Removal (17 page)

‘Yes.’

‘In his case, what do you do?’

‘Well,’ Jeffers began slowly, ‘you have to understand that, with the President, and with certain other dignitaries, there are certain complications.’

‘What kind of complications?’

‘Well, you don’t have unrestricted access. You have to deal with the Secret Service for everything.’

‘OK.’

‘They have certain requirements. The catering has to be done a certain way. Only certain people are allowed on to the floor where the President is staying. The security is beyond belief. I mean, they check everything out way before he actually arrives, Secret Service agents and sniffer dogs everywhere. They want a full life-history of any employee who is going to be anywhere near him. It just about brings the hotel to a standstill for a week or so beforehand.’

Selvey lit another cigarette and looked at the ceiling.

‘All right. I’m not so interested in the food, and the flowers, and what have you. I’m sure you have your routine for all that. What concerns me more is what you might do unofficially, to provide the President with any more personal items or services he might require.’

‘Could I change my mind about the cigarette?’

‘Sure.’

Selvey gave Jeffers a cigarette and lit it for him.

‘Let me be a little more specific,’ Selvey said. ‘Obviously, the President can’t just go out on the town for the evening. And there must be times when he’s off duty, and he might enjoy a certain kind of drink, or a cigar, or a movie, or whatever, aren’t there? It’s just human nature.’

‘Yes.’

‘Would you deal with that?’

‘Yes.’

‘So you’re cleared to be on the President’s floor?’

‘I served him during both of his stays with us. Other presidents too, in the past.’

‘What would you need to do?’

‘It would depend. It would depend on what the President wants.’

‘How would you find out what he wants?’

‘It would be requested.’

‘How?’

‘The request would come from someone on the President’s Detail. You know, an agent might come up and say ‘the President would like a bottle of scotch’, or whatever. My job then would be to get it to him discreetly.’

‘Why discreetly?’

‘Well, the press are all over the place, and it might be something the President doesn’t want to draw attention to. Not that there would be anything wrong with it necessarily. But he might prefer to keep it to himself.’

‘All right,’ Selvey said, after a pause. ‘Let’s cut to the chase. What about women? Have you ever been asked to make arrangements for President Wade to see a woman?’

Jeffers finished his whisky in one gulp and drew heavily on the cigarette. Selvey placed his hand very obviously on the envelope containing the money.

‘Once. The last time he was with us. Just a few weeks ago.’

‘Tell me what happened.’

‘I got word from one of the agents that a certain lady would be visiting the President one evening. The way he put it, she was an old friend of the President and the First Lady from their home state, who had helped in his campaigns for governor some time back. She was in town on business and wanted to touch base. It was all made to sound quite proper.’

‘But it wasn’t quite proper, was it?’

‘No, of course not. They were just giving me a story. I know how these things go.’

‘Go on.’

‘She was supposed to arrive at about eight-thirty. The President had no official engagements. He had the night off. So he had arranged dinner for the two of them in his suite. I took care of that with the kitchen. Then my job was to look out for her at the main entrance of the hotel, and escort her to the President’s floor.’

‘Then what would happen?’

‘The agents would check her out and take her to the President’s suite, and then I would go back downstairs.’

‘Was there anything else you would do?’

‘Only if they wanted anything during the course of the evening. Other than that, I would be around to escort her back down again when she was ready to leave.’

‘And did the President need anything else that particular evening?’

‘Yes. Champagne. It must have been about half an hour after she arrived. The agent called and said the President needed a bottle of Mumm Cordon Rouge on ice, and two glasses. He has good taste.’

Selvey smirked. ‘Yeah. So what did you do?’

‘I went to the bar, got the champagne and took it up. The agent said it would be all right for me to take it in to him myself. They knew me by then, you see. So I knocked on the door, I waited for a few seconds, I didn’t hear anything, so I went in.’

‘And…?’

Jeffers exhaled heavily, nervous again.

‘Go on,’ Selvey said.

‘Well, apparently, they hadn’t heard me. I knocked loud enough, believe you me. But they must not have heard. I should have waited for a response before I went in. That’s the way it should be done. But, you know, I never thought…’

‘What did you see?’

‘They were lying on the couch together.’

‘On a couch? This wasn’t in the bedroom?’

‘No. When you go into the suite, the first place you come to is the living room. The bedrooms are farther in. It’s the largest suite in the whole hotel. It has a kitchen and two bedrooms, everything.’

‘All right.’

Jeffers hesitated. Selvey refilled his glass and waited for him to take a drink.

‘I need the details, Mr. Jeffers. Don’t be embarrassed. I’ve heard it all before.’

Jeffers nodded.

‘Well, like I say, they were lying on the couch. Their shoes were on the floor. They were kissing and carrying on. It looked like they had their tongues in each other’s mouths. His shirt was almost completely undone. Same with her blouse. He had his hand…’

‘Go on.’

‘Well, he had his hand on one of her tits, and she had hers on his cock.’

‘She had it out?’

‘No, through his pants. But it was pretty obvious, you understand.’

‘OK. What happened?’

Suddenly, Jeffers laughed.

‘It was funny, looking back on it. Nobody knew what to do. We just sort of stared at each other. I got my cool back before they did. I’ve been doing this a few years, and you never know what you’re going to walk in on. I’ve seen it all. You get used to acting as if nothing unusual is going on. If it hadn’t been the President, I wouldn’t even have…’

‘What did you do?’ Selvey interrupted.

‘Well, like I say, I recovered first. I walked a few feet into the room, left the tray on the table, and turned to leave. And, this was funny. Usually, in this kind of situation, the guy runs after me, and gives me a big tip, and tells me I never saw what I saw.’

‘So?’

‘Well, I guess the President doesn’t carry money around. Sometimes the agents will give you a tip, though you can’t rely on it. But not the President personally. So, the woman did it for him. She pretty much jumped up off the couch, told me to wait a minute, picked up her purse, and handed me three $100 bills. Then she put her finger up to her lips, as much as to say, ‘it’s our secret, don’t tell anyone’. She got close enough to give me a good view of her tits too, as an added bonus. And I can understand why he was hard, let me tell you. She was a sight for sore eyes. Real high class. You see a lot of hookers in my line of work, and I’m here to tell you, this one was top of the line.’

Selvey reached into the briefcase once more, and produced a photograph, which he showed to Jeffers.

‘This her?’

Jeffers responded immediately.

‘That’s her. That’s the one. You don’t forget someone like that.’

‘Good,’ Selvey said.

‘Who is she?’ Jeffers asked.

‘You don’t need to know. Don’t get inquisitive,’ Selvey replied brusquely. ‘Who was the agent who told you she would be joining President Wade for the evening?’

Jeffers shook his head.

‘I don’t know. It was over the intercom, and I didn’t recognize the voice.’

‘Fuck,’ Selvey whispered to himself, turning his head away from the recorder.

Jeffers smiled.

‘But I do know the agent who was on duty when I took up the champagne. She was standing right outside the door. Her name was Linda Samuels.’

Selvey sat up in his seat, and wrote the name on a scrap of paper.

‘You’re sure?’

‘Oh, yeah. She was the friendliest of the bunch. She would actually talk to you, treat you like a human being. Most of them are really into themselves. They think they’re such hot shit, with their radios and designer shades and the rest of it. But Agent Samuels was different. She and I talked a few times. And I’ll tell you something else as well. She didn’t like what was going on one little bit.’

‘How do you know that? Did she say so?’

‘No,’ Jeffers grinned. ‘She was too professional for that. But you just had to look at her face. She knew exactly what the President was up to, and she didn’t like it even one little bit.’

‘What time did the President’s visitor leave?’

Jeffers seemed hesitant.

‘I don’t know.’

‘Why not? I thought you were supposed to see her out.’

‘I was. But after what I’d seen…’

‘You were worried about embarrassing the President even more than you already had?’

‘Yes. I figured the Secret Service could escort her down, or at least make sure she left.’

Selvey nodded. ‘I can’t say I blame you. Is there anything else you remember?’

‘No. I think that’s about it.’

‘All right.’

Selvey glanced at his watch, stated the time, then switched off the recorder. He pushed the envelope back across the table to Jeffers.

‘Thank you, Mr. Jeffers. You did good. As we agreed, you will get the rest when we have confirmed the story, and provided you keep your mouth shut. Are we clear about that?’

‘Yes, Sir.’

‘Good. Because the gentlemen I report to are very insistent about that. I can’t tell you how important that is to them. Be careful on the way home.’

Jeffers stood, finished his whisky, and replaced the peaked cap on his head.

‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘If I need to, how do I…?’

‘You don’t,’ Selvey said firmly. ‘We will contact you.’

T
HE
PRODUCER
HELD
up his left hand and, mouthing the numbers silently but clearly, counted down from five. Instead of zero, he gave the command ‘go’. The camera was pointing straight into the face of the man behind the desk, and the producer, who had been through this kind of exercise many times before, intended that it would remain in that position throughout the short broadcast. It wasn’t very creative, but it was what was needed.

The President coughed briefly, and gave the camera his most sincere look.

‘Good evening,’ he began. ‘My fellow Americans, it is with a very heavy heart that I have felt obliged to ask for a few minutes of your time to speak to you this evening. Some time ago, questions were asked of me about a woman named Lucia Benoni. It was suggested that I had had some kind of improper relationship with that young woman. I denied any such relationship. Indeed, I denied having known Ms. Benoni at all. I was asked about the fact that, when she was found dead in such tragic circumstances, she was carrying with her a special pass which granted her access into the non-public areas of the White House. I denied any knowledge of this also.

‘Tonight, I have to admit to you that I did not tell the entire truth about Lucia Benoni. I have to apologize for that. I have to tell you what really happened, and why I tried to conceal some of the truth. I can only hope for your forgiveness and understanding.

‘I met Lucia Benoni about six months ago, when she attended an official function at the White House. I was attracted to her. I enjoyed the conversation I had with her. I arranged to meet her again so that we could converse further. We talked about books and music, things that interested both of us, things I have little time or opportunity to discuss these days. I requested that a special pass be issued for Ms. Benoni, so that she could come to the White House with less formality. I want to make it clear that, although I can request that such a pass be issued, I cannot insist on it. These special passes are issued only after a thorough security check. This is done by experienced White House staff, aided by the Secret Service. Miss Benoni’s credentials were thoroughly checked before the pass was issued. Subsequently, she did visit the White House a number of times.

‘When I was questioned about Miss Benoni and the special pass, I decided not to tell the whole truth about it, because I wanted to protect her privacy. I was concerned that she might be hounded by the press, which was eager to create a story which never existed. I knew Lucia Benoni as a very private person, and I knew how much such publicity would hurt her. Now that she is dead, none of that matters any more, and the American people deserve to hear the truth. I have already spoken to the First Lady and to my advisers. I have asked their forgiveness and understanding, and they have given it freely.

‘Tonight, I have told the truth. I want to make it clear that that was the extent of our relationship. At no time did I have any kind of sexual relationship with Ms. Benoni. Now that she has died such a tragic death, the victim, apparently, of a deranged young man she had been seeing, I hope that we can all put this episode behind us. I have to focus on the work the American people elected me to do. Trouble is brewing in the Middle East which could threaten our oil supply. Too many people are out of work. I need to give my full attention to these urgent problems. I call on the press to allow Lucia Benoni to rest in peace, and to allow me to continue my job without these distractions. Finally, I want to thank my wife, the First Lady, Julia Wade, for the loving and forgiving way in which she has always stood by me.

‘Thank you all for listening. I wish you a good evening. May God bless America.’

In her office in the White House, Vice President Ellen Trevathan closed her eyes.

‘Yes, indeed,’ she murmured to herself.

* * *

Inside the Sons of the Flag Compound in Oregon, George Carlson switched off the television. He and Dan Rogers had watched the President’s broadcast in Carlson’s office over a beer. For some time, Carlson stood by the television set, shaking his head.