The Fixer, Season 1

by Rex Carpenter

  His son stood there. Face impassive except for a slight furrowing of the brow. Jacob Meier was proud of his son. Even though he looked more like his mother, he knew the boy was a chip off the old block.

  “Are you ready, Daniel? Ready to help cement our family’s position for the next five generations?”

  Daniel was overcome. Five generations. One hundred years. Old family. Rothschild. Morgan. Carnegie. Enduring wealth. Real power.

  “Yes. I am, sir.”

  Neither one saw the man sitting in the Ford Taurus across the street. The same man who was behind Daniel in line at the airport in D.C.

  Chapter 17

  Find a Way, Senator

  Duke was waiting outside the Hart Senate Office Building where Senator Marcus’s office was located when JC arrived. Both had dressed in their best corporate/lawyer attire. JC was wearing one of his Saville Row bespoke suits. Duke had on something off the rack from Macy’s in New York.

  “We have got to get you over to one of my guys in London,” JC said.

  “Sure thing, man. You foot the bill, I’ll go.”

  Duke saw Joan approach from behind JC. He whistled low. She was dressed in a business suit as well. However, she put the two of them to shame.

  “I know she’s a teammate and all, but did you two ever…?”

  JC turned. Saw her. Joan was a very attractive woman. He usually did his best to try and ignore it.

  “Nope.”

  Duke smiled. “You’re such a bad liar,” he said to his friend under his breath. To Joan he said, “Hey, you clean up real nice.”

  Joan shook her head, unwilling to respond to her partner’s bait this morning.

  “When is our meeting, JC?” she said.

  “Scheduled for eleven,” he replied, “but with politicians, anything can happen.”

  “Will Kowalski and Meier be there?” she continued.

  “Not sure. I spoke to Guy yesterday. If he’s there, he won’t be happy.”

  “So, did he take the bait?” Duke asked.

  “Didn’t fall for it,” JC said.

  “So it wasn’t him? It was The General?” Duke said.

  “He didn’t take the bait. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t him,” Joan said.

  “Joan’s right. Kowalski may be an unambitious government worker, but he’s no dummy. He turned down a full ride at MIT to join the Army. He’s smarter than people give him credit for. Dedicated as well.”

  “So he’s our guy,” Duke concluded.

  JC shrugged. “Don’t know.” His phone rang. “Bannister” he said, answering it. Paused, then began speaking in a foreign language. Stepped casually a few steps away from Duke and Joan.

  “What’s he saying?” she asked.

  “Hell if I know.”

  “Don’t you speak Chinese?”

  “I speak Japanese, Taiwanese and five other major dialects of Chinese as well as passable Thai, Laotian and Cambodian,” Duke said. “Whatever he’s saying ain’t one of those.”

  Joan was visibly impressed. “Really? That much?”

  “That’s just Asia, baby,” Duke said with a smile. He tried to listen to the conversation JC was having. “Honestly, if I had to guess, I’d say that’s Korean.”

  “Makes sense. He was stationed there for about two years.”

  “He was?”

  Joan smiled. “Someday, Duke, you and I should sit down and compare notes on the subject of JC Bannister.”

  JC hung up the phone. “Come on. We’re late.”

  Duke didn’t move. Just raised his hands and plastered a deliberately quizzical look across his face. “The phone call?”

  “You’re my girlfriend? I have to tell you everything?” JC chided him. When Duke changed to an overly hurt expression, JC said, “I’ll tell you both later. Right now, we’re late.”

  They went down the steps and into the front entrance. Their names were on the list. They took the elevator to the sixth floor. Found the senator’s office. Knocked, then entered.

  Her assistant seated them in the front area, near her desk. They waited patiently. Didn’t talk. Although Duke and Joan did not know the details of what was happening with the senator, JC had promised them everything was going to be figured out at the meeting. No weapons had been carried in, of course. The two felt nervous. Naked.

  The phone rang at the front desk, her assistant answered it.

  “Senator Marcus will see you now.”

  She was pretty. Young. Duke smiled as they walked in. Winked. Joan rolled her eyes.

  JC was uncharacteristically nervous. He didn’t let it show. He still hadn’t decided what he should do. That would depend on a few things. A few answers he planned to get at this meeting.

  As he walked in, he saw Kowalski standing to the left of the senator, behind her desk. Meier was not there. Interesting. He had expected the man to be there. Maybe it would be easier without him. The senator came from around her desk to hug JC and greet Duke and Joan. They all sat. Guy hadn’t moved.

  “So, James. What are we to discuss today?”

  “I have a question for you, first, Mrs. Marcus. Why did you lie to me?”

  The senator looked confused. It wasn’t convincing. “I don’t understand, James.”

  “When we met in Arlington at the library, you said you didn’t know about my mother’s death. The General told me you did.”

  Senator Marcus clasped her hands. Looked down at her desk. Over at her shelf of photos. “I am truly sorry, JC, but I was embarrassed. Your mother died and I felt so bad about it. I wanted to contact you, but The General said you were out of the country. I was busy with committees and work here. An important vote was coming up and by the time that was finished, three months had passed by. The General said you had come back to the US but were gone again.” Tears had begun to form in her eyes. JC wondered who they were for.

  “I am sorry, JC. I should have been honest with you. But I was embarrassed.”

  He believed her. But it made his course of action easier.

  “I understand, Senator,” he said. “You were a good friend to my family. And you have fought tirelessly for the armed services and the servicemen and women in this country. A fact that was impressed upon me by our mutual friend in New York.”

  Duke wasn’t really listening. He was watching Kowalski. The senator was the most powerful person in the room, but Kowalski posed the most immediate danger to the team.

  Joan was watching the senator. Trying to gauge her reactions as sincere or manufactured. Information that could be helpful to JC later.

  “However, you need to understand something,” JC continued. “I operate differently than you apparently do. While I do not give my team members every scrap of information I possess, I do give them all the information I think they will need to perform the duties I require of them.”

  “James, I don’t think…”

  “Which is why I have agreed to take this job. I will provide you with a solution to your problem.”

  The senator looked relieved. JC had kept the solution she requested in his pocket, not laying it on the table for all to see.

  “I will do my best to abide by your wishes,” he said. “I will follow your orders as best as I can. We will work together to create a solution that is satisfactory and unique to your situation.”

  Joan and Duke had heard this part many times before.

  “But in the end I will perform the work as I see fit in the manner I feel is best. Agreed?”

  Something in JC’s tone changed. Kowalski sensed it. Moved half a step closer to Mrs. Marcus.

  “Senator, I cannot recommend you agree to this,” Kowalski said.

  “Don’t worry, Guy. It will be fine. I trust James.”

  Kowalski’s face showed he clearly thought that was a mistake. Everyone saw it except for the senator.

  “Alright, JC, I agree,” Senator Marcus said.

  “Where do you wish the work to be performed?” he asked.

  “I think L
os Angeles will be best,” she said, smiling. “I have some fundraisers scheduled out there starting at the end of next week and continuing for about six days. The Senate will be on spring break then. Should be an advantageous time.”

  “Good,” JC said. “That is settled. Los Angeles, sometime in the next two weeks.” Paused. “Now, there is the matter of payment. A price must be negotiated and agreed upon before the work is to proceed.”

  Duke and Joan shifted in their chairs. This was unusual. JC typically took care of the negotiations privately. Kowalski looked at them both, his eyes narrowing at their unease.

  “Okay, James. Name your price.”

  “One million dollars.”

  All sound left the room.

  “For me,” he spoke into the vacuum. “For my teammates you see here. And for our teammate in Los Angeles you haven’t met.”

  “Four million dollars?” The senator could barely speak the words.

  “Five,” JC continued. “One million for each member of our team plus one million dollars in expenses. Five million dollars, Senator Marcus.”

  Kowalski’s face showed his shock at the audacity of Bannister’s fee.

  The most the team had ever earned for a job was three million dollars. That was for their work in Indonesia. But the bulk of that fee had gone to the family of Gorman, their teammate who had died in the operation. The fee for their work was typically around one hundred thousand dollars.

  Joan and Duke exchanged a quick glance. What the hell kind of job is this? it said.

  The senator sat back in her chair. Shocked. JC could tell from experience that she had never really thought about the money part of this. She had just expected she could pay for it. But this, this was something else.

  “What’s going on, JC?” she asked.

  “What do you mean?” he said. “You’ve asked for a service. I’ve quoted you a price.”

  “Is it because I lied about knowing your mother had died?”

  “Not at all. That was personal. This is not.”

  “Senator, whatever it is…” Kowalski started. The senator pointed her finger at him without looking. He stopped. Senator Marcus had her eyes locked on JC’s face, trying to ascertain his true intention.

  “I know what I’ve asked you is difficult,” she said. “Personally and professionally. But asking for an exorbitant, astronomical amount in the hopes that I say no, honestly, seems cowardly to me,” she said.

  JC sat up straight in his chair. Readied himself.

  “Cowardly?” he said. “You’re talking to me about cowardly?”

  “Bannister,” Kowalski growled.

  JC’s eyes snapped to the agent as the man moved protectively towards Senator Marcus. “Don’t speak, don’t even move, Kowalski.” The man froze and JC's eyes returned to the senator.

  “Is the fee high?” he said. “Yes, it is. But the job will be done. Satisfactorily. Compassionately. Unfortunately, you won’t be around to judge the quality of the service, so I require a higher fee. Up front.”

  Joan’s eyes narrowed.

  The senator erupted.

  “You want five million dollars?” she said, shooting up from her chair as she did. “Up front? I came to you as a friend and this is what you do? Have you lost your goddamn mind? That’s insane!” She turned and walked away from Kowalski, towards the window of her office.

  “Insane, senator?” JC said, crossing his right leg over his left, just a businessman conducting a deal. “Hardly. I think five million dollars is a fair price to assassinate a United States Senator. One that could be president in the next election.”

  *****

  The room froze.

  The senator turned around, her face cycling through anger, embarrassment, fear, betrayal and resentment in about fifteen seconds. Then back to anger. She didn’t move.

  “How dare you, James Caddoc Bannister,” she said. “How dare you reveal my private business in front of people I specifically told you not to reveal it to!”

  She placed her hands on her desk, leaning forward. A powerful woman not used to being denied her way. Embarrassed. Betrayed. Enraged.

  “Didn’t I say that no one was to know of this? No one!” Senator Marcus continued.

  “Yes, you said that,” JC said. “You also said you didn’t know my mother had passed. But that was a lie, wasn’t it?”

  “You’ve betrayed my trust because I didn’t call you after she died?” Marcus said. “Unbelievable. How small minded and petty—”

  “Senator!” JC barked. “It’s got nothing to do with personal feelings between me and you. It’s got everything to do with how much I trust you. You came to me, remember? You asked me to kill you, remember? You asked me to kill a United States Senator. I haven’t spoken to you in eighteen years and you expect me to trust you? When you lied about something as minor and potentially embarrassing as not knowing my mother had died?”

  JC had cut her off. He was trying to keep his voice low so anyone in an adjoining office would have difficulty hearing. But his anger was off the charts.

  “How did I know Kowalski wasn’t in the loop?” he continued. “Or Meier? Where is he, anyway? Why isn’t your chief of staff in this meeting?” The senator started to answer. “Don’t bother. It was rhetorical. You told me they read my files. Which files? From my Army days? The secret files The General keeps? Yeah, I know about those. I used to compile them for him. Or was it Homeland Security files? CIA? DSS? FBI? I have no idea what files you have your hands on and no idea how much Meier or Kowalski know about me and the job you want me to do. I wouldn’t ask my team to be a part of some potential catastrophe without them knowing how deep the fallout was going to get. Maybe you don’t trust your guys enough to let them know how deep a pool of shit they’re jumping into. I can see from how freaked out Kowalski is that I’m right. Maybe Meier figured it out and jumped ship.”

  The senator sat back down at her desk. Let JC continue to rant. Let him get it out of his system.

  “JC, I’m sorry. I never…”

  “Save it. You’re dying from cancer. You want to go out on your own terms. I get that. Any soldier would. You want me to do the job? The price is five million dollars. Up front, ’cause I’m damn sure there’s going to be precious little in the way of collection after the job is done. You don’t like the price, shop around. Hell, Guy would’ve done it for five grand, wouldn’t you have, buddy?”

  “I’ve had enough of your taunts,” Kowalski said as he moved around the senator’s desk. Ready to punch JC in the face. Joan and Duke stood, simultaneously, on either side of JC and slightly behind him. Kowalski froze.

  “Agent Kowalski,” Senator Marcus said, pulling on his leash.

  “Don’t worry about her, Kowalski,” JC said. “Or them,” indicating his team members. Then he stood. Stepped toward Kowalski. Toe to toe. “You want at me? Take a goddamn number. You say you read up on me. Then you’ve seen the jobs I’ve done, both good and bad. You’ve seen how many people all over the world are after me. You think I’m gonna lose sleep? Over you?”

  JC looked him straight in the eye.

  “Not fuckin’ likely.”

  He side-stepped Kowalski. Finished with him. Addressed the still seated senator.

  “You want the job done in L.A.? Fine. It’ll be done. I promised you compassion. You’ll get it. But before we lift a finger, my team gets the five million. Offshore. Because I’m pretty sure once this job is done, we’ll never be able to work another day in our entire lives. We’re going to spend the rest of our days running from people trying to hunt us down.”

  “I don’t have the money, James. I simply don’t.”

  “Bullshit,” he said. “If you didn’t have it or you couldn’t get it, you would have kicked us out of your office the second I said the number. You didn’t, so you can get it. Use your contacts. Your political capital. Hell, you’re the head of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Appropriate it.”

  “It doesn’t work that way, JC
.”

  “Find a way, senator. Or find someone else.”

  JC turned and walked to the door. Duke and Joan were backing up towards their boss. JC pulled the door open.

  “Okay,” Senator Marcus said.

  JC turned. “Okay what?”

  “You’ll have the money. Tomorrow.”

  JC’s face showed nothing. “That’s what I thought. We’ll be in touch.”

  He left with Duke and Joan trailing behind him.

  *****

  JC walked briskly away from the senator’s office, towards the elevator. His adrenaline was pumping. Making him walk faster than intended. Joan and Duke had to nearly jog to keep up.

  They reached the elevator. JC punched the down arrow with his knuckle. Looked up at the red LED readout of the floor indicator. Waited.

  Duke leaned over. “Yo, man, what the hell?”

  “Not a word.”

  They waited in silence. Rode down in silence. Maintained the silence as they walked. Stopped at a bench on the National Mall. Nobody sat.

  “Yo, man. What the hell?” Duke repeated.

  “Listen,” JC said. “We don’t have much time. You know the deal. In or out?” He looked at Joan first.

  Her eyes drilled into his as he waited.

  “In.”

  “Good. Duke?”

  “I told you like two days ago I was in, man, why you gotta keep asking me?” He smiled.

  JC and Joan smiled too. “Good. Next. Joan. You’re the new aide for Senator Marcus. Screw Meier. Follow her, shadow her, know her routine inside and out.”

  “Got it.”

  “You’ll come out to L.A. a day ahead of her.” JC turned to Duke. Turned back to Joan. “One more thing. Keep an eye on Kowalski. I don’t trust Marcus. But Kowalski’s a dangerous son of a bitch. Watch out for him.”

  A delicious sinister smile curled across Joan’s mouth. “Want me to take care of him?”

  Duke had never seen this side of Joan. His eyes widened and he leaned back, as if evil was radiating off of her. “What the…?”