by Marc James
“It’s Meyer Lansky’s hotel.”
“Jesus!” He looked over at Hughes, this was insanity.
“So what is going on with you David?”
“Well Abaddon asked me to spend some time researching Apollo 8 and looking into the Apollo program in general. I met this Russian defector who knew about a sunken Soviet submarine, Hughes was with us and he had a ship that we used to try and retrieve the submarine. We reached the location and they started trying to raise the ship. I didn’t really see what happened, because I was in my cabin, there were explosions and by the time I got on deck everyone was dead, with the exception of Hughes and the Russian. We had a helicopter which we took and now we are on Howard’s yacht.”
“Did Abaddon know about the plan? He denied all knowledge and blamed it on you.”
David hated Abaddon at this moment. “It was my doing.”
“David how could you be so stupid?”
“I didn’t think there was any danger.”
“You were removing a nuclear submarine David. Of course there would be danger. Kennedy is furious with us.”
“I’m sorry Bobby.”
“What’s done is done. Something stinks about this David, can Hughes hear you?”
“Yes.”
“He must be the one funding Jacob Cohen. He could gain access to Apollo 8, it was a Hughes aircraft that crashed into the Flamingo, which is one of the few hotels on the strip he doesn’t own. Then he gets involved in this submarine. The media already know about it, so it had to come from someone on that ship.”
“Okay.” David didn’t know what else to say, he could see Hughes staring straight at him.
“The way Abaddon tried to blame us makes me wonder if it’s not the two of them orchestrating this whole thing.”
“For what purpose?”
“Come on David, you saw what happened in Dallas.”
“True.”
“This is impossible to prove until we find Jacob, if we find him it’s over.”
“Any leads?”
“Well he called the house earlier, he killed Garrett Underhill. The police have recovered the body in New York. But we have no idea where he is now.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“I don’t know, I want to speak to Lansky but Kennedy wouldn’t let me leave the plane. He might know why his hotel was targeted, he probably knows Jacob by name anyway.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Well the mob had ties to the CIA during their attempts to overthrow Castro. He may not have met him but he might know something.”
“Sounds like a start.” David agreed.
“Yeah, I’ll mention it to Kennedy. When will you be back?”
“I don’t know, hopefully soon.”
“Well I’m sure Kennedy will want to see you.”
“That will be fun.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
Chapter 40
“Mr Chaiman your actions are completely unacceptable and we look on them as a declaration of war.” Kennedy stated, he could feel a fury he had never known before rising inside of him. Alexei Kosygin had been hard to read since they had started the conversation.
“Mr President the Soviet Union is not prepared to standby as you try to hijack nuclear weapons from our sunken submarine. It is you who have committed an act of war against us and we will use our military mite if necessary.”
“The ship that you fired on was not there to retrieve the submarine, it was carrying out marine biology research.” Kennedy could feel himself blushing at this ridiculous excuse.
“That is a lie.”
“I can assure you Mr Chairman that it is not.”
“Yes it is. We are aware that Sergei Kravchenko has chosen to betray us. He knew the exact contents of the submarine and its precise location. Do you really expect us to believe that this is a coincidence, because I can assure you that we do not. Your threats against us will not be tolerated.”
“Mr Chairman a war would not be beneficial to either of us. But I cannot allow an attack on American civilians to go unanswered.”
“We attacked the US military, because under your orders they were attempting to commandeer our nuclear weapons, if it was the other way around I am sure that you would have done the same.”
“They were US civilians Mr Chairman.” Bobby tried once again.
“You are a liar. What is your proposed solution?”
“Well Mr Chairman I cannot allow this to go unanswered. You should have contacted me before you attacked the ship.”
“So you could lie to me? I would have ordered the attack regardless. As I have said Mr President we do not fear a war.”
“A war would be the end of human existence Mr Chairman.”
“The Soviet Union would survive.”
“I assure you that is not the case, once the nuclear weapons start flying nowhere would be safe.”
“We will not allow you to take our submarine.”
“We were never trying to take the submarine.”
“Mr President if you lie to me again, this situation will not be resolved peacefully.”
Kennedy sighed, there were only two options and one of them would mean millions of deaths, but how could he let the Russians get away with this?
“I am not prepared to do nothing Mr Chairman. I simply cannot allow this aggression to go unanswered.”
“So what do you propose?”
“We scuttle the ship that attacked our civilian vessel.”
“That is outrageous, any attack on a Soviet ship is a declaration of war and we will respond in kind.”
“So you expect me to stand by as you attack US citizens?”
“We were protecting ourselves.”
“We were not attacking you Mr Chairman.”
“We will not be bullied by you Mr President.”
“Have a think about what I have told you Mr Chairman.”
Once Kennedy had replaced the receiver he put his head in his hands. He didn’t want to be the President that took the country into a nuclear war. He stood up and began to walk towards Bobby, who had been using Abaddon’s phone, to his surprise Bobby was sitting there doing nothing.
“Did I not tell you to find out everything you could?” Kennedy barked, taking a seat across from Bobby.
“I have spoken with David, I think Howard Hughes is the one funding Jacob. He has been involved in everything from the Apollo program, to his plane crashing, and this business with the submarine. How else could the media have got hold of the story?”
Kennedy considered this for a moment, Bobby may be onto something. “So how do you intend to proceed?”
“I would like to go and meet with Meyer Lansky, he may know why his hotel was targeted.”
“I thought he hated you?”
“Well I don’t think he’s particularly fond of me, but it was almost six years ago and we were friends for thirty years.”
“Didn’t he say he was going to kill you if you got out of prison?”
“Yes but he didn’t do it obviously.”
“Well if you think that is the best option, then go ahead.”
“How did you get on with the Chairman?”
“I don’t think we can negotiate out of a war if I’m honest. We can’t stand by and allow them to attack our ship.”
“You can’t go to war, it wouldn’t solve anything. It would only lead to millions of deaths.”
“What choice do I have, the people will be furious if I don’t.”
“But they’ll be dead if you do. There is nothing to be gained from a war.”
“Bobby I can’t continue avoiding war, the people don’t trust me anymore, you know that. If I allow the Soviets to kill our citizens then I’ll look weak.”
“Only to the right wing nuts that want a war. It doesn’t matter if the people agree with you, you are the President. Just explain the ship sinking as an accident.”
“But if we do that the Soviets will think I am a w
eak leader, who knows what they’ll do next.”
“I think that’s a risk we need to take.”
“If you allow these people to get away with something they will not stop, look at Hitler.”
“In fairness they had every reason to sink that ship, what would you have done if it was the other way around?”
“I would have spoken to them first.” Kennedy replied bluntly.
“So what did you say to him?”
“I proposed that we scuttle their ship.”
“They’ll never go for that.”
“Well what else can we do?”
“You need to let it go, one ship is not worth risking the death of humanity.”
Kennedy knew that Bobby was right, but he knew how weak it would make him look. “He won’t respect me if I do that. Think about the Cuban Missile Crisis, if Jack hadn’t stood up to them they would have had nuclear weapons in Cuba.”
“I’m not suggesting you allow them to do anything like that, but we were trying to steal their nuclear weapons. They could not allow us to do that, just warn him that if he does indeed want a war then we will match them. But do not go to war over this, we are in the wrong.”
“I know we are, I can’t believe David would do this.”
“I still don’t believe he did.”
“How do you mean?”
“I think Abaddon was lying, when I first mentioned him speaking with Abaddon, he didn’t seem to remember the conversation, even though they had only spoken about half an hour previously. Abaddon hadn’t even told him about the plane hijacking. Abaddon sent him to NASA and then tries to blame it on us. I think he and Hughes are working with Jacob Cohen.”
“Bobby you’re paranoid.”
“There is something off about him. After the Apollo 8 explosion he was adamant that there was no fault in the NASA program and he was convinced it was the Soviets. He wanted us to retaliate, during the meeting, while you were with Ethel, he was agreeing with Marty and McNamara. He even said he wanted the CIA to be reinstated.”
“He is entitled to an opinion Bobby.”
“But if he is so convinced there was no problem with Apollo 8, then why send David to look into it? Then we have this Soviet defector who is now involved in NASA, why trust him if he thinks the Soviets caused the explosion?”
Kennedy nodded and appeared to be deep in thought. “If you are right then David would also have to be part of the plot, I personally can’t see that being true.”
Bobby had not considered this, surely Kennedy was right, David would never betray them. “David wouldn’t help them.”
“But your idea makes sense.” Kennedy replied.
“He surely couldn’t be working with them, he’s like family to me.”
“After everything he did for us in Dallas, I would be very surprised if he was to switch sides.”
“I think I need to talk to him, if he is lying then we can’t allow it to continue.”
“Even if he is, he would never admit it.” Kennedy stated.
“We could tail him.” Bobby suggested.
“Why not use Will? Where is he anyway?”
“He slept with Jane, he and Faraday got in a fight. I wasn’t planning on allowing him to continue working with us.”
“That’s a personal matter, it has nothing to do with work, you need all the bodies you can get.” Kennedy advised.
Bobby understood his point but Faraday would be furious. “I really don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Bobby you don’t have a choice, he’s the best you’ve got.”
“Okay I’ll get him on it, just don’t mention anything to Faraday.”
“I won’t, I’ll go and call the Chairman back, see if we can move on without any more casualties. Let me know how you get on with Lansky.”
“Will do.”
Chapter 41
When Bobby arrived at the Flamingo Hotel, the scene was one of carnage and confusion. The night sky was being lit up by the flames protruding from the hotel, as well as the flashing lights from the dozens of police cars, fire trucks and ambulances. As Bobby looked up at the hotel he was put in mind of the footage he had seen of the September 11th terrorist attacks, the same attacks that had killed his parents. Although that would no longer be the case given that his father was already dead.
He approached an FBI Agent that he knew by appearance only.
“I’m looking for Abaddon Wolf?”
The man nodded and led Bobby across the street, away from the hotel and into the back of a large grey van. It had been organized into a makeshift office, Abaddon was sitting on a wooden desk listening to another FBI Agent. Bobby decided to interrupt.
“Has the building been evacuated?”
Abaddon rolled his eyes. The FBI Agent that had led him to the van answered the question.
“It is in the progress of being done.”
“Is the building stable?”
“Yes, once the fire is under control the building should be stable.”
“How many casualties?”
“We don’t know yet, it’s certainly in the hundreds.”
“Abaddon what are you doing?” Bobby asked.
“I’m preparing to make a statement to the media. Weren’t you supposed to stay on Air Force One?”
“I’m following up on a lead. Where are Faraday and Chase?”
“Probably being about as much use as you somewhere.” Abaddon snapped.
Bobby bit his lip and hobbled away from the van. He looked around for Faraday and Chase but there were so many people milling around it was an impossible task. He crossed the street once again and watched as dozens of firemen ran into the building. He looked up at the large hole in the building, where the plane had hit. Those poor people, their last moments must have been terrifying.
He looked over to the police cordon hoping to see a familiar face. Standing right at the front was Meyer Lansky, he too was staring up at the building. He had aged considerably since their last meeting in the Dallas Police Headquarters. The last time they had spoken both men had vowed to kill the other, nothing had ever come of it. Bobby had been curious as to why Lansky had never followed through on his threat, he had considered Lansky as a possible perpetrator of the car bombing, but it wasn’t his style. He certainly would not have waited all these years to get his revenge. He was dressed as dapper as ever in a pinstriped black suit and a white shirt. As Bobby stared at the man, he felt a tap on the shoulder.
When he turned and saw Faraday and Chase he was delighted, it already seemed like hours since he had last seen his friends.
“Where have you been?” Bobby asked.
“We were helping to coordinate the evacuation, the building should be stable for now.” Faraday advised.
“Are we sure about that, we know what happened to the Twin Towers.”
“There’s been another attack?” Chase said, startled.
“No, its fine. Well the structural engineer said it will hold. The building has almost been fully evacuated, luckily there are stairwells on each side of the building, so the escape routes are clear. The firemen are just ensuring that it’s empty now.” Faraday replied.
“Have you found anything out about how he took over the controls?”
Both men shook their heads.
“Okay well I’m going to try and talk with Lansky.”
“What did you find out about David?” Faraday asked.
“I don’t know to tell you the truth. I think something is going on with Hughes and Abaddon, if that’s the case then David may well have been compromised.”
“You think David has betrayed us, that’s ridiculous!” Faraday protested.
“Listen I don’t want to be right about it but I’m worried I am, David would never have authorized the retrieval of that submarine.”
“He could just be covering for them?” Chase suggested.
“He could have been hypnotised just like Sirhan, remember he was with Gottlieb for a day. I refuse to believe
he would be working against us willingly.” Faraday stated.
“That could be it.” Bobby agreed.
“Well how do we proceed?”
“I don’t want to go to Gottlieb yet, word would get back to Abaddon. Perhaps another chat with Mengele would help. Chase when we get back to Washington I want you to tail the journalist, she is getting this news from either Abaddon or Hughes, only they could have told her about the ship being attacked.”
“No problem.”
“What about David?” Faraday asked.
“We can discuss that later.” Bobby replied, somewhat awkwardly.
He turned away from the two men and was happy that Lansky had not moved, he hobbled over towards the cordon, while subconsciously fiddling with the eagle at the top of his cane. When Lansky spotted him his eyes widened. Bobby was unsure as to how he would react. When he reached the cordon he spoke.
“Can we have a chat Meyer?”
The old man eyed him as though he was expecting Bobby to assassinate him. He nodded slowly. Bobby gestured for the officer to let him through.
“Do you still smoke?” Bobby asked when they were alone.
Meyer nodded. Bobby took out two cigarettes from his pack, handing one to Lansky before lighting the other.
“You still haven’t aged a day.” Meyer commented.
“You have.”
“What do you want?” Meyer asked.
“Well I want to talk to you about the hotel being attacked, I would have thought that would be obvious.”
Meyer nodded. “I forgot you worked on the other side of the fence these days. Tell me how is Nancy?” Meyer smirked.
“Did you do it?” Bobby asked.
“Do what?”
“You know damn well what?”
“I was just asking how she was Bobby.”
Bobby stared hard into Meyers face, the old bastard didn’t give anything away. “If I find out you were behind it Meyer, I swear to God I’ll kill you!”
Meyer laughed. “I thought you were going to kill me if you ever got out of jail, yet here I am.”
Bobby glanced over to the Flamingo Hotel. “Well it looks like someone else might do that for me.”
Meyer’s face gave away his anger.
“Who would have a reason to want your hotel out of the way?”
