Balance of Power

by Richard North Patterson

  Beside Sarah, Lenihan prepared to respond. Swiftly, she whispered, "Let it go, Bob."

  He gave her a puzzled look, but Sarah was watching Bond. The judge, confronted for the first time with a packed courtroom, was forced to consider how appearances might affect his own prospects of promotion, fully aware that the sole counterbalance to the President's measured comments was the harsh demand of a very besmirched SSA. To Sarah, Bond's stern air seemed newly tempered by a hesitance which betrayed the tacit erosion of his power.

  "All right," he snapped. "By their own admission, Ms. Dash and the Kilcannon Center stand in contempt of court. It is not up to lawyers to select which orders to obey. Accordingly, the Court orders that Ms. Dash and the Kilcannon Center each pay a fine of two thousand dollars. The Court will also send a copy of this order to the State Bar of California."

  Abruptly, Bond cracked his gavel. "All rise," his courtroom deputy intoned. As the onlookers stood, Bond strode stiffly from the bench, covering his retreat with a last show of judicial dignity.

  Glancing at Nolan and Fancher, Sarah suppressed a smile. The jaws of Kerry Kilcannon's trap had shut on them at last. Perhaps she would not have Nolan to kick around anymore, but she intended to nail Harrison Fancher's client to the wall.

  SEVENTEEN

  Three days before Christmas, to be spent with Mary, Kerry and Lara visited the gravesites.

  It was morning. Thin sunlight filtered through a dissipating fog, and the grass on the knoll glistened with dew. Holding Kerry's hand, Lara gazed down at the headstones of her mother, sister and niece.

  They were President and First Lady. Lara understood, and accepted, that the press, gathered some distance away, would film them, and that the image would linger over the Senate when it debated Kerry's gun bill, as it would over Gardner Bond's courtroom on the first day of trial. She knew that, in part, this was why Kerry had suggested coming. But she also knew that, with all the hurt they had sustained, Kerry sensed that this was a time for Lara to seek peace. Although, she thought to herself, he did not yet know the final reason this was so.

  After a time, she banished those watching from her mind. In turn, Lara thought of Inez Costello, then Joan, and then Marie—recalling each not as she had seen them last, but in life, until their memory filled her like a living thing.

  She did not know how long this took. When they stepped away, it was because she was done; when they stopped, a short distance from the graves, it was because Lara wished it.

  "I can't imagine," she told him, "how this would have been without you."

  A hint of pain surfaced in his eyes. "Without me," he answered, "it wouldn't have been at all."

  "It wasn't you, Kerry." She hesitated, then touched his face. "All my life I've been afraid to lean on anyone. Now I know that I can. And so can you."

  Kerry smiled a little. "Then that's all I could want."

  She cocked her head. "All?"

  His expression became puzzled. Watching him, Lara felt her anticipation quicken; this moment, before it was strained through the prism of politics and public life, belonged to them alone. She saw his puzzlement change to wonder.

  "It wasn't flu . . ."

  Lara smiled up at him. "Diapers," she informed her husband, "are the acid test of character. Even for a President."

  Afterword and Acknowledgments

  Gun violence in America is a subject of daunting complexity, requiring a knowledge of its political, governmental, legal, medical, public health, social, and cultural dimensions. I should start by acknowledging that I approached this undertaking with a distinct point of view: I am a strong advocate of common-sense measures to curb gun violence. This position is buttressed by my presence on the boards of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Family Violence Prevention Fund. I am also concerned about the influence of special interest money in politics, which in part accounts for my current service on the board of Common Cause, the public interest lobby. Each of these affiliations has shaped my thinking, and stimulated my concern, with respect to the causes and the toll of gun violence in America. By no means am I a dispassionate, or neutral, observer.

  That said, the enormous amount of research required by this novel informed and complicated my view of these subjects in countless ways. To write Balance of Power, I tried to probe every aspect of this problem and every point of view. So I am deeply indebted to all those who helped me to achieve the knowledge base necessary to write this book.

  I must also make it clear that they represent disparate and often conflicting experiences and perspectives, and that their help does not constitute an endorsement of this book, let alone of any particular opinion expressed herein. As always, the buck stops with me, and any disagreements or hostility engendered by this novel should be directed at me alone.

  I am, of course, a fiction writer, and this is a work of imagination. Nonetheless, I have striven for accuracy throughout the book, in ways both large and small, and the story is firmly rooted in the reality of our current political environment. For example, a bill immunizing the gun industry in a manner similar to that portrayed in this novel was pending in the last Congress, and its proponents claimed two hundred twentyeight sponsors in the House of Representatives, a majority. In the Senate about to be convened, the control has now returned to the Republicans; it is quite possible that a bill will be introduced and voted on by both houses before this book is published. Readers should also know that the general outline—though not all of the details, and certainly not the blackmail of a President—of the problems faced by George Callister and Lexington Arms in settling with Kerry Kilcannon were faced by Smith & Wesson when it entered into a tentative settlement in 2000 with the Clinton Administration which never came to fruition. And the basis and legal theories of the Costello lawsuit reflect, to a considerable degree, the litigation involving the shootings in the 101 California tragedy in San Francisco—including the nature of the weapon, the mode of advertising, and the kind of harm inflicted—and the "flooding" issue appears in lawsuits filed against the gun industry by several California cities.

  Finally, the chapter in which Kerry Kilcannon visits a gun show in Las Vegas is rooted in my own personal observations of such a show. Every description in that chapter is derived from that experience. The only alterations are that I took the bumper-sticker aspersions cast on other public figures and substituted the Kilcannons; modeled the "Lexington P-2" and "Eagle's Claw" bullet after other, virtually identical, weapons; and imported a target practice cutout of former President and Mrs. Clinton from a gun store in New Hampshire, replacing the Clintons with Kerry and Lara Kilcannon.

  With that, I wish to thank all those who helped.

  The Senate is an institution unto itself, and its workings and procedures are as intricate as they are, to me, fascinating. I am deeply indebted to the following current or former members of that body: Barbara Boxer, William Cohen, John Edwards, Edward Kennedy, John McCain, and, in particular, Bob Dole, whose advice has been invaluable for three books now. Others, including current and former Senate staffers, helped with respect to both politics and process: Melody Barnes, Mark Busey, Bruce Cohen, Meredith McGehee, Ed Pagano, Martin Paone, Robin Toone, and Bob Tyrer. Special thanks to former Senate Parliamentarian Bob Dove, who not only walked me through the process, but was kind enough to review the manuscript.

  I was lucky to have advice from several scholars, journalists, and public officials and writers who have studied the issue from various perspectives: Ron Brownstein, Dr. Philip Cook, Morris Dees, Dr. Glen Pierce, Dr. Stephen Teret, Dr. Jay Wachtel, and, especially, Matt Bai and Susan Ginsberg. Similarly, I was schooled in the medical aspects of gun violence—from surgery to the public health aspects—by Dr. Beth Kaplan, Dr. Arthur Kellerman, Dr. Robert Liner, Dr. Robert Mackersie, Dr. Irene Marquez-Biggs, Sean Reynolds, Dr. H. William Taeusch, and, in particular, Dr. Margaret Knudson and Dr. William Schwab.

  A number of current or former employees of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Fir
earms helped me with the often complicated regulatory environment surrounding guns, as well as with various investigative methods: Dale Armstrong, Terry Austin, Tara Bedford, Tom Cannon, John D'Angelo, Fanny Hasselbacher, Ed Owen, Jack Patterson, and John Torres. Many thanks to all.

  Several talented people discussed with me the subject of gun politics at the Presidential level, as well as past legislative and regulatory efforts to reduce gun violence, including Harold Ickes, Bruce Reed, and Max Stier. Special thanks to Bruce Lindsey and Cheryl Mills, not only for their advice but for reviewing all or part of the manuscript, and to President Bill Clinton for his observations about the politics of guns. Still others filled me in on various aspects of gun politics: Rich Bond, Carter Eskew, Peter Fenn, Mandy Grunwald, Ron Kaufman, Joel Klein, Peter Knight, Celinda Lake, Joe Lockhart, Mike McCurry, Bill McInturff, Scott Reed, Don Simon, Tom Strickland, and Michael Terris.

  The jurisprudence of gun lawsuits and the Second Amendment was also an important subject. I read every significant legal decision regarding the Second Amendment and lawsuits against gun companies, as well as a number of scholarly articles on these subjects. I am grateful to the following legal experts for their help: Fred Baron, Arthur Bryant, Leah Castella, Owen Clements, John Coale, Leslie Landau, Linda Lipson, and Dennis Henigan. Thanks as well to Victor Schwartz and James Wooten for their important observations regarding gun lawsuits and tort reform.

  I was fortunate to have the advice of a number of prominent advocates of gun safety. I begin with my current and former colleagues at the Brady Campaign: Mike Barnes, Ellen Moran, and Tony Orza. I learned much from the Web site for the Brady Campaign (www.bradycampaign.org; www.bradycenter.org) and that of its grassroots affiliate, the Million Mom March (www.millionmommarch.com). I am also grateful to the following members of Americans for Gun Safety: Jon Cowan, Jim Kessler, Matthew Bennett, Michael Harrington, Lisa Kimbrough, and Meghan Sherman. Finally, I am deeply grateful to two women who, having lost loved ones to gun violence, speak to this tragedy as advocates in the most important way possible: Mary Leigh Blek and Carole Kingsley.

  I was not as fortunate with gun rights advocates. My calls and letters requesting time with the principal officers of the National Rifle Association went unanswered; apparently, and perhaps understandably, they did not wish to meet with a novelist affiliated with the Brady Campaign. Nonetheless, that choice was theirs, and I regret being unable to present their thoughts. I did have off-the-record talks with two persons affiliated with the NRA, and immersed myself in NRA publications. Thus the SSA's public rhetoric and positions on gun rights closely reflects that of the NRA. In particular, the article I attributed to the SSA magazine in Chapter Two of Part One includes quotations from or close paraphrases of an actual, much longer article in the NRA magazine America's First Freedom. Similarly, Charles Dane's speech at the Washington Monument includes brief passages from two speeches given by Charlton Heston, then the President of the NRA, and Wayne La Pierre, its executive director. I am very grateful to Beth Lavach, who has extensive experience in Congressional relations on behalf of the gun industry, for her advice on legislative matters. Also of great assistance were two gun rights advocates whose efforts at compromise sometimes put them in conflict with the NRA, Richard Feldman and Robert Ricker.

  One of the interesting benefits of my research is that I came away with some real sympathy for the executives of gun companies, many of whom value guns for their quality and craftsmanship. These executives face a difficult dilemma, caught as they are between gun safety advocates and the lawyers who represent them, on the one side, and the NRA, which—in addition to its dominant presence in Washington, D.C.—reaches many of their customers. For these reasons, the NRA has an immense power over the gun industry—perhaps even, as has been demonstrated in the past, the potential to create a credible threat of such crippling economic harm that an individual company fears being forced out of business. Special thanks to Paul Januzzo, Ken Jorgenson, Bob Scott, and Ed Shultz for sharing their diverse perspectives as current or former executives of Glock and Smith & Wesson.

  Gun violence is the leading cause of death in domestic violence incidents. My outstanding colleagues at the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Janet Carter and Esta Soler, helped me present the dynamic of an abusive marriage, and Esta was kind enough to review the manuscript. Also of great value were several publications by the Fund. And Susan Breall, Sarah Buehl, and Juan Cuba helped me present both the legal and personal aspects of this tragedy.

  A number of people advised me on other subjects: Letitia Baldrige, former social secretary to the Kennedy White House, concerning the Kilcannon's wedding preparations; Fr. John Blaker with respect to the religious aspects of the wedding; Katie Couric on the nature of the media competition for the Lara Kilcannon interview; Alan Dershowitz with respect to the intricacies of the Kilcannons' privilege claims; Dr. Kenneth Gottlieb and Dr. Rodney Shapiro regarding the psychological issues surrounding the Bowden's marriage, and the reactions of both Kerry and Lara Kilcannon to the murders; San Francisco Homicide Inspector Napoleon Hendrix on the details of the murders; John Phillips and Mary Louise Cohen on the role of inside informants in complex litigation; and Terry Samway of the Secret Service regarding the problems surrounding the protection of the Kilcannons and the attempts to protect Lara's family. All helped enrich the texture of this novel.

  My understanding was also enriched by reading, including the book Making a Killing by Tom Diaz; The Gathering Storm by Morris Dees; Gun Violence: The Real Costs by Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig; and Public Guns, Public Health by Dr. David Hemenway. I also read relevant articles, papers, surveys and opinion pieces by Philip Alpers, Matt Bai, Paul Barrett, Carl T. Bogus, Thomas Cole, Philip Cook, John Donohue, David Grossman, Arthur Kellerman, Abigail Kohn, Stephanie Molliconi, and Garry Wills. Publications by the Brady Campaign, Americans for Gun Safety, and the Violence Policy Center were also immensely helpful.

  Finally, I would like to thank my wonderful publisher, Gina Centrello of Ballantine, for believing that there is a place for serious popular fiction on controversial social and political topics; Nancy Miller and Linda Marrow of Ballantine for their discerning editorial advice; Fred Hill, my sharp-eyed and indefatigable agent; and, of course, the wonderful Alison Porter Thomas, my assistant, who comments both conceptually and in detail on every page until the days' work more or less meets her approval. My wife, Laurie Patterson, reads and comments on each chapter; when Laurie has a question about a character's behavior, I've found that it is well to listen. And there is Philip Rotner, who reads every line I write and has been, for nearly two decades, the best best friend anyone could have. This one's for you, pal.

  Because this book is also a cautionary tale about the costs of public life, I cannot leave this subject without an observation about those who elect to enter it. Very often, they are far better than we choose to believe; to the best of them, and they are many, we owe the better campaign finance system that we private citizens are often too detached or lazy to insist on. Every once in a while, someone makes us think of that, if only for a time. Laurie and I think often of Paul and Sheila Wellstone.

  Finally, Balance of Power marks the end of what I think of as the Kerry Kilcannon trilogy, which began with No Safe Place and continued with Protect and Defend. For me, it's been a wonderful experience, and I can only hope that my readers have enjoyed inhabiting Kerry's world half as much as I.

  —New Year's Day, 2003

  Addendum

  It is six months since I completed and edited BALANCE of Power, and fiction and reality have merged in an uncanny way.

  In January 2003, survivors of the victims of the Washington, D.C., sniper filed suit against, among others, the manufacturer who noted the adaptability of the weapon for sniper-type activity, and the dealer from whom a juvenile and a man with a record of domestic violence somehow acquired a weapon. In March—following the lead of a majority of the House of Representatives—fifty-two Senators (forty-three Republican
s and nine Democrats) introduced a bill that would immunize manufacturers, dealers, and the National Rifle Association from all such suits. As anticipated in my novel, the bill swiftly passed the House, and is now pending in the Senate.

  The only material difference from the scenario presented in Balance of Power is that this legislation is supported, rather than opposed, by the current administration. But, as in the novel, its fate rests with a handful of swing Democrats and Republican moderates in the Senate—who, because the President will sign such a bill, must join with enough Senators to reach the forty-one required to sustain a filibuster.

  As in Balance of Power, the gun lobby has deployed its full resources, hiring a large team of lobbyists, generating phone calls and letters to Senate offices, and suggesting to undecided Senators that the intensity of their opposition in the next election may turn on this vote. The resulting legislative battle has been as tough as my narrative anticipated. In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that I know this first hand; I have been intimately involved in this conflict, meeting with Senators to urge support for a filibuster, and strategizing with opponents of the bill. By the time this novel appears in mid-October, the outcome may well be decided.