Back in Jessica`s hotel room, Arnie slumped onto the bed as she switched on the T.V. for the late evening news. She watched from a chair as the anchorman cut straight to the steps of Capitol Hill for a breaking newsflash.
Under the glare of floodlights and staring into a bank of T.V. cameras, Senator John Carlucci pulled himself straight, looked around and put on his most authoritative voice. “What happened last night at the home of Reverend Tobias Stone was a tragedy which has rocked the very foundations of our Christian beliefs. It is not just an event of great sadness but one of considerable mystery and beyond the comprehension of us all. Having recently been involved in some of his ministry`s Corporate decisions, I have had to raise certain political concerns. Given the nature of these concerns I have asked for a Congressional Committee to be assembled to investigate certain aspects of the corporate division run by his wife, Alice Stone, the other victim of last night`s shooting.”
“That sonofabitch,” Jessica shouted at the T.V. “He`s taking control of this, locking it down with Congressional power.”
Quickly off the bed, Arnie positioned himself by Jessica`s chair. “Figured this would happen.”
“This should now be a goddamned police matter, Arnie not a political high-jacking.”
“Carlucci can`t let that happen Jess, because it`s his name all over this thing. And he fears your story might just get out there, even though it`s based only on insinuation. He`ll be desperate to make sure the truth doesn`t come out. Guarantee you that lab in Honduras is already being shut down, everything moved to another country that won`t ask questions.”
“You kidding, Arnie? They can`t possibly continue with such a heinous project. They`ll have to come clean on this, they can`t bury it.”
“Come on, Jess, this is the big boys at play, the ones who always win, always get their way. This discovery can`t be put back in the box, it`s here to stay. What the hell happens now is the question. But one thing`s for sure, the government is taking over and that`s as bad as the zealots having control of it.”
Turning back to the T.V., Jessica nudged Arnie. “Look, Carlucci`s got more.”
The senator`s tone had changed from sombre to a level usually reserved for political rallies. “As all information regarding this Congressional investigation now becomes privileged and subject to judicial sanction, any disclosure will have to be first presented to the Attorney General. There`s no doubt that media speculation will be rife, but it will be based only on conjecture and speculation. Claims will be made that are as ridiculous as they are harmful. While respecting the rights of a free Press, the Congressional Committee will not tolerate statements that are based on irresponsible reporting and that contribute to the disease of fake news.”
“That slimy snake, he`s killing my story!” Jessica said, almost yelling at the T.V. “It`s like you said, they`re playing hardball right from the get-go, they`re going after me.”
Eyes now widening as she stared at the T.V. screen, Jessica put her hand firmly on Arnie`s arm. “I don`t believe this!”
“What?” Arnie said, peering at the screen.
“Carlucci! He just signalled to some people behind him, and now he`s bringing them into the spotlight.”
“Who the hell are they?”
“One is the Attorney General, the other our worst nightmare.”
“Who`s the woman, Jess?”
“That, Arnie, is Janice Hoag.”
“She`s on our side, isn`t she?”
“Not any more she`s not. I should have known, could feel it in my gut when we met, a self serving bitch. Justice for her brother wasn`t going to get in the way of her career advancement and now she`s in with the bad guys. Typical! And that traitor Carlucci, what a move by him, the snake.”
As they listened to Carlucci continue his speech, they stared in disbelief as he launched into playing the crowd, voice at full strength. “This whole tragic affair started with a mystery surrounding the deaths of three of our bravest citizens, the Marines who were killed in that Texas parking lot. Instigating my own private investigation, run in parallel with the Congressional Committee, I promised a full and frank explanation of what led to such tragic circumstances, and that I would find out the truth. Those inquiries were soon high-jacked by irresponsible media speculation that asserted totally untrue allegations of the military`s involvement in sinister scientific experiments. These charges against our military have been proven to be totally false.”
“Here it comes,” Jessica said.
Puffing his chest out and putting on a serious expression, Carlucci made a pitch for acceptance of his integrity. “I can announce this evening, that in conjunction with the new Congressional Committee, Janice Hoag, a certified lawyer and sister of one of the Marines, has been appointed to the Attorney General`s office. She will help to oversee a rigorous investigation of all the facts pertaining to this extraordinary set of circumstances. Under Janice Hoag`s careful scrutiny, we can be assured the truth of this awful matter will be fully exposed, justice for her brother and the other two Marines finally achieved.”
“The sonofabitch!” Arnie said.
“And it looks like he`s not finished.”
Carlucci was on a roll. “With regard to the media, who already stand guilty of reprehensible speculation, I say this: good people have been hurt by their irresponsibility, so I beg them to desist. And in particular, I point to an individual journalist, my own appointee, Jessica Hahn, whose desperation for answers is resulting in charges that are totally unfounded. Such irresponsible behaviour is causing confusion for the investigation, along with considerable pain for those who have suffered a terrible loss.”
“Gone straight for me, the treacherous bastard,” Jessica said. “He gave me the Reverend and now he`s screwed me. Buried the investigation, and me with it.”
Arnie put his hand on her shoulder. “Now we know what we were up against, forces even more powerful than him. We never really stood a chance.”
“We had a chance, Arnie and we took it, found out what these crazies were up to. And now it`s gone, the whole deal trashed.”
Still staring at the screen they watched Carlucci wind up his presentation, head hung low, tone sombre and sincere. “This investigation started with tragedy and has now ended with it. So let us all show respect for those affected and allow our expert examiners to do their job. It will be a thorough report, detailed and fully transparent as you would expect from a committee held in high regard. Thank you all for attending. I will not be taking any questions.”
“Jesus H. Christ,” said Jessica, “look at him, now he`s hugging Janice Hoag. I can`t believe I got her so wrong. The self-serving bastards who lie and double cross always come out on top. Why the hell is that, Arnie?”
“Always been the way, Jess, and always will be. Human nature I guess. And decent people wonder why the world`s filling up with cynics. ”
With Arnie back in his own room, Jessica had struggled to sleep, her mind in conflict about the deal she had struck with Preston Fields, her shifting emotions creating a wall of indecision. No matter how she tried to justify her strategy, the moral case continued to eat away at her conscience. And now, at the insecure lonely hour of 2.00am, she left her bed. Today`s deadline and the confrontation looming with Fields had left her feeling sick to her stomach, the meeting`s outcome about to determine Arnie`s future. As she stood at the bedroom window and peered into the night`s sky, she felt reality hit. Cave in, accept defeat and the empty future it would bring, or hold fast and hope that her gamble could somehow save Arnie.
Having made her decision, she chose a longer wait at Montgomery International over the isolation of her room, quickly packing her bags and heading out the door. Stopping for a moment she considered sliding a note under Arnie`s door who`s room was at the end of the corridor, then concluded that it would be a pointless gesture.
At the airport her nerves worsened as she heard the flight to D.C. was delayed by two hours, from 5.00am to 7.00am. Her schedule was already tight and with no room for another delay. Just as crucial to the deadline with Fields was another key piece of her strategy, every bit as important to the outcome, and all she could do was hope that the arrangements were in place. When the flight finally took off, Jessica allowed herself a sigh of relief, her mind now concentrating on how she would handle Preston Field`s fury if everything went to plan: and the severe consequences if it didn`t.
Ten minutes before boarding she had grabbed her cell-phone and punched in Arnie`s number. “Flight`s been delayed a couple of hours. I just wanted to say thanks for not grilling me on why I`m going.”
“Can`t say I`m comfortable with it but I respect your right to do so,” he said.
“That sounded a little insincere, Arnie.”
“After all we`ve been through together, it`s hard for me to understand why you won`t trust me.”
“Not about trusting you, you know that. It`s a personal matter for me, one I have to deal with alone.”
“What`s really going on here, Jess?”
“What do you mean?”
“You haven`t been the same person since your last trip to D.C. and I`m wondering why.”
“Tell you what, Arnie, why don`t we leave this until I get back, tonight.”
“Guess I`ll have to. And Jess, be careful out there, this thing looks like it`s over but sometimes there`s a sting in the tail. Trust nobody.”
“Don`t worry, I won`t be trusting anybody.”
CHAPTER 35
Jessica had made her deadline with only twenty minutes to spare. Passing through the electronic scanner outside the office she could feel his presence at the doorway, watching her, mentally undressing her. Glancing over at him she spoke with contempt. “Still get off on that kind of thing, Preston?”
“Matter of fact I do,” he said, unfazed by the comment.
“My phone okay this time, or does your paranoia even stretch to that?”
“Phone`s okay as long as it goes through the scanner then stays in your bag. Nothing gets recorded in my office, nothing.”
Back at his desk and waving a folder in the air, Fields struggled to keep a victorious look from his face. “Hope you`re not here to beg me not to go through with our deal, Jessica, you should know better than that. Tomorrow morning these documents go live, hit the Attorney General`s desk, and then it`s my turn. Your friends Dryden and Krench will be toast.”
“Oh I`ve no intention of begging, Preston, believe me that`s not something I do. You taught me a lot of things and one was never to beg, only get down and dirty, play it smarter than the sonofabitch that`s trying to screw you.”
Preston Fields laughed as he threw the folder on his desk. “I also taught you that a guy like me never loses and certainly not to the likes of you Jessica. So why are you here? You got what I said you would get, and boy did your meeting with the Evangelicals turn up trumps for your story.”
“Yes, but that bastard Carlucci has hijacked the whole thing, meaning the story`s dead, most of what I have closed down by the authorities. I`d be accused of being a desperate reporter who had come up with nothing and was now throwing around a bunch of crazy accusations.”
“Come on, Jessica, Reverend Tobias Stone shoots his wife in cold blood, then himself and you were there to witness it. A meeting set up by me. Reckon I should be in for a bonus.”
“You can hang that idea up, never in your wildest dreams. And that`s why I`m here, to get you to apologise for what you did to me that afternoon, way back when I was just a naïve kid trying to get ahead.”
“Not that again for Christ`s sake. A man has needs, and okay, did I take advantage, sure I did but there`s no law against it. And as I remember it you were no kid.”
Now Jessica kicked off. “That`s it right there, your arrogance and sense of entitlement when it comes to women. Well that stops at the law, but you didn`t, not with Mary Anne Paulson, remember?”
“Again you bring that up! A matter that doesn`t concern you, something I took care of and that happened almost twenty years ago? Mary Anne died three years ago of cancer and I went to her funeral, you treacherous bitch.”
“She was only sixteen years old at the time and you knew it. It was a criminal offence and you made me help pay her off. It left me with a stain on my conscience that I still carry today.”
Fields was having none of it. “She was a willing participant, came onto me, and the money I paid set her up for life, so don`t give me any of that pious concern. I`m not offering any apology, to you or Mary Anne Paulson, so get your scheming ass out of my office.”
“I sat with that girl for weeks trying to keep her from self harming, stuffing down a bottle of pills and ending it all. You caused that, ruined a young girl`s life.”
He smirked. “Old news, Jess, and she got over it.”
“You bastard,” she shouted at him, “what sort of degraded mind can say that? How can you trivialise rape of a juvenile!”
“Okay, so I`m someone who made a mistake in his life, but I then did what I could to make up for it, I saw her alright in the end, paid her a lot of money, found her a good job. So fuck you with your accusations and moral outrage. It was a long time ago, ever heard of the Statute of Limitations?”
“Fuck you? That`s your response Preston, fuck you? And the Statute of Limitations, oh hell yeah, I`ve heard of that all right.”
“Good, then get your tight little ass out of my office, because you`ve got no leverage.” I`ve got Dryden and I`ve got Krench and that`s down to you. So look to yourself, Jessica, look to who you really are, a betrayer of friends. Doesn`t get much lower than that.”
Now feeling calmer, Jessica stood and strolled towards the window. “You ever been stalked, Preston?” she asked.
Leaning back in his chair he laughed. “No, Jessica, what`s this now, some new threat?”
“No, just an observation, but it`s one that could be significant to your political aspirations.”
“The hell are you talking about?”
“Last time I was here a black van was parked across the street, halfway onto the sidewalk.”
“So?”
“Well there`s another one here today but it`s blue.”
“They`re delivery vans, park there all the time.”
“This one`s no delivery van, Preston.”
Getting out of his chair he marched towards the window, pushing Jessica out of the way. “It`s a fucking delivery van. They all look the same, so enough with the bullshit, we`re done here. Now get the hell out my office!”
Jessica smiled as she returned to her chair then opened her grab bag and took out the cell-phone, waiving it in the air.
A furious look crossed his face as he challenged her. “What game are you playing now?”
“No game, Preston, hard-balled strategy, just like you taught me.”
“Well I don`t give a shit about your strategy. This document gets filed tomorrow and nothing you have will stop me.”
“You might just want to hold up on that notion, consider what it might cost you. Not just in terms of your future at the Governor`s mansion but the reputation of the great Preston Fields himself. You always were a pompous ass, in love with your extravagant behaviour. But your downfall was always going to be that nasty side of yours, exposed when your public show couldn`t hide your private vice.”
“Now you`re beginning to piss me off, Jessica so it would be a good idea if you got yourself out that door before I start taking a real dislike to you and make your life a misery.”
“I`ll be going in just a minute, but first I have to make a call on my cell.”
Walking back to the window and looking down on the street she punched in the numbers and got an immediate reply. �
��Make the call, Charlie,” was all she said before returning to stand in front of the desk.
“What`s this, Jessica, amateur hour? Give it your best shot, girl, but you`ve got nothing, and that scanner out there proves you have no recording device, either on you or even in you. And this room is sealed against any electronic intrusion so that leaves your word against mine, the word of a failed journalist trying to shake me down.”
As his words tailed off, the desk phone rang and Jessica could hear the secretary`s voice. Still staring at Jessica, Preston Fields took the worst phone call of his life, as Charlie Shawcross, in the blue van across the street, told him to listen to a recording.
By the time Fields put the phone down his face was pale and drawn. Jessica spoke quietly. “Think I`m dumb enough not to have evidence, Preston? Big mistake, so now it looks like we have another trade to do, agreed?”
“You double-crossing bitch, you set me up and now you`re blackmailing me?”
“Don`t be a sore loser, Preston, it`s simply the game you taught me.”
He spat the words. “Okay, maybe you win this one. The document for the recording it is, but hear this: you`ve made an enemy for life, and take it from me, revenge will be sweet. Nobody cuts up Preston Fields and gets away with it, especially no woman.”
With her back to him as she walked to the door, Jessica`s final words weren`t expressed in speech, but by her middle finger. Three steps from the elevator, with Field`s last words ringing in her ear, especially the remark about her gender, she turned back, ignoring the secretary who looked up and smiled. Bypassing the scanner, she stopped in the office doorway and looked over at Fields who was standing at the window, staring down at the blue van. Sensing her presence he turned.
Jessica`s message to him was accompanied by a wry grin. “Thanks for those parting words, Preston. That blatantly sexist remark against women, who make up more than half the voters, adds to my armoury. My guy in the van will have those words on tape. Not too clever, Preston. And as regards your revenge? Just remember that cuts both ways, and that this double-crossing bitch is ready when you are.”
The Cygnus Agenda Page 26