Chapter 30

Chapter 30—Allison arranges for

Reginald’s payment

10:18 a.m., Wednesday, December 21

Allison asked James to drop her off first. She had a lot of thinking and planning to do, not the least of which was putting together the hundred million dollars in gold, within one week.
As she got out of James’ car, she did not say a word to either of the two men. She merely thanked the doorman, and handed him a twenty, and went up to her apartment. As was becoming customary, she informed her aides that she would be retiring for the remainder of the day. Then, once inside, she quickly made her way up to Bernadette’s apartment. It was almost as though she could think more clearly up there, where she was certainly to be left alone.
Once seated in her favorite chair, she began recording all the events of the meeting with James and Reginald. And, as she always did, once finished recording, secured the thumb drive in her secret safe. She then poured herself a drink, and returned to the chair.
Strange, she thought, that Reg would come up with that figure without even having to take a moment to think about it. And, the fact that he wanted it in gold—that, too, was curious.
She anticipated the cost would be high. And she did not even think that a hundred million dollars was exorbitant. But the gold aspect. “Sure, that’s good business. Given the way the dollar is falling. That’s just prudent. Whoever Reg is going to be working with, they’re not going to be interested in getting paid with anything but gold, especially if the economy really tanks in the aftermath.” These and many more thoughts raced through Allison’s mind as she sat there. “Well, there is one good thing. At least I don’t have to get my hands dirty,” she concluded. “With Reg in charge, he will see to everything. This will be much neater and cleaner. The less I know the better.”
With that, she put the battery back in her cell phone, and made a call. The party she was calling did not pick up, instead she was transferred to voice mail. A very pedestrian recording of a female voice asked that she leave a message.
“Sid, I need to see you in the morning. 7 a.m., at the regular place.” Allison then disconnected the call.
Sid was her banker, so to speak. During her years in the White House, she and Bob were able to amass a large fortune—nearly half a billion dollars. Two hundred million of it was in gold, the rest in various currencies, including dollars and Euros. The gold was to serve as a hedge against inflation, the currencies in the event of a worldwide depression.
She liked gold because it was practically untraceable. The sort of gold she and Bob held was a little more traceable, however, because much of it was in the form of antiquities. At the time they acquired it, gold was hovering around $400 an ounce. Now, it had more than trebled. That meant that the original two hundred million was now worth closer to seven or eight hundred million. So, a hundred million in gold, while putting a serious dent in her net worth, would not threaten her fortune.
Interestingly, when she and Bob parted ways, she kept two-thirds of the gold, and one-third of the cash. That was the deal she worked out with her husband during his impeachment hearings. He was convinced that if she were to leave him at that time, he would be convicted, and so be forced to resign. It seemed like a fair arrangement to him. But with gold increasing in value so precipitously, and the dollar falling in the same fashion, the deal turned out much to Allison’s advantage.
Besides, that was not her only reserve. She and Bob had numerous Swiss bank accounts—mostly consisting of safe deposit boxes containing US dollars. Even though the value of those dollars had fallen off dramatically, their value was still significant.
At the time she and Bob came into the possession of the gold artifacts, they agreed that it should be preserved intact, rather than melted down. They thought this because as artifacts, there was additional intrinsic value attached to it. But now, with the price of gold at historic highs, the gold’s additional value as artifacts was significantly diminished.  Still, she could not yet bring herself to turning it into bullion.
She calculated that, not considering any additional value due to the gold’s historical significance, her gold was now worth over six hundred million—perhaps more. She felt she could pay out a hundred million for a shot at the White House. Not only a shot, but if she played it smart, and if she lined up the right people to assist her, she believed she would win it.
Most important among the conditions she recognized were Reginald doing his thing perfectly; and Steve spinning as only he was capable of spinning. “If those two do their jobs, this will work,” she surmised.
First things first. Right now she was going to need Sid to fly to Switzerland, and bring back enough gold to pay Reginald. And she needed him to get on it right away. She would meet with him in the morning, tell him what she needed him to do, and by next Wednesday, he would make delivery to Reginald. She had no intention of seeing or touching any of the gold. Sid knew Reginald, and he would take care of it. In fact, Sid would make sure that the hundred million would be covered, and then some—and he would have the gold in Reginald’s hands earlier than required.
She knew Reginald would have the treasure weighed, and he would be pleased to find that he had received two to three percent more than he had bargained for. Allison had learned from her years with Bob that you never shortchanged a hit man. And, that’s exactly what Reginald was, a very high-priced hit man.
Allison finished her drink, and poured another. This second drink was celebratory. It’s hell when you have to celebrate something this huge by yourself, she thought. But this is only temporary. John will move up, and he will appoint me VP. The public will blame the serpent headed conservatives, and I will unite the country. Then, in a little over a year, John will step aside, and I will run and win in the general. Everybody gets what he wants.
With that she chuckled out loud, “And some bastards will get what they deserve.”
She slowly sipped her drink. But still, stuck in the back of her mind, was the business about Reginald, and just how quickly he came up with the price, and his insistence that it be paid in gold. It made sense to her, but the way it all went down seemed more than a little curious.
She recognized the fact that she had too much to accomplish before the next meeting of the whole, and particularly with regard to Reginald’s payment. So she begrudgingly moved on from her uneasiness—too much to get done, with no time to second guess.