The Outer Circle (The Counterpoint Trilogy Book 3) (13 page)

Farmington, USA

There was still some bourbon left in the bottle, enough for one drink that Jim poured himself. He had not called his superior officer. Whenever he tried, he saw the face of his late friend, John Platt. John had everything – and didn’t hesitate to risk it all to find out the truth. Yes, he wants to get out of this empty rental house. Yes, he wants Janet and the kids back. But not like this, not at this price. He didn’t feel he was serving his oath and defending the Constitution by ratting out two whistleblowers. Because that’s what Ferguson and Sappin were, whistleblowers, not traitors. They had uncovered dangerous information and shared it with the world, making some powerful enemies in the process. If John had the courage, if Ferguson and Sappin had the courage, where was his?

Jim finished the drink, reached for the phone, turned it on, and opened the address book to “JohnP” and a Newfoundland number.
Is this how Julius Caesar felt crossing the Rubicon?
Jim pressed the number.

David answered, his voice anxious:

“Jim?”

“Yes. What do you need?”

“Oh, thank God!”

“Why?”

“We weren’t sure what you were going to do.”

“I wasn’t sure myself. So tell me what you need before I change my mind.”

“OK, Jim, thank you. To give you some context, we are looking at transactions related to John Dimon.”

Jim whistled in astonishment:

“The leading presidential candidate?”

“Yes, that John Dimon. His name first came up in a private investment company that did very well in 2019. He seemed to stay in the background, but many people linked to him had their fingers in the cookie jar. I have a list of names and companies, there were many accounts indirectly linked to Dimon.”

“So what do you want me to do?”

“I will send you the list. The data on the Schulmann’s file only goes through the early 2020. I want transaction data for these accounts after that. And any correlated data or accounts that come up.”

“OK, I can probably do that.”

“One more thing: many transactions we could not trace because the trail ended up at the SOFI.”

“Whew!” Jim whistled again. “That possibly means that there was some dealing with the Chinese or the Russians.”

“Do you have access to the SOFI?”

“No, of course not. And we don’t really have a cooperative relationship with the Russians that run it. Sorry. Send me your list; tomorrow is a good day for me to do a bit of research. Things are slow on the holiday week.”

New York, USA

The National Broadcasting Company, the oldest major U.S. network broadcaster, began as a radio network in 1926, transmitted its first TV broadcast in 1948 and for many years commanded the broadcasting world with two other networks.
The NBC Nightly News
ruled as the number one news program in the country until about ten years ago. The explosion of internet-and social media-centered news sources, such as Robert Treadwell’s empire, had overtaken the old and venerable program. But it was still relevant and tried hard to remain so.

Barbara Stanlon, the host of the program, squinted into the mirror as her makeup artist James was applying finishing touches.

“I don’t understand why he wouldn’t give me an interview by himself, why he has to drag his wife into this,” grumbled Barbara.

“But darling, it is rather cute. She is his partner in this journey and he is showing that they are doing it together. I wish I had a partner like this, sharing fame and all,” wistfully said James as he focused on a tiny emerging trace of crow’s feet on Barbara’s face.

“Well, I am concerned that she’ll make my job a lot more difficult. From what I’ve learned, she is combative and very protective of her husband.”

“Oh, you’ve dealt with a lot more difficult people. You’ll have no problem handling her,” James stood back and sing-songed “Darling, you look ma-a-ahvelous!”

Barbara pursed her lips, then smiled. Yes, at 55 she still looked damn good. And she should be able to handle these two amateurs.

“Dear viewers, thank you for tuning in,” Barbara Stanlon beamed into the camera. “We have a very special show for you today, with Jeff Kron who came seemingly out of nowhere to become one of the leading candidates for the presidency of the United States, and his lovely wife Jennifer.”

“You are in tens of millions of homes now,” Barbara turned to her two guests. “How does it feel?”

Jeff Kron awkwardly grimaced and replied:

“Fortunately, I don’t see all of them or I would be even more nervous.”

His health monitor beeped a warning. Jeff was tall and thin, blondish hair receding and greying. He looked tired and older than his 42 years, with visible dark circles under his eyes and beads of sweat gathered on his forehead. Jennifer Rostin-Kron, on the other hand, seemed decidedly poised and radiant. She was holding her husband’s hand as if to reassure him.

“I think our viewers will be very interested in hearing how the two of you met,” smiled Barbara. “Jennifer, do you want to tell it from woman’s point of view?”

“Of course,” Jennifer looked natural, like she’s been interviewed on TV for years. “We met in 2007. I was on my university’s campus when a tall, good-looking stranger approached me and asked if I was Pavel Rostin’s daughter.” She looked up at her husband and smiled.

“Pavel Rostin was your father,” Barbara stated.

“Yes.”

“And you,” Barbara turned to Jeff, “according to what I’ve read, believe that Jennifer’s father saved your life?”

“Yes,” nodded Jeff Kron. “I was serving a life sentence for a murder I did not commit, murder that had ties to Russia. Pavel, and his father before that, were investigating the case years after it’d been closed. Soon after his involvement, a hired killer in a Russian jail confessed and I was released.”

“But there is no direct evidence that Pavel Rostin was instrumental in your release, is there?” pressed Barbara.

“I don’t believe it was a coincidence,” replied Kron.

“Tragically, Pavel Rostin killed himself before Jeff’s release,” Barbara addressed the camera for a full dramatic effect.

“He did not kill himself!” Jennifer raised her voice.

“What do you mean? There is a police report.”

“Everything that Jennifer and I know about her father tells us he did not commit suicide,” Jeff shook his head. “He came to see me in jail just a few weeks prior to his death. He was a man with a purpose, he was not suicidal. Pavel Rostin was killed, although we don’t know why or by whom. I was not able to thank him for my release.”

“So you went to thank his daughter instead? And fell in love with her?” Barbara looked from Jeff to Jennifer and then at the camera, inviting viewers to share in a romantic story.

Jennifer chuckled: “Actually, it was I who fell in love first. He was so handsome and shy. But I’ve let him think that he’s been the one vowing me.”

The two women laughed conspiratorially.

“What a lovely story,” Barbara addressed the viewers again. “But let us turn to your political career, Jeff. It began rather unusually, right? You both graduated from college in 2009. Jennifer had a degree in computer science with a minor in public policy; you came out with degrees in economics and history. Jeff, since you had no political background – what prompted you to get involved in politics?”

“I didn’t get involved immediately,” said Jeff. “We struggled to get jobs in a tough market, we had a child...” he hesitated, not sure how to continue.

“May I?” asked Jennifer. “You see, Jeff never wanted to be a politician. We both were affected by the human suffering that we saw in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. For Jeff, it came so soon after the 2000 dot-com crash that ended up destroying his parents. He saw that nothing had changed.”

“
Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown
,” said Jeff.

“What?” normally unflappable Stanton lifted her eyebrows.

“That’s the last line in one of my favorite old movies,
Chinatown
. To me, it meant that rich and powerful get away with whatever they want. The people that created the 2008 crisis not only didn’t go to jail, they paid no social costs.”

“I see. You felt it was unfair.”

“Yes.”

“It’s this unfairness that motivated Jeff,” continued Jennifer. “He started writing on the matters of economics and history. He started looking for ways to change things.”

“You said in one of your early books that you wanted to change the world,” Barbara Stanlon sounded skeptical. “That’s rather ambitious, isn’t it?”

“The first step in changing the world is believing that you can. And then taking the next step... and the next one...” shrugged Jeff. “I had my life given back to me by someone who cared. I have a debt to pay forward.”

“Do you really think that you can change the world? Isn’t it arrogant to assume such a personal ability?”

“Yes, Barbara, I really think that any person is capable of having an impact. Sometimes an individual action makes only a small immediate difference but will affect something important down the road. And at other times, we can be in a place and at a time where our actions have instant results.”

“So you chose the California’s initiatives process as your way of affecting the change?”

“Yes. I think it returns some of the power back to the people.”

“But isn’t that almost a mob rule?”

“There are dangers in the direct democracy, we can’t address all the problems by simple majority rule. But there are dangers in a representative democracy as well, especially when money starts playing such a big role in politics. When my representatives are unduly influenced by big money, do they really represent me? I believe we’ve gone too far in the direction of representative democracy, we need to bring in more direct democracy to have tension between the two and to provide a better check over the people we elect.”

“And that’s how you burst on the political scene in 2016, when the California’s Attorney General tried to block one of your initiatives from gathering votes?”

“Yes,” smiled Jeff Kron. “We wanted to create a constitutional amendment that would have given more control and higher revenue share to local governments. This idea was not welcomed by the established interests.”

“So you and some of your supporters blockaded the government building, got arrested and went on a hunger strike?”

“We did.”

“And that was the beginning of your political career and of the Reform Party?”

“In a way. More people became involved, all volunteers. It was not until 2020 that we originally registered the Reform Party in California.”

“And now it’s in all the states,” pointed out Barbara.

“Thanks to all the volunteers.”

“You are running a somewhat unusual campaign. You have not solicited big-ticket donations, you are using virtual townhalls instead of traveling all over the country, you – ” Barbara picked up a small tablet, “are distributing digital pamphlets explaining your positions on economy, education, political process. Do you find that people read those? Our collective attention span has been decreasing steadily.”

“Jennifer, how many downloads did we have so far?” Jeff turned to his wife.

“Since we started distributing these pamphlets, we have had over a hundred and twenty million downloads,” proudly announced Jennifer. “For dozens of years now we’ve been feeding voters slogans and soundbytes. We think there is a real desire on the part of many voters to understand the issues rather than be patronized. We want educated voters.”

Barbara Stanlon grimaced skeptically, then caught herself.

“But let’s get to the presidential race. Congratulations – the polls show you in the second place in the presidential race, trailing only John Dimon – and not by much. This is an amazing position to be in, given that you have never run for any office before,” Barbara Stanlon paused to give Kron a chance to respond. Seeing that he was waiting for a more direct question, she tossed him one: “What do you attribute this success to, given that your Reform Party is more of a volunteer network?”

“Well, I certainly don’t attribute it to my political or oratorical skills. I think it’s the power of the ideas that people follow, not me. I am just fortunate to have become a focal point for some of their aspirations.”

Jennifer jumped in:

“The same two parties have dominated the American politics since before the Civil War. They have successfully excluded third parties for over a century and a half. We have families here that resemble political royalty. It is time for the Americans to have more choices!”

Barbara Stanlon allowed only the slightest note of irritation to slip into her melodic voice:

“But, Mrs. Rostin-Kron, your grandfather, Sam Baker, was the embodiment of the same two-party system that you just criticized! He served in Congress for over thirty years.”

“My grandfather retired from politics two years ago. At the end of his career, he grew ashamed of the current system, where the political elite evolved into a new caste, aligned with moneyed interests and now are desperately fighting to stay in power and exclude the outsiders,” testily replied Jennifer. “I know, I am his granddaughter. Please leave him out of it.”

Barbara Stanlon composed herself and smiled into the camera:

“A very interesting response from Mrs. Rostin-Kron, but I am being told it’s the time for a commercial break. We’ll be back soon, don’t change the channel.”

After making sure they were off the air, she turned to the Krons:

“Jennifer, is attacking the main political parties on the air your party’s election-year tactic? I think you husband has been, while critical, somewhat more circumspect in his comments.”

“Ah, you should see her at home,” laughed Jeff Kron. He seemed to have become more relaxed after his wife’s outburst. “Yes, perhaps I’ve been more diplomatic in what I said. But Jennifer’s statement represents my views as well.”

“Welcome back to our viewers,” smiled Barbara Stanlon into the camera. Turning back to Krons: “So, Jeff, do you agree with your wife’s statement?”

“Wholeheartedly,” nodded Jeff. “It’s been a very long time since we’ve seen any changes in our political system. A change is needed. Our Constitution was designed, above all, to prevent abuses from concentrating too much power in a small set of hands. But we have evolved this crony capitalism where the political regime has merged with economic and financial powers. Special interests fund politicians and then demand their dues. Lobbying distorts the process. A select few gather dominant influence. Economic advantages are gained via political means. We are due for a change.”

“And what kind of change would you advocate in the political process?”

“I’ll quote Thomas Jefferson:
Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories
,” Jeff looked decidedly more self-assured. “We have to create a more competitive electoral process by introducing term limits, public financing of candidates and limited durations of campaigns. And we have to start eliminating the curse of lobbying. I would ask for a lifetime ban on lobbying by anyone who worked in the government. Plus, I think politicians must take an oath to not meet with lobbyists, to not accept money, gifts or dinners from lobbyists – or face recall. I am taking this oath right now, in front of millions of witnesses: I will never take money from special interests. Nor will I ever give even five minutes of my time to lobbyists.”

Jennifer smiled and squeezed her husband’s hand.

“I am sure many powerful people are not happy listening to your words right now,” carefully enunciated Barbara. “Does that concern you at all?”