President Parkes learned about the meeting from the CIA agent who'd driven the chief justice out to Langley. That man owed his job to a recommendation from then-Speaker Parkes six years ago. The agent was fiercely loyal to the new President, and he was eager to repay his debt.
All Cham knew was that the chief justice had gone to CIA headquarters for a secret meeting with the director. That was enough to make him wonder what the hell was going on out there at Langley.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Vincent Valgardo sat in his office on the fiftieth floor of the building on Park Avenue that was emblazoned with the company's name. Valgardo Capital was the world's third largest private investment bank. It held billions in stocks and bonds of corporations, and it was the largest shareholder in ExxonMobil.
Valgardo had met Harry Harrison when they attended Harvard Law School. He hadn't known the future President well, but they had remained casual friends over the years. Vincent contributed modestly to Harry's campaigns, and they exchanged pleasantries now and then when they bumped into each other at meetings or dinners. Valgardo played both sides of the political aisle; he wanted to keep Valgardo Capital's interests in front of lawmakers, regardless of their affiliations.
His executive secretary advised Senator Michelle Isham was on the line. That was nothing special; he was accustomed to calls from politicians. The Political Action Committee he'd set up had funded hundreds of them over the years. Had he contributed to the Senate Majority Leader's campaign? He couldn't recall.
"Good morning, Senator Isham. How are things in our nation's capital?"
She quickly dispensed with the pleasantries. As they talked, his assistant opened the office door, alarm on her face. "It's the CIA!" she whispered, trying not to interrupt his call. "An agent's standing right here and he insists on seeing you now!"
"One second, Senator," he said. "Your man's here." Valgardo waved to his secretary. "It's fine. Bring him in."
Isham had advised him that a CIA agent would arrive momentarily with a confidentiality agreement. If he chose to sign, she would explain the reason for her call, saying only that it was a matter of national security that involved Valgardo. No, she assured him, there was nothing wrong. In fact, the government was asking for his help.
Vincent listened as the agent told him the penalty for violating a federal security confidentiality agreement; then he signed it with a flourish.
The agent spoke to Senator Isham for a moment, confirmed the agreement had been executed, and left.
Now she told Valgardo a critically important, top-secret piece of information. She asked him to sweep his office for listening devices every day, reminded him of the agreement he'd just signed, and hung up.
He sat back, trying to get his mind around the shocking revelation he'd just heard. Five minutes later his private line rang.
"Don't say my name. Do you know who this is?"
"Yes, sir. I just spoke to Senator Isham."
"I know. Whenever we speak, don't say my name aloud, just in case. I'm going to tell you an incredible story that is dangerous, completely true, and the consequences of which could bring down the United States. Then I'm going to ask you to do something you're not going to want to do, in order to help your country. You're the only person who can help us in one critical thing that has to happen."
Harry Harrison and his old law school classmate talked for thirty minutes. The corporate titan learned about Air Force One and Two and he learned about Operation Clawback, although Harrison never used that name. He heard a little about Cham Parkes and Amin Hassan. Vincent became more astounded with every revelation, and by the end of the call he was totally on board.
"I consider myself a loyal American," he told Harry, and by God, of course he'd help in any way he could.
Operation Clawback was officially underway.
The next morning Michelle Isham sat in the President's office. She was the ranking Republican in the Senate, and Cham Parkes was easily her least favorite person in Washington. She was certain he felt exactly the same toward her. Today she had a job to do and she was going to make it work. She forced a smile as he spoke curtly, like always.
"You asked for this meeting. What do you want?"
"I'm prepared to change a position I took earlier, and I wanted to discuss it with you personally."
"And what would that be, darlin'?" he said condescendingly. He frankly didn't give a damn about this woman or her positions.
Deep inside she was seething and she hoped her face wasn't flushed. Parkes was famous for belittling women, and this wasn't the first time she'd seen him in action. She had work to do today and she wouldn't allow his behavior to impede her. She kept her tight smile and responded, "If we can reach an agreement on a few things I have on my agenda, I'm willing to support Amin Hassan's bid to take over ExxonMobil."
You could have knocked Cham Parkes out of his chair with a feather. He tried to mask his excitement. "What do you want from me?"
She was ready with a list of things that were important enough to seem worthy of a trade, and he readily agreed to every one, as Harry and the others on the island had known he would. There was nothing bigger than the Hassan-Exxon deal for Cham Parkes.
They talked about how she would lobby her fellow Republicans in the Senate and deliver the votes for any reasonable bill the House sent over that allowed Hassan to make his move.
"It's going to be close," she advised. "You have to deliver every single Democrat or it won't come to a vote." Besides voting for it herself, she had to sway nineteen Republicans. As much infighting as had happened the last time Amin tried this, Cham couldn't imagine how she'd deliver nineteen Republicans, but she was offering a deal and he jumped on it.
That afternoon Cham called the Vice President over early for cocktails. It was time for a celebration. His opponents were finally seeing the light. They were getting used to life after death. They didn't have Harry Harrison to mollycoddle them now. Now people were coming around. Michelle was only the first of a long line he'd be seeing, hat in hand, wanting to make peace. Cham was sure of that.
Life was good. And so was this aged single-malt Scotch they were sipping.
He'd checked the bank account this morning. The ten million was back. He called the law firm in Panama he'd used before and by noon they'd created a new bank account, time zones away from the bank Amin Hassan owned. Before the close of the day his money was safe and sound in a new account free from thieving hands.
It was a good thing Amin had done what he promised. But then why wouldn't he, the President thought. He's afraid of me. They all are.
Tomorrow President Parkes would throw his Arab friend a bone. A big bone called Exxon. That would finish his part of the bargain and get this asshole out of his life.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
The team had a challenging task. There was no time to work with the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission to change their position on Hassan's takeover of Exxon. It had to happen another way. Although it was a daunting task, the quickest way to allow Hassan to move on the company was to get a bill through Congress.
Democrats controlled the House, and Harry expected to see a bill passed before the end of this week. The President would move quickly before Majority Leader Isham changed her mind.
The big problem was the Senate. There were sixty Republicans, and it took sixty votes to bring the House bill to the floor for a vote. Parkes had promised to deliver all forty Democrats. Michelle would vote in favor. The issue was how to convince nineteen other Republicans, each of them bitterly opposed to the Exxon sale, to vote yes. She would have to make it happen without telling them the whole story.
It was critical now that no one else know Harry was still alive. If word got out, everything they were doing would come crashing down. The future of the country depended on Operation Clawback's success.
What Isham could do was to let these Senators in on a different secret – the close and clandestine pa
rtnership between the US President and the Syrian billionaire.
Twenty Republican senators were up for reelection this fall. Those would be left alone. There was going to be enough fury from constituents over the sudden reversal of opinion, and the ones up for reelection didn't need this added damage. Instead, they could liberally bash their fellow Senators who'd switched to the dark side.
The team pored over the names of the remaining forty, half of whom would have to switch their votes and support an issue they detested. Never mind that the sale would quickly be undone – the people back home would already have formed their opinions. The good news was that if everything worked the way the team hoped, Americans would quickly understand why all this deception and subterfuge had been required.
By the end of the day they had their list, and Majority Leader Isham began making calls. The next morning she, CIA Director Case and nineteen Republican Senators met in a secure conference room in the basement of the Capitol. She had asked the Capitol Police to sweep the room and she required the attendees to leave phones and briefcases outside.
After reminding the group of the need for absolute confidentiality, Isham and Case presented the facts of Cham Parkes's secret agreement with Amin Hassan. They tied Hassan to the Falcons of Islam and demonstrated other jihadist groups his largesse had benefitted. Without revealing how they knew, they disclosed President Parkes's angry discussion with Hassan after the latter withdrew ten million dollars he'd wired Parkes immediately after his inauguration as President. The money was back in his secret account now. Otherwise Cham Parkes wouldn't be back on good terms with the Arab.
Through the Falcons of Islam, Hassan was clearly tied to the disappearance of the two planes and the deaths of Harrison, Taylor and the others. Parkes was tied to Hassan and therefore he was complicit too. Case also pointed out how convenient it was for the President that two Supreme Court justices were suddenly out of the picture.
The Majority Leader told them she had met with the President yesterday and agreed to back Hassan's takeover of ExxonMobil. She explained how it would all come down, exactly what would happen, and that despite how bad it would look on the surface, all this would work in the interest of the nation and to put Chambliss T. Parkes in prison for the rest of his life. The Exxon deal would be unwound – Hassan would never end up with control, she assured them.
"They'll crucify me back home," the Senator from Tennessee commented. "I'll bet I've gotten five hundred calls and letters about Exxon, all against the deal. Nobody wants to see the world's largest oil company in the hands of Amin Hassan."
"Short term, you're absolutely right," Michelle replied. "You have two years before you stand for election again. Long before that happens, what you did today will be hailed as courageous and patriotic."
"I can't tell you yes on this, Michelle. I'm going to have to give it some thought."
This was what Harry's team had feared most. If any of them wouldn't play, then others had to be brought in. Nineteen was already too many for a secret this big; adding more could spell disaster. Michelle had a huge job right now – a job she was qualified for as Majority Leader, but a tough one.
"There's no time for giving it thought," she replied calmly. "We've explained the gravity of the situation and we've entrusted the knowledge of this project to you. I have to know – and I have to know now – if you're willing to help me save our nation. I want to see a show of hands of who's in."
Seventeen men and women raised their hands. She needed the other two, and she knew what she might have to resort to in order to accomplish it.
Promising to stay in close communication and keep everyone constantly updated, Isham thanked everyone for their support and asked Case and the seventeen supporters to leave the room.
She sat at the long conference table with two senators, a man and a woman. Both were relatively new to Congress and she empathized with their plight. Reversing position on an issue as sensitive to constituents as this would be political suicide if things didn't work perfectly. They simply weren't willing to chance losing everything they'd worked for, to support a bizarre scheme to take down the President.
"I have to have you on board," she told them earnestly. "I can't afford to bring even one more person in on what's happening. This is the most important issue of national security you will ever be involved in. There's far more here than what I've told you. I've barely scratched the surface with the secrets you learned today. We have to fight for this country, to avenge the loss of our two leaders, the Secretary of State, the President's family and the others on those planes. I promise you that what I'm asking you to do is the right thing, the honorable thing and the patriotic thing. Even if we don't bring Cham Parkes down – we will, believe me – but even if we don’t, there’ll be a revelation to the American people that will cause mass celebrations across our country. I can't tell you what it is, but I've never told you anything that wasn't true. You must join me. You absolutely have to. For our country, there's no choice."
She paused for a breath. She hoped they'd understand. She didn't want to force the issue, but she was prepared to withdraw the support of the party from these two individuals. No more help from the Republican National Committee and its PACs loaded with campaign funds. No more endorsements from national leaders. It would be the kiss of death, and she hated even thinking about using that threat. She wasn't even certain she could deliver it, but it would sound ominous regardless. These were decent individuals who'd done nothing wrong. In fact, they were standing by their principles. But that wasn't acceptable now.
"So are you with me?"
Thirty seconds of dead silence seemed like an hour to Michelle. Then the woman raised her hand.
"I'm in."
"What the hell," the other senator said with a shaky laugh. "I was looking for a job when I got this one. Count me in too." His hand went into the air.
CHAPTER FIFTY
On this gorgeous spring morning, Vincent Valgardo decided to walk over for his appointment with President Parkes. The Willard Hotel was virtually across the street from the White House; taking a cab made no sense at all.
Before daybreak he'd gone for the jog he managed almost every day, rain or shine, regardless of where in the world he was. This morning when he ran past the United States Capitol building he felt a shiver of nervousness about his meeting. Valgardo had met everyone from heads of state to the Pope. As CEO and majority shareholder of one of the world's largest investment banks, he was comfortable in any surrounding, self-assured and on top of his game.
His nervousness wasn't a result of fear. It was a shiver of anticipation and pride. As he ran past the Capitol, draped in scaffolding for its ongoing renovation, he thought it symbolic of what he was going to do today. He was going to serve his country and stand up for what was good and just and right. He was excited.
President Parkes motioned him to a chair by the fireplace and took another beside it. They engaged in a few minutes of small talk about politics and the state of the financial markets and then Parkes got to the point.
"I've called you here to ask for your help," he began cordially. "I'm sure you know my feelings about the Exxon merger with Hassan Group that fell apart some time back when Harry Harrison was President. The Republicans have always fought me over this issue, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why. I like it. I think it's good for America and good for Exxon. And, I might add, good for Valgardo Capital, since you own nearly fifteen percent of the stock."
Vincent played his role perfectly. He listened politely but said nothing.
"I've made some major progress in the last day or so. Majority Leader Isham finally agrees with me that she was wrong. The House will send a bill over today, and Isham's going to get it passed."
"Really?" he replied, genuinely surprised. Isham hadn't revealed that this was part of the plan. As he listened, he wondered how on earth she could deliver twenty votes, given the vehement and unanimous Republican opposition to the merger not that lon
g ago.
Full of himself as usual, Cham leaned back, tipping his two-hundred-year-old Chippendale chair precariously onto its two spindly back legs. "Yep, really. The girls are always the easiest to convince. They know when to let a man do the thinking, you know what I mean? She got a few tidbits from me in the deal, but Hassan Group gets the green light to begin accumulating Exxon stock again. That's good for them and good for America."
Bullshit if it is! Valgardo thought, recalling what Harry had told him about Parkes's personal agenda. "And how can I help, Mr. President?"
"I'd like your company to lead the support for Hassan's accumulation of Exxon stock. With your fifteen percent on his side, he gains control with less cash outlay."
Never in a lifetime would Vincent Valgardo have imagined he'd be agreeing to this deal. It wasn't good for America at all. Only Harry's explanation of what was going on made him tell Parkes he'd think about it. He was going to do it, of course. Harry had already asked him and Vincent had agreed. But this had to look genuine. He couldn't jump on the bandwagon immediately. It had to appear that he gave it serious consideration before agreeing.
"Presuming my people decide that it's a good idea for us to join Mr. Hassan, and that's a large presumption at the moment, may I in turn count on your future support for policies Valgardo Capital considers important for America and our company?"
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