THIRTY THREE.
Flood and Kennedy
took the elevator down to the first floor. For reasons of decorum
and tone, more than for national security, a little subtlety was
now called for. It was only one flight, but the stairs opened out
onto the wide Cross Hall, where visitors were gathered waiting for
the band to play "Hail to the Chief" and watch the President, the
first lady and the Canadian prime minister and his wife descend the
long staircase. The crowd that was assembled in the Cross Hall
consisted of foreign Ambassadors, press, dignitaries, Senators,
Congressmen, two Supreme Court justices and a bevy of celebrities
and wealthy contributors.
The sight of the
director of the CIA and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs descending
the stairs together would lead to endless speculation that a crisis
was brewing.
Kennedy and General
Flood stepped from the elevator and were guided through the velvet
ropes that cordoned off one end of the hallway.
They'd gone no more
than fifteen feet through the well dressed crowd when the general
was snatched from Kennedy's side by the majority leader of the
Senate. Kennedy didn't slow for a second, lest the senator pull her
into the group and begin pumping her for information.
In her mind a state
dinner was not the place to discuss national security. She
continued into the East Room in search of a drink. Now that she was
at the party itself, she felt an urge to take the edge off.
She'd almost made it
to the bar when a hand gripped her arm.
Kennedy turned to see
a familiar and often unfriendly face.
"Hello, Director
Kennedy."
Kennedy looked at the
dazzling green eyes of the young reporter and smiled.
"Anna, for the last
time, please call me Irene."
"I'm just trying to
be respectful," replied a less than sincere Anna Rapp. She
instinctively disliked her husband's boss. When pressed on the
point by Mitch she had to admit that much of it had to do with the
fact that Kennedy knew him better than she did.
"Hmm." Kennedy
frowned, not buying a word of it.
Cutting straight to
the chase, Anna asked, "Would you please tell me where my husband
is?"
Looking at the pretty
young reporter and thinking of her conversation with Jack Warch,
Kennedy decided that now might be just the right time for the two
of them to have a good talk.
"Anna, you look like
you could use a drink." Grabbing her by the arm, Kennedy led her to
the bar.
"Two cosmopolitans,
please." The bartender nodded and went to work.
"Irene, officially,
I'm on duty. I don't think I should be drinking a
cosmopolitan."
Kennedy glanced
sideways at her.
"Anna, I'm always on
duty, and no offense, but my job's a little more important than
yours. Besides"-she looked at Anna's strapless evening gown-"I
don't think you're going to be standing outside in that little
outfit giving any live updates."
Anna was slightly
caught off guard by both the tone and the message.
This was the most
she'd ever heard from the always polite, but tight-lipped
Kennedy.
"No, its not that,
it's just that whenever I'm at the White House, officially I'm
working."
Kennedy ignored her,
grabbed the two martini glasses from the bartender and handed one
to Anna.
"Follow me."
Through the
thickening crowd they went in search of a quiet place to talk. They
garnered more than a few glances; both attractive women in their
own right, Anna Rapp stunning and recognized by almost all, Irene
Kennedy classy and reserved and also recognized by all, though for
vastly different reasons.
As they continued
through the East Room several people tried to stop Kennedy. Each
time she smiled, apologized and kept moving. At the southern end of
the opulent room they found a quiet spot and turned to face each
other.
Kennedy held up her
glass and in a conciliatory tone she said, "To your husband. One of
the finest men I've ever known."
Anna wasn't sure how
much she was supposed to read into the comment, but before she had
time to really think about it Kennedy touched her glass and it was
time to drink. The cold, fruit-tinged vodka went down smoothly. In
a less confrontational voice the reporter asked, "So, tell me,
where have you sent my husband off to this time?"
Kennedy took another
sip while she thought of how best to handle this. Deciding on a bit
of an unusual course, she asked, "Didn't he tell you?"
This threw Anna for a
bit of a loop and then she caught the sarcasm.
"No, he didn't tell
me, and you know he didn't. So why don't you?"
Kennedy literally
never lost her temper, but this pushy reporter was begging to be
put in her place. Where this lack of emotional control originated
from she wasn't exactly sure, but she could hazard a guess.
It lay somewhere in
the belief that Mitch deserved better. In a chilly tone she asked,
"Do you have any respect whatsoever for your husband?"
"Of course I respect
him," snapped Anna.
"Then why do you put
him at risk by walking around like a put-off high school homecoming
queen?"
Anna bristled at the
comment.
"Don't condescend to
me, Irene.
This is my husband
we're talking about."
"Exactly"-Kennedy
moved in closer-"and if you really cared about him you'd stop
asking people where he is. You'd remember that he's very good at
what he does, and you'd honor him by keeping your mouth shut."
Kennedy leaned in so her face was just inches from Anna's and in a
low angry voice said, "His job is infinitely more important than
both yours and mine. Do you have any idea how many lives he's saved
over the years?"
Kennedy saw the
defiance in Anna's eyes and said, "Sure, all your friends in the
media like to call him an assassin, but have they ever stopped to
count the lives he's saved?" Kennedy didn't pause long enough to
give her a chance to answer.
"Of course they
haven't. He didn't just save your life that day upstairs, he saved
dozens Have you ever stopped to ask yourself that maybe right now
he's doing exactly that? That he's saving lives?"
Kennedy eased back a
bit and looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was trying to
eavesdrop. Turning back to Anna, she added, "Right now there's a
family of Americans whose lives depend on your husband. A mother
and father and three little children. Think about that for a
minute." Kennedy looked at Anna with commanding eyes.
"Would you deny them
the same gift of life that Mitch gave you?"
Anna was completely
caught off guard. She knew that Kennedy was scheduled to attend the
dinner. She had rehearsed this confrontation several times and it
never played out this way. At no time was she ever supposed to be
on the defensive. Kennedy was supposed to be backpedaling. Kennedy
was supposed to be listening. Anna was supposed to be in
control.
Slowly, Anna began
shaking her head. Her mind was flooded with memories of that night,
not so long ago, when Mitch had saved her life. Her thoughts turned
to the Anderson family that had gone missing in the Philippines.
They had to be who Kennedy was talking about.
She'd seen photos of
them and their cute little redheaded children.
Anna could not deny
them their best hope. Standing up a bit straighter she struggled to
find the right words.
"Just knowing where
he is and what he's doing, helps."
Kennedy nodded,
satisfied that she had got the young reporter to think
of more than
herself.
"But I worry about
him." Anna thought of her honeymoon and her husband's scarred body.
Her eyes moistened.
"I worry that one of
these times he's not going to come home."
Kennedy honestly felt
for the young bride. Clasping Anna's shoulder, she smiled and said,
"I used to worry about him too, until I realized that it's the
other guys who are in trouble."
Anna dabbed a tear
from the corner of her eye and said sarcastically, "Great. That
makes me feel much better."
Kennedy smiled.
"Don't worry about
him. I can tell you that he's nowhere near the action. He's helping
plan the rescue, but will not be participating in it."
Distrustful but
hopeful, Anna asked, "Really?"
"Yes," nodded
Kennedy.
Anna let out a heavy
sigh of relief.
"Good. I just don't
know if I could bear losing him."
Kennedy tried to see
things through Anna's eyes. It had been so long since she'd been in
love, and it was a very real possibility that she had never felt as
deeply for her husband as Anna did for Mitch. Theirs was a
passionate marriage born in the heat of battle. He had saved her
life, and then she had given him the one thing he secretly yearned
for: a real life.
There had been plenty
of times when Kennedy had worried about Rapp when he was on
operations. She loved him like a brother and stayed up late at
night hoping he would return safely. Kennedy gave Anna an unusually
warm smile and said, "I know how much he means to you, and if at
any time I can help ease some of your worries, if I can answer some
of your questions, then I will."
Anna was shocked by
the generous and uncharacteristic offer. All she could do was smile
and say thank you.
"All off the record,
and never to be discussed with anyone else, of course," Kennedy
said with a very serious expression.
"Of course." Anna
took a drink of her cosmopolitan and studied her husband's boss.
Maybe she'd misjudged Irene Kennedy.