at?’
‘Piece by Mary Sullivan, top right.’
Kelly leaned forward and began to read.
‘Holy shit,’ she said when she had finished the article.
‘My sentiments exactly.’
Kelly pushed the newspaper back across the desk.
‘What are you going to do, Sir?’
‘I’m going to have to tell the President. I don’t think he’s going to be exactly ecstatic, do you? Kelly, is there any chance of a mis-identification here?’
‘I don’t think so. All the documents they found were consistent, and the photos matched the body. No, I would say our body is definitely Lucia Benoni. I asked Chief Bryson to keep a lid on it. He said he would. I hope he wasn’t snowing me.’
‘According to CNN, he’s been a good boy so far. But, even so, that buys us a day or two at most,’ Lazenby said. ‘The press are going to be all over the Post article. It’s not going to take them long to put two and two together.’
‘I take it the President has an alibi?’ Kelly grinned.
‘Very funny.’
‘Sir, if it’s any comfort, there’s a good chance we’re dealing with an individual sexual motive here. Ms. Benoni may have just got into the bondage thing a little too deep for her own good. There’s no evidence that it’s anything more sinister than that.’
‘I’m not sure the President will find that particularly comforting.’
‘No, Sir.’
Lazenby sat back down behind his desk.
‘What are they going to do with the evidence?’
‘Their own people are going to go over it first, and I said our people would give them any technical support they might need. There are some things we can do more quickly than they could. I also suggested that we run the name of Lucia Benoni by State, since she seems to have been well up in the frequent flier stakes.’
‘Yes, I suppose we should,’ Lazenby agreed. ‘The Agency, too, just in case.’
‘Sir, what do you want to do about the special pass?’ Kelly asked. ‘Do you want to contact the Secret Service and ask? There is still a chance it’s a forgery though, if so, it’s a damn good one. They can scan it for us and tell us in a New York minute.’
Lazenby exhaled heavily.
‘Not if there’s any way to avoid it. Once we make a formal request, the cat’s out of the bag. There has to be some way to check it out without going through the usual channels. There’s not much time. But the last thing I want is to give the President a false alarm.’
Kelly considered the matter.
‘I do have a very close friend on the President’s Detail. If these passes are for real, she must see them all the time. I could ask her to take a look at it.’
Lazenby rose to his feet once more.
‘Can she be trusted?’
‘Absolutely, Sir. We go way back.’
Lazenby paced behind his desk for some time. Eventually, he made his decision.
‘All right. But it has to be today some time. I can’t wait to tell the President for more than twenty-four hours. He’ll probably want to beat me over the head for waiting even that long.’
‘I’ll get on to it right away.’
‘And Kelly, this has to be kept completely quiet until we’re sure.’
‘I understand, Director.’
Lazenby stopped pacing and exhaled heavily.
‘What about this Lieutenant, what was his name, Morris?’
‘He seems like a good guy. I don’t think we have anything to worry about there. It was his idea to call Chief Bryson and have him call you. He seemed to be taking very good care of the pass.’
‘God, I hope so. Let me know what your friend has to say.’
Kelly stood to leave.
‘Oh, and Kelly…’
‘Sir?’
‘You are free to tell Frank it’s all my fault, and what a heartless, demanding bastard I am.’
‘I already did, Sir,’ Kelly replied with a thin smile. ‘Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to help.’
9
M ARTHA G RAYLOR HAD worked for Steve Wade, as Governor and as President, for over fifteen years, and she had spent a lot of time putting out fires for the First Family. But this was the worst
‘Piece by Mary Sullivan, top right.’
Kelly leaned forward and began to read.
‘Holy shit,’ she said when she had finished the article.
‘My sentiments exactly.’
Kelly pushed the newspaper back across the desk.
‘What are you going to do, Sir?’
‘I’m going to have to tell the President. I don’t think he’s going to be exactly ecstatic, do you? Kelly, is there any chance of a mis-identification here?’
‘I don’t think so. All the documents they found were consistent, and the photos matched the body. No, I would say our body is definitely Lucia Benoni. I asked Chief Bryson to keep a lid on it. He said he would. I hope he wasn’t snowing me.’
‘According to CNN, he’s been a good boy so far. But, even so, that buys us a day or two at most,’ Lazenby said. ‘The press are going to be all over the Post article. It’s not going to take them long to put two and two together.’
‘I take it the President has an alibi?’ Kelly grinned.
‘Very funny.’
‘Sir, if it’s any comfort, there’s a good chance we’re dealing with an individual sexual motive here. Ms. Benoni may have just got into the bondage thing a little too deep for her own good. There’s no evidence that it’s anything more sinister than that.’
‘I’m not sure the President will find that particularly comforting.’
‘No, Sir.’
Lazenby sat back down behind his desk.
‘What are they going to do with the evidence?’
‘Their own people are going to go over it first, and I said our people would give them any technical support they might need. There are some things we can do more quickly than they could. I also suggested that we run the name of Lucia Benoni by State, since she seems to have been well up in the frequent flier stakes.’
‘Yes, I suppose we should,’ Lazenby agreed. ‘The Agency, too, just in case.’
‘Sir, what do you want to do about the special pass?’ Kelly asked. ‘Do you want to contact the Secret Service and ask? There is still a chance it’s a forgery though, if so, it’s a damn good one. They can scan it for us and tell us in a New York minute.’
Lazenby exhaled heavily.
‘Not if there’s any way to avoid it. Once we make a formal request, the cat’s out of the bag. There has to be some way to check it out without going through the usual channels. There’s not much time. But the last thing I want is to give the President a false alarm.’
Kelly considered the matter.
‘I do have a very close friend on the President’s Detail. If these passes are for real, she must see them all the time. I could ask her to take a look at it.’
Lazenby rose to his feet once more.
‘Can she be trusted?’
‘Absolutely, Sir. We go way back.’
Lazenby paced behind his desk for some time. Eventually, he made his decision.
‘All right. But it has to be today some time. I can’t wait to tell the President for more than twenty-four hours. He’ll probably want to beat me over the head for waiting even that long.’
‘I’ll get on to it right away.’
‘And Kelly, this has to be kept completely quiet until we’re sure.’
‘I understand, Director.’
Lazenby stopped pacing and exhaled heavily.
‘What about this Lieutenant, what was his name, Morris?’
‘He seems like a good guy. I don’t think we have anything to worry about there. It was his idea to call Chief Bryson and have him call you. He seemed to be taking very good care of the pass.’
‘God, I hope so. Let me know what your friend has to say.’
Kelly stood to leave.
‘Oh, and Kelly…’
‘Sir?’
‘You are free to tell Frank it’s all my fault, and what a heartless, demanding bastard I am.’
‘I already did, Sir,’ Kelly replied with a thin smile. ‘Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to help.’
9
M ARTHA G RAYLOR HAD worked for Steve Wade, as Governor and as President, for over fifteen years, and she had spent a lot of time putting out fires for the First Family. But this was the worst
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