“Not well. They’re outraged we would even suspect such a thing of their trusted representative. How good is that stuff you used on our Collister? No one questioned his passing, but Algeria will suspect their ambassador’s death after all the noise we made pressuring them to remove him.”
“They’ll suspect, but they won’t be able to tell a thing if the body’s put on ice for even half a day.”
“Done deal. Thanks Nick. I’ll prep Clyde for both operations. Will Phil do what he’s told? We have an incredible opportunity with his help. If he blows this, we won’t get a second chance at it.”
“He won’t get a second chance either. Phil and his wife Clarice know they’re on borrowed time with me. Not even Sonny will save them if he pulls a fast one in this Senator Cameron faceoff.”
“I’ll start putting the pieces together. Will you handle the ambassador on the same trip into DC?”
“That’s my plan. It’s not that I don’t trust Phil. I don’t – not even with him facing death if he blows this. I want him watched every moment I’m not with him. Do you have a man who could watch the slug until Clyde and I finish off the Algerian?”
“Absolutely. Talk at you tomorrow, my friend.”
“No more talk about your qualifications, Paul. The country needs you to play last resort. Your favorite cartoons are with you.”
Gilbrech chuckled and sighed. “I hope it’s enough, Nick. Thank you.”
Nick turned to his fellow cartoons. “It appears the game will proceed with Presidential backup call. We can’t count on every piece falling into place because of the money the bitch commands. She doesn’t know what we know. I doubt she could defend against it anyway. This will all be done behind closed doors ending with her resignation according to whatever lame reason she wants to use. It will probably be the old favorite ‘I need to spend more time with my family’. Her card to play in the game will be to demand it all come out in the open. She can get her fellow Senators she owns to delay everything until hell freezes over and quash all questionable testimony and confessions by our boat boys.”
“What then if she does do that?”
“I shoot her in the head, John. She deserves to do a few hours down in our special room in back of John’s place. I get to salivating thinking about all the leads we could get on underground black-hat Washington DC. I’ll bet Princess Di knows where all the bodies are buried.”
“Democracy is not supposed to operate with a killer wing,” Gus said.
“It’s a Republic by the way – at least for a few more moments,” Nick replied. “It only becomes a corrupt democracy when people who own nothing get to vote money out of the pockets of their working neighbors. That enables politicians to buy votes with promises of class warfare. I’ve had enough to drink. When I start talking about the political structure I feel liked putting a bullet in my own head.”
“We can discuss the Kaders. They’ll be waiting when we get home,” Gus said.
“We also have the serpent’s head, Omar Fontaine, to deal with,” John added. “That hit will take some strategic planning to pull off. Are you going to take him on a straight ahead hit?”
“If I can find a place he’ll be in any length of time, I want to make a .50 caliber statement from a long distance where there will be no doubt the bastard was assassinated. It will give the people who’ve been colluding with him on his traitorous projects pause. They’ll figure if someone can sanction Fontaine what chance would they have. While I’m in DC, you guys try and break through to his personal day planner. If we did take care of him, the Kaders would be shit out of luck.”
“The Kaders will be waiting, Nick,” Gus said. “They’ll force action immediately upon arrival. If they decide to take the money, you still have control over the conditions. If they don’t take the deal, maybe you should move on to Omar.”
“That’s probably what I should do anyway.” Nick saw Rachel strolling out to join them in her robe. “Hi, babe.”
“Hello boys. I just fed Quinn. What are you guys doing at nearly 2 am on a night before a book signing? Never mind. I can see what you’re doing. How did the boat recon go and how many dead?”
“It wasn’t like that, Rach. We reached out to a determined crew of unscrupulous banditos. They supplied us with much needed information.”
“How many dead and don’t give me any of that ‘but they were all bad’ crap.”
“Three. I let a brother veteran live with a second chance. That should count for something. As to the book signing, it’s not until 1 pm. We’ll be adjourning for the evening pretty soon. It’s going to be a good book signing – no BK’s and no Grammar Nazis.”
*