Chapter 96

Chapter 96—The fate of the notables 

President Barry Butler: Shortly after their meeting, Bob did get his appointment.  Contrary to what Jerry had suggested, there was no right-wing attempt on the life of the President. He successfully (if it could be called that) completed his full term.
The following November the Republicans overwhelmed the Democrats in the general election, controlling both the House and the Senate.
And, just as Bob had thought (but didn’t say), Barry lost in a landslide to the opposition candidate.
“He should have suspended the election—some guys just don’t know good advice when they hear it.”
No one, however, was very much surprised at President Butler’s fate—especially once he had “sold” Alaska to Russia, and Hawaii to China, ostensibly to get them to pick up some of the US debt.
Strangely, even after losing those two states, many thought he still had a chance to win a second term, given the enormous secret war chest he had accumulated, and with the Republican vote split caused by the emergence of a third party candidate (whom many thought was funded by Alexander). But, when President Butler voiced his support for allowing Texas to secede from the union, his hopes were totally dashed. In fact, with the Texas fiasco, even Alexander, the President’s largest benefactor, pulled his support.
Tragically for President Butler, all he was left with was the legacy of bringing down the American Empire.
And, of course, a very valuable gold mask.
Kate Handler: Because she was young and healthy, Kate healed nicely from her injuries, and was back on the job after the minimum leave of absence permitted by her union. Happily for her, there were no repercussions resulting from her father’s involvement in the puzzle case.
While there were some men in her life, there were none with whom she considered marriage. Jack thought his reputation might have frightened some off, but Kate was actually more interested in building her career at this point.
Captain Lawrence Spencer: Kate’s boss grew frustrated when he was unable to get to the bottom of the Big Hands Smith question. During the first six months following Kate’s abduction and release, he worked diligently trying to figure out who above him was involved, but his every effort was discouraged.
Within the year, Captain Smith took an early retirement, with a full pension.
He relished the idea of being off the hook, but he was never completely satisfied with the way he left his position.
Kate was aware of his frustration.
Allison Fulbright: As far as the former First Lady was concerned, Jack already knew where all her bodies were buried—he had placed many of them in the ground himself. He knew he had nothing to fear from her (except that she might seek to terminate him). Besides, he even entertained the notion that he might be working for her or her husband in the future. Therefore, for these and other reasons, Allison got a pass from Jack.
As far as her career was concerned, thanks (at least in part) to the efforts of her husband, she never again was thought of as a viable candidate for President. She weakly challenged Barry Butler for the nomination, but nothing came of her efforts.
When it was clear that she would lose the nomination, Allison pulled out of the race and threw her support to Barry Butler. She considered seeking the nod as his running mate, but he had no interest—for obvious reasons. President Butler instead selected a young, more conservative up-and-coming Elvis from the South. Most think that the only thing that he had going for him was his VP’s popularity.
Soon after the election, the UN was pulled out of New York and moved to Hungary. And, of course, Bob relocated there. And, as promised, this was to be a lifetime appointment.
Allison maintained her New York apartment. James had been the only one who knew her secret, and (as was expected) he never broke a confidence.
Allison was never satisfied with the fact that she had poured one hundred million dollars into the plot to assassinate the President. While that loss did not break her bank, it did amount to a sizeable dent.
Jack knew that it was Allison who had orchestrated the burglary of his apartment. But that did not trouble him.
He also knew that she held Reginald’s original puzzle. It was his guess that this puzzle somehow pointed to the location of the gold Allison had given to Reginald. In the back of his mind, he imagined a scenario whereby Allison would hire him to locate the treasure. But, that did not happen. At least not right away. She also believed that the puzzle would lead to the gold. And, she did entertain the thought of hiring Jack to find it for her. But, she wanted to wait for the right time. She sometimes suspected that Mossad remained interested in her political pursuits—that they suspected she might still have designs on the White House. She was also convinced that her activities were under scrutiny by her own government.
Instead, Allison packed up and moved to Paris to live with her daughter.
Strange as it might seem, at this point in her life she was more interested in maintaining some level of contact with her husband, than she was in becoming President, or finding the gold. And that she was able to do by residing in Paris. While Bob did run the United Nations out of Hungary, he lived only a few blocks from the Sorbonne.
The residence Allison shared with her daughter was across the Rue from the Senat, within walking distance of the university.
 Frequently the three of them would share a meal at one of the Bohemian restaurants in the Latin Quarter. And when they did, Bob never failed to pose some veiled inquiry about the disposition of the gold. He knew that would be a sore point for her, and he relished irritating the wound.
But, even without her husband’s prodding, there was certainly no lack of interest on Allison’s part regarding the gold. Seldom did a day pass that Allison did not consider her options concerning re-acquiring her treasure. It was the “how and when” that most seemed to elude her—at least at this time.
Tragically, just as Allison appeared to be getting her life back in order, she received startling news after a routine physical. She hated the long flight from Paris to New York, but she had scheduled the appointment months earlier to check out some discomfort she was sensing. So she flew in for the exam and resulting tests. Her total stay in New York was less than a week.
By the time she got back to Paris, there was a message waiting for her to call her physician.
“Allison, we got the results back, and we found an abnormality on your pancreas,” the doctor told her. “We would like to do further MRIs to get a better look at it. Possibly some x-rays as well. When can we schedule these tests?”
“I’m back in Paris already,” she told him. “Can’t they wait?”  
The other conspirators: After the plot to assassinate the President was abandoned, many of those close to it wondered who would suffer most for its failure.
Everyone correctly assumed that Reginald would get a free pass. His untimely death secured his legacy. Not even those close to the operation suspected that both he and Jack Handler were actually doing the bidding of the former President. So, as far as the other conspirators were concerned, Reginald’s memory remained dear.
Steve: It had been clear from the third meeting that Jack Handler disliked this young man. At one point, Jack even considered eliminating Steve.
However, on the basis of Jack’s lengthy discussions about Steve with Reginald early on, Jack determined that Steve would not pose a problem to him. Not only was Steve altogether too frightened ever to discuss the plot, Jack knew that he could always return to the matter, and kill him. Besides, as Reginald had pointed out, Steve’s talents and connections might come in handy down the road. Jack decided to let Steve live.
James: Initially Jack did give some heavy thought as to how best to deal with James. However, his concern about James was short lived. Shortly after the scandal broke (surrounding the affair between James and Allison), James was killed in a mysterious plane crash in Eastern Europe.
While investigators determined the accident was due to pilot error, many suspected the plane was brought down intentionally through misinformation provided to the pilot from the ground.
Those closest to the incident did not buy into the official report, but no one could successfully point a finger.
Some of the theories involved Allison having him killed to put an end to the gossip about their alleged affair. That rumor seemed to have merit, because with his “accidental” death all the talk about the infidelity ended, as it was deemed disrespectful to his family, and his memory.
Others suspected Bob had him killed. That prospect did not seem out of character to many who speculate about such things, particularly the daytime radio talk shows.
Then there was the story floated by the hard-core conspiracy buffs. They suspected that James was killed by spooks—either the CIA, the Russians, or Mossad.
As far as Jack was concerned, he didn’t think that any of the above did James in. Jack had heard that James’ wife might have had him killed. She was from a very wealthy southern family, and the embarrassment of the affair had seriously affected her social status.
Ironically, while James’ concocted story might have spared Allison’s having to deal with the fallout of the assassination plot, it very well may have led to his own death. Of course, it is totally possible that the accident really was just that, an accident.
Sometimes things like that actually do happen, without any help, particularly in Eastern Europe.
Jerry: Of all the conspirators, Jack Handler singled out only one for termination—Bionic Jerry.
It was not that Jack bore ill will toward Jerry. And it was not that he considered Jerry to be an inherently evil man, or that he might somehow threaten Jack.
It was just that Jack believed Jerry to be weak, and so could not be trusted.
If asked why, Jack would not have had to think about it. He would have stoically said, “Everybody dies sometime. It’s just that in some cases the process gets expedited.”
In Jack’s eyes, Jerry needed some help in this regard.