Removal (54 page)
Authors: Peter Murphy
‘Not helped by the fact that Steve kept lying about it,’ Ellen observed.
‘But Carlson and Hessler actually thought, just because that was happening, that they could march on Washington and take over?’ Kelly asked. ‘It’s breath-taking.’
Lazenby looked at her seriously.
‘That’s something you’re going to have to take a harder look at than I did, Madam Director,’ he said. ‘I admit I never would have thought a crackpot organization like that could have succeeding in doing what it did. The level of support they had was frightening.’
‘That’s the lesson for us. We’re going to need better intelligence about groups like that,’ Kelly agreed. As she was about to say something else, she suddenly halted. ‘Carlson didn’t say anything about…?’
‘About Phil Hammond? Yes, I’m afraid he did. They were on to him, and he admitted they killed him. He wanted me to know that it took a long time, and Phil was very brave.’
Kelly put her head in her hands. ‘Those bastards,’ she whispered.
Jeff stood, walked over to her and put an arm around her shoulders.
‘So, where did Steve Wade really fit into all this?’ he asked, after a prolonged silence.
Lazenby thought for a while. ‘You and Kelly were the last people to see him alive. What’s your read on it?’
‘It seemed to me he’d completely lost it,’ Jeff replied somberly. ‘He was virtually incoherent. He was talking like he thought he could rule the world. It was like something out of a bad B-movie.’
Lazenby nodded.
‘That’s what I would have expected. Without Hessler controlling him, he would have been lost. Once he was impeached, he would have walked away.’
‘You think that was the whole story, that Hessler controlled him?’
‘I think so,’ Lazenby replied. ‘You only have to look at what happened in the final days. Ellen couldn’t even get in to see him. That must have been Hessler.’
He walked over to join Kelly and Jeff.
‘There’s no real evidence that Steve Wade did anything wrong except cheat on his wife with Lucia Benoni. If he had come clean and admitted it, the whole affair would have died away, as similar things had in the past. But he lied about it and, after he had painted himself into that corner, things started to spiral out of control. There are two murders. The Oregon connection comes to light. The
Post
picks the story up and won’t let go of it. Julia leaves him. His political opponents pounce. And so on and so on. He starts to come unglued and, when he does, there’s Hessler waiting in the wings, offering him a way out. By this time, Wade’s defenses are so far down he even buys into the Williamsburg Doctrine. And, before anyone really realizes what’s happening, it’s all got so far out of control that there’s no way back.’
There was a long silence as the four occupants of the Oval Office stood looking out over the garden.
‘Well,’ Ellen Trevathan said eventually, ‘I suppose the lesson is checks and balances. Checks and balances, and the power of removal. Once we entrust too much to any one man – or woman – there’s always the danger that things will go wrong. We just never knew how wrong they could go.’
Kelly took Jeff’s hand.
‘I think the lesson is, how fragile everything is,’ she said quietly.
‘Fragile?’ Ellen asked.
Kelly smiled.
‘It was something Linda said to me once when we were in college,’ she said. ‘It was late one night. We were talking about whatever our cause was at the time, saving the whales, or the elephants, or the starving children in Africa. And I just remember her saying how fragile everything was. I didn’t really understand what she meant at the time. But I do now. She was talking about herself. As well as I knew her, I never knew how fragile she was.’
Ellen Trevathan nodded.
‘I think fragile is a good word for life,’ she said. ‘But life has to move on, and we have to move on with it. I have a busy day today, Kelly. Why don’t you get settled back in, and I’ll be hoping we can start work on plans for your confirmation in a few days’ time.’
Kelly nodded, then added, ‘I think that what I was trying to say earlier is that I’m just taking a new look at my life, wondering what I’m doing, and why I’m doing it, when everything can fall apart so easily. I feel like I’m in a small boat, out in the middle of the ocean, without a compass. I have a few points of reference, one or two stars to steer by, like Jeff, thank God. But I’m not sure where I am or where I’m going any more.’
‘I know that feeling,’ Ellen said. ‘I’ve been there myself recently. All I can tell you, Kelly, is that, eventually, you sight land. In the meanwhile, don’t lose sight of the stars.’
‘I won’t.’
Kelly turned and smiled, present in body. But her mind was elsewhere, as it seemed to be so often; in a factory in the Bronx, in a conference room at the White House, at a graveside in Minnesota. She knew Ellen was right. All she could do was wait for the sight of land. She hoped it would come soon.
This ebook edition first published in 2011
by No Exit Press,
an imprint of Oldcastle Books
P O Box 394,
Harpenden, AL5 1XJ
All rights reserved
© Pweter Murphy, 2011
The right of Peter Murphy to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN
978–1–84243-600-4 (epub)
978-1-84243-599-1 (kindle)
978-1-84243-601-1 (pdf)
978-1-84243-598-4 (print) June 2012
