“Not really, except for the book. It was just a wanton act. None of that has any value except to me. And there were no fingerprints anywhere, so they knew what they were doing.” She didn’t know if that was true or not, she just threw it in for good measure. “Poor Jennifer is a nervous wreck. She hired guards to watch the house, so they don’t get in again. I’m out of town and I won’t be back till Wednesday.”
“I’m glad you did that. Where are you, by the way?” She hadn’t told him, and he tried to sound casual when he asked. She hadn’t been out of town in six years, so it was an unusual occurrence, to say the least.
“In Iowa, with Josh. I haven’t been here in ages.”
“I’ll try to come up and see you this week. I don’t have my schedule yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I do. Try not to worry about this, you probably have enough for the book already.” He sounded as protective as always.
“Yes, I do, but it’s an eerie feeling and so violating. Who would do such a thing?” He agreed with her about her sense of violation, and after they hung up she called Pelham back and reported the conversation to him.
“We’re almost there, Mrs. Foster. It won’t be long now,” he reassured her. She just wanted it to be over, and she didn’t want to see Tony again. Their dinner on Saturday had been hard enough. “We’ll be in touch,” Officer Pelham promised, and Olympia hung up thinking about what a snake Tony was. He was a frightened man, fighting for his life now and covering his tracks as fast as he could. Her father-in-law had been right about him all along. He was sleazy and an opportunist. And now he had turned out to be a criminal. It was everything Bill had begun to fear before he died. All she wanted now was for Tony to be out of her life forever. And she realized he would probably go to prison, which was shocking. He had lied to Bill, and to her, and jeopardized Bill’s reputation. And now she had begun to realize that Tony guarding her so closely hadn’t been to protect and support her, but to control her and what she discovered and said about him. He had convinced her that she was weak and frightened and permanently damaged by what she’d been through. And now, just distancing herself a little, she had begun to find her wings again. She was as strong as ever. She just didn’t know it for the past six years. But now her eyes were open. Tony Clark could not control her, nor coerce her into silence, and make her doubt herself and what she knew. Tony’s game was over, and the truth about him had set her free. As much as she had loved him and valued his friendship, she knew she would never forgive him for being willing to risk Bill’s reputation and take him down with him. It was time for Tony to pay for his dishonesty and his crimes, and for her to return to sanity and freedom from him.
Olympia lay awake for a long time that night, thinking about the break-in. What would they have done if she’d been there? Tie her up? Blindfold her? How desperate was he? The only thing she knew for sure now was that Tony was not the man she’d believed him to be. He had convinced her of his innocence and good intentions, none of which were true. She had even begun to believe that Bill was wrong about him and had judged him too harshly.
She dreamt of Bill that night, at dinner with her and his father, and she could see that he was pleased. It reassured her that she was doing the right thing. She had no doubt about it now. Tony was everything Bill had discovered about him, a dishonest man, serving only his own purposes and no one else’s. He was motivated by a thirst for power, and greed, willing to do whatever he had to, to get what he wanted. Tony Clark was no one’s friend, not Bill’s, or hers, and never had been.
Chapter 12
When Olympia woke up the morning after she heard about the break-in, the day she spent with Josh and Joanna was particularly sweet. They drove to some of his favorite places and had lunch at a farm that had a wonderful restaurant, using everything they raised and grew. He drove her through the countryside he loved so much, and she got to know Joanna better, and had great respect for her. Their relationship was all based on kindness and mutual admiration and they were mature for young people their age. At twenty-four, he was surprisingly grown-up and centered, and so was she. She was the oldest of five children and an impressively responsible young woman. Olympia could easily see them getting married one day and almost hoped they would. Their values and goals appeared to be the same, much like she and Bill. And Josh said openly that he wanted to spend the rest of his life on a farm, and bring his children up in a healthy, simple rural atmosphere. The more sophisticated life he’d grown up with, with a father in politics, as a senator, held no appeal to him. New York, Washington, and Chicago were all big cities he didn’t care if he ever saw again. Even his uncle’s quieter life as a senator in Connecticut seemed much too public and worldly to him. He wanted the opposite extreme of what he’d always known, and Joanna was content to share that with him, and had all the same goals.
Olympia wondered sometimes how their children had turned out to be so different from their parents. Bill had had his sights set on the White House, after all, but given how his life had ended, murdered on the campaign trail, it was not so surprising that her children were disillusioned and had an aversion to politics, any kind of public life, and even city living. And Darcy was even more extreme, living in an African village, and helping desperately poor people get basic food and clean water, although Olympia couldn’t imagine her staying there forever. But clearly, Josh was at home where he was. He had rejected everything he’d grown up with, they both had, which was their reaction to their father’s death and the price he’d paid for his dreams.
The three of them cooked dinner in the tiny house he lived in. Olympia drove from Iowa to the Chicago airport the next day, to fly back to New York. Unlike her son, she preferred big cities, and she and Bill had been comfortable as public people. But she felt relaxed and peaceful after spending two days with him and Joanna in their rural life. She sat looking out the window of the plane, thinking about them, as she flew home to New York that night, and she was happy for them, and thrilled she’d gone to visit. It had strengthened the bond with her son again. She was grateful he hadn’t given up on her. After two days together, they were closer than ever.
And now she had to face the realities of her life and the case that the CIA was building against Tony, the lies he had told her and Bill, and the friendship he had pretended was so important to him while he manipulated her and even had someone break in to her home and steal what he thought were incriminating papers about his illegal deals. She also had to face the prison she had built for herself in the past six years at his urging. Now she saw clearly the negative influence he’d had on her, every bit of it with an ulterior motive, which served him, to her detriment. It all had to change. She had to rebuild her life again.
She was sad to see the spot of the missing painting when she walked into her house that night. Two CIA agents were waiting for her, as a reminder of the break-in her supposed best friend had orchestrated, and when Tony called her at midnight on her cell, she didn’t have the heart to talk to him, and let it go to voicemail. She didn’t want to be lied to again, or be false with him and pretend that nothing had changed. What she knew now had tainted and erased all their years of friendship. She didn’t even know who he was anymore. She went to bed that night and tried not to think of any of it, except the happy days she had just spent with her son. But the echo of Tony’s words and the memory of his lies haunted her. All she wanted now was for the nightmare to end. John Pelham promised it would soon.
—
Alix had gone back to work on Monday, after they brought Faye home from Durham, and the first thing she did was tell Felix that she couldn’t leave town on an assignment for at least the next two weeks until Faye went back to school. If she did, which wasn’t sure either. For the moment, she wanted to stay home, and be in the same town and under the same roof as her mother.
“How is she?” Felix asked her in a hushed tone.
“Very shaken up,” Alix said with a serious expression. “It was an incredibly horrifying experience.�
�� The kids had seen the fallen bodies of their slain classmates lying on the ground with blood in pools around them. Faye had described it to her in minute detail, and it made Alix cry just listening to it. And another of her injured friends had died since then. Alix wasn’t sure it would be wise for her to go back to Duke after the experience. She wanted to see how Faye did in the next couple of weeks, and the university had already offered counseling to those who planned to return. There was no question in anyone’s mind, it was going to mark them forever. You didn’t live through something like that and remain the same.
Felix agreed not to send Alix or Ben on assignment for the next several weeks, and to keep them in the city. And the death threats against Alix hadn’t been resolved yet either. The threats hadn’t been traced. Although it was clear that they had resulted from the digging she’d done into Tony Clark’s secret life and the bribes he had taken, there was no proof to link the threats to him. It was possible that someone in the lobbies was threatening her, but the CIA hadn’t been able to discover who. There hadn’t been one now in a week, and Officer Pelham had assured her that they were investigating the case and the suspicions against Tony in depth at full speed. He hoped they were days away from a grand jury hearing.
Pelham came to see Alix on Tuesday morning, and she met with him in her office. He told her that they were investigating all of Tony’s accounts, in the States and elsewhere offshore, which he was unaware of, and any payments he had received in the last fifteen to twenty years would be carefully traced, and many already had been. He didn’t tell her that they had nearly all the evidence they needed. They were waiting for a few final pieces of information about the payments he’d received from the Saudis. His Swiss bank accounts alone, given the amounts, were enough to put him away for a long time on tax evasion. Their two star witnesses, important lobbyists themselves, were waiting to testify in front of the grand jury, with hardcore evidence against him. They were almost ready to issue a warrant, which he didn’t tell Alix. And she was shocked when Pelham told her that Olympia’s home had been ransacked on Sunday, after what she had told Tony over dinner the night before. He had gone for the bait, hook, line, and sinker, and cartons of what he assumed were incriminating papers had been removed from her home. They were meaningless, and he was too late to save himself now, but he didn’t know it. He had believed Olympia’s innocent patter, and the false information she’d dropped, while he lied to her throughout the meal.
Alix felt very sorry for her when she heard about the break-in, but more than that she knew how much Olympia had believed in Tony, how she had valued their friendship and been loyal to him. She was a decent, honest woman, and Alix knew it must have been a terrible blow to her to realize that he was a liar and a fraud. Alix was sure Tony would have blamed Bill if he had to. Anything and anyone was fair game to him, and he had played Olympia for a fool. Their friendship had been reduced to ashes, there was nothing left. And Alix could easily guess how disillusioned Olympia must feel.
She told Ben about the break-in after Pelham left, and explained how it had happened.
“What a scumbag,” Ben said without hesitation. “Poor woman. You said he was her best friend.”
“Her only friend since her husband’s death. That’s what she thought anyway. It must have taken a lot for her to cooperate with the CIA against him. She only did it to save her husband’s reputation. We convinced her that Clark was going to take him down. I really think he would have, and he might still try, unless there is flawless evidence against him that he can’t deny.”
“And is there?” Ben asked with a concerned look.
“I think they’re getting there, according to Pelham. They want to build an airtight case. They don’t want to make a move until they have all their ducks in order. I don’t know all of it, but what I do know sounds like almost enough to bury him, particularly if some of the lobbyists who bribed him testify against him to save themselves. They don’t want to take the hit for him either and are willing to talk in exchange for immunity. If not, they’re going to take a fall too, for paying bribes to the Vice President. It’s all so sick and twisted and convoluted.” “Scumbag” was too kind a term.
“They’re not going to get any Saudis to testify against him,” Ben said skeptically.
“No, but if they can prove he was doing business with them over a long period of time, and took money from them, that’s enough. The evidence may be circumstantial, but the paper trail behind him goes back years.” He nodded in agreement. And she had given the names of the four Saudis Tony met with, thanks to her contact in Tehran. Her information had proven to be solid.
“What did Pelham say about the threats against you?”
“He said to wait a couple of weeks before I go home. Bad news for you.” She smiled at him. “But seriously, I can move to a hotel with Faye any time you want. He said they’d keep the agents to cover Faye, and assign additional ones to me. We’ll be fine.”
“To be honest, I’d rather have you at my place, if the two of you don’t mind. I feel safer guarding you myself. I haven’t lost my touch.” His training from the SEALs was instinctive, and he wouldn’t hesitate to use it to protect her and Faye.
“No, but you’ve lost your privacy and your guest room. Having a teenager in the house can’t be ideal for you,” Alix said apologetically.
They had dropped her off at a friend’s that morning on their way to work, and she wasn’t going to move all day. Her head still hurt a little, and a group of girls were going to sit in bed and watch movies in a highly secure Fifth Avenue apartment building. Alix felt sure she was safe, and they were going to pick her up on the way home, unless she decided to spend the night with her friend, which Alix thought was fine too. And just before she and Ben were ready to leave work, Faye called and said that was what she wanted to do. They were having Thai food sent in and there were four of them watching movies and their favorite shows on TV. Her dressing didn’t need to be changed that night, Alix had done it in the morning, before they left. Faye said she could stay at her friend’s. Alix and Ben stopped and bought groceries on the way home. But Alix wasn’t hungry, she was exhausted. She kept wondering when they were going to arrest Tony Clark, and she was sure that Olympia was wondering that too. Waiting for the other shoe to drop was like a cloud hanging over their heads. Olympia’s, even more than Alix’s. Alix had no personal stake in it, Olympia did.
Alix had work to do that night, reading research on a story Felix had assigned to her that was in its early stages, and Ben was trying to catch up on his expense account at his desk. He went to bed before she did, and it was after midnight when she finally walked into the guest room, put on her nightgown, got into bed, and tried to fall asleep. But she kept thinking about Olympia and Tony Clark. They were like pieces of a puzzle that still didn’t fit. What had he wanted from her and from Bill? What he really wanted was the presidency, but before that he had been content to ride Bill’s coattails and hope for a vice presidential nomination, an alliance which might still get him into the White House as President eight years later. All of that made sense, there was his dream, his fallback position, and his long-term goal. And Olympia had no real role in it, until a madman killed her husband. Once he was gone, Clark had a clear shot at both the vice presidency and the White House again, and without Foster, he even had a shot at Bill’s “secret weapon,” his beautiful wife, an icon whom everyone loved. Bill had threatened to disassociate himself from Clark before he died, which would have ended all his dreams. But without Bill, after he died, Tony was back in the running again, on all fronts. It was perfect. He controlled Olympia with claims of love and friendship, became her mentor and best friend, which appeared noble and tacitly implied Foster’s posthumous approval, if they were so close, and he married a rich, pretty young girl whose father would bankroll his campaign so his daughter would wind up as First Lady. And she even had babies with him to make him look like a respectable, lovable guy. So what was the fly in the ointment? Alix ke
pt looking but couldn’t find the piece that didn’t fit, except that in some ways, Bill Foster’s death had been fortuitous for him.
Alix went over the details in her head again, like counting sheep. The misfortune for Tony Clark was that Alix started snooping around, and blind luck turned up more nasty information from Alix’s source in Tehran. Then the CIA got involved after Tehran, putting it all together. And suddenly the Vice President was screwed. The lobbyists who had paid him handsomely didn’t want to take a fall for him. The informant in Iran led Alix to the Saudis, and she even had their names and evidence of years of meetings. There were Swiss bank accounts for the money they paid him, and the house of cards started tumbling down. And now he was desperately trying to destroy the evidence he had been told about, notes that Bill Foster had allegedly made of his illegal activities…which led Alix back to Bill, who had discovered that Clark was a liar and a cheat and a dangerous man. And he was going to part company with him, which would have left Tony disgraced and out in the cold. Overnight Bill had become a major threat to Tony’s dreams. Despite their longtime friendship, Clark knew that one day it would come out, or it could, as long as Bill Foster was alive…Bill knew everything. Alix sat bolt upright in bed as she thought about it. It was one in the morning by then, and she leapt out of bed and ran to Ben’s room. She knocked on his bedroom door and before he could answer, she walked into the dark room. She heard a rapid stirring from the bed, and a click, and a second later, he flipped on the light and had a gun pointed at her head. She gave a gasp and took a step back. The sound she had heard was Ben cocking the gun. He had his finger on the trigger and was standing six feet away from her, with rage in his eyes, his entire body tense, as he stood in his boxers. He let out a groan when he saw her, and pointed the gun at the floor, and then sat down on the bed with a shaken look.
Dangerous Games Page 17
