Prologue (53 page)

DeVere nodded absently.

“By the way,” Amanda asked, leaning back against the pillows, “did you happen to notice the man in first class sitting on the right side of the plane when we boarded?”

DeVere looked up. Amanda looked so, so, so like she had in
Ithaca
. Lying back on the pillows like that…

”What?” he asked.

“When we boarded.
The guy with the big jowls sitting by himself.
Grey suit.”

DeVere shrugged. “Don’t remember anyone on the plane.”

Amanda nodded. “I couldn’t place him at first. I just caught a quick glimpse in
New York
.
Hadn’t noticed him at the departure gate.
Saw him again when we got off and finally figured out who he was when we were in the taxi.”

“And?”

“Nixon.”

“Who?
The baseball player?”

Amanda sighed and rolled her eyes. “Richard Nixon.”

When Paul continued to stare at her blankly she continued. “Checkers dog speech?
Anti-Communist zealot from the 1950s?
Eisenhower’s vice-president?”

“Richard Nixon? I’m not good on vice presidents. You sure it was him?”

Amanda sat up suddenly and curled her legs under her. “Yuppa’, I am.
Dead sure.
Was the Republican nominee against Kennedy in
1960.
They had a series of debates on TV. The first televised presidential debates. I’ve seen the films. That’s how I recognized him. That would have been three years ago. He’s put on a little weight but not much. It was Nixon who Kennedy beat in a close race. Later ran for governor of
California
.
Lost again.
Then he retired into oblivion.”

“So the man who ran against Kennedy in 1960 is in
Dallas
when Kennedy will be here.” DeVere shrugged.
“So what?”

“So, maybe nothing.
Bit of a coincidence though, with us here, Lewis here, Nixon here and Kennedy coming.”

“You think Ginter is going to do something with Kennedy and Nixon both?” deVere asked.

“I figure he’s angling on approaching Kennedy at the Trade Mart on Friday.
Somehow getting information to him about
Southeast Asia
.
Trying to change Kennedy’s mind one last time.”

“Do you think it will work?” deVere asked.

Hutch scoffed. “Has it worked for us? It’s absurd. No one gets close enough to the President of the
United States
to talk to him. And what would Lewis say?”

“We didn’t do well with
Salisbury
,” deVere sighed. “But the baseball thing softened him. Our time window is too short. We should have come back earlier.”

Amanda took a deep breath. “
Salisbury
later wrote that the
United States
should have intervened in
Southeast Asia
. He was a hawk in the 1970's. As for coming back earlier-what choice did we have?”

“Yeah, the best laid plans,” deVere scoffed. “Too bad there aren’t any games between now and Sunday that I remember the score of. I can still picture
Salisbury
’s face when we told him that the
Soviet Union
and
China
would fight a war.”

Amanda snickered. “That’s when he tried to run out the door. So, how is Ginter going to have any better luck?” she asked, turning serious.

DeVere scanned the newspaper. “I don’t know. There is going to be a motorcade from Love Field to the Trade Mart where he’ll talk.”

“It will have to be at the Trade Mart then,” Amanda answered. “I guess Lewis will have us rushing up to Jack Kennedy with open arms and empty hands yelling, ‘Watch out for Communism in South and
Central America
and don’t pull out of
Southeast Asia
.”

DeVere glanced at his watch. “Lewis said he’d be gone all day but would be here about
5:15
or so. What do you say we head down for a late lunch?”

As the pair stood up they were surprised by a knock at the door. Paul hesitated while Amanda reached out and flung it open. It was Lewis Ginter.

Chapter 27

Lewis Ginter stepped inside and closed the door.

“Jesus, Lewis, how the hell have you been?” deVere asked.

Ginter pulled out a chair and sat down. “Busy. You might as well sit down. This could take awhile. Hey, how’s
New York
? Been watching Joe Willie throw the football?”

“He’s still in college,” deVere answered, sitting down on the bed. Hutch followed suit.

Ginter nodded. “So, how was your flight? Uneventful, I hope?”

Hutch and deVere exchanged glances but didn’t answer.

Ginter changed the subject. “Any luck with Salinger last night?”

DeVere shook his head. “We’ve come up with zip, Lewis.” He recounted their efforts in
New York
, and the results of their approaches to
Salisbury
, Thurmond and Salinger. Ginter nodded at all the appropriate junctures but appeared to be only half listening.

When Paul finished Amanda spoke up. “O.K., Lewis. We’re five days away from decision day. What do you have?”

“I’ve got something going,” he said. “Something I started putting together back at the Carpenter Hotel.” Lewis took a deep breath and exhaled.

“You kept saying that the key is Sunday’s decision to pull out of
Vietnam
,” he said, turning to Amanda. “You said we should work on
Southeast Asia
. Stay in
Vietnam
and the
United States
draws the proverbial line in the sand that lets the East know that the West will fight. Once stopped, the East begins to slowly crumble from within.”

Amanda nodded. “I believe that. There are computer models-”

Ginter waved his hand impatiently, interrupting her. “Screw
Vietnam
and
Southeast Asia
,” he said forcefully. “The answer lies in what Ché Guevara and
Cuba
will do to this country. Once Ché takes
Bolivia
,
Chile
comes under Allende, and the Sandinistas take control in
Nicaragua
. Most of
South America
, and all of
Central America
, falls. This country will be so pre-occupied with that, the
Malay Peninsula
will be the last thing we care about. After we see what Russian chemical and biological weapons will do in
China
,
and the chemical weapons and dirty bomb here...”

His voice trailed off. There was no reason to continue really, everyone in the room knew the history.

He extended his arms, palms upward. “Really, what choice did the
U.S.
have?” he asked rhetorically.

“And some would say it was a good trade,” Ginter continued softly. “The
U.S.
gets rid of its weapons of mass destruction, all nuclear material and research plans surrendered. The national military gets disbanded in return for
peace,
and prosperity for some. The threat of global destruction is gone. Who can argue with that when we have
Beijing
as a comparison?”

“What’s your plan?” Amanda asked coolly.

Ginter leaned forward and stabbed his finger on the table. “Ché Guevara must be stopped.
Cuba
must be stopped. Guevara would have been dead in
Bolivia
except for that defector. And now I’ve stopped him from defecting to
Cuba
.”

“Oswald?” Hutch asked.

DeVere looked perplexed. Amanda turned to him. “Lee,” she finished. “O.H. Lee. Oswald was his real name.” She turned back to Ginter.

“What are you talking about, Lewis? Isn’t he in
Cuba
?”

“Supposed to be.”
Ginter leaned back in his chair, grinning. “But he’s not. He’s here, in
Dallas
.
Using his original name, Oswald.”

“How can this be?” deVere asked.

“Didn’t Oswald defect in ‘63?” Hutch asked.

Ginter nodded. “He did. It was late September and history says that he really ought to be back in
Cuba
.
Except, he’s not.
History is changed. I stopped him in
Mexico City
and got him to come back here where he’s now employed at the Texas School Book Depository.”