nothing was omitted.”
“How about that vintage Cadillac you were born in? I’m told that’s worth a lot of money. California is a community-property state, you know.”
“Yes, I know that, and that car is not community property. It’s been in my family since a year before I was born.”
“How about brokerage accounts?”
“You have my brokerage statements. And by the way, the market is way down at the moment, so we’ll have to get current values when we sign the settlement.”
“So you’re going to try to screw me out of even more money?”
“Betty, you get half of my net worth. If you’d signed the settlement a month ago, when my net worth was higher, you’d have gotten more money. Even your lawyer advised you to sign then.”
“I wasn’t ready,” she said.
“Then you’ll have to accept the responsibility for that. I’ve done all I’m required to do, all I’ve agreed to do.”
“Then why didn’t you announce the divorce at the hearing, the way you said you were going to.”
“The president’s people decided it would be better to wait until I’m sworn in.”
“And when is that?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“And, of course, I’m not invited to Washington for that.”
“You told me you didn’t want to come to Washington.”
“So I can’t change my mind?”
“It’s too late now.”
“So what about this money you’ve hidden? Where is it?”
“Betty, neither you nor your lawyer has the slightest reason to think I’ve hidden money. Why would I put money in a Mexican bank?”
“Because you could.”
“Betty, I can only give you my word that I have no money that isn’t included in that financial statement. If you aren’t willing to accept that, then there’s nothing more I can do. I’ll ask my lawyer to call your lawyer. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to dinner. Good-bye.” He hung up, and he was sweating. He was glad he wasn’t in Sacramento, so that he wouldn’t be tempted to strangle his wife. She had been reasonable up to now, but she seemed to have become deranged. Perhaps it was that she was being egged on by a mercenary divorce lawyer.
