The First Councel

by Brad Meltzer

  “So you never knew it was Caroline demanding the money?” I ask again.

  “I don’t think anyone did. Walk through it-why else would Simon drop that money in the woods? If he knew it was Caroline, he could’ve paid her face-to-face.”

  It’s not a bad theory. “Maybe that’s why he killed her. When he went to tell her his bullshit side of the story, she made some snide comment and he realized she was Miss Moneypenny.”

  “But to kill her for that? No offense, but, so what? She knows he’s gay. Who cares?”

  “Certainly not Simon. If he did, he never would’ve shown up undisguised at a gay bar. Which is why I think it’s more than just the gay part-don’t forget, Simon’s got a wife and three kids. Whatever you think, that’s still a life-wrecker.”

  We both sit in silence, nodding in agreement. Eventually, Pam says, “I still think Caroline knew something about Nora.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  She pauses a second. “And if she weren’t dead, I bet she would’ve blackmailed you. That’s why she had your file.”

  “We’ll never know,” I say, glad to change the subject. “That’s her secret.”

  “Speaking of secrets, what about mine?” Pam asks, leaping at her own segue. “You plan on turning me in?”

  “You’re the new Queen of Ethics. You plan on ratting out my dad?”

  We look at each other for a long moment and then dip our heads in an awkwardly relieved bow.

  “Can I ask you one last question,” I add as she turns to leave. “What ever happened with Vaughn’s FBI file? You said you were going to get it for us.”

  “I thought you got it from Lamb.”

  “I did. I just want to know why I didn’t get it from you.”

  Just like that, her smile’s gone. Her eyebrows tighten and her mouth sags open in pain. No, not pain. Sadness. Disappointment. “You still think I… After all we just… ” Her voice once again trails off.

  “What? What’d I say?”

  She’s done giving me answers. Rushing toward the main door of the office, she covers her mouth with her hand and fights back tears. “I tried my best, Michael.”

  I’m about to follow when I’m interrupted by the ringing of my phone. The ring echoes simultaneously from my office and out here in the anteroom. I check out the caller ID. Outside Call. A few feet away, Pam grabs the door and pulls it open. In a second, she’ll be gone. It’s a hard one, but I make my choice.

  “This is Michael,” I say as I pick up the phone.

  As Pam leaves, the door slams with a thunderclap. I shut my eyes tight to avoid the noise.

  “Ready to put on the fear face?” an excited voice asks on the other line.

  I recognize it instantly. Vaughn. “Are you crazy?” I shout. “They could be-”

  “Takes ’em eighty seconds ta trace a phone call. They’re not gonna find nothin’.”

  “This better be good.”

  “Would I be botherin’ you if it weren’t?”

  I ignore the question. “Twenty seconds.”

  He gets right into it. “So I started askin’ my boys ’bout your li’l lady friend-y’know, with the powerful daddy?”

  “I got it,” I snap.

  “Found a couple people who know her. Seems that she’s still got a little bit of an ear, nose, and throat problem-emphasis on the nose. And when it comes to Special K? She’s buyin’ like it’s double coupon days-buddy of my buddy Pryce says that’s their favorite.”

  “Their? Who’s they?”

  “See, that’s where the shoe pinches,” he says as his voice gets serious. “She’s too smart to buy her candy herself, so she sends her boyfriend out for it.”

  “Her boyfriend?”

  “That’s why I wanted to call. I’m thinkin’ you got a little suckered that night in the bar. Accordin’ to my best source out here-and he swears on his cousin’s life it’s the truth… ”

  “Tell me who it is,” I demand.

  He throws it right at my gut. “No easy way to say it, Michael. She’s sleeping with the old man. Your favorite boss.”

  Simon. I don’t… He can’t… The wind’s knocked out of me so fast, I almost drop the phone. My arm goes numb and slides down the side of my chest. It can’t be.

  “I know,” Vaughn says. “Makes you want to reach for the Charmin, don’t it?” Before I can answer, he adds, “My boy said when they first met him, he thought he was all sly-like we don’t watch CNN or nothin’. Anyway, they staked him out-worried he was bein’ followed. When the deal’s done, he goes back to his car-and one of my boys who’s lurkin’-he swears he sees Nora hidin’ in the front seat. Big kiss on the lips when Sugar Daddy comes home-she was all over him. And when they climb in the back-Action Jackson, baby. He does her right there-up against the side window. My boy says she’s wild too. Likes to take it in the-”

  “I don’t want to hear it.”

  “I’m sure you don’t, but if she’s tuggin’ your ya-ya, you gotta know where she’s goin’ with it. Which means we better make some time to get together.”

  “What about Si-”

  “Ten seconds,” he interrupts. “Write this down. A week from Friday. Seven at night. Woodley Park Marriott-Warren Room. Ya got it?”

  “Yeah, I-”

  “Five seconds. Plenty to spare.”

  “But we-”

  “See you next Friday, Mikey. It’ll be worth it.” With a click, he’s gone.

  Alone in the anteroom, I’m pounded by silence. It doesn’t make any sense. If she… she can’t. There’s no way. With a tight fist, I tap my knuckles against the desk. It can’t be. I hit a little harder. And harder. And harder. I hammer the desk until my knuckles are raw. The middle one’s starting to bleed. Just like Nora’s nose.

  Searching for answers, I reread the note I jotted for myself. A week from Friday. Seven P.M. Woodley Park Marriott. Warren Room. I still can’t shake the nausea that’s choking me, but I remember what he told me right before we split up in the movie theater. Always subtract seven. Seven days, seven hours. In the blink of an eye, seven P.M. becomes twelve noon. A week from Friday becomes this Friday. Tomorrow. Noon tomorrow at the Woodley Park Marriott.

  The code was all Vaughn’s idea. If the FBI was able to get that close to our meeting at the zoo, it was going to take more than another popcorn kid to buy us some privacy. I take the extra few seconds and scribble in the revised time. Stuffing the handwritten note in my pocket, I dash back to my office-and back to the one person who can answer my questions.

  According to the toaster, Nora’s in the Residence, but a quick phone call to her room suggests otherwise. I flip through my copy of the President’s schedule and see why. In fifteen minutes, the First Family is taking off so they can spend all of tomorrow morning at breakfast fund-raisers. New York and New Jersey. Five stops in all, including the overnight. I glance at my watch, then back at the schedule. If I run, I can still catch her. I tear out of my office. I have to know. As I pull the main door open, however, I see someone standing between me and the hallway.

  “How’re you doing?” Agent Adenauer asks. “Mind if I come in?”

  CHAPTER 29

  Why so out of breath?” Adenauer asks as he backs me into the anteroom. “Worried about something?”

  “Not at all,” I say with my bravest face.

  “What’re you doing here so late?”

  “I was going to ask the same thing of you.”

  He keeps moving forward, pushing toward my office. I stand my ground in the anteroom.

  “So where’re you running to?” he asks.

  “Just going to watch the departure. Takeoff’s in ten minutes.”

  He studies my answer, annoyed that it came so quick. “Michael, can we sit down for a second?”

  “I would, but I’m about to-”

  “I’d like to talk about tomorrow.”

  He doesn’t blink. “Let’s go,” I say, turning toward my office. I head for my desk; he heads
for the couch. I already don’t like it. He’s too comfortable. “So what’s going on with you?” I ask, trying to move us along.

  “Nothing,” he says coldly. “I’ve been looking at those files.”

  “Find anything interesting?”

  “I didn’t realize you were originally pre-med,” he says. “You’re a man of many parts.”

  I’m ready to mouth off, but it’s not going to get me anywhere. If I plan to talk him out of going public tomorrow, he’ll need some honesty. “It’s the dream of every kid with sick parents,” I tell him. “Become a doctor; save their lives. Only problem was, I hated every minute of it. I don’t like tests with right answers. Give me an essay any day.”

  “Still, you stayed with it until sophomore year-even made it through physiology.”

  “What’s your point?”

  “No point at all. Just wondering if they ever taught you anything about monoamine oxidase inhibitors.”

  “What’re you talking abou-”

  “It’s amazing, really,” he interrupts. “You have two medications that separately are harmless. But if you mix them together-well, let’s just say it’s not a good thing.” He’s watching me way too carefully. Here it comes. “Let me give you an example,” he continues. “Let’s pretend you’re a candidate for the antidepressant Quarnil. You tell your psychiatrist you’re feeling bad; he prescribes some, and suddenly you’re feeling better. Problem solved. Of course, as with any drug, you have to read the warning label. And if you read the one on Quarnil, you’ll see that, while you’re taking it, you’re supposed to stay away from all sorts of things: yogurt, beer and wine, pickled herring… and something called pseudoephedrine.”

  “Pseudo-what?”

  “Funny, that’s what I thought you’d say.” Losing his smile, he adds, “Sudafed, Michael. One of the world’s best-selling decongestants. Mix that with Quarnil and it’ll shut you down faster than an emergency brake on a bullet train. Instant stroke. The strange part is, on the surface it’ll look like a simple heart attack.”

  “You’re saying that’s how Caroline died? A mixture of Quarnil and Sudafed?”

  “It’s just a theory,” he says unconvincingly.

  I give him a look.

  “The Sudafed was dissolved in her coffeepot,” Adenauer explains. “A dozen tablets, judging by the strength of the sample we scooped up. She never saw it coming.”

  “What about the Quarnil?”

  “She’s been taking it for years. Ever since she started working here.” He pauses. “Michael, whoever did this did their homework. They knew she was already on Quarnil. And they had to have more than a basic understanding of physiology.”

  “So that’s your grand theory? You think they taught me this at Michigan? Poison 101: How to Kill Your Friends with Household Products?”

  “You said it, not me.”

  We both know it’s a stretch, but if he’s been through my college transcript, it means they’re tearing my life apart. Hard. “You’re on the wrong track,” I tell him. “I don’t play around with drugs. Never have; never will.”

  “Then what were you doing yesterday at the zoo?” That’s what he was waiting for. I walked right into it.

  “Watching the monkeys,” I say. “It’s amazing now-they all have walkie-talkies.”

  He shakes his head with parental disapproval. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with, do you? Vaughn’s not just the local bully. He’s a killer.”

  “I know what I’m doing.”

  “I’m not sure you do. He’ll slice you open for fun. You heard what he did to his buddy Morty-piano wire through his-”

  “I don’t think he did it.”

  “Is that what Vaughn told you?”

  “Just a theory,” I say.

  He stands up from the sofa and walks toward my desk. “Michael, let me paint a little picture for you. You and Vaughn are standing on the edge of a cliff. And the only way to safety is a rickety bamboo bridge that leads to the other side. Problem is, this bridge is only strong enough to hold one more person. After that, it’s going to crumble into the canyon. You know what happens next?”

  “Let me guess-Vaughn runs across.”

  “No. He stabs you in the back, then he takes your canteen, then he swipes your wallet, then he runs across. Laughing all the way.”

  “That’s a pretty complex analogy.”

  “I’m only trying to help you, Garrick. I really am. According to eyewitnesses, you were the last one who saw her. According to the tox reports, she was killed by someone who knows their drugs. According to WAVES records, you let Vaughn in. Now I don’t care what your little arrangement was with Nora-either way, I’ve got him linked to you. You’re standing on the edge of a cliff. What do you want to do?”

  I don’t give him an answer.

  “Whatever they’re telling you is cow-pie. They don’t care about you, Michael.”

  “And you do?”

  “Despite what you think, I don’t want to see you throw your life away on this-I respect how you got here. Make it easy on us and I promise you, I’ll make it easy on you.”

  “What do you mean ‘make it easy’?”

  “You know what we’re after. Tie Nora to Vaughn-drug user to drug dealer to drug-related death. Give us that and we’re done.”

  “But they don’t-”

  “Don’t tell me they don’t know each other-I’m sick of the bullshit. If you don’t give us Nora’s link to Vaughn, we’ll just use Vaughn’s link to you.”

  “Even if you know it’s not true?”

  “Not true? Garrick, the only reason I’m holding out this long is because she’s the President’s daughter-the proof has to be airtight. If I can’t get it on her, though, like I said, I’m just as happy to start with you. Y’see, once I put you out there-once the press realizes you’re dating-it doesn’t take a genius to fill in the rest. It may take an extra step, but Nora’s not going anywhere.” Pressing the tips of his fingers tightly against my desk, he leans in close. “And unless you give us the link, neither are you.”

  As he pulls away, I’m speechless.

  “I can still help you, Michael. You have my word.”

  “But if I-”

  “Why don’t you think about it overnight?” he suggests. He’s not changing his deadline, but I still need to stall-until after my noon meeting with Vaughn.

  “Can I at least have until the end of the day tomorrow? There’s one last thing I want to ask Nora about. If I’m right, you’ll understand. If I’m wrong and it doesn’t come through-you can slap a big red ribbon on me and I’ll personally hand myself to the press.”

  He takes a moment to think about it. A promise with actual results. “Five o’clock tomorrow,” he finally says. “But remember what I told you-Vaughn’s just looking for another sucker. As soon as you’re in harm’s way, he’s going to duck out.”

  I nod as he heads for the door. “I’ll see you at five o’clock.”

  “Five o’clock it is.” He’s about to leave when he turns around, his hand still on the doorknob. “By the way,” he says. “What’d you think of Nora on Dateline?”

  My stomach sinks as he pulls tight on the noose. “Why do you ask?”

  “No reason. She was pretty good, huh? You’d never know they were in the margin of error-it was like she was holding the whole family together.”

  I study his eyes, trying to read between the lines. There’s no reason for him to bring up poll numbers. “She’s strong when she needs to be,” I say.

  “So I guess that means she doesn’t need much protection.” Before I can respond, he adds, “Of course, maybe I have it backwards. These media things always make it look like more than it is, don’t you think?” With a knowing nod, he turns back to the anteroom, flips off the light switch, and leaves the room. The door slams behind him.

  Alone in the dark, I replay Adenauer’s last words. Even if we’re both still missing a few pieces, he’s got enough to make a picture. That’s why h
e’s made his decision: No matter what I do, for me, it’s over. The only question now is who I’m going to drag down with me.

  I wait a full minute after he leaves before I go for the door myself. Regardless of what the schedule says, when it comes to trips, almost nothing moves on time. If they’re running late, I can still catch her. Following my usual path, I tear toward the West Wing. But as soon as I hit the night air, I know I’m cutting it close. There’s no Marine guard standing under the light outside the West Lobby. The President’s not in the Oval. Rushing full speed through the West Colonnade, I fly into the Ground Floor Corridor. As I run, I hear clapping and cheering echoing through the hallway. In the distance, there’s the chug of a steam train. First slow, then fast. Faster. As it picks up speed, it’s pulsing. Whirring. Humming. The helicopter.

  Halfway down the hallway, I make a sharp right into the Dip Room and crash head-on with the last person I expect to see at a departure.

  “Where’re you heading?” Simon asks, sounding unsurprised.

  My jaw tightens. I can’t help but picture him and Nora in the backseat. Still, I fight it down. “To watch the departure.”

  “Since when are you such a tourist?”

  I don’t answer. I need to hear it from her. Turning away, I step around him.

  He seizes me by the arm. It’s a tight grip. “You’re too late, Michael. You can’t stop it.”

  I pull away. “We’ll see.”

  Before he can respond, I push forward, shoving open the doors of the South Portico. On the driveway, a small crowd of twenty-five is still cheering. Remnants of the post-Dateline celebration. On the South Lawn, Marine One is about to take off. I have to squint against the swirling winds, but I still see the fat army-green copter lift off the ground. As my tie and ID are whipped over my shoulder, the force of the wind from the spinning blades crashes against my chest like a wave. Behind bulletproof glass, and in his armor-lined seat, the leader of the free world waves goodbye to us. Two seats back, Nora’s caught up in a conversation with her brother. I lift my chin and watch their ascent. Simon’s right. There’s no way to stop it. It’s out of my control. In a heartbeat, the helicopter’s lights go off, and the First Family disappears in the black sky. With nothing left to cheer for, the crowd starts to disperse. And I’m left standing there. Alone. Back to a world of one.