by Beth Klein
Goulding shook his head again.
“No, John. I don’t want a spin put on it. This isn’t something that should be subjected to the usual political bullshit, spin and planning. I intend to announce our relationship to the nation, be open and honest in the same way that I intend to conduct myself as President and leave it up to them to make up their minds about how they feel. I’ll win some and I’ll lose some, but my conscience will be clear and they’ll know that they’re getting a man that they can trust, regardless of how good, bad or uncomfortable the information I have to impart to them is.”
Lyndsey nodded.
“Fair enough, Bill. But there is one thing that concerns me.”
“What’s that?”
“That there’s actually such a thing as a politician with a conscience!”
* * *
Bill had two more visitors that morning and although they were far from being planned, they were more than welcome distractions from the pressures of the day. The first person to visit him was his father. Although they hadn’t met in person for several months, or even spoken on the telephone for the best part of three weeks, the initial period of awkwardness was short-lived and they soon fell back into the comfortable air of companionship that had been developing ever since that fateful night so many years ago.
The emotion and pride glistened in his father’s eyes. Despite the fact that his son stood on the very brink of legend, Goulding Senior knew that his son had achieved greatness many years previously. He would be stood watching as he rose to make his acceptance speech and he would display a typical father’s pride for the entire world to see, but what really made him proud was his son’s drive. His commitment to live again and to rise from his depression and overcome the considerable obstacles that had been placed before him.
Despite being a well-seasoned and experienced figurehead, Goulding wasn’t impervious to his father’s naked emotion. The lump in his throat and the tears that pricked at his eyes were very real. As they talked and reminisced, he couldn’t help but think how lucky he had been that his father had been there in his time of need. If not for his father’s love and concern, he could have led a very different life and it would have been all too easy for him to drift into a state of desolation and misery.
Goulding shuddered and considered the fact that there had been no guarantee that he would ever have managed to win and triumph in that particular battle. It wasn’t too grand a statement to suggest that his father had saved his life. Something Goulding would never forget. Regardless of his career and personal successes, Goulding knew that if he ever managed to be half the man that his father was, he would be a great man indeed.
All too soon, it was time for his father to leave. They shook hands and then after an awkward few seconds embraced each other warmly, promising to see each other again soon and make time for a proper catch-up, regardless of how busy their respective schedules became. Watching the distinguished old man walk back through the office, Goulding felt a great sense of loss, but he barely had time to reconcile the emotion before Jake Armstrong walked through the door.
Jake had given Goulding a brief précis of the mission as soon as he was back on the road. It had been enough to make Goulding laugh out loud with relief. He had also seen the ‘piece de resistance’ highlighted in the local newspaper and at the end of the day’s local news round-up on the television. While they had obviously not captured the explosion itself, the roaring fire that engulfed the building had lit up the sky and was blazing merrily by the time that the news crews and fire brigade had turned up on the scene. Although it was still early in the investigation, everything pointed to a dodgy gas appliance as the cause of the fire. Goulding again considered that there must have been some higher power looking down on him when he ran into Jake in the alley.
The man was so cold and efficient that it actually made Goulding uncomfortable at times. Still, he was on the payroll, a long-standing personal friend and Goulding had absolutely no desire to make an enemy of him—ever!
“Morning, boss,” grinned Jake and slumped into the vacant chair without waiting for an invite. “Today’s the day then.”
“Yes it is. You up for a change of address?”
“Depends, boss.”
“On what?”
“I couldn’t possibly commit until I saw what the resettlement package entailed!”
They laughed and despite the importance of the day, Goulding felt calm and reassured.
“Impressive job you did there Jake. I didn’t know you were so proficient with fireworks!”
“Ah, you know me, Bill. Man of many talents, master of none.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure mate. Everything you’ve touched since working for me has turned to gold.”
“Better watch myself when I take a piss then, eh?”
They laughed again. Goulding relished the return of banter that had been so free and easy when they had both been enlisted men. But he knew that he had to steer the conversation back to the matter in hand. After all, they had plenty of time to catch-up and ‘shoot the shit’ when the day was over and the war had been won.
He settled himself more comfortably in his chair and focused his gaze on the grinning man-mountain in front of him.
“Okay buddy, as much as I’m loving the camaraderie we both know that we have something that needs to be discussed further.”
Jake nodded and withdrew a plain brown envelope from his inside jacket pocket.
“The information you have in that envelope includes all of the hard copies of the documents that those fuckers showed you at the bible thumper’s dinner. It also includes a memory stick that contains the electronic file containing the same information, and a random selection of additional files that cast the good directors at Quest Realtors in a, how shall we say, less than savory light!”
“What about the bank records?”
“Done. It’s a patch-up job, but good enough to stand up to anything other than a detailed search by someone that knows exactly what they are looking for.”
Goulding let out his breath and slumped back into his chair.
“You’re sure you got it all?”
“As sure as I can be given the prep time I had available. There was no safe and I got everything I needed from the filing cabinet. The computer files were a joke and I cleared them out too. Even the bank shit was a piece of piss.”
Goulding nodded his assent.
“What about being traced?”
“Please Bill! How green do you think I am? As far as anyone will ever know, the reason for that…unfortunate accident was an iffy control knob on an aging gas appliance. Trust me.”
For a long time Goulding merely sat contemplating the big man. When he did finally speak, it was with a quiet, calm voice that exuded emotion and sincerity.
“I do Jake, I trust you with everything…even my life.”
* * *
With all of the pieces of the puzzled laid out before him, Goulding began the task of assembling them. He rang Brian Kennedy, who despite having a substantial hangover and a great deal of barely repressed anger at being ‘stood-up,’ Goulding found him to be in pretty good spirits.
“Broke, let-down and no further forward with your story, yet you’re still upbeat and happy…that Cristal…sorry…Melanie must have a damn good touch!”
For a second, the line went dead and Goulding could almost hear the sweat beading on Kennedy’s forehead.
“I-I…I don’t know what you mean, Senator.”
“Oh please, Brian. Give me some credit, would you? I know all about your little…liaison. Looks like we both have a secret we’d prefer remained undisclosed.”
Another silence.
“You bastard. You fucking low-down blackmailing bastard…”
“Really Brian, do you want to go down THAT particular route?”
“Fucking politicians, you’re all the fucking same, you…what? No love, it’s no one…it’s just work, don’t worry about it…”
“Bill…Senator, I can’t talk now. I…just don’t do anything hasty…please.”
“Brian, you probably don’t believe me, but I really do care about the sanctity that people find in loving relationships and caring families. I have no interest in ripping yours apart. Unless you leave me with no choice that is.”
The last nine words were said with an icy menace and they had the desired effect.
“I understand Senator. You want me to back off.”
“No Brian, I want you to bury everything that you know, or think you know and forget you ever uncovered it in the first place.”
“Okay,” said Kennedy feebly, no doubt seeing his last chance at financial security evaporating before his eyes.
“Brian, I may be a bastard, but I’m not heartless and I want to throw you a lifeline. I want to give you something that might not be quite as juicy, but will definitely give you something that will re-dress the balance in your favor.”
“O-kay…I’m listening,” said the reporter suspiciously.
“Not now, Brian. Not over the phone. Come and see me in my office. Shall we say thirty minutes?”
“I’ll be there, Senator,” said Kennedy in a clipped tone. “Let’s hope that whatever you’re offering is indeed mutually beneficial shall we.”
* * *
Brian Kennedy accepted the coffee readily enough, but his mind was awash with a riot of possibilities and conspiracy theories. He found it hard to sit comfortably without fidgeting in his seat. During the short bus ride to Goulding’s offices he had considered ever angle that he might adopt in an attempt to wrestle control of the situation away from the Senator. But try as he might, he couldn’t think of one. Goulding had the upper hand. Not only did he hold the better cards, he held ALL of the cards. Regardless of what the deal was that he was going to propose, Brian knew that he would have to take it.
Goulding shook his hand warmly and smiled as he seated himself comfortably behind the desk. To Brian, the wide smile manifested itself with a vulgarity that was almost obtuse, but he said nothing and waited for the Senator to address him.
“Well, Brian, who’d have thought we’d be sat here today and it would be me that was offering you a deal?”
Brian said nothing and grimly sipped at his coffee.
“I want you to stop all of your endeavors to uncover a story about me and my dealings.”
“I think we’ve established that Senator,” said Brian bitterly.
“Oh come now, Brian,” replied Goulding. “Don’t be like that. This doesn’t have to be so difficult. We both played a game of high stakes and I ended up the victor. It could have gone either way you know.”
Kennedy sighed, Goulding was right. He had gone all-in from the start and risked it all on a collection of patchy information and rumors, hoping to bluff his way to a winning hand, never for a second seeing the ace that was hidden in Goulding’s sleeve.
“I’m listening, Bill,” he said with a resigned air.
“I want you to drop the story about me and in return, I’ll make sure that the details of your little night time escapade never leave these four walls.”
Kennedy’s bowels clenched, but his face remained impassive.
“Just for arguments sake, let’s say that I did do something improper. Who cares? I’m a nobody, so you can’t directly benefit from the knowledge by slandering me even if you tried to use it against my family. It would be my word against yours.”
Slowly Goulding passed the manila envelope across to Brian and watched as he withdrew the pictures. As Kennedy thumbed through the pictures one at a time, all of the color drained from his face and he slumped visibly in his chair. He was utterly, utterly beaten.
“There are around three hundred of these Brian, as well as a video recording of the whole thing. I think your wife would definitely care if she was to receive a copy of them in tomorrow’s post, don’t you?”
“I…I…how? Where did you take these from?”
“Does it really matter Brian?”
Kennedy shook his head and returned the photographs to the envelope.
“No, Senator. I don’t suppose it does. Was it all a set-up?”
Goulding had been ready for this and saw no reason to kick a dead dog when it was down.
“No, Brian. I’m led to believe that the young lady’s lusty affections for you were completely real and genuine. I’m just lucky enough to have certain members of my staff that are very adept at getting me the information I need, regardless of how difficult the scenario seems to be.”
“But you knew her name…”
“Hotel desk clerk was easy enough to bribe.”
“…and you called her, what was it…Cristal?”
“A moment’s distraction caused by a case of champagne that I was buying as a present to my campaign team.”
“Really?” said Kennedy, almost pleading for Goulding not to taint the memory of the single most exciting thing that had ever happened to him.
“Really,” replied Goulding with absolute sincerity.
Kennedy took a deep swig from the coffee cup, dearly wishing that it contained something far stronger. As if he had read his mind, Goulding produced a bottle of Glenlivet from his desk drawer.
“How about we liven up your drinks a bit Brian? What do you say?”
Without waiting for a response, Goulding poured a generous measure of the whiskey into the reporter’s mug and then replaced the bottle in his desk drawer.
“You not having any, Bill?” asked Kennedy.
“No, not for me Brian. Haven’t touched the stuff in a long, long time. Not really sure why I keep the bottle to be honest. Perhaps as a reminder of who I used to be.”
Brian nodded, sensing that this was a topic that was best left untouched.
Goulding sipped wistfully at his own mug and for a second Brian wondered if he had actually forgotten that he was there at all.
“Senator, you said on the phone that there was something you wanted to give me. I’m really hoping that you weren’t merely referring to those pictures.”
Kennedy’s words seemed to snap Goulding out of his reverie and in an instant he was back to being the focused professional that the world had grown to know and love.
“Yes Brian…Sorry about that.”
As the reporter looked on, Goulding withdrew the memory stick from his desk drawer and indicating for Brian to ready himself, he casually tossed it across the desk.
Goulding had used the thirty minutes it had taken Kennedy to reach his office to remove all traces of his own file from the electronic device, as well as burning the hard copy evidence of his financial dealings with Quest Realtors. All that remained were the files that he hoped Brian would use to sink the fuckers once and for all.
“What’s on it Bill?” asked Kennedy curiously.
“How about I show you Brian.”
Goulding twisted his laptop around so that it faced the reporter and inserted the memory stick. Moving around to Brian’s side of the desk, Goulding spent the next hour navigating through the various files and documents. All the while, Kennedy’s eyes grew wider and wider as he began to see the magnitude of the gift that Goulding was offering him.
When they were done, Goulding unplugged the memory stick, rotated the laptop and returned to his side of the desk.
“Holy shit!” said Brian. “That’s enough dirt to sink the organization and all those involved.”
“It certainly is,” nodded Goulding sagely.
“Why? Why are you giving me this and what the hell have Quest Realtors done to piss you off?”
“I think that it’s probably best if I don’t answer that Brian, don’t you?”
“Fair enough,” agreed the reporter. “So you’re giving this to me, complet
ely free of charge, with absolutely no conditions whatsoever?”
“Not exactly, Brian. No.”
“Should have guessed as much. I thought it was too good to be true. What do I have to do?”
Goulding finished his drink and grimaced, he hated the taste of cold coffee. Then his smile returned.
“Don’t worry Brian. It’s nothing difficult or onerous. All I want is for you to send a teaser to the police and major television news channels, with just enough background information and evidence for them to bring the directors in for ‘a little chat’ and to ensure that there is a primetime feature on every news channel by the end of the day. Then I need you to follow all of that up with the full story, so that it runs in tomorrow’s edition of every major national tabloid.”
“Oh, is that all?” said Kennedy sarcastically.
“Well, if you don’t think you can handle it Brian, I’m sure I can find a reporter that can.”
He made as if to gather the memory stick from the desktop and watched as Kennedy snatched it up jealously.
“No, no, that’s okay, Bill. I’ll do it, it’s fine.”
Goulding smiled.
“I thought you might.”
“Just one question though.”
“Yes, Brian. What is it?”
“How close was I? How close did I come to actually finding out your story?”
“You’ll never know Brian,” grinned Goulding ruefully. “You’ll never know.”
* * *
Despite the fact that all of Goulding’s previous worries were one by one resolving themselves, he simply could not settle. Maybe it was the subconscious worry regarding the election. Maybe it was the fact that despite the seeds of so many of his plans having been firmly planted, they had yet to come to fruition. Maybe it was a number of different factors, but Goulding was restless.
He paced his office back and forth, retracing his steps as he tried in vain for some kind of inner peace, but all to no avail. He knew he needed to find some way to relax, a way to still his turbulent mind and accept that there were simply some things that he could not control. What he needed was a safe place and the only one he knew of existed within the arms of his Charlie.
