home you know.”
“Alright, so what are you up to now?”
“I gotta get back to DC and check on something (someone). I don’t think Peña’s people know I’m here, so I wanna get back.” Of course the missing killers watching him in DC and possibility of John Richards being a snitch worked against that theory.
Deceit
Hunter Kohl had two women in his life to worry about and two children. He’d had another woman, his cousin, but she was lost. He needed to protect those remaining. He couldn’t choose between Laura and Claire; no one could expect him to do that. He worried more about Laura’s vulnerability while Claire at least had John Richards to protect her. John would move in with Claire if offered. But now John was bad. Claire might be most vulnerable. Could Peña strike effectively in Washington? He had his two hired killers, but they were gone. Would there be more? Peña’s only motive for hurting anyone close to him was to force Hunter to do as he was told, but there wasn’t anything to do now. The bill language was gone. He needed to sleep desperately on the redeye back to DC, but his thoughts wouldn’t rest.
This time, she wasn’t there to meet him. He didn’t call her late at night after he confirmed his flight. Why scare her? He’d unloaded his gear with Claire and gone directly to the airport. He had a massive headache, and his eyes burned from lack of sleep. Instead of the Metro, he took a cab home to Alexandria. It was an extravagance, but the thought of waiting twenty minutes and then walking down King Street was overwhelming. He needed sleep. Sitting in the cab heading toward Old Town, he called Laura. She answered, “Hi, where are you?”
“I’m back in DC, just arrived.”
“Oh, Hunter, another redeye?”
“Yeah. I hate flying.”
“You need to sleep. I can hear it in your voice.”
He rubbed his sore eyes. “Yeah, I need a few hours anyway.”
She loved the idea that he was back near her, even if he was asleep. “Look, sleep all day. I’ll come over after work and make supper for you. I’ll even spend the night if you’re up to it.”
“Are you kidding, I’m always up to it.”
“See ya’ tonight.”
He paid the cabbie in cash and opened the door without bothering to look up and down the street. He didn’t figure anyone would be stupid enough to try him again. He regretted leaving his weapons in California, but he wasn’t going to lug them around and they made more sense stored at Claire’s place. He stripped, brushed his teeth and fell into bed. His window shade didn’t darken the room much, and it felt unnatural sleeping in the daylight.
Two hours later, he was dreaming and some distant ringing noise penetrated his subconscious. His phone was ringing! He rolled out and went to retrieve his mobile phone, following the ring tone. “Hello”
Her voice was entirely too chipper. “You sound asleep!”
“Hi, Leigh. Yeah. I just got in from California.”
“Hunter. Did you take a redeye. Those’ll kill you.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Look, I’m sorry to bother you. You need to get over to Blithe’s office. She’s back on the language.”
“What do you mean?”
“Someone smacked her around in the primary. She’s desperate for a cause, and you’re it!”
“She’s back aboard?”
“Yeah. Now they need all the backup facts you can force-feed in twenty-four hours.”
He rubbed his temples. “Okay, Leigh, but it doesn’t change the House, and I heard that Senator Jenson is thinking about removing it from the SAC.”
“That’s old news. Blithe is senior to Jenson, and she’ll get one of the other SAC member to put it back in and go dancing through electorate heaven together. Jenson will look like a fool if he’s not behind this.”
He scrunched his eyes. “Great. Think about the House strategy, and I’ll call you later.”
He wanted to flush the phone as he started the shower, but this was “flash traffic” (Naval slang for top priority messages) as far as he was concerned.
When he finished drying, he called Ben Willis in Blithe’s office and got an immediate appointment, as quickly as he could get there.
An hour later, he was in Blithe’s office for a strategy meeting that lasted two hours – huge by Washington standards. Before he could talk to Leigh again, Amy Letourneau who was Senator Blithe’s Office Director joined Hunter and Willis. They would handle the Senate side, but Hunter didn’t have any support in the House since Romanoff backed away.
Amy said, “Who do you know in the House Appropriations Committee, Hunter?”
“I know Romanoff and Congressman Douglas Stubbs from San Diego. Stubbs in on the HAC”
Amy responded. “Good. We’ll get Stubbs to enter the language and fight for it. Romanoff will have to support it if he’s true to his little speech. It’s one thing to neglect a promise, it’s another to out and out refuse to support something promoted in his press conference. His opponent would cut him to ribbons, and he can go back to chasing little girls in the park after the election.”
Hunter shook his head. “I’ve met with Stubbs, and he won’t support it.”
She smiled. “Look, Hunter. Leigh Bryant probably told you that I go back a long way in this town. Trust me. We’ll earn Stubbs heart and soul.”
Hunter shook his head while Willis looked on, enthralled by the process. Hunter said, “I don’t know Amy. He’s pretty weak as an individual.”
She smiled again. “It doesn’t matter, Hunter. Senator Blithe has a unique relationship with the President, the leader of our party. If the President calls Stubbs, Stubbs will salute and say yes, sir.”
“I don’t get it, Amy. The President? Will the President really go public supporting this?”
“Absolutely not! He can’t risk offending life-long conservatives. He’ll just instruct Stubbs to lead it and the President will sign the Appropriations Bill, which just happens to have this teeny obscure language legalizing drugs. It will happen so fast this late in the budget cycle that no one will have time to study the bill. It’ll just be one of those little things that slipped through. The President will be blameless.”
He chuckled. “Unbelievable.”
“Oh, believe!”
He left the office not fully comprehending what had transpired. The impossible was about to happen. He walked down the hill to Union Station and called Leigh to outline the strategy. She was tickled. “See. Miracles do happen sometimes, even in the US Congress.”
“Leigh, I still don’t know how this happened, but right now, I don’t care. I’m going home and rest. Tonight my girl is cooking me dinner. Later on, we’ll make a decision to make love or sleep. Right now I vote for sleep, but don’t tell anyone, it would destroy my macho image.”
Caldron
“What do you mean, Senator? How can the language be back in the bill!”
He responded, “Please be careful, Luca. We should try to keep this discussion uncensored (encrypted).”
Luca was bright red and screaming as Roxanne closed his office door for his own privacy. “Look. This can’t change overnight. I support you so that you watch out for my interests. They are your interests also.”
Jenson responded. “Luca, I understand why you’re upset. I’m upset.”
Peña cut him off. “Yes, I’m upset, and I don’t give a shit who’s listening. You’re in this as deep as me. You get this killed or...just get it done.”
“Luca, you can’t order me around like one of your thugs. I’m a U.S. Senator!”
“I don’t give a shit who you think you are. You are whatever I make you to be. If you don’t get this reversed, you’ll be out of a job. You might even be in jail.”
“This conversation is over, Mr. Peña”
Senator Jenson slammed the phone on his home office desk. He wasn’t used to being spoken to this way. Luciano Peña was his biggest campaign
contributor, but that didn’t give him the right to order him around! All he had done was report the events. Somehow, one of the other SAC members had insisted on endorsing the language that Jenson was in the process of removing from the bill. He was careful not to simply instruct the staff to remove it. He was “reviewing” it. He was planning to review it through the deliberative session at the SAC without ever re-entering it, but now it had someone else’s endorsement. He didn’t know who, at the moment, but would find out. He couldn’t come out negative against language all knew he’d sponsored. That would be too overt. He had reported the situation to Peña, which was something the Senate code of ethics would not condone. Didn’t Luca appreciate the favor he was doing him?
In San Francisco, Peña was seething. He was beyond mad. This was a very dangerous disposition. In his business, it was imperative to remain objective. Otherwise, you could lose your head – literally. He screamed. Roxanne! Roxanne, get Mr. Number One on the phone. Do it now!”
All of his rage was centering on the state lobbyist. He had been warned. He must be defying Luca’s orders! He would pay. His family would pay. They all would pay!
“Roxanne! Get Ramon in here!”
In Washington, Hunter was sitting peacefully in a Blue Line coach relaxing to the rhythmic clatter of the rails and gentle swaying as the Metro train passed by Arlington Cemetery. He was enjoying the view. There were only two elderly people, a couple, in his car. The sky was crystal clear, and the afternoon sun radiated through puffy white cumulous clouds.