Prophet (66 page)

“I dare say,” Gretchen Rafferty replied.

Fanny Wolfe nodded to herself. The plan seemed to make sense to her.

Murphy Bolen just smiled as headlines paraded through his head.

Slater referred to his copy. “Now, to quickly outline the plan, Phase One will be a press release from myself, possibly a press conference or a speech in which I’ll release the information that Hillary died from an abortion—”

Candice Delano slammed the table and let out a cry of indignity. “No! That will never work, Governor! You’ll be walking right into the enemy’s cannons!”

“Now, Candice,” cautioned Fanny Wolfe, “hear him out. There are times to be forceful and direct, and there are times to be subtle.”

Gretchen agreed. “Go ahead, Governor.”

Slater continued, “Fanny used the right word:
subtle.
I’m sure we’re all aware that how we say things can have a great effect on the public’s reaction. What I’m proposing is that I go ahead and release the information about Hillary’s death, but deliver it from the position that I never knew about it until recently—and that even upon knowing it, I have no regrets that I didn’t know because Ashley and I respected Hillary’s privacy—and even though an unfortunate accident occurred, the higher ideal of personal privacy remained intact. Listen, if we truly believe in total reproductive privacy, then the rules have to apply to everybody, including me and my own children, and that’s what I intend to say.”

Now Candice mellowed a little, chewing on this new morsel. She liked the taste of it.

“So . . .” Slater continued, “we’ll work out the details on that later. But then will come Phase Two, which is to answer the questions that are going to arise about the safety of legal abortions in this state. This is where some sacrifice might be necessary, and that’s why you people are here. I need your input on this.

“My PR men here . . .” The governor looked toward Rowen and Hartly. “. . . have a nice little slogan I’ve adopted:
Image Is Everything.
Based on that idea, we must deal with the cause of Hillary’s death publicly to assuage any fears that might arise in the public mind. So
publicly I’m going to launch an investigation into abortion malpractice, not because I have anything against abortion, but because—and our PR program will emphasize this—Governor Hiram Slater cares about women.”

Now Candice got agitated again, but this time Gretchen and Fanny joined her.

Candice spoke first. “Sir, you can’t investigate the clinics! That would mean government interference, and that would mean war! Our friends would never stand for it!”

Gretchen added, right on top of Candice, “They absolutely will not stand for it;
I
won’t stand for it! It would be tantamount to harassment!”

Fanny tried to sound reasonable. “You would be opening a dangerous crack in the wall of privacy, sir, and who knows how large a flood of invasion and regulation would break through after that?”

Candice quoted an old marching chant, “Not the church, not the state, women must decide their fate!”

Devin tapped the table with his pen to call for order. “Ladies . . . gentlemen . . . please hear us out. We are dealing with cold, vicious reality here. The anti-abortion forces are going to be crying for just such an investigation. They will most certainly cash in on this politically, and we have to find a way to defuse it, all right?”

Governor Slater was visibly feeling the stress of all this. “If I must defend my own sincerity . . . Let me inform you that we did our best to conceal all of this when it first happened because I knew it would be politically devastating. If I’d taken any action at the time, you people would have branded me as anti-choice, and you know it; if I did nothing, then the opposition would have branded me a heartless politician who doesn’t care about what happens to his own children. I didn’t want to find myself in such a position, and I definitely didn’t want your interests jeopardized. But now we—and I mean all of us—are in this position, and we have to do whatever is necessary to dig ourselves out.”

They quieted themselves and were ready to listen again.

“Now let me just say, I don’t know which clinic is responsible for my daughter’s death, I don’t want to know, and I have no intention of finding out.”

“Well, we won’t tell you either,” Candice blurted.

“May I finish?” the governor said in rebuke and then continued, “When I say that I’ll publicly launch an investigation, I mean I’ll be doing something for the public to see. I’ll appoint some people, or I’ll have Martin handle that . . .” Devin nodded. “He can make some calls, ask some questions, interview each of you, perhaps even get you to serve on a committee. Together you can compose some effective sound bites on the safety of the industry, get some pictures of your activities on-camera for television, go through the motions, all right? We’ll do something for the public to see and hear, and we’ll structure the information so as to calm the public mind, just put the whole thing to rest. And then . . .” The governor looked at Tina Lewis. “With help from our friends in the media, the story can just fade away—am I right?”

Tina commented, “Well, it’s going to be a big story initially. There isn’t much we can do to change that. But with that as a given, there are two factors that come into play here, as I see it. Number One, the subject matter is something the media in general are not going to want for very long. It’s like a hot potato; no matter how you report it, you’re going to have somebody screaming at you, and that gets tiring real fast. So far as my own associates are concerned, I don’t think the story will be carried for long. Second, in our medium, old news is virtually no news. We have to get people to tune in, which means we can’t tell them old things they already know. They want new stuff that’s hot, fresh, immediate. Well, this story has oldness built into it; it happened months ago. I think that if we drop the story onto them quickly, with all the loose ends tied up right from the start, sure, it’ll hit big and play big on a newscast, but it’ll hit complete, which means we can drop it just as quickly with no need for follow-up and let it die from neglect. After the initial shock, the public will eventually lose interest and want to hear about something else. It happens all the time.” She looked at Murphy Bolen, petitioning his view.

Murphy nodded resignedly. “Ehhh . . . yeah, it would get buried pretty quickly. A story as unsavory as this one won’t be followed for very long. I know a lot of reporters who won’t want their names on it. Whoever does write it is going to be walking a thin line back at the office, if you know what I mean. And once it’s over with, once it’s buried, I can’t imagine any reporter’s gonna stick his professional neck out to dig it up again.” Then he added, “But, Governor, just be sure that whatever
you say you’re gonna do, at least do something that comes close. If we’re gonna report something we have to be honest.”

“I understand,” the governor responded. Then he looked sternly at Gretchen, Candice, and Fanny. “But before we go on, let me say this for the record: Don’t you people forget that I’m not just covering for myself and my policies—I’m also covering for you. I didn’t ask for any of this to happen, and I sure didn’t ask to have my daughter killed, and if there’s any blame to be found for our present circumstances it is not with this administration but with the industry that got sloppy enough to let it happen. So all three of you need to carefully appraise your demand that I not launch a real investigation into this because as far as I’m concerned, if I don’t do anything about this, then you and your friends in all those clinics had
better
do something! I’ve stood by you, I’ve pushed legislation that benefits you, I’ve protected your sacred privacy and stayed out of your way. But if you’re going to start killing people, it’s going to be bad for both of us—you follow me?”

They paid attention to him and heard what he said, but their response was a chilling, stony silence. Gretchen’s jaw was quite prominent, Candice only scowled at him, and Fanny wouldn’t raise her eyes, but went back to doodling on her notes.

“Now . . .” the governor continued, “as for Phase Three, considering that no amount of subtlety or craft will satisfy the anti-abortion camp, and anticipating that they’ll try to make a big deal out of Hillary’s death, we’re going to be working on shifting the public’s attention away from the fact of the death itself and toward this administration’s concern for women and their right to privacy—safe, sane, legal privacy. It’s going to be an image war, to put it quite simply.” The governor looked at Rowen and Hartly. This was their cue.

Eugene Rowen, horn-rimmed glasses in place and tie still crooked, stood to speak. “We’ve contacted the agents of several celebrities who have already contracted with us for the campaign ads, and we’re now working on what you might call counter-information ads—special ads that will underline in the public mind the real motivation behind Governor Slater’s action, or inaction, as it were—that Governor Hiram Slater cares about women.”

Mason Hartly spoke up without standing. “The whole point is, the opposition might try to stir up gossip and innuendo about what
the governor should or shouldn’t have done about Hillary’s death, but we’ll just hit that head-on with a firm presentation of his motivations and reasons for doing—or not doing—what he . . . uh . . . did or didn’t do. Am I making sense?”

“So far,” said Fanny.

“How are you going to protect choice?” Candice asked.

Rowen fumbled through the papers in front of him just a moment, then answered, “Well, look at it this way. The opposition says something like, ‘Hiram Slater doesn’t care if his own daughter dies in an abortion clinic,’ and so we just come right back and say, ‘Hiram Slater believes in the sanctity of privacy, even to his own hurt, so deep are his convictions.’”

Gretchen was impressed. “Wow . . .”

Fanny nodded, smiling. “Very smooth.”

Candice kept scowling but nodded her approval.

Rowen continued, “And . . . um . . . the opposition might say something like, ‘If the governor’s own daughter can die in an abortion clinic, then is anyone safe?’ and we can turn right around and say, ‘Governor Slater understands in the deepest, personal sense the need for safe, legal abortions and stands with all women in the fight to fulfill this need.’”

Now even Candice smiled. “Mm-hmm.”

Hartly added, excitement in his voice, “And get this—we’ve just talked with Anita Diamond’s agent—uh, she’s the black pop singer, right?—and she has agreed . . .” He took a moment to look them all in the eye, to bait them a little. “. . . to do an ad for us in which she admits to having an abortion and how it did wonders for her career and how people like Hiram Slater are the answer for up-and-coming down-and-outers like her, or something to that effect.”

Springtime, sunshine, and heavenly sparkles floated into the room, at least where the three women activists were sitting. They liked what they were hearing.

Rowen concluded, “We’ll work this new material in so that it meshes perfectly with the ad campaign already under way. That way the public will immediately identify with the graphics and the style and fall into line, just flowing with it, not being jarred by any abrupt change in direction.”

Hartly concluded, “And this work is under way right now, as we
speak, ready for airing within two or three days.”

Devin took back the floor. “So this is the basic plan, and we’ll have more details for you as soon as they develop. Any questions?”

Fanny asked, “What about Loren Harris, the general manager at Channel 6? Can he be persuaded to intervene on this—at least stall it a while?”

Devin nodded, pleased with the question. “We are looking into speaking with him—not only regarding stalling the story that seems to be brewing there among some of the news staff, but also regarding the advertising we’ll be buying from the station. We’ve been worth a lot of money to them in the past and hope to be worth even more in the near future, as we’ve already discussed.” His eyes took on an additional devilish glint. “He knows we’re very close to several of his regular advertising clients—and that our influence could send those advertising dollars elsewhere. Considering all that, I think Loren Harris might be persuaded to see things as we see them.”

The governor added, “Loren and I are friends, and I’m very careful about not abusing our friendship to slant the news coverage, but . . . I think he’d be open to changing some timing here and there, perhaps changing some emphasis. We can deal with him. I’m confident something can be worked out.”

“Any more questions?” Devin asked.

Not really—at least no question anyone felt like speaking. And besides, this was a quickly called meeting—they all had other places they needed to be. The meeting broke up, and they all headed down the hall toward the exits.

Devin made sure Tina Lewis would have to pass close by him to get out the conference room door. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for having me.”

He checked her over, enjoying the view. “We’ll need to stay in close contact during this whole process, I imagine.”

She knew he was eyeing her, but catered to his interest. The hungrier he was, the more useful he would be. “We’ll do that.”

He leaned close and spoke very softly. “Any further word on the death of John Barrett’s father? Are the cops looking into it?”

“I haven’t heard a thing, Martin.” Then she gave him a curious look. “Just why are you so interested?”

Devin chuckled. “Well . . . I guess because I have strong feelings about John Barrett and his kooky father.”

She accepted that. “I’ll look into it.”

“If you get the chance. Gotta go.” He ducked out and hurried toward his office, feeling much the conqueror.

Fanny Wolfe and Candice Delano conversed quietly as they walked along.

Candice asked, “So what do you think?”

Fanny answered, “I think our people will get behind the governor on this. It’s really the best course of action, and this kind of thing has worked in the past. What about your people?”

“They’ll back him, provided he doesn’t say much. The more he talks about this, the more trouble I’m going to have cooperating.”