Shall We Tell the President? (32 page)

Friday morning, 11 March

7:00 am Mark woke first; perhaps because he
was in a strange bed. He turned over and looked at
Elizabeth
. She never wore make-up and was
just as beautiful in the morning as she was on the other side of a dinner
table. Her dark hair curled in towards the nape of her neck and he stroked the
soft strands gently. She stirred, rolled over, and kissed him.

‘Go and brush your teeth.’

‘What a romantic way to start the day,’ he
said.

‘I’ll be awake by the time you get back.’
She groaned a little and stretched.

Mark picked up the
Pepsodent
- that was one thing that would have to change, he preferred
Macleans
- and tried to figure out which part of the
bathroom he was going to be able to fit his things into. When he returned, he
noticed the phone was still off the hook. He looked at his watch: 7:05. He
climbed back into bed.
Elizabeth
slipped out.

‘Only be a minute,’ she said.

It was never like this in the movies,
thought Mark.

She returned and lay down beside him. After
a moment she said, ‘Your chin is hurting my face. You’re not as clean-shaven as
you were the first time.’

‘I shaved very carefully that first
evening,’ said Mark. ‘Funny, I was never so sure of anything. Didn’t happen
quite the way I intended.’

‘What did you intend?’

‘It was never like this in the movies.’
This time he stated the sentiments clearly. ‘Do you know what the Frenchman
said when accused of raping a dead woman?’

‘No.’

‘I didn’t realise she was dead; I thought
she was English.’

After she had proved she wasn’t English,
Elizabeth
asked Mark what
he would like for breakfast.

After Mark had told her, he disappeared
into the shower.

Mark turned on the shower, getting the
temperature just right.

‘Disappointing, I thought we would take a
bath together,’ said
Elizabeth
.

‘I never bathe with the domestic staff.
Just give me a call when breakfast is ready,’ Mark replied from under the
shower and started to sing ‘At Long Last Love’ in several different keys.

A slim arm appeared through the falling
water and turned off the hot-water tap. The singing stopped abruptly.
Elizabeth
was nowhere to
be seen.

Mark dressed quickly and put the phone back
on the hook. It rang almost immediately.
Elizabeth
appeared in a brief slip.

Mark wanted to go back to bed.

She picked up the phone. ‘Good morning. Yes,
he’s here. It’s for you. A jealous lover, I shouldn’t wonder.’

She put on a dress and returned to the
kitchen.

‘Mark Andrews.’

‘Good morning, Mark.’

‘Oh, good morning, sir.’

‘I’ve been trying to get you since eight
o’clock last night.’

‘Oh, really, sir. I thought I was on
vacation. If you look in the official book in the WFO, I think you’ll find I’ve
signed out.’

‘Yes, Mark, but you are going to have to
interrupt that vacation because the President wants to see you.’

‘The President, sir?’

‘Of the
United States
.’

‘Why would she want to see me, sir?’

‘Yesterday I killed you, but today I’ve
made you a hero and she wants to congratulate you personally on trying to save
Senator Harrison’s life.’

‘What?’

‘You’d better read the morning papers. Say
nothing for now; I’ll explain my actions later.’

‘Where do I go, what time, sir?’

‘You’ll be told.’ The line clicked.

Mark replaced the phone and thought about
the conversation. He was just about to call
Elizabeth
to ask if the morning paper had
come when the phone rang again.

‘Answer it, will you, Mark darling. Now
that the lovers have found your whereabouts, it’s bound to be for you.’

Mark picked it up.

‘Mr Andrews?’

‘Speaking.’

‘Hold the line one moment, please. The
President will be with you in one moment.’

‘Good morning.
Florentyna
Kane. I just wanted to know if you could find time to drop into the White House
this morning at about ten o’clock. I’d like to meet you and have a chat.’

‘I’d be honoured, Madam.’

‘Then I’ll look forward to it, Mr Andrews,
and the chance to meet you and congratulate you personally. If you come to the
West Entrance, Janet Brown will be there to meet you.’

‘Thank you, Madam.’

One of those legendary phone calls that the
press so often wrote about. The Director had only been checking where he was.
Had the President been trying to reach him since eight last night?

‘Who was it, darling?’

‘The President of the
United States
.’

‘Tell her you’ll call back; she’s always on
the line, usually calls collect.’

‘No, I’m serious.’

‘Yes, of course you are.’

‘She wants to see me.’

‘Yes, darling, your place or hers?’

Mark went into the kitchen and attacked
some Wheaties.
Elizabeth
came in brandishing the
Post.

‘Look,’ she said. ‘It’s official. You’re
not a villain, you’re a hero.’

The headline read: Senator Harrison Killed
on Steps of Capitol.

‘It was the President, wasn’t it?’ she
said.

‘Yes, it was.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘I did, but you didn’t choose to listen.’

‘I’m sorry,’ said
Elizabeth
.

‘I love you.’

‘I love you too, but let’s not go through
this every week.’

She continued to read the paper. Mark
munched his Wheaties.

‘Why would someone want to kill Senator
Harrison, Mark?’

‘I don’t know. What does the
Post
say?’

‘They haven’t figured out a reason yet;
they say he was known to have many enemies both here and abroad.’ She began to
read from the paper:

‘Senator Robert Harrison (D-South Carolina)
was shot by an assassin on the steps of the Capitol yesterday morning at 10:06.

‘The assassination took place only moments
before President Kane was due to arrive for her final assault on behalf of the
Gun Control bill, which had been scheduled for a vote in the Senate yesterday.
Because they had been warned of a demonstration on the steps of the Capitol,
the Secret Service diverted the President’s car to the
Russell
Senate
Office
Building
.

‘The bullet lodged in Senator Harrison’s
brain and he was pronounced dead on arrival at
Woodrow
Wilson
Medical
Center
.
A second bullet grazed the shoulder of FBI Agent Mark Andrews, 28, who threw
himself on the Senator in an effort to save his life. Andrews was treated at
the same hospital and later released.

‘There was no immediate explanation of the
fact that a second presidential motorcade did arrive at the Capitol steps a few
moments before the assassination, without the President.

‘Vice President Bradley ordered an
immediate recess of the Senate out of respect for Senator Harrison. The House
then voted unanimously to extend the recess for seven days.

‘The President, who arrived at the Capitol
via the congressional subway from the
Russell
Building
, first learned the news of
Harrison’s assassination when she reached the Senate. Visibly shaken, she
announced that the luncheon to discuss gun control would continue as planned
but asked the assembled Senators to observe a minute of silence in honour of
their dead colleague.

‘The President went on to say, “I know we
are all shocked and saddened by the tragic and horrifying event which has just
occurred. This senseless killing of a good and decent man must, however, only
strengthen our determination to work together in making our country safe from
the easy access of arms.”

‘The President plans to address the nation
at nine o’clock tonight.’

‘So now you know everything, Liz.’

‘I know nothing,’ she replied.

‘I didn’t know very much of that myself,’
Mark admitted.

‘Living with you is going to be difficult.’

‘Who said I was going to live with you?’

‘I took it for granted from the way you’re
eating my eggs.’

At the Fontainebleau Hotel a man was
sitting by the side of the swimming pool reading the
Miami Herald
and
drinking coffee. At least Senator Harrison could cause no more trouble which
made him feel a little safer.
Xan
had kept his part
of the bargain.

He sipped the coffee, a little hot; it
didn’t matter, he was in no hurry. He had already given new orders; he couldn’t
afford any further risks.
Xan
would be dead by the
evening; that had been arranged. Matson and Tony would be freed for lack of
evidence, so his lawyer, who had never let him down yet, had assured him, and
he would not be visiting
Washington
for a while. He relaxed and settled back in his beach chair to let the
Miami
sun warm him. He
lit another cigarette.

At 9:45, the Director was met at the White
House by Janet Brown, the President’s Chief of Staff. They waited and chatted.
The Director briefed her on Special Agent Andrews’ background. Brown made
careful notes.

Mark arrived just before 10:00. He had only
just managed to get home and change into a new suit.

‘Good morning, Director,’ he said nonchalantly.

‘Good morning, Mark. Glad you could make
it.’ Slightly quizzical but not disapproving. ‘This is the President’s Chief of
Staff, Janet Brown.’

‘Good morning, ma’am,’ said Mark.

Janet Brown took over. ‘Will you be kind
enough to come through to my office, where we can wait. The President will be
videotaping her address to the nation for this evening’s television broadcast
so that she can fly to
Camp David
at 11:15. I
imagine you and the Director will have about fifteen minutes with her.’

Janet Brown took them to her office, a
large room in the West Wing with a fine view of the Rose Garden through a bow
window.

‘I’ll get us some coffee,’ she said.

‘That’ll be a change,’ murmured Mark.

‘I’m sorry?’ said Janet Brown.

‘Nothing.’

The Director and Mark settled down in
comfortable chairs where they could watch a large liquid crystal monitor screen
on one of the walls, already alive with comings and goings in the Oval Office.

The President’s forehead was being powdered
in preparation for her speech and the cameramen were wheeling around her. Janet
Brown was on the phone.

‘CBS and NBC can roll, Janet, but ABC is
still fixing things up with their
OB
unit,’
said an agitated female voice.

Janet Brown got the producer of ABC on the
other line.

‘Get a move on, Harry, the President
doesn’t have all day.’

‘Janet.’

Florentyna
Kane was on the middle of the screen. She looked up. ‘Yes, Madam
President?’

‘Where’s ABC?’

‘I’m just chasing them, Madam President.’

‘Chasing them? They’ve had four hours’ warning.
They couldn’t get a camera to the Second Coming.’

‘No, ma’am. They’re on their way now.’

Harry Nathan, ABC’s producer, appeared on
the screen. ‘We’re all set now, Janet. Ready to record in five minutes.’

‘Fine,’ said
Florentyna
Kane and looked at her watch. It was 10:11. The digits changed - and were
replaced by the rate of her heartbeat - 72; normal, she thought. They
disappeared again, to be replaced by her blood pressure, 140/90; a little high;
she’d get it checked by her doctor this weekend. The digits were replaced by
the Dow-Jones index, showing an early fall of 1.5 to 1,409. This disappeared
and the watch showed 10:12. The President rehearsed the opening line of her
speech for the last time. She’d gone over the final draft with Edward that morning,
and she was satisfied with it.

‘Mark.’

‘Sir?’

‘I want you to report back to Grant
Nanna
at the WFO this afternoon.’