Two Peasants and a President (19 page)

Storm felt uneasy about the job; he clearly didn’t trust
Rawles
.  R
e
gardless of the federal charges that
Rawles
was trying to avoid, Storm wasn’t convinced that he wouldn’t just decide to take his chances with his
Boston
buddies and turn on Baines.  He obviously hated the senator, and his loathing for Molly was easy to see on the video of the luncheon.  If
Rawles
had d
e
cided to turn, Storm’s immediate future could get very ugly. 

But
Rawles
, as it turned out, had taken what he perceived to be the path of least resistance.  As much as he disliked the senator, his record said that he was a straight shooter and if he promised to put
Rawles
and his family in the witness protection program, he would likely follow through. 

There was another consideration: Charles
Rawles
had displeased more than a few people over the years.  Even those he hadn’t screwed found his short temper and mean disposition unpleasant to deal with.  Those he
had
screwed either privately or professionally were added to a growing list of enemies, many of whom wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to get even.  And that didn’t even take into consideration those to whom he owed money.  All things considered,
Rawles
had decided that the witness protection program was probably the best th
ing to come along in years
.  It solved a lot of pro
b
lems. 
Rawles
family was already sitting in a small motel in Indiana, waiting.

The critical part, getting the device into Brewer’s pocket, had actually been easier than either of them had
anticipated.  Since it was
after 5:30, his secretary was already gone.  The jacket was where it always was and Brewer was on the phone in his inner office. 
Rawles
simply dropped the tiny device in the outside pocket as he walked into the meeting. 

The meeting itself was a disaster.  Brewer was furious that
Rawles
had shown up empty handed.  He knew that in a little over an hour he would be in
Shumer’s
office minus the expected video.  Stuart
Shumer
was not only his most important contact, he had the ear of a president.  Precisely for that reason,
Shumer
had carefully picked Brewer to be his go between, since it sometimes became necessary to utilize some of the seedier elements in
Bo
s
ton
to do unseemly jobs, jobs that could never be traced back to the president. 

“Help me to understand this, Chuck,” he said.
  “All the bitch had to do was
sleep with Baines with her purse pointed in the right direction.  Why was that so hard?”

Rawles
obviously couldn’t tell him that Baines had turned Molly.  That would start him down a path that could lead to a number of places, none of which were good.  

“Either the bitch flubbed it with the camera or there was some kind of glitch,” he lied. 

“Did you not test the camera first, Chuck?”  Brewer said through his teeth.

“Yeah, it worked fine.  She tried it three times and no problem,” r
e
plied
Rawles
, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

“Jesus, Chuck, I pay you good money to do a simple job and this is what I get?  Do you think I want to have to tell Stuart this pathetic story?  How do you think that’s going to make me look?”

Rawles
temper was starting to brew; he’d never been able to tolerate being lectured by anyone.  He’d once punched a teacher just for pointing out that he had repeatedly come to class without bothering to do his homework.  His whole life had been a series of angry outbursts, two of which nearly got him killed.  Teeth clenched, anger flaring in his eyes, there was little doubt what he was thinking as he looked across the desk at Brewer.

That
Rawles
would even dream of copping an attitude infuriated Brewer. 
The guy lives in a nice house, drives an Escalade and he’s copping an attitude with me
, fumed Brewer.  But he had also been a little afraid of
Rawles
for as long as he‘d known him.  The guy was a stick of dynamite; you never knew when he might explode.  If he hadn’t always been able to do what he was asked, Brewer would have dumped him years ago. 
Rawles
was now clearly in volcano mode, and Brewer knew it was time to get him out of the office before something happened. 

“Get outta here, Chuck, before I say something both of us will regret!”

Then
Rawles
did something that Brewer didn’t expect, something that had never happened before.  He said: “Fuck you, asshole,” and stormed out.

Brewer looked at his watch.  He’d have to leave now if he wanted to make his meeting with
Shumer
on time.  He grabbed his keys, threw his jacket on and headed for his car. 

*******

Clifford Storm had to park his car more than a block away; the re
s
taurants and bars in this trendy area were at high tide at this hour.  But he
managed to grab a two top near the bar’s front window and ordered a drink. 
Rawles
had described Brewer and said he drove a dark blue BMW 7 Series.  So when a car matching the description drove by slowly in the dense traffic, Storm did a final equipment check.  Using an I-Phone he had modified to receive the tiny bug’s signal, he could already hear in his ear bud that Brewer was talking to someone on his car phone.  So far so good. 

Minutes later he heard elevator sounds.  Storm hit record and transmit simultaneously.  Looking around the bar, the other patrons seemed to be mostly white collars watering down with their colleagues after a day at the office.  No one seemed interested in him.  A couple of off-duty
Boston
cops were at the bar, but they were animatedly discussing something. 

Lanny
, good to see you,”
Shumer
said mechanically.  “Close the door, will you?” Taking a seat across the desk,
Shumer
could see that he was sweating.” 

“It seems our favorite senator has more than a few enemies,”
Shumer
said. 

“So I heard,” replied Brewer.  “What the hell happened anyway?”

“You took the words right out of my mouth,
Lanny
,”
Shumer
said
,
as if anticipating
learning
something.

“It sure as hell wasn’t us,” said Brewer.  “Somebody wanted to stop him permanently.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” said
Shumer
.  “He’d already left the house.  Anyone watching him would have known that.  But they went ahead and tried to snuff the red head.  Who knew she’d be there besides your boy?”

“Nobody,” replied Brewer. 

“So you’re telling me that somebody just happened by and decided to murder a woman they didn’t even know was there?”

“I’m telling you whoever it was wasn’t connected with us, period!” said Brewer. 
Shumer
thought that over for a minute before looking Brewer in the eye. 

“I assume you have what we need?” he asked, his tone more demand than question.  On the way over, Brewer had tried to come up with a good way to break the news, knowing he wouldn’t find any.

“Unfortunately not,” was all Brewer could say.

“Come again?” said
Shumer
.

“We didn’t get it; there was some kind of a screw up.”

Shumer’s
anger was clearly rising.  He started to say something se
v
eral times but seemed to reject it each time.  Finally, he leaned over the desk.

“I don’t want know exactly what went down there,
Lanny
, but the point is we don’t have what we need.  It was your responsibility to deliver and you
didn’t.”

Storm had begun to worry.  The conversation wasn’t anywhere near explicit enough.  Unless more details were spilled, the recording wouldn’t put a dent in anyone.  He looked around again; only the waitress on the way over with another drink seemed to be paying any attention to him.  He checked outside, noticing only that someone in an upstairs window across the street was looking down at him.

“The senator might as well have dropped an A-bomb on China,” he continued.  “They’ve ratcheted up the whole thing so far that it’s starting to look like the cold war.  Only this time it could get hot.  You are aware,
Lanny
, that the Chinese are threatening to blow any ship in the area they don’t like out of the water?  And by water, I mean about a million and a half square miles of it.”

Brewer sat silent.

“I don’t have to tell you how that makes the President look, do I,
Lanny
?” Without waiting for an answer, he continued.  “Everyone’s
screaming tariffs.
Now some of th
em are even talking sanctions.  We need China’s money,
Lanny
, and now they’re gonna make the President get down on his knees and l
ick their boots to get it.  You
r little operation was the only thing we had to discredit the senator and you blew it! 
He paused in disgust.  “
Any ideas,
Lanny
?”

“M
aybe the broad could try again,” replied Brewer weakly.  “She got with Baines, she just couldn’t get the camera to work or something.”

Shumer’s
raised hand, telling Brewer to stop.

“I don’t need that level of detail,
Lanny
,” he said.  “Is what I’m hearing that you want me to believe that the situation can be salvaged?”

“Yeah, we should be able to pull it off,” he said, not having any idea exactly how he was going to do it.

“Should, could and would are not words in my vocabulary,
Lanny
,”
Shumer
said.  “Can, do and did
are
words in my vocabulary.  Do I make myself clear?”

“Yeah,” replied Brewer.

“Then I suggest that you not waste time.  This administration may not be around for a second term if we don’t get this thing behind us.” 

Storm smiled.  The conversation probably wouldn’t hold up against the full frontal assault of an army of Washington attorneys, but it could be quite effective on the internet or in the hands of certain journalists.  Glancing upward, he noticed that there were now two people in the upstairs window across the street, one of whom was pointing at him. 
That’s odd
he thought. 

Then he saw Brewer walking by on the way
back
to his car.  It was
time to saddle up. 

He performed two functions on his I-Phone, pushed a button on the device in his pocket and laid some money on the table.  On the way out, he looked up and noticed that there was no longer anyone standing in the wi
n
dow.  He was halfway back to his car, when he turned around, more as a matter of habit than out of concern.  Two men were behind him and walking fast.  He was still trying to decide if they were just in a hurry when his head exploded.  

******

“Hello, Mr. President,” said
Shumer
. 

“Look, Stuart,” the president said, jettisoning formalities. “I’ve got a lot c
oming
at me at the moment.  This thing with Baines is just part of it.  Rausch tells me he’s got a revolt on his hands; nobody wants to be seen as knuckling under to China.  Some of
th
em are leaning toward supporting some sort of tariffs.  They feel they have to if they want to be back in Washington next spring.”

“Just tell me we’ve got Baines where we want him,” the president said plaintively.   The silence on the other end didn’t bode well.

“Our project has not gone well, Mr. President,”
Shumer
finally replied.  “There was a problem.”

“How big a problem, Stuart?” 

“It seems to be one that can be resolved, but it’s going to take a little more time.”

“Time is something I have very little of,” replied the president.  “I’m sure you’re aware of what the Chinese have done; it’s become an international incident that’s being followed by damn near everyone on the planet.  I’m starting to look like a third grader who backed down to the school bully in front of everyone.  I need you to get Baines off my back, Stuart.  He’s the one leading the charge
,
and if he’s stopped I think I can salvage things.”