Dutch and Gina: The Power of Love (21 page)

As for Jed Brightman, he would be happy because he would maintain his speakership.
 
Robert Rand would represent a strong candidate at the head of the Democratic ticket, ensuring down ballot votes that would keep the Democrats in the House of Representatives in power.
 
It was elaborate and it was, to both Robert and Jed Brightman, entirely doable.
 

Pratt, however, was the wildcard.
 

But Robert had a cure for that ailment, too.

“Besides,” Robert said, couching his words carefully, “this has to work.
 
Everything has to go according to plan.
 
Or your predilection, Shelly, will be exposed for all the world to see.
 
And that will be the end of you politically.
 
Won’t it?”

Shelly Pratt stared at Robert.
 
“What predilection?”

Robert smiled.
 
“You just stick with the plan, and there will be no need to ever so much as mention it.”
 
Then Robert frowned, leaned forward so that he was clear.
 
“You step outside of the plan, however, even an inch outside, and you will go down harder and faster than Dutch Harber ever could.
 
You feel me, Shelly?”

The Vice President could not believe the level of disrespect he often received from billionaire nobodies like Robert Rand.
 
But money spoke as loud in Washington as power.
 
And besides, he was in a tight fix.
 
Rand claimed to have the goods on him.
 
He didn’t even want to consider if it was true.
 
Because if even a scintilla of it was true, and Rand did have the goods on him, Rand was right: he would be politically dead.
 
He wouldn’t be able to retire in the sunset and rake in money in speaking fees.
 
He wouldn’t be able to earn a living, if it were true.
   

“I’ll stick with the plan,” Shelly said.
 
“You don’t have to worry about me.”

The doors to the Oval Office flew open and the president and First Lady emerged.
 
Following them were a contingent that included Manny Levine, political director, Primrose Grier, Attorney General, Peter Bergmann, White House Counsel, and Crader McKenzie and Allison Shearer.
 
It wasn’t Bergmann, however, or Primrose, who was the most vocal advisor to the president as they walked.
 
It was Manny.

“Don’t get into the weeds with those people,” he said as he worked to keep pace alongside the fast moving First Couple.
 
“They’ll bait you, but don’t take the bait.”

Dutch and Gina didn’t respond.
 
They just kept on walking.

“And about that night, sir,” Manny continued.
 
“We really need you to obfuscate.”

This stopped Dutch and Gina, which effectively stopped the entire entourage.
 
Dutch looked at Manny.
 
“Obfuscate?” he asked.

“Yes.
 
We need you to prevaricate, to---”

“To lie, in other words,” Gina said.

Many smiled.
  
“No ma’am, that’s not exactly what I mean.”

“Then what exactly do you mean?” Dutch wanted to know, staring at his political director.

“What I mean is that this is not the time to go out there and tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

“Then what is he supposed to go out there and tell?” Gina asked.
 
“Lies, whole lies, nothing but lies?”

“No, ma’am,” Manny said, “but. . .”
 
He then looked at Dutch.
 
“Sir, you need to go out there and create what I’ll call an alternative reality.”

““I’m not hearing this conversation,” Primrose Grier said.
 
“Permission to leave, sir?”

Dutch looked at his tall Attorney General.
 
He liked her spunk, her tenacity, and above all her strong moral core.
 
That was why he selected her to run his Justice Department.
 
But her formality annoyed him.
 
“Just hold on,” he said to her.
 
Then he turned, slightly, toward his wife.
 
“You want to leave too, babe?” he asked her.

“I sure do not,” Gina said.
 
“I want to know why Manny feels you can’t just get behind that podium and tell the American people the truth.”

“Why is that, Manny?
 
My wife asks a very good question.”

Manny leaned back on the balls of his feet.
 
“Alright, I’ll tell you why.
 
If you place yourself in a hotel room with a dead woman, you’re dead politically.
 
There’s no ands, ifs, or buts about that.
 
There’s no two ways to look at it.
 
And not just you, but the entire Democratic Party.
 
It’s a fact, sir.
 
You cannot have been in that hotel room with Liz Sinclair.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Crader said with a frown.
 
“The police came to the hotel room.
 
Dutch answered the door.
 
Liz was dead in the bathroom then.”

“Yes, that’s true,” Manny said.
 
“But no reports have yet been filed, and no comments to the media have yet been made.”

Crader looked at Manny.
 
“Oh, so you got to the cops already?
 
They’re willing to play ball with us already?”

“Don’t look at me,” Manny said, looking at Peter Bergmann.
 
“Pete was the one in San Francisco.
 
He was the one who ran interference on that end.”

 
“All I did was asked them to give us some time,” Peter proclaimed.
 
“That’s it.
 
That’s all.
 
The rest of this is all Manny.”

“But I don’t get it.
 
I don’t understand what you expect Dutch to say,” Gina said to Manny.

“You say, sir,” Manny addressed the president, “that you spent the night elsewhere.”

“Elsewhere?” Dutch said.

“Like where?” Gina asked.

Manny didn’t skip a beat.
 
“In Allison’s hotel room.”

“Allison?” Gina said, floored.
 
“But Secret Service agents were right outside his room door.
 
They knew the president didn’t leave and go to Allison’s room.”

“Let us handle that end,” Manny said.

“Oh, so you got that covered too, do you now?” Crader asked incredulously.

“That’s right, Cray, we do,” Manny responded petulantly.
 
Then he turned to the president.
 
“You spent most of that night with Allison,” he said.
 
“And then you went back to your hotel room and went straight to bed.
 
You never looked in that bathroom, not once.”

“So how did Liz get in there?” Gina asked.

“He allowed Allison to bring her there while he was still at the fundraiser.
 
And then he and Allison went back to Allison’s room.”
 

Gina could hardly believe it.
 
“And they’ll think my husband spent the night with his press secretary?”

Manny didn’t skip a beat.
 
“Better they believe him an adulterer than a murderer.”

Gina looked at Allison.
 
She didn’t seem at all surprised by this cover up scheme, as if they’d already discussed it.
 
In fact, none of them seemed surprised.
 
Except her and Crader.
 
With Dutch it was always hard to tell where he came down.

Dutch began walking again, which caused Gina and the rest of the contingent to continue walking, too.
 

“Anything else?” Dutch asked Manny.

“Yes, sir,” Manny said.
 
“And this one is vital.”

Dutch and Gina stopped once more, with their staffers stopping too.
 
“What is it?” Dutch asked him.

“You don’t want Gina going in there with you, sir,” Manny said.
 
“Her presence could turn your press conference in ways we don’t want to go.
 
Just being on that stage with you will create a whole new discussion on why it is that troubled politicians always parade out their wives to stand by their man.
 
If the discussion becomes about Gina, then all of those old allegations about her having affairs in the White House, and doing drugs, will all return.
 
We can’t handle that right now.”

Gina wanted to tell Manny where he could go with all of that rumor mill nonsense that never had any basis in facts.
 
But Dutch beat her to the punch.

“Come on, babe,” he said to his wife as he reached out his hand to her.
 
Gina gladly grasped it.
 
“And Manny,” he said, now staring at his political director.

“Yes, sir?” Manny said, stepping forward.

“You’re fired.”
 

The First Couple kept walking.
 
Crader, now smiling, followed too.
 
Allison, Prim, and Peter, terrified that they may be on that chopping block next, hurried to keep pace with the president.
 
But their decision to keep going effectively left Manny, their colleague and friend, alone in the corridor.

The press conference was brutal.
 
Every question seemed laced with accusation.
 
But Dutch and Gina stood there, behind the podium in the Brady Press Room, and took it.
 
Gina, in fact, was amazed at how Dutch was able to maintain his cool under fire.

“Why did you tell Allison Shearer to take Liz Sinclair to your hotel room, sir?”

“She said she needed to talk, so I agreed to meet with her later that night.”

“But why did your press secretary have to take the woman to your room, sir?
 
Why couldn’t you just leave her in that small office and talk to her there?”

“Because I still had commitments and didn’t want her waiting that long in such an uncomfortable setting.”

Gina wanted to look at Dutch.
 
Why he didn’t just tell them that Liz was drunk as a skunk and he wanted to help get her sober?

“But why couldn’t your people put her in a different room?”

“Because she wanted to talk with me.
 
So I put her in my room.”

“What did she talk about?”

There was a slight hesitation in Dutch’s response, which caused Gina to glance at him.
 
“She discussed some personal difficulties she was going through.”

“Such as?”

“I’m not getting into what she said,” Dutch made clear.
 
“But it had nothing to do with my job as president.
 
It was personal.”

“Did you hold her at any time, sir, while she was alive in your hotel room?”

Dutch’s jaw tightened.
 
Gina was beginning to see very slight cracks in his armor.
 
“Yes, I held her.”

“Why, sir, would you be in a hotel room holding a gorgeous single woman like Liz Sinclair?”

“She was crying.”