Chapter 45—The gravity of the plan sinks in
6:10 p.m., Tuesday, December 27
Allison knew that she would not be able to let Steve leave. Even though Reginald did successfully challenge her authority by bringing Jack to the meeting without her knowledge or permission, she knew she must try to re-establish her leadership, at least in Steve’s eyes. When she took that first step outside the cottage in pursuit of Steve, she was prepared to kill him on the spot had he not stopped.
Now, if he still persisted in his refusal to rejoin the group, she would do whatever was necessary.
Fortunately, Steve also appreciated the gravity of the situation. He was angry, and more than a little baffled. “I thought we agreed that nothing like this would happen,” he said to Allison in an obvious effort to see the matter resolved.
“That’s right. You’re correct. But this is okay. The gentleman with Reg is an old friend of mine, and of Bob’s. I was not expecting Reg to bring him to the meeting, but for what we’re planning to do, we are going to need this man. He is the best there is, and he also has to feel comfortable with us.”
“What’s up with Jerry? Isn’t he coming?” Steve inquired, still not totally convinced he should remain. “Is he okay?”
“That depends on what you call okay. Jerry is in the hospital tonight with an infection. His implant is acting up, and this was an emergency. He called James and informed him.”
“Can we still conduct business here without him? How will that work?”
“I will deal with Jerry later tonight, or tomorrow. Don’t worry. He’s not out front on this right now. Right now, we are going to lay some groundwork that primarily involves Reg and Jack Handler,” Allison said.
“Jack Handler?” Steve repeated. “That name sounds familiar. How do I know him?”
“He was a close associate of Bob’s back in Louisiana, and also in the White House. Although he did not actually come to the White House, at least not as far as I am aware. He took care of special issues for Bob.”
“That’s how I remember him,” Steve said. “I never met him before, but I remember hearing about him. He’s a pretty dark figure, from what I’ve heard.”
“He’s a loyal asset,” Allison said, correcting him. “People like him are indispensable in an operation such as this.”
“And just what sort of operation is this?” Steve asked.
Allison, realizing that Steve had not been briefed on any of the recent matters she had discussed with James and Reginald, replied, placing her left hand on Steve’s shoulder as she did. “That’s what we have to discuss tonight. Shall we head back in and get this going?”
It was not until that point that Allison was fully confident that she was not going to be forced to terminate this long-time associate. But just as she mouthed those last words, Steve began nodding his head affirmatively. She was not sure whether he was buying into what she was saying, or if he was contemplating what the alternative was going to be were he to continue walking toward his car. At any rate, Allison turned and began to walk back to the cottage, and Steve followed.
As they entered the cottage, James greeted Steve with the wand, and proceeded to screen him. Afterward, he led him over to the group, and suggested they all be seated. Allison sat down first, then the rest followed.
“Steve, this is Jack Handler,” Allison said. “He’s going to be working closely with Reg on some important matters.” She then turned to Jack, and introduced him to Steve. Neither Steve nor Jack verbally acknowledged one another, but their eyes briefly met.
Allison paused for a moment, then continued. “James, would you please inform the group about Jerry’s predicament?”
“Jerry is in the hospital tonight,” James said. “He is suffering complications, an infection, actually, resulting from his cochlear implant. He will be okay, but right now he is not able to hear anything, and we all know infections are nothing to toy with.”
“Jack, you know Jerry, right?” Allison inquired.
“Not on a personal level,” Jack answered, “but Reg informs me that we may have met.”
“Steve,” Allison said, looking directly at him. In fact, everyone’s attention was on Steve. Every person in the room knew that Steve’s reaction to what was about to be discussed was pivotal. Much had been discussed apart from him, and a great deal of money had already been paid, but nothing was going to happen if Steve did not get on board with the plan. And not just on board, but whole-heartedly behind it. Already he knew too much to walk out, and his end of the job could not now be handled by anyone else.
Again, Allison paused. Finally, after an uncomfortably long period of silence, she continued. “Guys, stop me if you think I am not explaining this very well, or if I am stating something with which you do not agree, but I am going to bring Steve up to speed.”
“Reg, James and I met for a brief time after our last meeting. We discussed the matter that Jerry alluded to. When Jerry stated that an eight hundred pound gorilla had just entered the room. I think we all understood what he was saying. Is that correct, Steve?”
Steve sat there for just a moment, and then responded. “Okay, let’s see if I’m getting this right. The three of you met to discuss just how and when we were going to assassinate the President? Is that about right?”
Steve’s candor caught them all by surprise. Jack looked at Reginald, then both looked down. James nodded his head affirmatively, and said, “I think you’ve got the idea.”
“Then let’s cut the crap and get on with this.”
“Then I can assume that we are, at this point, all on the same page?” Allison asked. She then went around the table. “James?”
“Yes.”
“Reg?”
“Yes.”
“Jack?”
Jack did not respond verbally, but did nod his head affirmatively.
“And Steve, you’ve already expressed yourself in this regard.”
“I just wish Jerry was here,” Steve said. “He’s always the voice of reason.”
“I will talk to Jerry myself,” Allison said. “If there are any issues I will get back to you with them. Otherwise, assume all is okay. Is that agreeable?”
Three of the men responded affirmatively, only Jack remained silent to her request. “Jack,” Allison said. “Do you have something to add here?”
“I know very little about Jerry, or his role. I would like to have a sit down with him before I get too involved.”
“Telephone good enough?”
“I’d be more comfortable if I had a chance to talk to him. There’s a lot riding on each one of us. Hell, if this goes south, we’re all dead, and our families ruined. If you’re going to meet with Jerry, I’d like to at least call you while you’re there.
“Very well,” Allison agreed. “I’ll reach you through Reg with details.”
Allison paused for a moment, to get Jack’s reaction. Jack looked over at Reginald, then turned his face toward Allison, and nodded affirmatively. This indicated that he would be amenable to running the meeting with Jerry through Reginald.
“Okay,” she said, “then I would like to have Reg go over what he is intending, and what he will be expecting from the rest of the group. Reg …”
“This is where we are at,” Reginald began. “In the very near future there will be a successful assassination of the President. It will be violent. When it happens, it will look like a group with radically conservative connections pulled it off. Are you with me so far?” There were no objections, so Reginald continued, “Okay, now when this happens, we will have a media window of twenty-four hours to make it stick to this conservative group. There will be strong enough evidence from the start to make it plausible. But, that’s where you come in, Steve.”
To this point, Steve had sat in his seat intently listening, but not contributing. “What exactly do you expect from me?” he asked.
Reginald had surprised everyone by the deference was showing Steve at this meeting. It was as though Reginald was wishing to put aside his animosity, and begin to constructively work with him. “You’ve got two days to outline your blitz. Allison has not suggested it, but I would assume that we are going to meet again on Thursday. Is that correct, Al?”
“Originally I was leaning toward a Tuesday meeting. Next week. But Thursday, I think Jerry could make that. Does that sound okay?”
“It would be fine with me,” Reginald said. “I think that Thursday would be perfect, at least from my standpoint. How about the rest of you? Does Thursday sound good?”
Once Allison had stated that she wanted to meet next on Thursday, compliance was a formality.
“ Thursday sounds perfect,” James said. “Jerry did say he could make it on Thursday.”
“ Thursday is fine for me,” Steve agreed.
“Okay, then, Thursday it is—same place,” Allison confirmed.
“So, Steve, this is what I need you to do,” Reginald continued. “I need you to put your ducks in a row. When this happens, you must be swift. You have to nail it down, immediately—your plan of action, that is. I cannot emphasize strongly enough just how critical the first hour is going to be, as far as media readiness.”
“I get the point,” Steve interrupted. “I will need all the details you can provide, in advance. I need to line up the appropriate interviews, with the right reporters. I would like the event to occur on a Wednesday evening. That would give me the full news cycle running through the weekend.”
“Can’t guarantee a Wednesday event, but I will work on it,” Reginald said.
“If I have all day Thursday to roll it out, I can blitz the media. I can keep ahead of it through Friday, not allowing the radio talk shows to spin until the following week. The whole weekend would be delicious.”
“Like I said, I cannot promise you that, but right now it looks good. Everyone likes to take advantage of the weekend, even the President. So he is more likely to be out and about on a Wednesday or Thursday, making himself vulnerable. I cannot give you details, but I know what you are suggesting, and I will work hard to give it to you on a Wednesday, if I am able,” Reginald said.
“But, you need to be prepared to take what you get. At least, you will have some time to lay the groundwork, if you start now. As I perfect the details, I will let you know. I will need to be able to reach you 24/7. Is that a problem?”
“Not at all. The more you give me, the better job I will be able to do,” Steve replied. “I do have a question for Mr. Handler.” Steve then looked over at Reginald’s associate, and asked, “Is it okay to call you Jack?”
Jack did not answer. In fact, he did not even raise his eyes or look in Steve’s direction.
“Jack,” Steve continued, “exactly what is your role in this?”
Jack did not immediately respond to Steve’s question, he just continued to stare down at his sizeable, weathered hands, which were folded on the table. Then, with a sudden burst of affected anger, he sprang to his feet, the back of his legs flinging his chair across the room and into the wall behind him. Everyone at the table snapped their attention to him. Leaning across the table, he stuck his very large index finger to within a few inches of Steve’s face. “You listen to me, Sonny, I’ll tell you what I want you to know, when I want you to know it. I will never answer to you. Never! If you need something to make you feel better, you talk to Reg, or James, or your buddy, Jerry. But don’t you ever mouth my name again, not as long as you live. Do you totally understand me?”
Steve did not look directly at Jack. Instead, he just looked down and shook his head affirmatively.
“I’m talking to you, Sonny. I asked you a question. Now you are going to look into my eyes and tell me you understand what I just said to you. I hate having to repeat myself. Now, you tell me, do you understand what I’m telling you?”
Steve looked up at Jack, focused his eyes on Jack’s eyes, and said, “I understand completely what you are saying, and that will be fine with me.”
“And that goes for the rest of you,” Jack threatened, pointing his index finger at the noses of all those seated at the table, much like an angry man pointing a gun. “If any of you think you have something to say to me, talk to Reg. As far as anyone here is concerned, Jack Handler does not exist. … Is there anyone in this room who does not understand what I just said?”
After a few nervous moments, Allison responded, “I think we all can get along with that.”
“I will assume the lady has spoken for each one of you,” Jack said, as he retrieved his chair, slammed it up to the table. But did not sit down.
Then Reginald continued. “Now, to follow up a bit, I will be giving Steve all I can for his preparation. I have almost all the right people lined up. This is not going to be a slam dunk, but a job of this magnitude is not much more difficult than a small one—at least not in the preparation and execution. The big difference comes immediately afterward, and down the road. I cannot emphasize enough just how important I view Steve’s role in this. And, Steve, I realize that you and I have not always hit it off. But we are going to work together on this. I respect your position here, and I will help you in every way I can. I want you to feel free to contact me whenever you wish. And I assure you that I will be helpful. But, as my friend pointed out, you will be working through me, period. Does that work for you?”
“That’s fine,” Steve replied.
“On second thought,” Jack said, as he again stood to his feet. “About Jerry, I really do not want to be directly engaged with him. I would prefer to have Reg handle that as well.” Then Jack looked over at Allison, “does that work out?”
“That’s fine with me, if it works for Reg,” she said. “I will call him tomorrow to work out details.”
At that point, Jack, who had remained standing, suddenly placed his left foot on the table. He then proceeded to very deliberately untie his shoe, tighten the strings, and retie it. He made sure that everyone in the room spotted the Walther semi-automatic pistol that was strapped to his calf.
“We’re done here, right?” he said, as he turned and walked toward the door. And then, without looking back, he loudly announced, “Don’t worry, I won’t be coming back to your little coffee parties. … At least, not unless for some reason I decide I need to.”
With that, he opened the cottage door, and exited through it, leaving it fully open behind him.
“Reg, I’ll be waiting in the car.”
Reginald watched his friend walk out of the door, and toward his car. The concern on his face was not feigned.
The members of the group knew that the meeting was over. It was obvious to all, including Allison, that Jack Handler had taken this meeting over. James and Steve were more than a little taken aback, but not Allison. She was very familiar with the way Jack worked. She had even seen him talk to her husband in the same fashion that he addressed this meeting. So, she figured if Bob was willing to tolerate Jack’s heavy-handedness in order to get things done, so could she.
“Gentlemen,” Allison said, “is there anything else any of you need from me, or from each other? We will meet back here on Thursday. … James, you’re pretty sure about Jerry? Do you think he could make it on Thursday?”
“He told me that he would be back for the next meeting—that they were re-setting his implant tonight or tomorrow. They figured the antibiotic would start kicking in almost immediately. Why don’t we assume he is available for Thursday night. I’ll drive him here myself.”
“Thursday it is. Not next Tuesday. Anything else?”
All four committee members then rose, and began to leave. Steve never said a word to anyone as he left. It was obvious that he was not happy with the way Jack had treated him. But he knew he had no recourse. The way he viewed it, he was quite pleased that he was not going to have to be working directly with Jack—working with Reginald was bad enough.
Allison, said goodbye to Reginald as he left, and she stuck around for just another moment to feel James out. “What do you think about the meeting?”
“Obviously, we knew going forward with this that we were going to be working with some shadowy characters. … I was surprised that Reg brought Handler to the meeting. But, in reality it might be for the best. At least now we know Reg has got the best working for us; and I think Handler needed the chance to express himself. I think it was all good.”
“That’s pretty much my take on it as well. I’ve watched Bob and Jack work on jobs before, and often it didn’t look any different than tonight,” Allison concluded.
After just a few seconds, with a strained chuckle in her voice, she continued. “I recall Bob commenting after meeting with Jack that sometimes he was just happy that Handler didn’t decide to kill him. … Tonight was not all that unusual, when dealing with that fellow.
“There is one thing that I think you should know, Al,” James followed. “One of my friends in Mossad asked me an interesting question. He asked me if I had heard anything about a secret brain trust that was set up to alter the outcome of the presidential election. Now, that, all by itself, might not seem important. We all know that there are always brain trusts being set up—and many of them are secret. But, the fact that this fellow sought me out, and asked me about this—that seems curious, don’t you think?”
Allison stopped, turned and looked directly at James. She waited until he turned to face her. It was obvious that she had taken his comment seriously. Finally, she responded, “How deep was your contact?”
“I wouldn’t say he was deep. But he is significant.”
“How close are you to him?”
“We talk about more than just football.” James paused for a second, then continued. “We go back. … Here’s the thing. This fellow and I have known each other for years. I know a little about how he thinks, and he knows about as much about me. His comment could have been just casual conversation. He knows about my association with you. And he knows you have certain interests. He could have been just sticking his finger in the wind. But I think we need to be very careful about what we talk about outside the meetings, and to whom. Not that we haven’t been. But I thought you should know what he asked me.”
“Thanks, James. I’ll keep my eyes and ears open as well.”
Allison then walked toward her car. It was dark, and a little chilly. She pulled her collar up around her neck, and got her keys out. She missed her remote starter, but she knew from experience that any radio remote would give James’ wand a fit. She got in her car, and started the engine. “Thirty-six degrees,” she said, reading the digital thermometer. “It feels like zero to me tonight.”
Before she even began her drive along the winding tree-lined dirt road that led away from Jerry’s cottage, she slid a thumb drive into her recording device, and began re-living the events of the meeting. “Meeting of the Whole—Number Three: When I arrived at the cottage, James was already there. He told me that Jerry would not be coming due to an infection in his cochlear implant. We were both disappointed. He did feel that Jerry would be able to make a Thursday meeting. He said he would pick Jerry up and bring him to the meeting.
“We had a surprise visitor at the meeting. For some reason not clear to the group, Reg brought his associate, Jack Handler. We discussed the fact that Jerry was not able to come to the meeting, but that he should be okay by Thursday. Handler was not happy about Jerry not being present. He insisted that Reg follow up with Jerry as soon as possible to make certain that Jerry was totally committed. Reg then laid out his preliminary plan of action. All present were in agreement—no one objected. Reg stressed his need for Steve to be actively engaged in the media coverage of the event after it occurred. He stated that it would point to a radical conservative group, but that it would be Steve’s job to be sure that’s where it went during the first twenty-four hours. Handler had a few choice words for Steve, when Steve asked Handler what his role was in the meeting.
“Handler at first thought he needed to meet directly with Jerry, but later decided against his personal involvement.
“That is about all that was discussed, except that after the meeting, James told me that one of his associates asked him about some secret meetings designed to affect the outcome of the presidential election.”
Allison was exhausted. She realized that her recollections were less detailed than usual. But she believed, even given her diminished energy level, she had summarized all the important details. After all, she thought, nothing of much significance was actually discussed.
She pulled the stick out of the recorder, and dropped it in her purse. She then retrieved her cell from the glove box, and dialed Jerry. “… Jerry, you can hear again.”
“Yes, and I’m feeling much better. I’m back home. They’ve got me on about every kind of pill known to man—big red ones, smaller red ones, little white ones. I’m actually feeling almost back to normal. My temperature is coming down as well. But I still have to take these pills for ten days. Doctor’s orders.”
Jerry wanted to apologize for missing the meeting, before Allison could comment on it, so he just kept talking. “I’m really sorry to have missed the meeting, but up until an hour ago …
With that Allison interrupted. “Jerry, enough said. We’re on for Thursday, the day after tomorrow. At your place again. Is that okay?”
“Certainly,” Jerry replied.
“See you then,” Allison said, disconnecting before Jerry could make excuses.
The remainder of the drive passed quickly for her, even though she was very tired. She could not get her mind off James’ last comment, regarding what had heard from his spook friend. “Does someone outside the group actually have information?” she wondered.
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