Blackstone uncoiled himself, stretched briefly, and sat back.
“The odds against losing three would be high in a platoon or any other military group, but for our agency, the figures are astoundingly bad.
“Quite apart from the tragedy of their deaths”—there was a pause—“from the manner in which at least one of them died, it looks like the Russians suspected that they were working for us. Because of the possible torture we also have to worry about what else they told them.
“When an agent goes missing it is often very difficult to confirm how much of his network has been unmasked. It’s hard to get a handle on it because they all know, if their agent goes quiet and they don’t get their usual message, the spycraft is clear…go to ground,” said Blackstone.
The general finally interrupted. “So you’ve got problems with the Junta, the new sonar equipment, and the possibility of another sunken Soviet sub. What kind of a plan can sort all this out?”
“There is a sort of an idea that has been raised, well, a long-shot idea that I put to the president,” said Blackstone.
“I spoke to him briefly just this morning and I gather he hasn’t yet decided whether to agree to it. I also gather that if it does go ahead, President Johnson wants you to be his representative,” he said, looking at the general. “But as I say, I’m not sure he will agree to it.”
The general was more bemused by the minute. This didn’t sound anything like the Lyndon Johnson he knew or what he had always believed was the way the CIA behaved.
As if he could read his mind Hugh interrupted.
“There is this cautious feeling around because the idea is a very unusual one…abnormal, really, one that you will never, ever, see written about in the history books.
“But it could change everything.”
The general repeated, “So what’s the plan?”
Blackstone began.
“As I said before, we have this new listening equipment. If it does what the experts say, it will give us a much clearer picture of the
Soviet navy’s activity in European and Middle Eastern seas. It is supposed to be able to work on dry land. In its infancy we tried to put this equipment into one of our embassies. First we tried Istanbul but we discovered that it is too far east. Athens was the next on the list.” Immediately the general visualized the red crosses in his mind.
“Yes, we think that at least one of our men got fingered at this time.
“We have tried to work out somewhere else to put it and our search has taken us up and down the Ionian coast.
“We have inspected the mainland, the Aegean Sea, and the other Ionian islands.
“Ideally, it would be somewhere in the Ionian Sea, perhaps near the gateway to the Med from the Black Sea and the U.S.S.R. ports of Rostov, Odessa, Sevastopol, and Yalta.”
The general began to understand why he had been chosen. He knew the area well from his war days.
“We contemplated asking the Greeks officially, paying them even, but they leak like a bucket full of holes. We realized that we would simply end up paying through the nose and the Russians might still ‘find out’ where our surveillance is based.
“We have thought of sneaking this equipment onto one of the islands, but the problem is that they are all small, and apart from the height of the summer season anyone new stands out, even when they have an excellent front as a Greek simpleton.”
The three of them pored over the map for a few moments.
“Without doubt, the best conditions for it would be somewhere here.”
The general looked carefully at the spot that Hugh was pointing to and then looked up from the page.
“Yes, I can see that it’s ideal. Trouble is, am I right in thinking that it doesn’t even belong to the Greeks?”
“Dead right. It belongs to Onassis, the shipping magnate,” said Blackstone.
“A man I don’t think we should trust,” said the general.
“You’re right; we’ve crossed swords with him before.”
Blackstone revealed his expertise in all affairs Middle Eastern and Mediterranean by explaining that not long ago the CIA had acquired information about a potentially huge deal the Greek was hoping to do with the Saudis, supplying a fleet of tankers for the government to transport their oil under the Saudi flag.
Not only would the Greek’s earnings soar into the stratosphere, the new Saudi tanker fleet would mean that the desert state could begin to be self-sufficient in the oil business, flagrantly violating long-term agreements the Saudis had with ARAMCO, the organization made up of the major U.S. oil companies, Standard Oil, Mobil, Exxon, and Texaco.
Harry continued. “Onassis, knowing that this contract would alienate the American government, had a draft contract drawn up by an ex-Nazi lawyer in Düsseldorf. It established SAMCO, the Saudi Arabian Maritime Company, and among other things gave the company priority rights on the shipment of Arabian oil with a guaranteed ten percent of the country’s annual output.
“It became known as the Jiddah Agreement. Onassis was to pay for the fleet’s sailors to be trained in that port.
“It was signed by the Saudi finance minister but Onassis knew that it would not be finalized until the king himself had signed it.”
To collapse the deal Stavros Niarchos, Onassis’s brother-in-law and bitter rival, leaked the details to the CIA.
The British, aware that if the deal went ahead the Greek might then persuade nations like Kuwait and Iran to do the same thing, began to worry about their oil supplies. Questions were raised in the House of Commons. To support American interests, Vice President Richard Nixon was drafted in.
“The Jiddah Agreement came to nothing,” said Harry. “We had Onassis in our sights and some of the other deals we didn’t like got spiked.”
Blackstone with quiet confidence began to talk about his part in some of them when Hugh butted in.
“But like every man, he has his weaknesses.”
Without drawing breath, Harry went on: “We know, let’s not say how, that he spent New Year’s Eve with the former First Lady…and her children.”
The general was openmouthed with astonishment.
“With Jackie Kennedy?”
The younger CIA man laughed. “Our reaction entirely. I’m not yet married, in this job it’s an impossibility, but I assume that you gentlemen have wives, so if either of you would like to explain women to me I could bottle it, become a millionaire, leave the agency, and settle down with one.”
It was the first unserious note of the meeting.
Blackstone opened a large French armoire and produced drinks for them all. The general felt like he needed one. After a few gulps he started to realize that Jackie’s involvement was another reason why Lyndon had pulled him into this.
Hugh continued. “We know Aristotle Onassis is a rascal with some unsavory ex-Nazi friends, but I am told he can be very charming, very generous.
“With his own airline, own shipping fleet, own yacht, own island, he is in an ideal position to make a woman feel safe and cocooned.
“He’s not good-looking, in fact he’s the absolute opposite of the man Jackie picked the first time, but with the sort of publicity JFK’s been getting, ‘adultery in excelcis,’ that could well be part of his attraction.”
The general was still dumbfounded.
“You mean you think there’s a real romance there, that she might pair up with him, even marry him?” he asked querulously.
Hugh was about to continue when his boss interrupted.
“Sorry, I know here in this room I am no more senior than you but let me explain to the general.
“They are definitely dating, they saw the New Year in together. To be honest, we have no idea how close they are or how Mrs. Kennedy feels about him, but knowing Mr. Onassis, we are sure that he means business.
“After all, this is a man who just has to click his fingers and he can have anything, and probably anyone, he wants.
“To be with the former First Lady he left his world-famous opera star mistress to her own unhappy devices at one of the most special times of the year. He knows that there is absolutely no point in spending a great deal of time and money trying to seduce the most admired, most iconic woman in the world, unless everyone gets to know about it.
“He knows that Jackie will never publicize an affair or speak to him again if he does!
“For him success means that this must end in marriage.
“Remember, Aristotle Onassis is passionate about everything he does, he has come from nothing, he has no moral compass, no master plan, just very good instincts.
“He is an inveterate collector of famous people. He’s entertained everyone on his boat from Winston Churchill to Greta Garbo, Cary Grant to Princess Grace. He may not care about being accepted but he wants to be respected. He knows that a brilliant dynastic marriage opens so many doors.”
There was a moment of absolute quiet while the general tried to take it all in.
Hugh continued. “If, as we hope, as we wish, their relationship deepens, with their heavy social commitments it will be easy for us to get all sorts of strangers on the island, undercover agents, scientists, ballistic experts, and such will be able to come and go.
“No one will know if they are part of Jackie’s extensive entourage, or a cook or a cleaner or any of the other staff they will need from time to time.
“It should be relatively simple to secrete whatever we need on the farthest tip of the island far away from Ari’s home, which is actually two houses, the Hill House and the Pink House, where he does his entertaining.”
“Ideally we can put it somewhere on the island where a small motorboat or dinghy can also be hidden.”
Blackstone refilled their drinks and put down heavy glass bowls
full of smooth cashews, rotund kalamata olives, and salty pretzels. “We fully acknowledge that Bobby Kennedy will try and do everything in his power to stop her,” he said.
The general then understood the third reason why he was here.
Lyndon Johnson, his wily friend, who had never got along with Bobby, had come to the conclusion that this mad idea might help America in the Cold War in Europe. It had the added advantage of tying up Bobby Kennedy’s time when he should be concentrating on the presidential primaries and his run for the Oval Office.
It was essential that Lyndon Baines Johnson was not to be found anywhere in the vicinity of this clandestine plan.
If RFK ever guessed that the president had suggested that Jackie marry Onassis, he would see it as a personal attack designed to dirty the Kennedy legend. The only way he could hit back would be to tell the public, who would also be horrified by such a union.
If LBJ ever emerged as matchmaker he would be in serious trouble with the voters.
The general smiled as he silently acknowledged how smart his friend Lyndon had been when the final reason that the president had selected him stared him in the face.
His old pal knew that lodged in Mo’s memory bank were the bloodstock lines of virtually every American Olympic show jumper, not to mention most of Saratoga’s best race horses.
The general knew the genetic background of virtually every Thoroughbred dam and sire that amounted to anything in America.
He was a breeding expert.
Who on earth was better equipped to attempt to arrange a union between a social-climbing Greek millionaire and the most famous woman in the world?
A
fter the meeting the general went straight to La Guardia and flew down to Washington. He telephoned Lady Bird in advance to ensure that he would not be in the way.
“Lovely,” she replied, “that means there’ll be just the three of us for dinner.”
Over the meal he told them that so far he was without inspiration: “I have absolutely no idea what I might say to Mrs. K.
“Still, I’ve got a week until our next meeting and that will give me time to work on a strategy.
“Meanwhile, just so that I don’t appear a total buffoon I was wondering, could you ask the CIA or someone to keep an eye out and find out if Jackie’s still seeing Onassis or, just as importantly, dating someone else?
“If the whole thing was just a flash in the pan we might as well forget it…after all, my dears,” he continued in a breathless Jackie-style voice, “it’s been absolutely ages, at least ten weeks, since the beginning of January!”
Over dinner, constructed to take account of Lyndon’s heart
condition—a cup of light soup, a simple chicken dish, and an optional dessert—he set out to entertain the tense, tired president by outlining the details of the New York meeting.
Ensconced in the second-floor dining room in the private quarters, the three of them gossiped about the likelihood of Jackie settling down with Onassis.
“Remember when I offered her a couple of ambassadorships?” recalled LBJ. “She told me she felt that she couldn’t take the children away from Jack’s family and her own relatives and educate them abroad.
“At the time I believed her,” said the president.
“But times change,” Lady Bird interjected.
“At the start, when Jackie was still living here in Washington, she used to visit Bobby and Ethel and Teddy and Joan and all the other Kennedys, but since she moved to New York she rarely comes down here for much longer than it takes to visit Arlington.
“It may well be because coming back here upsets her, and you know that she has always felt that she is not like her in-laws with their touch football and their sporty ways. I am sure she regularly takes the children to Hyannisport to see their grandparents, but she’s always traveling to Europe and that doesn’t give her much time. Then there’s her own mother and stepfather to see, of course, and don’t forget she still goes hunting. If there is any family that she is really close to it’s her sister.”
“True, but it’s worth noting,” her husband said, “that Lee did marry a foreigner, a prince yes, but a Polish one, and she seems quite content to live in London.
“The Kennedys, I mean the Bouviers, aren’t like us. Just take the name, it’s French, something that Jackie is mighty proud of. Do you remember when they went on that state visit to France and she chatted to de Gaulle in the lingo?
“She grew up traveling to Europe on a regular basis. Living abroad would be so much more natural for her than for most of us.”
On the serious side the general reiterated his request for up-to-
date intelligence and the president promised he could have it, on a daily basis.
As the dinner progressed the current First Lady made repeated attempts to discuss what she called the “Bobby Problem” but she failed to attract her husband’s interest. He simply would not discuss it.
“Honey, I’ve spent all day worrying about how the Tet Offensive is going, the atom bomb treaty and the rest, can’t a man have a break?”
The general, himself tired, remembered a time when these dinners went on late, but he could see that his old friend was exhausted. So could Lady Bird.
“I’d suggest a nightcap, Mo,” she said, “it’s just that we seem to be starting earlier and earlier.”
The general took the hint and the convivial evening ended.
Back at his ranch the general awaited the special daily delivery that he had requested. It was far from conclusive.
He had been filled in on her CIA duties. All she did was to entertain or make occasional forays to the theater and the ballet, or to visit friends at home.
Onassis was harder to find. He would occasionally go to his office at Olympic Airlines but he didn’t work the usual nine-to-five way.
He had a permanent suite at the Pierre Hotel and it was hard to keep tabs on him.
He would pop up in Paris, London, or Athens when the watchers thought he was tucked up on Fifth Avenue.
His constant movement convinced both the general and Blackstone that he probably feared some serious and dangerous enemies,
As a pair, the former First Lady and the Greek were not on the public or private radar.
Equally frustrating was that with the exception of the politicians of the New Frontier—Galbraith, Schlesinger, Lord Harlech, Gilpatrick, and the rest—they could locate no other man in her life.
Because of this, Blackstone was not sure that it was sensible to go
ahead with the first meeting. He also didn’t think it wise to drag Hugh back from Greece where an agent was still missing, and it was not fair to get the general to cross the country for what would probably be a fruitless discussion.
Carefully, mentioning no names, they talked on the telephone.
“Let’s be absolutely clear,” said the general, “I am not nervous about going to see her and having a friendly chat.
“I’ve thought about trying it this way and that. Finally I tried to put myself in her place.
“I decided that we aren’t ever going to look like heroes to her. If I were in her shoes, the thing that would irritate me the least, and I can put it no higher than that, is if we are absolutely straightforward with her.
“The smartest thing would be to do to her exactly what you did to me, show her the map with the three red crosses on it, and take her through the tragedy of these talented, brave men cut down in their prime. Luckily for us, she is already nominally part of the agency. We should attempt to make her feel that it is because of her own splendid efforts that we have turned to her in our hour of need, that we are confident she can help us.
“Now, being absolutely logical, she could think, What the hell has all this got to do with me? But I think that we can move this along by what I call ‘visualization.’ Give people a picture and everything becomes clearer.
“I assume we can get close-up pictures of the island?” he asked Blackstone.
“Got ’em already,” he replied instantly.
“As well as showing her the map, we can also mock up some drawings. Very lifelike. Detail how and where we would like to hide our technological equipment, our men, our boats, without anyone else catching on. The artist should make it all look very attractive. Ideally everything in the first sketch, all the surrounding area near the place we might choose to put the technology and the boat, should look just like Skorpios. The vegetation, the rocks, the shoreline, everything should be recognizable to her. Then we could
indicate with some trees here, or a hill formation there, where on the island we would put them, i.e., far away from the main family home, the dock, and the staff quarters.
“Apart from this one maybe we could do one or two more, adding a little poetic license.
“Maybe there could be one that included a lively party on one side of the island, one of those high-octane occasions with lots of people, food, staff, drink, and noise, maybe a band, while on the other side of the island one or two guys could be sailing out to sea or arriving quietly.
“That should give her the idea. Fill them with some people that she is bound to have in her retinue, hairdresser, maid, a yoga teacher—good cover for CIA officials.
“On no account should we mention Onassis.
“When she raises it, and she’s bound to, we should just say that we understand she knows that part of the world well.
“If she takes it further we will have to pretend that one of our men just happened to catch sight of her in a restaurant with the Greek.
“She’ll probably recognize that this is code for our continual vigilance.
“If, as Lady Bird suggests, New Year’s Eve is a big date in a woman’s calendar, and we tell her that we saw them then, she’ll suspect that we think that there is a hot romance going on.
“So we should be vague about any sighting. She’s hardly going to like it if she thinks we are nosing around in her personal life even if she is keen to get as much security as possible for herself and her children. Of course, if there is nothing going on she probably won’t make two and two become four, but if they are involved, well then…Anyway, that’s my plan.
“The fact that we have no recent sighting of them together, and even I am not so old that I can’t remember how things are at the beginning of a new relationship, seems to be bad news. I can see the whole thing falling apart before we start.
“Whatever we tell her, I’ll have to ask her to promise that she
will tell no one, absolutely
no one,
about this, ever. I gather she’s very good at keeping secrets!
“Well, to go back to my plan, then we should probably remind her of the dead, her fellow CIA workers, and ask if she would kindly come back to us with some suggestions, help us with our dilemma.”
When necessary Blackstone was a good listener, he knew when not to interrupt. He let the general pause before continuing.
“I have two more points.
“I’ve no idea what we’ll do if she takes the perfectly sensible point of view that all this has nothing to do with her, or how we should react if she feels insulted, other than to apologize as gracefully as she will let us. But you can’t plan for everything.”
Blackstone, having based his success in life by spending his entire career meticulously doing just that, did not argue. The general’s last thought was for the operative still missing in Greece.
“Has he been found safe and well?”
Blackstone replied: “Sadly, no.”
“Well, let’s hope he’s come to no harm.”
The line went quiet.
“We should tell her that too,” added the general, returning to his theme. “As soon as we can, we finish, withdraw, and leave the map and the drawings with her. She should feel that there is no pressure, no pressure at all, and again we remind her that she is not to discuss a word of it with anyone, ever. Pity we can’t mention the president.”
“I’d just feel so much more confident if we thought she had seen the Greek at least once since we started watching them,” said Blackstone.
“Me too,” said the general. “Let me ask you, how far does she plan ahead? The Secret Service men must be warned of upcoming plans, I imagine. For example, where is she going for the spring vacation or for the summer?”
“Pray God it’s to Greece,” said Blackstone.
“Amen.”
The two decided, come what may, their next meeting should go ahead seven days later.
Blackstone took the plane to New York on the evening before. It was Sunday night, March 3l. As he got to his hotel he raced up to his room. The president was due to address the nation on television at nine
P.M.
Stunned, Blackstone watched as LBJ dramatically announced that he was going to halt the bombing in Vietnam and would not stand for reelection in the fall.
The general, also watching alone in his hotel room, was depressed at the news.
The next day the two men met again. First they talked about the president’s momentous decision. Without hiding their dejection, even though they were both relieved that the war would be coming to an end, they discussed how they would both miss LBJ sitting in the president’s chair. The general talked of the president’s high hopes for things he could do on the domestic front but had to acknowledge that the unwinnable war in Vietnam had left him no choice.
Blackstone admitted that since the Texan had become their leader he had received two promotions.
“All that, and total confidence in your ultimate boss. It doesn’t get much better.”
They wondered if yesterday’s developments would herald the closing down of the Skorpios plan. The general had tried to get through to his old pal but found it impossible.
“We’d better continue until we hear otherwise,” he said.
To try to brighten things up Harry feebly joked: “Well, up to a point that solves the ‘Bobby Problem.’”
The general added: “Now I see why the president didn’t want to discuss Bobby when I had dinner with him and Lady Bird. He knew he was quitting.”
“Well,” said Blackstone, “there’s not much Bobby can do to Lyndon now.”
“Mind you, he would still try to stop them marrying, wouldn’t he?”
“What them?” the general riposted.
“I’m sorry, maybe I got our hopes up for nothing, but there is one last thing I would like to try before we give up.
“The agency does have one man. He brought her in, got her involved with a little light spying in the first place, and has known her since the fifties. He has a really good relationship with her.
“Under normal circumstances he would have probably been involved in this but he’s been on special family leave in Florida, settling his wife and son into a new house and a new school. Seems she got fed up with living in Moscow, his current posting.
“His name is Guy Steavenson. I saw him early this morning.
“I decided to tell him nothing, not because I don’t trust him, I do, with my life, but what with everything going on, I mean last night’s bombshell, for all we know the president may shut this thing right down at any moment.
“No point in getting Guy involved at this stage. What he can do for us is find out her state of mind. I’m not saying he can walk right in and say ‘so how’s your love life,’ but he always sees her when he is in town, in fact he told me he is seeing her on Friday. Jackie’s always been quite open with him. If he can’t find out what’s going on in her life, no one can.”
The general agreed and they arranged to meet at the same time and place next Monday.
Neither of them could have had any idea that two gunmen were going to make their job so much easier.