“Actually, no, it isn’t my robe. It belongs to Harry Wong. He was staying with me a while back and forgot to take it with him. On him it looks good.” Jack rolled over, sat up, and hugged his knees. “Let’s get serious here. Who else knows about this magnificent offer you just made to Bert and me?”
“Absolutely no one. The contracts will be ready in the morning, right after you tender your resignation. Why are you asking?”
“Because of the guys. We’re a team, Jellicoe. We’re all going to be facing the same problem in a few days, once the vigilantes receive their pardons. We can’t stay here, that’s for sure.”
Jellicoe pretended to think. He had predicted that this exact conversation would occur and was prepared. “Okay,” he said agreeably. “I can use all of you, but you have to go to boot camp.”
“Whoa. Whoa. No one said anything about boot camp.”
“I’m saying it now. I have rules and regs. I do not, let me repeat, I do not run a Mickey Mouse operation. You’ll ace it. Not to worry. What time are the guys due?”
Jack looked at his watch. “Actually, they’re ten minutes late. I thought you knew everything.”
“Almost everything.”
Jack leaned forward. “Swear to me on your mother that the Sisters are, honest to God, going to receive pardons. No bullshit, Jellicoe.”
“They are, honest to God, going to walk away from that stupid patriotic party a few days from now with their pardons in hand.”
Jack let out a sigh so loud, Jellicoe reared back. Then he smiled. He so loved happy endings. He hoped his own was going to be just as good.
The doorbell rang just as the dryer in the laundry room pinged. Jellicoe got up to get his dry clothing while Jack went to the door.
The guys had arrived.
“No poker tonight, boys, but I do have some entertainment scheduled. Settle in, and I’ll bring us refreshments. But first, let me introduce our leading entertainer to those of you who do not already know him. Fellows, meet Henry Jellicoe, also known as Hank. Hank is the head and sole owner of Global Securities. Harry, Espinosa, Ted, meet Hank Jellicoe. He’s going to entertain you while I gather up our refreshments. Bert, why don’t you join me in the kitchen?”
“I’ll be with you in a second, Jack. First I need to make a pit stop,” said Bert.
In the kitchen Jack leaned up against the back door and squeezed his eyes shut. Had he just done what he thought he had? Was Jellicoe the answer to all his prayers? Was he finally, after all these years, going to be able to get married to Nikki? A lone tear rolled down his cheek. He brushed at it with shaking fingers. He felt like he’d just stepped into a patch of four-leaf clovers.
Jack looked around the tidy kitchen. He loved Nikki’s house, but without her in it, it was just a house. Where would they all end up? Jellicoe hadn’t said, but then again, he hadn’t asked. His mind raced. Who in the media would put it all together once they made a mass exodus from the District? How long would it take for those in authority to put two and two together? Not long, he thought. Maybe that was why he sensed such urgency in Jellicoe. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the fallout that would engulf the White House when the pardons became public.
Maybe now was the time to start thinking about Hank Jellicoe as his guardian angel. Yeah, yeah, that sounded good.
Jack opened the refrigerator, hauled out his twelve-pack of Heineken, and set the bottles on a tray. Since Bert hadn’t joined him yet, he put one bag of pretzels between his teeth and two bags of chips under his arms before he shouldered his way through the swinging door of the kitchen.
His buddies were staring into the flames. It looked like they were all in a trance. Hank Jellicoe was on his feet, doing stretches.
Jellicoe eyed the tray, then the guys, just as Bert walked into the room. “They’re on board. Right now they’re in a state of shock. It’s safe to say, your team is ready to go. Listen, if you don’t mind, I have to leave. I’ve got things to do and places to go.”
Jack was still holding the tray in his hands, still had the pretzel bag between his teeth and the chips under his arms.
“Here,” said Bert. “Let me help you with that.”
Jack was like a robot when he handed the tray and munchies to Bert and followed his new benefactor to the door. Jellicoe stuck out his hand, and Jack grabbed it. “I feel like I should say something, but I don’t know the words. Thanks? It hardly seems enough. Just tell me why?”
“Thanks will do. Will it help you if I told you I am in love with the president of the United States, and this is what she wants for the people who put her into office?”
Jack tried to wrap his mind around the words Jellicoe had just uttered. “No.”
“Well, there you go. Guess you’ll have to make up your own happy ending, then.” Jellicoe dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a wrinkled card. “Crap, I forgot to mention something. Well, that’s okay. You can tell the guys. You all need to be at this address at ten tomorrow morning. When you put your John Hancocks on the contracts, you’ll get a signing bonus. A quarter mil each. That should give everyone sweet dreams tonight.” Jellicoe winked at Jack, punched him in the arm, and was gone without another word.
Jack watched as the head of Global Securities walked down the steps and out to his SUV, which was still in the same spot it was two hours ago. “Son of a bitch!”
Back in the family room, the guys were still in the same trance. Jack tossed two huge logs onto the fire, watched the sparks shoot upward, then shouted at the top of his lungs, “Campfire time, guys. I have additional information. Listen up.” He ripped open the munchie bags and handed out the beer once he had everyone’s attention.
Ted was the first to speak. “What the hell did we all just agree to?”
“Where are we going?” Espinosa asked.
“Who’s heading up this team?” Harry asked.
Bert and Jack raised their hands.
“Oh, shit!” Ted said.
“Ha! Listen, I said I had further news. Tomorrow morning we all report to this address to sign our contracts,” said Jack. “What Hank forgot to tell us, and what he told me to tell you all, is that there’s a signing bonus. You’re going to like this. It’s two hundred fifty thousand dollars.”
His eyes as round as saucers, Espinosa said, “That’s a quarter of a million dollars!”
“You do understand we’re signing on to Global Securities for five years, right?” Jack asked.
The others nodded that they understood.
Ted’s eyes were so glassy, Jack thought he could see himself in them. “I can repay the loan I took out to pay for that engagement ring and not sweat it,” Ted murmured.
The five of them sat down and started to talk. They spoke of their worries, of the future, which now seemed assured, of their hopes and dreams and the loves of their lives as they munched, drank, and stared at the dancing flames, which seemed to mesmerize them. When someone asked why Jellicoe had made them the offer, Jack told them what Jellicoe had told him.
“And to think Hank Jellicoe was someone we never knew but only heard about on the news or read about. And now he’s saved all of us. What do you guys think? Is he really in love with the president? Or was he bullshitting me?” Jack asked.
As one, the guys shrugged.
“He didn’t strike me as the kind of guy to make up a story like that. When we were on the mountain, Charles did say Hank goes in and out of the White House like it is his summer home. I guess it is possible. The president isn’t married. She’s attractive, so maybe he was telling the truth. The more important question would seem to be, do we care about his personal life?” Jack asked.
His eyes on the flickering fire, Bert responded, “Only in how it affects us. I have to be honest, I had my doubts about the pardons ever coming through. I’ve had more than one hairy nightmare over this. Jellicoe is leaving it up to us as to where we want to set up shop. I think we all need to sleep on it, talk it over with the girls. Then all of us can
make a decision.”
“Jellicoe was pretty firm, Bert, on not talking to anyone, and he stressed anyone, about this until he gave the okay. Since Ted’s the one with the loose lips, I think we need to agree we do as he says,” Jack said.
“You give it up, you’re dead,” Harry said.
Ted took one look at Harry’s serene expression and knew he meant every word. He nodded.
Jack’s cell rang. He reached for it automatically and clicked it on to hear Lizzie identify herself. “What’s up, counselor?” He mouthed Lizzie’s name for the benefit of the others.
“Jack, I…I wanted you to be the first to know. Well, actually, you’re third, but when I tell you, you’ll understand. By the way, I’m in Vegas. Cricket is right here next to me. I just…what I wanted…if it wasn’t for you…I…uh…”
Alarm bells rang in Jack’s head as he looked down to see that somehow or other he’d clicked on the speaker, and the others could hear Lizzie. “What’s wrong, Lizzie? Talk to me.”
Everyone else in the room turned rigid, their eyes glued to Jack and their ears tuned to the voice talking to Jack.
“Nothing’s wrong, Jack. In fact everything is so right, I am beside myself. I just wanted to thank you for saving my life that night at the cemetery. If you hadn’t had the foresight to read me the way you did, I wouldn’t be sitting here, calling you to tell you I’m going to have a baby. Me! I’m pregnant. I’m going to be a mother. It’s taken me a few weeks to get used to the idea before I could begin telling everyone about it. Cosmo and I have been spending a lot of time making plans for the house in Old Town, the one no one told me about. Say something, Jack.”
Jack’s eyes started to burn. He tried squinting as the others clustered around him, and he saw they were having the same problem he was, even stone-faced Harry. “That’s…that is probably the most wonderful thing I’ve ever heard, Lizzie. Congratulations. I don’t think there will be a better mother than you in the whole wide world. I’m so happy for you, beyond happy. The guys are here. We just had a meeting, but that’s for another time.” He held the phone aloft, so the others could shout out their congratulations.
“Thanks, Jack. I wanted you to…You understand, right?”
“I do, Lizzie. Just be happy. Tell Cosmo we’ll wait for the cigar until he comes East next time.”
“I’ll tell him, Jack. Night.”
“Good night, Lizzie. Well, boys, it’s been a hell of an evening. All good. Let’s have another beer and call it a night. Unless you want to have a sleepover, and we all go together to the meeting in the morning.”
In the end, after some discussion, it was decided everyone wanted to go home to think. Jack felt only relief, because he, too, wanted to do some heavy-duty thinking.
When they made their last toast of the evening, it wasn’t to the vigilantes, upcoming pardons, or their new jobs; it was to Lizzie and the new baby she would deliver in the coming months.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
Chapter 20
Ted Robinson breezed through the doors of the Post building just as it was turning light outside. He hadn’t slept at all and felt both elated and depressed. He wondered how that was possible. He stopped at the kiosk that sold sundries, magazines, and the paper. He dropped some coins on the counter, picked up the paper, then headed to the café across the lobby.
Since it was so early, he had the café to himself, but only for a few seconds. He looked up as a waitress and Joe Espinosa appeared at the same moment.
“Couldn’t sleep,” Espinosa mumbled as he sat down, his copy of the paper on top of Ted’s. They both ordered egg-and-bacon sandwiches, coffee, and juice.
Ted pointed to the dark headline on the front page of the morning paper. “Man, that guy moves at the speed of light.”
“FBI director resigns!” Espinosa mumbled.
Ted looked down at the article, written by Maggie herself, which said in part that the director had made the difficult decision to move into the private sector to head up the worldwide firm of Global Securities.
The rest of the article dealt with Bert’s successes and his few failures, his high recommendation from former director Elias Cummings, and his general background and years he spent as a special agent in the Bureau. The article went on to promise an in-depth personal interview with ex-Director Navarro for the next edition.
“That’s a pretty snappy picture of old Bert,” Espinosa said. “I didn’t know this was going to run, did you, Ted?”
Ted shrugged, which meant no. “I haven’t talked to Maggie. I fired off my resignation via e-mail, just like Jellicoe instructed. Don’t know if Maggie’s seen it yet. I am not looking forward to handing over the paper resignation. How about you?”
Ted’s voice sounded so jittery, Espinosa winced. “I don’t have a problem with it, but then again, I’m not sleeping with Maggie, like you are. Are you having second thoughts?”
“I didn’t close my eyes once last night. I spent the whole night worrying and spending all that new money we’re going to get. And when I wasn’t doing that, I was trying to straighten my backbone for the inevitable when Maggie gets hold of us. I am not looking forward to seeing her this morning.”
“You better not screw up like the last time,” Espinosa said ominously. “You have to stop letting Maggie walk all over you.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll hold it together. C’mon, finish up here, so we can get our resignations on her desk before she shows up. It’s going to take me five minutes to clear out my workstation. Then I’m outta here. How long is it going to take you?”
“Just long enough to pick up my dental floss, my toothbrush, and my sunglasses. Five seconds maybe.” Everyone at the paper knew how anal Espinosa was about brushing and flossing.
“Then let’s do it,” Ted said, getting up from the table. He dropped some bills and said, “Lunch is on you, buddy.”
The newsroom was starting to come alive when Ted and Espinosa stepped out of the elevator. Seeing no lights on in Maggie’s office, they raced across the room, resignations in hand. Like two errant children, they dropped the two envelopes on Maggie’s desk and raced to their workstations, where they cleaned out their cubicles. They made it safely to the lobby and were almost outside when Maggie whistled sharply as she pointed to the café they had just left.
“You screw this up, Ted, and I’m going to kick your ass all the way to the Mexican border. You hear me?” Espinosa asked.
“Yeah.”
Inside and seated at the same table they had just vacated, Maggie looked at them with a piercing gaze. “You two have some explaining to do.”
Ted squared his shoulders. “About what?”
“Where were you last night?” Maggie quizzed. “I tried calling you all night. How come I had to get the headline from Bert and not you? How come I, the EIC, had to do the interview, and not my star reporter? Well?”
“Well what?” Ted asked.
Maggie glared at both men.
“I had personal business last night,” Ted said. “It was poker night. You knew that. I told you in the morning. You weren’t listening. You never listen to me, Maggie. I’m getting a little sick and tired of it, too. I do have a life outside this goddamn paper.”
“You’re up to something. I can tell,” said Maggie. “You might as well spit it out right now, instead of making me work for it. Give it up. Now.”
Ted’s eyes narrowed. Espinosa was impressed with how his friend was standing up to their boss. “Or what?” Ted asked coldly.
“Or else you’re fired, that’s what.”
“No problem, Miss EIC. I quit. I tendered my resignation via e-mail in the wee hours of the morning. Joe’s is there, too. There are hard copies on your desk.” Ted slid off his chair and headed for the door, Espinosa right behind him.
Ted’s voice was so shaky, Espinosa had a hard time understanding what he was saying, which was, “I thought that went rather well, considering that we left her speechless.”
“None of the above.”
“You feeling pretty powerful right now, Ted?”
“No. I feel like shit. Were we supposed to make our resignations effective immediately? No one said.”
“Too late now. We’re technically…no, officially unemployed. What the hell are we going to do till ten o’clock?”
“Let’s go to Harry’s dojo. We can hang out there and all go together. Unless you have a better idea.”
“That’ll work,” Espinosa said.
“Just in case you’re interested,” Ted said, “Maggie is calling my cell. I have it on vibrate. You wait. She’s going to rip me a new one.”
“You are such a chicken, Ted. She can do that only if you let her. How the hell did you let her get such power over you? I’m almost ashamed to be seen with you. You are such a wuss, and you are pathetic in the bargain.”
“I know.”
Espinosa stepped to the curb and hailed a taxi. Both men stepped in, Ted taking the right corner, Espinosa the left. Three people could have sat between them. Espinosa rattled off Harry’s address, then leaned back and closed his eyes. They didn’t speak again until the taxi pulled to the curb outside Harry’s dojo.
“Look, I’m not back watering here, but what the hell is the point to all of this?” Ted asked.
“The point, you dumb cluck, is Jellicoe does not want Maggie running with this until everyone is on board and everything is signed, sealed, and delivered. Bert was…I guess he wanted that out there right away. Maggie would have a special edition ready to go in ten minutes with the mass exodus. I’m thinking, and I say I am thinking, he wants us all far away from here when the stuff hits the fan. Makes sense to me. You need to stop thinking with your dick, Ted.”
“That was a low blow, Joe.”
“It was meant to be a low blow. You deserve it.”
The dojo was empty, which was surprising, because Harry always scheduled early-morning classes for the local precincts. What was even more surprising was that Harry was dressed in a sport jacket, a pristine white shirt, and sharply creased trousers. His tie shrieked power.
17. Game Over Page 17
