by Russ Watts
“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” White cuckolded his hands, forming a point with his fingers, and leaned over, his eyes studying the carpet as if deep in thought. He nodded, silently agreeing with Agnew. “What about the reporter?”
Agnew got up and walked over to the full-length mirror. He pulled his tie up and smoothed down his slick brown hair, then walked over to the exit. He turned to White and smiled. “Remember how Senator Collins had that car accident last week? Terrible business. You sent my flowers to his wife, didn’t you?” Agnew turned the door handle. “I would hate for our reporter friend to suffer a similar accident. That would be very...unfortunate.”
Agnew winked and left the room, knowing White would carry out his instructions without need for further elaboration. He strode down the corridor, trying to push back the headache that was ploughing its way through his brain. He had to put on his game face. Kelly Munroe and Suzy Walker were now VIPs and he had to step carefully around them; they knew far too much. Sophie was so naive that she didn’t know the truth behind anything that went on and he knew she would be entertaining them now, warming them up for him. Agnew had wined and dined with the most powerful men in the world. A girl from the Bronx and a museum director would be a breeze.
Agnew walked into his private chambers and could almost feel his teeth grind as he saw Sophie and Suzy chatting. They were sitting on the bed. Sophie had her arm around Suzy who was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.
“Evening ladies, how are we?” he said cheerfully. He didn’t give a damn how they were, but he had to start with the pleasantries.
They got up and Suzy rummaged around in her handbag for a tissue.
“Richard, don’t be so insensitive, honestly.” Sophie gave him a stern look.
Agnew put on his best concerned face and took Suzy’s hand. “My dear, I am so sorry for what you have gone through. Your whole ordeal must have been just horrible. I can’t even imagine what you experienced.”
Suzy looked at the President. He looked a lot younger than his fifty-one years. He still had a full head of dark hair and had an athletic build. He was slightly taller than she was too, so she had to look up to him, even though she was wearing new high heels for the occasion. Agnew was holding her hand firmly and when he spoke to her, it was with a soft tone, his voice soothing and comforting. Yet his brown eyes gave him away. She could tell he wasn’t sorry. Like every good politician, he was practised in manipulation and Suzy was going to play along with him.
“It was unbelievable. I was just talking to Sophie about it. I’m trying to deal with a lot of things, you know? I’m here, alive and well, yet so many of us didn’t make it back. Josef, Wilfred, Rasmus, Claire, Will, Tricia, Tug...Franklin Roach.” She stared intently at him as she lingered over the last name. If he felt uncomfortable hearing Roach’s name, he didn’t show it. Suzy felt him squeeze her hand just a fraction more and wondered if he was squirming inside. She hoped so.
“Yes, all your colleagues and friends, I know, it was such a terrible accident. Because of the crash site, I’m afraid retrieving the wreckage is quite impossible, so unfortunately we may never know what brought your plane down. Suzy, I am going to make sure your friends are remembered. With God as my witness, we will not let them be forgotten. They paid a terrible price, the ultimate price really. We will work something out, won’t we, Sophie.”
Agnew never even flinched as he spoke to Suzy. The lies and deception came easily, flowing off his tongue like fish swimming downstream. He ignored the mention of Roach completely and kept his brown eyes boring into Suzy’s. Both knew the other was hiding something, keeping their true thoughts buried, yet neither was prepared to show their hand.
“Absolutely,” said Sophie. “I was saying to Suzy how I want to be more involved with the museum. There’s a vacancy opening up on the board now that Professor Rasmus...well, you know, I just think it would be a great opportunity for me to help out. I mentioned it to Kelly too.”
Agnew dropped Suzy’s hand and turned to his wife. “Where is Dr Munroe? I assumed she would be here tonight too?”
Sophie could read her husband’s mannerisms better than he knew and she could see an icy glint in his eye. The way he said Kelly’s name made Sophie feel unsure of herself. It was as if Dr Munroe had insulted him.
“She’s waiting for us in the dining room. She got a call from the museum, so Suzy here asked for a whistle-stop tour of the White House. We were just about to head back.” Sophie glanced at her watch. “Dinner will be ready soon. What do you say we go to the dining room now, Richard? Perhaps we can open that gin you’ve been saving for a special occasion?”
Agnew put on a perfect smile and flashed Suzy with his perfectly white teeth. “A wonderful idea, Sophie.”
He walked over to the door and his wife followed him. Suzy stayed standing by the bed.
“I’m sorry, but would you mind if I had a moment? I just need to compose myself. I didn’t mean to start crying like that, I must look awful.” Suzy sniffed and dabbed at her puffy eyes with a tissue.
Agnew’s smile faltered momentarily as he watched Suzy wipe away her mascara. “Well, we really should...”
“Of course you can, Suzy,” said Sophie. “Honestly, Richard, we can give the poor girl a moment. Suzy, I’ll wait right outside. You can use the en-suite bathroom to freshen up. Just go through the door to the right there. Take as long as you need, all right? Richard can go keep Kelly company.”
Sophie bundled her husband through the door, ignoring his protestations about leaving Suzy alone in their bedroom. Suzy stopped sniffing and stuffed her tissue back into a pocket. They had bought her sob story and she knew she didn’t have long. They probably had hidden cameras everywhere too so she had to be discreet. She sat down on the bed and pretended to rummage around in her handbag for something. She had already scoped out the room with Sophie earlier and worked out whose side of the bed was whose. She was in no doubt as one bedside table was covered in jewellery and an e-book reader; the other table had an A4 file, cufflinks and a wooden bowl containing an assortment of pens, clips and lapel badges.
Her fingers wrapped around the small bottle of headache pills in her bag and she seized her moment. Suzy got up from the bed and knocked the A4 file off with her handbag so that the papers flew out onto the carpet. She bent down and pushed the papers back into the file before putting it back onto Agnew’s bedside table. At the same time, she casually dropped the bottle next to the file, so smoothly and discreetly that nothing would have looked out of place. She pulled the tissue from her pocket, dabbed at her eyes once more, then walked over to the bathroom. She spent no more than a minute in there fixing her hair and makeup, feeling flushed with excitement. She knew it was a longshot, but she also knew the President suffered from constant headaches and the chances of him reaching for a bottle in the next few hours were high. There was no way she would be suspected of anything and highly doubted that anything would’ve been picked up on camera. Agnew deserved his fate. Even when he was on his deathbed, Suzy knew he would probably have round the clock care.
Suzy went back into the corridor to Sophie, beaming. “Thank you, Sophie, I’m feeling much better now. Shall we go find Kelly?”
Sophie gave Suzy a warm smile. “Let’s go eat. Please ignore my husband. He can be a bit insensitive sometimes, but he means well.”
“Oh, it’s nothing, honestly, I’m sure he does. I believe in karma myself. You know, what you give out, you get back. I’m sure the President will get his rewards for everything he has achieved.”
Sophie led Suzy down the corridor to the dining room where Kelly was waiting. As they entered the room, Suzy saw the security outside. There was a man she thought she recognised. He had short cropped blond hair and she could see him watching her as she walked into the room. His gaze made her feel uncomfortable, but she couldn’t place his face.
“There you are, Suzy,” said Kelly sipping a glass of red wine, “I was wondering where you’
d gotten to.”
Kelly was wearing a grey suit, flat black shoes and little makeup. Since the quarantine, the interviews, and the funeral services, she had not had time even to think about shopping. Every day since arriving back into the U.S. had been a blur. Dinner with the President was another long line of commitments she had to attend, except she was looking forward to this one. She wanted to challenge Agnew about The Grave and about what was really going on. A lot of what had been reported had been subjected to ridicule. Mark’s photographs were in the newspapers daily and the broadsheets were full of comment and speculation. So far, everything they had thrown at Agnew had slid off him. Kelly wanted to get some answers tonight. She wanted him to know that he wasn’t going to get away with what he’d done.
Suzy offered Kelly a false smile. “I was just talking to Sophie. Problem?”
The animosity in Suzy’s tone was obvious. Kelly had hardly seen her since they had left The Grave. It was evident that Suzy wanted nothing more to do with her or Mark, and had handed in her notice on her first day back in New York.
“Richard, let’s give Kelly and Suzy a minute, shall we?”
Sophie pulled her husband to one side, leaving the two women standing facing each other, as if they were about to duel.
“Suzy, look, can we just keep things courteous for now? Please?” suggested Kelly quietly. She didn’t want to argue in front of the President of the United States, she wanted to get him on her side. She thought if she was pleasant and polite, he might be more inclined to be honest with her. Every word he said was going to be repeated later. She had arranged an interview tomorrow via Mark’s flatmate who worked at the Daily Post. Tonight was her best shot at exposing Agnew.
“Sure,” said Suzy shrugging her shoulders and taking a glass of wine offered to her by a waiter. “I’m going to get drunk. I really don’t care much for these people. Once tonight is over, it won’t matter anyway.”
Kelly grabbed Suzy’s shoulder as she attempted to turn away. “What do you mean, it won’t matter,” she hissed. “What’s going on in that head of yours? You and me...we were like best friends. I know what happened was tragic, but you have to know it wasn’t my fault. We should be working together, not against each other.”
Suzy put her mouth against Kelly’s ear and lowered her voice. “You really think Agnew is going to spill his guts to you? You’re deluded, Kelly. Leave it to me and stay out of my life.”
“Suzy. Suzy, please.” Kelly watched as Suzy walked away.
It was too late. Suzy ignored Kelly, knocked back her wine, took another from the waiter, and sat down at the dining table.
“Shall we eat?”
* * *
Two days later, New York was gripped in the early onset of winter. The temperature had dropped to just above zero, which was unseasonably cold for November, but not unheard of. The pavements were covered in an icy sheen and the wind blew through Central Park making the tourists shiver.
Mark hurried back to his apartment, the newspaper tucked right under his duffel coat. He took the stairs up to his third floor apartment on the Lower East side, preferring the exercise to the old lift that frequently broke down.
He locked the door behind him, sliding the two latches across and brushed off the cold air on his coat. He slung his coat over the back of an old suede sofa, turned the coffee machine on in the kitchen, and settled down on the sofa. He scanned the front-page news; it was all about the war in Yemen, with smaller articles around the outside of the main feature, full of tales of homicides, rapes and murders. He flicked through the paper as the coffee machine began its familiar chugging noise, permeating the kitchen with the sweet smell of his favourite blend.
A door banged shut in the distance and Mark looked up toward his bedroom. The door swung open and he could see the outline of a figure in the darkness. He put the paper down and watched as the figure walked slowly out of his room, over to the sofa.
“Sorry, did I wake you up?” he said to Kelly as she leant down and gave him a kiss. She was wearing one of his old Mets shirts and old pyjama pants.
“No, I was only dozing. I don’t sleep too good these days.” Kelly made two cups of fresh coffee and then settled onto the couch besides Mark. “Still nothing?” she said looking at the newspaper.
Mark yawned. “No. I haven’t found anything. I can’t believe how quiet it’s gone. With all the stuff I put out there, you would’ve thought someone would be asking Agnew some pretty tough questions by now.”
Kelly sipped her coffee and nestled in closer to Mark. “Powerful people have powerful friends.”
They sat in silence for a moment, drinking their coffee.
“Is your flatmate back today?” Kelly yawned, feeling the pins in her eyes. She was going to have to take the medication that she had been subscribed and get a good night’s sleep. It was either that or drink a ridiculous amount of coffee to get through the day.
“Yeah, Joel should be back later,” said Mark. “I said I’d pick him up from Newark. His flight gets in this afternoon.”
“Sweet. So we still have a few hours together?” said Kelly playfully. She gently rubbed Mark’s cold head, tenderly stroking the back of his neck.
Mark laughed. “We can find something to do, I’m sure...” He hesitated before carrying on, knowing he had to say something, but unsure of what Kelly’s reaction would be. They hadn’t talked about Suzy at all since she’d come back from the White House a couple of days ago.
“I was thinking that maybe we should check on Suzy later today? We could ask her round for dinner. What do you say? I can call her.” Mark looked at Kelly and was not surprised when she stiffened up and stopped rubbing his neck.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “Suzy and me...let’s just say she needs some time to deal with things. I don’t think now is the right time.” Kelly shook her head sadly. “I don’t know what to do or say to her anymore. She hardly spoke to me at all at the dinner the other night. She was acting strange too. As if she knew something that I didn’t. I don’t know. I guess we should give her some space to come to terms with what happened.”
Mark murmured in agreement. “Okay, well I was thinking of showing my face at work today. You can come in with me if you want?”
“Thanks, but another day. I’m shattered. I might just go back to bed for a while.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” said Mark grinning and taking Kelly’s hand. He led her back to the bedroom and Kelly didn’t sleep again for a few more hours.
* * *
Kelly looked at herself in her pocket mirror and then flipped the case shut. She had tried to cover up the bags under her eyes, but she thought she still looked terrible. She was sitting in a Starbucks close to the museum, drawing down her third coffee of the day. She had walked past the museum four times, trying to pluck up the courage to go in, but chickening out each time. There were too many memories, too many reminders of what she’d lost. The last few days had been a whirlwind. Each of her former colleague’s memorial services were blurring into one. There were no bodies to bury and too many people to comfort.
There was a television in the coffee shop and she had ignored it, preferring to focus on what she was going to do about her work at the museum, than the latest reality show. Someone turned up the volume just as she looked up and she saw Mark walking toward her. He had his duffel coat on and Inca was trotting obediently beside him on a red leash. She watched Mark walk, finding herself falling for him more every day. She had certainly not expected to meet anyone and had not felt herself drawn to him at first. But now there was something that connected them, something nobody else would understand. Mark was an assured, honest man and she already felt comfortable in his presence. She watched him tie up Inca outside and then the coffee shop bell jangled as he strode in.
“Not late, am I?” he said frowning.
“No, no, I’m early. I ordered you a latte. Then we can pick out some food. I’m famished.”
“Must
be all that energy you’re using,” said Mark winking as he sat down.
Kelly smiled back, still not sure how to acknowledge their relationship. As good as it was, it was still early days and she didn’t want to put pressure on him for anything. She didn’t have the experience either and so she tended to deflect attention away from herself when she could with a smile, a kiss, or something more.
Mark could see Kelly was distracted and he reached over the table for her hand. “What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing really. Just lots on my mind.” She leant over and gave Mark a quick kiss. “What’s with the television? With that and the coffee grinder, I can barely hear myself think in here. You want to go somewhere else?”
Mark looked up at the television and realised why it had been turned up. “It’s the memorial service in California. See?”
Kelly turned to see the screen positioned high up in an alcove above the counter. Whilst they waited for Mark’s latte, they watched some footage of the newly built Golden Gate Bridge before the TV station cut to President Agnew. He was stood on a semi-permanent platform, somewhere in downtown San Francisco. He was flanked by his security and Kelly was sure she recognised some of them from the White House. A man with cropped white hair was there and behind him, she could just see Sophie. President Agnew stepped up to a multitude of microphones to begin his speech.
“Let’s just listen to what the prick has to say,” said Mark. He was curious to know if Agnew would make any reference to The Grave. He felt sure the media would have a barrage of questions lined up. He watched as Agnew slicked back his hair and brushed away the first question.
“...given Senator Collins’ untimely passing, I am deeply honoured to be here today. I was not going to let a slight cold bar me from remembering those who lost their lives in this magnificent American city. The terrorists will never win. I know the American people stand shoulder to shoulder, united in defeating our enemy whoever and wherever they are.”