Shadows and Lies Read online

  SHADOWS AND LIES

  by

  Ronald J. Watkins

  © Ronald J. Watkins 2014

  www.RonaldJWatkins.com

  WatkinsLiterary.com

  Cover by David E. Payne

  Other books by the author

  Fiction

  Cimmerian

  Alter Ego

  A Suspicion of Guilt

  A Deadly Glitter

  The Dutchman

  The Flower Girl

  Romance

  Nocturne: A Love Story

  True Crime

  Evil Intentions

  Against Her Will

  The Naked Streets

  Non-Fiction

  Unknown Seas

  Birthright

  High Crimes and Misdemeanors

  SciFi Fantasy

  Hunter: Warrior of Doridia

  Audio Books

  Against Her Will

  Cimmerian

  Evil Intentions

  The Dutchman

  Unknown Seas

  Nocturne

  Hunter: Warrior of Doridia

  Alter Ego

  The Summit Murder Series with Charles G. Irion

  Murder on Everest

  Murder on Elbrus

  Murder on Mt. McKinley

  Murder on Puncak Jaya

  Murder on Aconcagua

  Murder on Vinson Masiff

  Murder on Kilimanjaro

  Abandoned on Everest [prequel]

  ~

  ...they are as shadows upon a sea obscure.

  – The Koran

  SUNDAY NIGHT, August 12

  United Wire Service, Washington D.C.

  FLASH FLASH FLASH

  With the crisis in the Gulf beginning to overshadow the presidential campaign, the party faithful are gathered today at Madison Square Garden in New York City for the Democratic National Convention which begins tomorrow. The President and First Lady remain in Washington until later this week when both will address the convention. President Tufts said in a short statement late Sunday that he is pleased with the party platform. "It is a plank on which I know I can win re-election and lead this great nation into the next century." He had no comment on the deteriorating situation in the Gulf.

  MORE TO FOLLOW...

  ONE

  The White House, 6:23 p.m.

  "She's blackmailing us."

  The First Lady, Rebecca Gordon Tufts, glared at her seated husband. "Did you hear me? Your fucking bitch is blackmailing us!"

  Richard Eugene Tufts, seated on a facing couch, blanched, then answered in a quiet voice. “Who is trying to blackmail us?"

  "Your whore! I told you to keep it zipped, didn't I? I said I'd put up with the rumors, the humiliation, but you had to keep it zipped! That's what I told you, you son of a bitch!"

  They were in the private quarters of the White House in what was technically called the Drawing Room. Mary Todd Lincoln had used it as her bedroom and it was between these walls where she began her descent into madness.

  "Lower your voice. We don't need that kind of trouble again." He spoke like a husband long accustomed to soothing an angry wife.

  The First Lady worked her jaw for several seconds then thrust a video tape at the President. "Here, you watch it. The goddamn bitch taped you fucking her! How am I supposed to react? Like one of your little bimbos? 'Yes, Mr. President. Oh, thank you so kindly for the quickie, Mr. President.' You're an asshole!"

  Becky Tufts was out of her seat and pacing in front of the unlit fireplace. She was 49 years old and with her youthful manner and a fresh hair style, easily passed for 40. She was not pretty on scrupulous examination but was curiously attractive, even with slightly chipmunkish cheeks and a mild overbite. One eye was grey, the other just slightly blue, but it was apparent only to someone standing very close.

  She was careful with her attire because she considered her behind to be large. Given the criticism Nancy Reagan received, the current First Lady's wardrobe bills were considered a secret of state by the Tufts' Administration.

  Becky crossed her arms. "Go ahead, look at yourself in action. I couldn’t finish it. I threw up. Not that you give a damn."

  Dick Tufts lifted the black video tape then held it in his hand in the manner of someone hefting a suspect package. "Let's talk about this like adults. How did you get this?"

  "By special courier to Alta. I guess I should be surprised your little piece knows the name of my personal assistant, but I'm not. I'm beyond surprise at anything you do to me. Fortunately, I can trust Alta and she gave the tape to me."

  "She viewed it?"

  "Of course! How else would she know if it was something to bother me with? Don't worry about Alta. She isn't the problem."

  The President paused then said, "You're certain this is from..." He stopped.

  "Don't want to say her name? I'm supposed to act as if I don't know it? Julie! There! Julie bitch Marei! Why don't you say it? She's your little stewardess playmate. The least she deserves is for you to say her name."

  Dick Tufts was also 49. He was over six feet tall, struggled successfully with his weight and bore an expression of concerned interest in almost everything he did. He had a pallid complexion, a problem for a man who blushed easily, and eyes set too closely together to appear entirely trustworthy. His thick hair, the primary focus of his vanity, was carefully coifed. Many women considered him handsome, others thought he looked like the fat boy at school now grown up. His voice tended to be high pitched, especially when he was excited and neglected to make an effort to lower it.

  "There was a note with it," his wife said. "Your shack job demands $500,000 for her silence, this tape and others she says she's got." The First Lady nervously tapped a Marlboro Light from a fresh pack on the mantel then lit up and inhaled deeply.

  "I can't believe it," Tufts said, appearing more hurt than disturbed. "I just can't believe..."

  Suddenly Becky burst into tears. "Well, believe it." She bit her upper lip and turned away from him. "I..." For several long moments the room was as silent as it had ever been since they moved in just over three and a half years before. "Did you know she taped you doing her?" the First Lady finally asked, still facing away.

  "Of course not!" her husband protested. His eyes fluttered and he gazed momentarily at the ceiling as Becky spun around.

  She smirked. "Of course you did. It was probably your idea. My God you are an idiot! I should have divorced you years ago when Daddy first wanted me to. You really better watch that tape. It isn't just sex, you know."

  "What are you taking about?"

  "That's the part that really hurts. I've put up with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum on the staff, those tarts you fuck on the road. I even tolerated your stewardess shack job. But to hear you talk about me like that." Her eyes were suddenly vulnerable. "That's what really hurts." She collapsed into a chair.

  "Ah, shit," Tufts muttered.

  "It's not just me either. You should hear what you say about Jesse Jackson. You call him a 'colored welfare bastard' with, as I recall, 'an IQ the size of his puny cock.' There goes the black vote if this gets out. You call the National Organization of Women, the National Organization of Nags and say they're a bunch of 'butch dikes.' Environmentalists are ‘wacko tree hugger Commies.’ But worst you brag that liberals are chumps, that all you have to do is say the right things and they fall for it every time." The President started to speak. "Wait. There's more. You were on a roll. You insulted every interest group you need to get re-elected. Gays are fags or queers. Latinos are beaners. Then, when you had your say, you eat her out. Oh, fuck you!" Becky gabbed the nearest telephone.

  "Don't!" Tufts shouted throwing his arms awkwardly in front of him. She let fly as he ducked but the cord
pulled the telephone up short and it fell loudly to the carpet with a single half ring of the bell.

  "Mr. President?"

  It was Martin Karp, Chief Counsel, peering around the door.

  "I said we weren't to be disturbed!" the First Lady shouted not taking her eyes from her husband.

  "I'm sorry," Karp said, "but the National Security Council is seated and waiting. Mr. Kissinger, who we especially asked to attend so this would be seen as a bi-partisan effort, is threatening to walk out. You know how he can be. We were already forced to advance the time for the meeting to accommodate your coffee klatch later tonight. It’s the Thai group we discussed. There’s a lot of money at stake so we don’t want to irritate them as well by starting late. But we certainly don't want Kissinger holding an impromptu press conference on the White House steps. Ferguson needs to issue a statement within the hour to catch tomorrow's newspapers. The last thing we want is for this meeting to turn into a PR disaster."

  "I'll be out in a few minutes, Marty." The President had locked eyes with his wife.

  "It's been..."

  "He'll be out in a little while!" Becky shouted. "Now get the fuck out of here!"

  Once the door was closed Tufts sighed then said, "Let's talk about this. But like adults."

  Becky's eyes narrowed. "Fine. Let's talk." Her jaw was set at an ugly angle and she flicked her cigarette repeatedly with her thumb. "You're the Teflon kid. Let's see you sleaze your way out of this, Dicky boy."

  The President cleared his throat. "First, I can't believe she'd do this. Someone must be putting her up to it, holding a gun to her head or something."

  "Oh, that's a fine thought. Just how many people know about you two, and your orgy tapes, do you think?"

  "No one. We've always been very careful. What I'm saying, is I just can't accept she'd do this on her own."

  "Well, she better be. Use your big head for a change. If anyone else is in on this with her, we are dead meat." Becky returned to her seat on the powder blue couch in front of her husband. "Who's getting us out of this? That's the question. We have to pay, right? And get the tapes back. There's no choice. Guthers will chew us up and spit us out if he gets his hands on any of this. Hell, our dear friends in the media will do the job for him, and I'm not even considering talk radio.”

  “I know how this sounds," the President said tentatively, "but maybe we should risk the Secret Service. We can go straight to the director. After all, I appointed him. What do you think? We obviously can't trust the Bureau, the CIA, or any of the intelligence people."

  "And you trust those asshole Secret Service types? The director's no friend of ours and even if he were, he can't control his troops, not like we need. They're the ones who told the press about our fighting. Don't you remember? Jesus, they can't wait to learn about something this juicy. They want to pull us down, don't you get it even now? It's just like back home. Anyone, I mean anyone, we give this mess to will own us. Don't you see? We better be damn certain we aren't just substituting one blackmailer for another."

  Tufts sounded hesitant as I said, "Maybe Marty then."

  Becky guffawed. "If word gets out that the President's Chief Counsel is nosing around some stewardess type, and it will, since he's as well-known as any of us inside the Beltway, we'll have a disaster. Any more bright ideas?"

  This time Tufts sounded resigned. "I suppose Chesty then. He..."

  "Fucking Chesty? That's your best thought? I've told you and Marty from the start that I think he's a slime urchin, slithering around in the dark, doing God knows what. We never should have brought him with us to Washington. He knows way too much. You've used him too often in the past. Are you forgetting that he came to us from military intelligence? Yeah, he'll take care of the dirty little hack jobs, but do you really trust him with something like this? I sure as hell don't. I've always suspected he was a plant even if Marty says he’s the one who found him. I don't care how much he's done for us in the past, I still don't know his loyalties and neither do you. We're in Washington now, remember? He's got way too many connections we don't know about.”

  The President threw his arms up in exasperation. "Then I don't know what to do. Maybe I should just have a talk with..."

  "Goddamn it, no!!" The First Lady was on her feet again, the cords in her throat standing out like a pair of I-beams. "You are not ever talking to that blackmailing whore again, do you understand me? Never! Never! Never!!"

  "Calm down, Becky."

  The First Lady’s voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "What if she tapes you negotiating with her? You can't talk to her on the telephone. That means you have to see her. And of course you'll try and fuck her again. Won't that be dandy?!"

  Tufts abruptly blushed, the glow spreading from his collar up his face like a bright shadow. "Then I don't see..."

  Becky removed another cigarette from her pack then flicked the lighter as if she had snipped off the end of the cigarette with it. "This is pointless," she said with disgust, dropping onto the couch. "Don't worry your little pea head, I know how to handle this."

  The President wasn't listening. "I don't see what we can do. Ah, hell. Jesus, Mary and Joseph. What's gonna happen to me?" He dropped his face into his hands.

  "I said, 'I know how to handle this,'" Becky repeated patiently as if lecturing a child.

  Tufts looked up. "You do?"

  "Of course," she snapped dismissively. "You don't really think I'd depend on you to take care of something like this, do you? We need an outsider. Someone no one here knows. We need someone who can contact this... person... and work out a deal. Most of all we need someone who won't turn on us. I've got just the man."

  "You're certain about this guy? You can't make a mistake here.”

  “Of course I'm sure!" she answered as if he were an idiot. "He doesn't have any Washington experience, so we don't have to be concerned with divided loyalties or a hidden agenda. But he's a trained investigator and I can trust him, believe me."

  "Who?"

  "You've heard me talk about him before. One of the locals from back home. Danny Powers."

  Tufts scrunched his face in momentary reflection. "I don't remember any..."

  "There's never been a word in the press tying him to me. Not one. He's here. I'll set it up."

  "You already sent for him?"

  "What the hell did you think I was going to do? The convention starts tomorrow, then the campaign begins for real. We have to close this deal now, no later than tomorrow, tonight if possible. I didn't have time to fuck around with you. Of course I sent for him. He's waiting in my office."

  "It might not be a bad idea to have Marty check him out in detail first. He’s got the contacts to do it unofficially. A lot can have happened since you last knew this guy well."

  "Don’t tell me how to handle this. I’m certain or I wouldn’t be doing it." Then, as if it were an accusation. "Don't I always clean up after you?" She stabbed the cigarette into the ashtray as she rose, running her hands along her thighs, straightening her skirt. "You go save the world, or whatever it is you're supposed to be doing tonight. I'll get the ball rolling. With luck Danny will cut the deal with your bitch and have the tapes back later tonight."

  For the first time the President appeared hopeful. "All right. All right. That's it then." He stood and adjusted his tie before passing a light hand over his hair. Since the start of the Gulf Crisis he’d given it a grey tint to emphasize maturity.

  "Go look Presidential and put it to the Thais." The First Lady paused at the door then turned towards her husband. She spoke with malevolence, her eyes the color of a cold Missouri winter sky. "Just keep you zipper zipped if you know what's good for you. I'm not telling you again." She eased the door shut once she was out of the room.

  Tufts stood perfectly still for a long moment then slowly released a lung full of air as if he had just dodged a bullet. He caught his image reflected in a gilded mirror, turned to face it head on, then a slow grin spread across his lips before endin
g as a smirk.

  TWO

  The West Wing, 6:44 p.m.

  It had been a hectic day for Daniel Powers. First the call from Becky Gordon – that was how he still thought of her – then frantic efforts to make the flight connections. Now waiting for her here and in the White House of all places.

  The office was fiercely feminine in decor as he'd expected, dressed in pale shades of green and yellow giving it the slight feel of a hot house. There were four drawings on the wall, two by Daumier, two by artists he didn't recognize, since they weren’t French. The desk was dark wood, caressed by wax for at least two hundred years. It was an office he expected the First Lady to have, certainly if that First Lady was Becky Gordon.

  The summons had come at an odd time. The Middle East crisis was rushing for a showdown with Saddam Hussein threatening to attack Israel and the Democratic National Convention began this week. Over the last three and a half years President Tufts had downsized the military to controversial levels, closing bases, especially overseas since they weren't located in Congressional districts. The Republicans had accused him of risking an international crisis for which the Americans would not be equipped to respond.

  Then the fragile Arab coalition put together by George Bush had collapsed. Saddam Hussein had quietly rebuilt his army after his first Gulf War debacle. Saudi Arabia, concerned about Muslim extremists backed by Iran, insisted the American military presence they had tolerated be withdrawn. Then in April, Saddam had sent his troops back into Kuwait, only this time they continued another 200 miles into Saudi Arabia and seized much of that country's northeastern oil fields, the bulk of its oil producing capability.

  In response Tufts had launched more than 800 cruise missiles as well as a massive B-52 attack while he frantically worked to recreate the coalition. Two of the bombers were shot down with surface-to-air missiles and Iraqi television displayed the wreckage with Republican Guardsmen astride the twisted metal, emptying their AK47's into the air.