Chapter 59

Chapter 59—Let’s see what flies

4:10 a.m., Friday, December 30

Roger Minsk was the Secret Service agent in charge of Allison’s detail. Without hesitation, he jumped between the former First Lady and the FBI agent. “Hold everything!” he commanded, “I’m in charge here, and the First Lady will not be intimidated by you. Call your superior if you have a problem with this. But you keep your hands off her. And the same goes for her advisor, James. When he’s with her, I’m in charge of him as well. You have no authority here.”
The FBI agent backed down, lowered his rifle, and ordered his men to stand down.
“You may be investigating a crime, but that crime did not occur here. So take your men out of this apartment.”
“I need to question these two,” the FBI agent protested.
“No you don’t. You need to leave here immediately. These two are my responsibility. You have no business here. Get your men out of here, now.”
Roger was very familiar with Allison’s erratic antics during her years in the White House. The two had bonded. Allison was not the easiest person in the world to get along with, but Roger had mastered the art. He genuinely liked her. That’s why she requested him to protect her. Not only did she trust him, she was very fond of Roger. Most of the time, if not all of the time, Allison felt closer to Roger than she did her own husband. She knew that Roger always had her best interests at heart—and as far as she was concerned, the same could not be said of her husband. She admired and respected the former President, but she did not trust him, and she probably didn’t even really love him. He had lied to her too many times. Also, Allison knew that Bob would always look out for his own interests over hers.
That was not the case with Roger. Her friend was ready, on this and every day, to do physical battle for her, even if it meant he had to tangle with a heavily armed FBI agent. Had Bob, her husband, been there instead of Roger, he would have acquiesced to the wishes of the FBI, as long as it did not directly involve him.
That is not to say that Bob was a coward. Bob actually liked to fight. Many times, even during his presidency, Bob would grab a man whom he judged to be out of line, and throw him to the floor. He sometimes slapped senseless those he perceived to be his enemies. But he would not defend Allison in that way. It was as though Bob had detached himself from her to the degree that he was willing to let her fight her own battles. Fortunately for Allison, Roger was in charge on this occasion.
The FBI agent in charge was not happy about Roger’s intervention, but he did recognize the fact that the Secret Service actually was the agency of authority in this situation. “I’ll be back,” he said, pointing his finger in James’ face. “And I’ll have the proper warrant.” He turned and started to walk away, but then he twisted his body around enough to make eye contact with James, and blurted out, “at the very least you two are material witnesses. You will have to answer my questions sooner or later.”
James knew better than to open his mouth. It was not his nature to get pushed around, but he did not want to say anything that could somehow be used against him later.
Once the FBI had cleared the apartment, Roger requested that everyone else leave the room except for Allison, James, and himself. No one ever questioned Roger’s orders, so the room immediately emptied. Then, after he was certain no one, except for the three of them, remained within earshot, he addressed Allison. “We’ve got a situation in the building. There was some sort of explosion upstairs. Did you know about that?”
“I felt the building shake a little. What was it all about?” Allison asked.
“Don’t know much about it. It might have been a gas leak. There was no fire. The FBI has taken over the investigation. I don’t know what they want with you. I know you were in your bedroom the whole time. They, and Homeland Security, they get a little over zealous sometimes.”
“We’ve been busy preparing for Allison’s press conference this afternoon,” James jumped in.
Roger looked over at James, shaking his head slowly in surprise. “There’s no press conference on the schedule for today. What press conference are you talking about?” Roger asked.
Roger did not like surprises. He ran her security detail like a finely tuned machine. It was, in fact, his almost inordinate attention to minutia that made him so effective. Roger would even monitor the amount of liquid she drank, and the type food she ate, so that he could predict the frequency of her restroom breaks. When he suspected that she was going to need a break, he would send a female agent in ahead to inspect the facilities.
Allison knew that the news about the unplanned press conference would frustrate Roger, so she tried to calm him down.
“I’m sorry to do this to you Roger, but this is an emergency. James received a very disturbing call a few hours ago. Apparently a local news outlet is about to release a story that could be very embarrassing, particularly for me.”
“What sort of story?” Roger asked.
“I can’t really discuss it right now,” Allison explained. “But that’s what this press conference is going to be about.”
“Where are you going to hold it?” Roger asked. He knew that if he were going to secure the area, he would have to know precisely where and when it was going to be held.
“Downstairs in the lobby,” James interrupted. “No point making your job tougher than it already is.”
James had not selected the lobby for Roger’s benefit. James wanted to get the press tightly packed into lobby of Allison’s building. That would make the conference seem more intimate and impromptu on TV. Plus, holding it near Allison’s apartment would add weight to the sexual nature of his relationship with her, which was actually the concept that he was going to sell.
“Roger, would you please bring Janet and Lesley back in, I need to talk to them,” Allison said, more in a tone of request than command.
Janet and Lesley served as Allison’s principal aides. When she was in her apartment, or traveling, those two young ladies were always close-by.
Both Allison and Roger knew that a Secret Service agent, even the agent in charge, did not have the authority to “clear the room,” particularly when two of the people in the room were members of her personal staff. But she understood what Roger was trying to accomplish. So, for that reason, she had acquiesced to his request that her staff leave. Allison was not in any sense threatened by Roger. But now she needed to get some business done, and she needed Janet and Lesley to help her do it.
“Yes Ma’am.” Roger responded. “But, before I get them, may I have your permission to do a quick inspection of your bedroom? I just want to be sure there is no obvious presence of gas or other explosives.”
“Please. Check it out,” Allison replied. “Then lock the door, and send my aides in. James and I will be in the study.”
“Yes Ma’am.” Roger then opened a case he always seemed to have nearby, removed and activated a curious looking little sniffing device, then briskly making his way through Allison’s bedroom, he poked and prodded with the little instrument along the door, on the floor, and generally throughout the apartment bedroom, constantly checking readouts on the tool’s small digital screen.
About two minutes later he came out, and locked the door behind him. He then entered the hall outside the apartment, where Janet and Lesley were waiting, and asked them to join Allison in the study. He also thanked the rest of the staff for their patience, and said it was okay for them to return.
 As this group of trusted employees, along with the two Secret Service agents who were on duty that day, headed back to their positions in Allison’s apartment, Roger closed and secured the door behind them. He then turned around, and headed toward the stairs. Even though Roger was not a young man, he was in great shape. He ran down the steel edged concrete stairs like a man half his age. Emerging at the main level, he virtually trotted over to where the doorman was stationed. “I’m gonna need one of these,” he said, as he grabbed an envelope from a small box the doorman kept there for messages. “Thanks.”
Roger scribbled “Deliver to Buck,” on the envelope. Reaching in his pants’ pocket, he pulled out four small black thumb drives, and inserted them in the envelope. Licking the envelope’s flap, he ran his fingers along it several times to be sure it sealed. He then folded it, and put it back into his pocket.
Just then a heavy hand gripped his shoulder. “I will want to talk to you as well,” said the same FBI agent he had confronted in Allison’s apartment.
“Not right now you don’t,” Roger replied firmly. “And I’m gonna need you to pull back from the lobby as well. The First Lady is going to have a press conference here.”
“You can’t do that. This is a crime scene.”
Roger then started pulling down the plastic tape the FBI had strung up. “Your crime scene, if there was a crime, is upstairs. We’re going to hold a press conference right here. And I don’t want you guys to be on camera.”
“You sonofabi**h. I’m calling my superiors. You can’t interfere with an FBI investigation.”
“Call whoever you want. I am in charge here. Your so-called crime scene is upstairs. You can use the rear entrance. Get all your men out of the lobby, and off the front sidewalk. You can park back there as well. I don’t want to even see you around here.”
As the FBI began pulling back, a tall dark-haired man got off the elevator, and walked through the lobby toward the front entrance. As he walked past, Roger removed the envelope from his pocket and slid it into the man’s hand. Their eyes never met, nor did they speak.