Chapter 38

Chapter 38—Reginald finally discloses

the entire story

3:47 a.m., Monday, December 26

Reginald weighed his words, and then replied. “In every other job we’ve worked together, there has always been a specific target,” Reginald said. “Once we had eliminated that target, then the job was over. We collected our money, and went our own ways. This time we have a target, but this time our goal is to prevent that target from being killed.”
“Who the hell is going to pay us for that?” Jack asked.
“No one is going to knowingly pay us for not consummating the hit. We will be paid for the hit, the same as always—except substantially more.
“… But, instead of killing the target, we must see to it he lives. And the people who originally contracted us, they must be convinced that their best choice will be to make the whole thing go away. Once we pull that off, there will be no one motivated to come after us. They will accept the fact that they paid us not to fulfill the contract.”
“Well, that makes no sense to me,” Jack said.
“It’s very tricky,” Reginald explained. “But this is the gist of it. First I have to convince the conspirators that you are the best man to pull this job off—to make the actual hit. I’ve already explained to them that I was bringing in some very specialized help. So, they’re ready for someone exactly like you.
“Second, because this is a hugely high-profile job, with a lot of exposure, I insisted on cash up front. So, once I have the cash in hand, I start making the actual hit untenable.”
“How do you make that happen?” Jack asked. “… Once you’ve already been paid for it?”
“That’s where you come in, ”Reginald said. “I need to take you to meet the group. You are a very imposing, and very believable figure. We will take advantage of that reputation, and use it as leverage.”
“I think I follow you on that, but I don’t see how we get to walk away with the money, without doing the job,” Jack said.
“That’s where it gets convoluted,” Reginald said. “Perhaps ‘complicated’ is a better word.”
“You know I always like to keep it simple,” Jack said. “I don’t like complicated, and I’m not sure I even know the meaning of convoluted.”
“Your role in this is simple,” Reginald said. “All you have to do is just be yourself.”
“Well, ‘myself’ is beginning to think this whole mess is outta control,” Jack complained. “How many people have we already killed just to get to where we are? What is it now? Three. Have we killed three men? And what’s the point? I’m sure they needed killing, but I don’t think we are any closer to resolution. And I still don’t have Kate back. Then there was that beautiful girl—the one they killed in the coffee shop. She’s someone’s daughter, too.
“Reg, you are an old friend—an old trusted friend. But I’m not liking what you got me into this time. Right now I’m not feeling very good about all this.”
“In a sense,” Reginald replied, “it does all seem futile. Three dead guys on their end. Alex, and the girl on ours. Not planned. Not organized. The guys we killed had it coming—they were trying to kill us. And there might be more. We can’t know how many more will come after us. It is unlikely that those last two were working alone. Someone must have sent them. And that same someone knew where we were going. … Hopefully we have got ahead of this, at least for a while.
“We need to get some rest,” Reginald continued. “We are tired. Right now nothing seems like it makes sense. I understand that. But we have worked together many times through the years.
And I know you trust me just as much as I trust you. To this point, I have counted on that trust to be your incentive. But I am pretty sure that by now I have burned up all that capital.”
“I would agree with you on that,” Jack said. “It’s time for you to make some sense out of all this.”
“Try this on,” Reginald said. “The person we are going to save is the President of the United States.”
“I figured that,” Jack said. “But how difficult is it to just say no?”
“Not difficult at all,” Reginald agreed. “But if I would have refused this job, someone else would have taken it.  I would have been eliminated. And this country would have an even bigger problem on its hands. We both know that we cannot afford the power vacuum an assassination would create. It could easily result in a revolution.
“The plan we developed was a logical one. Just as the group figured, the only way to move Al into the Oval Office is to assassinate the seated President. That would put the VP in, and he would appoint Al to replace him. If the whole thing could be blamed on the right, then Al would win in a landslide in the next presidential. And she would likely carry both houses with her.”
“That’s the whole plan?” Jack asked.
“That’s it,” Reginald said. “And, in theory it could work. You and I both would like to see Al and Bob back in the White House. But the big problem with it is that at best it could easily result in a revolution. … even worse—total anarchy.”
“Assassinations are never manageable,” Jack said. “This one would be no exception. But I would agree with you on one thing, I don’t think there is any way that Al can get in using any traditional methods.”
“That’s exactly right. I think if Al could run in a fair primary, or if Bob could run for a third term, either one of them could challenge the President, and quite probably beat him,” Reginald said. “But I just don’t think that’s gonna happen. Before Butler would allow a serious challenge, he would incite a mob, declare a national emergency, and postpone the election. I think that’s what Al fears should she mount a political challenge.
“If there were to be a vote next year, the conservatives would not only capture the Oval Office, they would take the Senate, then most likely control both houses.
That’s why a lot of us are convinced that there will be no election this time around. We look for chaos—anarchy. We think that’s what Butler and his backers want—to turn this country into a Venezuelan clone.”
“That’s why she concluded that Butler needed to disappear,” Jack said. “Unless there is an assassination, it does not bode well for Al.”
“Frankly,” Reginald said, “I am quite certain that she would be happy to eliminate anyone who might get between herself and the Oval Office. Just as long as she becomes President, that’s all that matters to her. And that’s all that matters to the other members of our group. At least that’s how it looks to me.”
“It would be revolution, wouldn’t it?” Jack said, after thinking about it for a moment. “If the President were to be assassinated, and the public thought it was some right-wing kook, half the country could be torched. Talk about nuclear holocaust, it could be just as devastating. It would rock the nation to its core. It might never recover.”
“Now you’ve got the picture,” Reginald said. “The ensuing chaos would be enormous. It could be a bloodbath. The military would have to be called in, regardless of posse comitatus. We could easily devolve into a military state. That’s what we are trying to avert.”
“What did your group determine the outcome would be if the President is neither challenged nor assassinated?” Jack asked.
“It would be hard to predict all the ramifications,” Reginald said. “But a few things are likely. For one thing, it would officially end Al’s hopes of being President. And that is totally unacceptable to her.
“Also, as I said before, if Butler is convinced that he would lose in a primary, or to the candidate of the other party in the general, then he would suspend the election. We think that this is where it’s headed.
“But the real bottom line here is this—Al believes she was robbed during the last presidential. So, whatever she has to do to get in, she feels justified in doing it. … To hell with the country—it’s all about her.”
“So,” Jack asked, “if we are able to put the kibosh on this assassination, the worst thing that is likely to happen is for a resurgence of conservatism? Is that what you are suggesting? Because, even if Butler does postpone elections, eventually the right will win the hearts of the people, and toss him out. Isn’t that the most likely scenario?”
“That’s how I see it,” Reginald said. “If all works out like I hope, I guess we will find out.”
“You are beginning to sound like a Republican, my friend,” Jack quipped.
“Far from it, Jack,” Reginald said. “I just fear what this country might look like after the assassination of this President.”
“I know that you are not alone in this. Besides Roger, who else are you working with?” Jack asked.
“Actually, until just a short time ago,” Reginald said, “the only one I knew about for sure was you.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jack said. “I’ve never known you to be the Lone Ranger.”
“I’m in this over my head,” Reginald said. “The mere fact that Roger showed up tonight suggests there are some powerful people involved, with similar goals to ours. He would not talk to me much, but it is highly likely that there are some rogue CIA, or maybe not so rogue, working with him. I don’t know. I just know that he has support from somewhere.”
“Damn, this is complicated,” Jack said. “Or what was that big word you used, convoluted?”
“You’ve got no idea,” Reginald said. “Sometimes I get the feeling I’m in the middle of a stupid Mel Brooks movie.
“… The thing is, Jack, this whole plot is so big, it has attracted all sorts of international attention. For one thing, somehow the Israelis have found out about it. And they are doing their best to stop it. They don’t want a power vacuum either. They would rather have this guy as President, than to take a chance on seeing America implode. And that’s what they fear. So, they have got their little thing going too.
“Then we’ve got the Russians. They don’t mind seeing the US devolve, but they figure that right now they have more to gain by playing along with the current President. That’s who we were dealing with tonight, at least I think so. Remember that message you deciphered. The Russians stand to gain Alaska. All they have to do is back up our currency, and we give the Russians Alaska … after fifty years.
“I have seen no specific evidence, but I would not be surprised if the Chinese were somehow involved as well. At least behind the scene. They stand to gain Hawaii under similar terms. It is one big confused mess.”
“And we are all actually working toward the same end?” Jack asked. “The Russians, the Chinese and the Israelis? Roger and his buddies? Is that about right?”
“Right,” Reginald agreed. “In some weird sense, that’s just about right. But the Russians and the Israelis do not know what our goal is. As far as they are concerned, they think we are intent on killing the President.”
“Really!” Jack exclaimed. “I can’t wait to see what happens next. Do we have a game plan?”
“We do,” Reginald said. “If we don’t get killed first.”
“And what might that be?” Jack inquired. “And how do we still get paid? … We do get paid, right? You’re more altruistic than anyone I know, but you don’t work for free.”