by Jack Ford
Woods shook his head. ‘I’m so disappointed. I trusted you, and you do this. You said you were clean but now you’re buying your shit off dealers.’
Cooper was angry, mad as hell and crazy like a rabid dog, and snarling just like one he said, ‘Well thank you for trusting me, John. That makes me feel real good. I have done nothing but respect and protect your position as both the president and Jackson’s father, and you know that. Yet knowing that, you still think I’d bring some stash in here, which I bought off the street, which would not only compromise myself but also you… Thank you for having such a high opinion of me. But hey, I’m going. No problem at all.’
Cooper headed for the door.
‘Wait, goddamn it!’
‘So you can tell me what a deadbeat I am? No thanks… Oh, and by the way, the pills, FYI, they’re legit. Prescription. In fact, I think you’ll find they were prescribed by the doctor you recommend me last year, and the one Beau told me about.’
‘Coop, you and I both know prescription drugs are just as dangerous as any other illegal drugs if they’re misused. You’re doctor shopping again, aren’t you?’
‘Leave it, John.’
‘No, I won’t. They might not be from some low-life, selling harm on the street, but there’s a very fine line and I should know because like I told the good people of West Virginia recently, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have classified prescription drug abuse as an epidemic in this country and our administration will expand on the previous administration’s 2011 Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan.’
Cooper gave a half laugh. But it wasn’t funny. Not one goddamn bit. ‘Are you serious, John? You’re really going to make this moment into some kind of campaign speech? A political rally?’
‘No, of course not, I’m just saying… Look, I’m sorry for what I said about you bringing…’
Woods trailed off and Cooper thought he’d help him out. Hell, it was the least he could do. And laced with scorn he said, ‘Street drugs in here? And how I was compromising your position? And you couldn’t trust me?’
‘Yeah, okay. It was stupid. I know you wouldn’t do that. I’m just worried about you. We all are. What do you say about checking yourself into rehab? Just as a precaution. You’ve been bad on pills a few times before, and Granger said…’
Cooper put his hand up. ‘Oh no. No way. I don’t want to hear anything he has to say.’
‘I just think you need to get some help again. Proper help.’
‘Oh I did, John. And guess what? They gave me these.’
Cooper shook the bag he was holding, hearing the rattle of pills, and headed for the door.
Woods let out a sigh. The kind of sigh which usually had Cooper’s name on it. ‘Don’t go, Coop. Stay. Please. Sit down.’
‘Listen, I get that you’re worried but there’s nothing really to worry about. I got it. My back injury was playing up so I got some painkillers. And I had a bit of anxiety. It’s no big deal. It’s under control. Everything’s cool now.’
Woods said nothing.
Cooper nodded.
Woods pulled out a piece of gum from his robe pocket, offered Cooper one, who refused with a wave of his hand. ‘Truce?’
‘Truce.’
‘Room for one more? Couldn’t sleep.’ Beau appeared at the door, dressed in an identical robe to Woods’s, only gray.
Cooper looked at both of them. ‘What is it with you two and the robes?’
Beau winked. ‘I actually got mine first.’
‘That is so not true, Beau. That time you came to visit in early fall, correct me if I’m wrong here, you actually saw my robe and admired it.’
Beau sat on Jackson’s bed, which looked out over the private rose garden of the White House. ‘I can’t remember that. In fact, I’ll put it out there right now, that’s a damn lie. Admit it, John, when you came to the Monastery last year, it was actually you who saw my robe.’
Woods looked at Beau and burst out laughing. ‘I think I’m going to have to take the fifth on that. Not that amendments and I are the best of buddies right now.’
Cooper tuned out from John and Beau’s conversation. He stared at the computer.
‘Well, I’ll be. Would you look at that?’
Woods turned with interest to see what Cooper was talking about. Mischief in his voice.
‘I hope that’s not some Playboy bunny website. There’ll be no hiding it in this place, you know. Big Brother is certainly watching you.’
Cooper gave a side smile, keeping his eyes fixed on the large screen. ‘Sorry to disappoint you John, only thing I’m looking at here is the man I’ve had dealings with in the DRC. I’m trying to find out who this other guy is. This one here. I saw him recently being chauffeured about in a car.’
Cooper pointed to the photo on the screen.
Woods put on his glasses. Leant slightly forward to get a better view. ‘I can help you there. That’s Donald Parker, head of Nadbury Electronics.’
‘As in the multinational company, Nadbury?’
‘Yeah. Parker’s a great guy. Where did you see him?’
‘Back in the DRC. At a water treatment plant.’
‘Makes sense. He said he was flying out of town. The guy cares a lot about the place, and he’s put a lot of money into it.’
‘See the other guy in the photo he’s with? That’s Charles Templin-Wright, heads this water plant.’
‘Yeah, Lemon.’
‘You’ve heard of it?’
‘Yeah, but only because I’ve been reading up on something about Nadbury Electronics… But you’ve actually seen Lemon? I knew you were in that area but it’s fantastic you’ve actually seen it. I’d like to know what you think.’
Cooper looked at Woods and saw the genuine care in his eyes. He wasn’t sure why John was asking. ‘Well, Charles aside – because he’s another story – the actual place itself is great. Real high tech stuff. Guaranteed clean water for the community. They also do some kind of education programme.’
Woods nodded approvingly. He grinned. ‘I’m loving hearing that. You’ll understand why soon.’
‘But what’s Nadbury to do with Lemon?’
‘Well, they own it.’
Cooper was genuinely surprised. ‘You’re kidding? How come I didn’t know?’
‘Well it’s out there in the public domain, but Nadbury, like a lot of businesses, own and have their fingers in lots of pies, so following the trail of who owns what and who’s got shares in this or that, it’s not always obvious. That guy, Donald Parker, what he’s done for the community in the DRC reads exceptionally though. But he’s pretty humble doesn’t go round shouting about what he’s done. And the fact you’ve said what a great place Lemon is, well let’s just say that makes me really happy.’
‘Want to share?’
‘Wish I could, but what I will say is Parker has the same vision as my administration when it comes to Africa. A social conscience. A long term plan. The US really care about the place, and the DRC especially is somewhere which needs a lot of help, but to quote Obama…’
Beau raised his eyebrows. ‘Really? Obama?’
‘Yeah, I like the man. We’ve had some great conversations about Africa. Anyhow Coop, to quote Obama, he said, We don’t want to be a source of perpetual aid we want to be partners to make transformational change. And that’s the point and a great point. We want US companies who mine there to put something back into the country as well as trying to stop consumers having to be complicit with the mining of conflict minerals, because of the lack of transparency.’
Beau, eating on a bag of mixed nuts, wagged his finger at Woods. ‘Wasn’t it only a few years ago companies said that making a conflict-free product containing DRC minerals was impossible?’
‘Yeah and Intel proved that to be wrong with a few of their microprocessors and chipsets. But Donald Parker, with Nadbury Electronics, went one step further. All their products are conflict free. And, like I say, I wish I could tell y
ou more about how this administration is going to further that vision, but I’m afraid you’ll have to wait. But trust me when I say there’s going to be a very exciting announcement real soon, which will make a difference to a lot of people. This administration is about giving a voice and hope to the next generation.’
Beau responded slyly but with warmth. ‘You’ve already got my vote, John, no need to milk it.’
Woods beamed playfully. ‘You voted for me?’
‘Yeah but maybe next time I won’t. Not too keen on your ideas about reforms on gun law.’
Woods grinned. ‘Shut up Beau, why does a monk need a gun?’
Beau joked along. ‘You’d be surprised. Anyway, it’s not about that, it’s about the right to own them and all that entails.’
President Woods winked at Beau, but spoke to Cooper. ‘Coop, ignore your uncle… You really won’t vote for me again, Beau?’
‘It’ll all come down to the flick of a dime.’
And John laughed, looking grateful and relived to have his friend around, helping to take his mind off Jackson.
Still scrolling through the images on Google, but at the same time fascinated by the conversation, Cooper said, ‘So really if the whole of the next generation decided to buy 100% conflict free, they could only buy them from Nadbury Electronics with maybe a few exceptions.’
‘Exactly, so there’s not only a moral gain but also a huge monetary gain to be made. We’re talking billions of dollars.’
‘But why do Nadbury bother owning and running Lemon? It must cost a hell of a lot.’
‘Because unlike a lot of companies, Nadbury feel that commitment and investment is part of their social responsibility. And I guess when you own all the links in the chain, that’s the way it should be done.’
‘When you say links in the chain, what do you mean?’
‘Well Nadbury Electronics actually own the mines where their minerals come from. Keeps the whole production tight, and it also allows for total transparency. There’s no middle-men. No paying off corrupt owners and officials. They’re able to know their miners are being paid and looked after decently, unlike in most mines where the average daily rate is a dollar a day. Off the top of my head. I think they’re called Con…’
Cooper cut in. ‘Condor Atlantic Mines.’
‘Yeah, that’s right… What’s going on, Coop?’
‘I haven’t got it all clear yet, but I think the Lemon water treatment plant isn’t all it seems to be. Which probably means, neither is Nadbury Electronics.’
83
‘Holy crap.’
Woods leaned in to see what Cooper had found now, with Beau coming round the other side to see a faded image of a group of six people.
‘What is it, Coop?’
Cooper pointed at the screen, going along the line. ‘I’ve been searching for stuff on Charles Templin-Wright and this picture came up. Look. There’s your Donald Parker. You can just make him out. That’s Charles Templin-Wright, there, second row. You can’t mistake him whatever the quality of the grain. And you see the sign behind them?’
Woods peered and nodded. ‘Annual meeting for Partnership and Rights of America, 1994.’
‘Right. And when I typed that into Google Images, more photos come up of the same meeting. But it’s this one here I want to show you.’
Cooper flicked between windows from the photo of Donald Parker and Templin-Wright to another photo, complete with a list of names written underneath it.
‘Here. It’s that man there.’ He pointed at the screen. ‘That’s Papa Bemba, but the Bemba of old. Because the guy I know, who we think’s responsible for at the least gross manipulation, at the worst…’ He stopped not wanting to divulge anything more, but added, ‘Well, the Bemba I know has had some kind of accident, or maybe it was to do with the conflicts, who knows, but whatever’s happened it’s caused a serious facial disfigurement.’
Woods stared at Cooper. He was agitated. ‘What are you talking about, Coop?’
‘His eyes have been mutilated somehow. The only thing that’s there is scar tissue which covers the sockets. He uses the disfigurement like it’s part of his gig… But that’s definitely him.’
‘Are you sure that’s him?’ asked Woods.
‘I’m positive, John. So that means Charles Templin-Wright and Papa Bemba are certainly well acquainted with your Donald Parker, which might mean whatever is going on there, Parker may be up to his neck in it too.’
Woods visually began to sweat. ‘Up to his neck in what?’ he snapped. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
‘I don’t know what, yet, that’s the problem. I can’t see what it is. But I know something’s wrong. I can feel it. I just got to look beyond.’
‘Jesus, Coop, listen to yourself. Look beyond what? This is what you always do. Jump five steps in the wrong direction. Just because someone was at a meeting once with someone else, a hell of a long time ago, it doesn’t mean they know them. It’s just a coincidence. And even if they do know each other. So what? Doesn’t mean anything.’
‘Oh come on, John. There isn’t such a thing as a coincidence in business or politics.’
‘Why not? You’ve been to the Lemon water plant, a place which is part of a project I’m interested in, and that’s a coincidence, isn’t it? Just stop looking for things which aren’t there.’
Beau squinted. ‘Lend me your glasses, John.’
Well-accustomed to this request, Woods passed Beau his specs, who was then able to question Cooper about the photo. ‘This guy?’
‘Yeah.’
Beau looked along the names. ‘But it says here his name is Simon Ballard.’
Not having bothered to look at the names, Cooper craned to see. ‘It might say that, but that’s not who he is.’
‘Or it is Simon Ballard,’ suggested Beau. ‘And his name isn’t really Bemba… What’s up John? You okay?’
For the first time since the beginning of the conversation, Woods’s anxiety showed through. He pulled at his bath robe. ‘Just hot, that’s all.’
‘Maybe get some water,’ said Cooper. ‘Simon Ballard, why do I know that name, John?’
Woods shrugged and tried not to catch Cooper’s eye. ‘How should I know? Look, it’s late. I think we all should get some rest.’
‘Ballard… Ballard. That’s it… Simon Ballard, was wanted by a whole heap of organizations, I’m sure he was. Before I left the Navy, remember when I advised on the US Special Warfare Command board? Well I’m certain his name was being bandied around. But we’re going back a long time, mind, and it might not even be him. But I know he was Afro-American, and had some kind of links with Central Africa. I’ll tell you the person who might know is my old buddy, Bill Travis. Remember Travis, Coop? Well you need to speak to him… Listen, John, I’ll go and get you that water, you don’t look good.’
Beau hurried out, leaving Woods with Cooper.
‘This stuff about Ballard and Parker, it’ll all turn out to be nothing.’
Cooper looked at Woods intrigued by his manner. ‘Maybe.’
Woods’s jaw clenched. His voice suddenly hostile. ‘No maybes about it. Why is it that you can never let things go, Coop? You’ll get some cookie idea in your head and you want everyone to believe it. Never mind Garp, it’s the world according to Thomas.’
Cooper stared. Tilted his head to one side. ‘What’s with the attitude John? What’s going on?’
‘Nothing. I just think you’re being paranoid. It’s like conspiracy theories are an occupational hazard with you. And then you start sucking people in. I wouldn’t mind so much if there was some basis too it… It’s all that crap you’re taking.’
Cooper stepped closer to Woods. He could smell the mint gum on his breath. ‘I don’t think it’s me who’s being paranoid, I think it’s you. You’re the one who seems to have the problem. It’s not me who’s getting upset.’
‘Listen to me, Coop, and listen to me good, you need to leave all this nonsense alone.
You’ve even got Beau wanting you to talk to Bill Travis.’
‘Nonsense?’
‘Yeah, nonsense, Coop. Trying to make out that good folk have things to hide. They’re your issues.’
‘Don’t think I need to make that out, when I’ve got you standing here all jumpy. Never heard of a poker face, John?’
‘I said, leave it. You hear me?’
‘If there’s something to find, I’m not going to leave anything.’
Cooper turned to walk out but he felt Woods grab him.
‘Coop, I’m telling you, don’t go stirring up trouble for Donald Parker. He’s a good man. And whoever he does or doesn’t know, just let sleeping dogs lie. Trust me, there’s a lot I’ve got riding on him. And whether I love you or not, I’m not going to let you mess this up.’
84
It was 6 a.m. and Beau and Cooper were already on the road, driving through the heart of Northern Virginia with its beautiful small towns and vineyards and forests against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The place they were heading for was only an hour’s drive from Washington DC.
‘It’s pretty out here. Maybe I should sell the ranch and settle down in a place like this.’
‘Coop, I love you, but those are two things that both of us know will never happen.’
Cooper grinned and attempted to get the radio working on the hire car. He gave it a bang and gave it a thump and it worked straight away. He leant back in the white passenger car seat of the Audi sedan. ‘Yeah, you’re probably right. Still, it’s a nice thought.’
Beau turned off the main highway which led on to Middleburg, indicating right into a large wine estate.
‘This Travis guy, I don’t know if you remember him from when you were little but he either likes you or he doesn’t. He’ll either help or he won’t. You got the print out of the photo to show him?’
‘Yeah, right here… Are you saying I shouldn’t hold out much hope?’
‘No, Coop, I’m saying it all depends how he got out of bed.’
Beau pulled up outside a large white brick house, trimmed with lavender and ivy leaves, and set against a hill in the middle of the rolling vineyards.