Home Invasion - J. A. Johnstone [40]
“This is crazy, Dave. Just crazy. “ She looked at the forlorn figure of Pete McNamara. “Will Pete wind up going to jail?”
“I seriously doubt it, although Everett may have to charge him, just for appearance’s sake. But they can work out some sort of plea deal so that Mr. McNamara won’t have to spend any time behind bars.”
“But he’ll be a convicted felon, just for defending his home. This is going to kill him, Dave.”
Rutherford shrugged. “I hope not, but there’s nothing we can do. Cochrum outfoxed us, plain and simple.” His face hardened. “I think he’s had the deal worked out with that bitch all along. And she’s just acting for her bosses in Washington. That’s where the real stench comes from. Somebody high up has been planning all along for Navarre to win.”
“How high?”
A hollow laugh came from the lawyer. “Who made a call for a lot stricter gun laws a major part of his campaign?”
The same thought had occurred to Alex. “You really think the President would side with a Mexican murderer over a citizen of his own country?”
“If it helps him remake the U.S. into what he and his cronies think the country should be, then what do you believe, Alex?”
She knew the answer to that. She hated to think it, but she knew.
“There’s something else we have to consider, Dave. This isn’t going to go over well with folks in Home. There’s liable to be trouble. People are going to be mad, and they may take to the streets to express it.”
“The sheriff’s department will have to keep order, along with the officers you left back there.”
“I need to go—”
Rutherford shook his head. “You can’t. The judge called an hour’s recess when all hell broke loose, but the trial will resume when that’s over. You’re still a witness.”
“You’re going to play out the string, even after what happened?”
“What else can we do?” he asked with a faint smile. “If we quit now, there’s no chance the jury won’t find in favor of Navarre.”
“I thought you said it didn’t matter.”
“In the long run, it doesn’t. But… well… some windmills just have to be tilted at, don’t they?”
“The Solicitor General is on the phone, sir.”
He scooped it up and barked, “Talk to me, Ted. Did it go as planned?” A big smile, the smile that the media loved, spread across his face. “Excellent! Be sure and tell Ms. Encinal how pleased I am with the way she carried out her part. And of course you’ll be prepared for further proceedings if necessary? … Good”
The smile disappeared as he hung up the phone. A chief executive had to be able to multitask, so there were other things on his mind today.
“Any word on Trussell, Geoff?”
“No, sir. He still appears to have dropped off the face of the earth”
“What about those two rogue CIA agents? They’re still missing, too, aren’t they?”
“Yes, sir”
“Well, then, Geoff”—the mild, conciliatory tone became a bellow of anger—"did it ever occur to you that they’ve probably got Trussell and are lying low with him somewhere?”
“Of course the possibility occurred to me, sir.” The Chief of Staff’s jaw was tight with suppressed anger. “But it’s more likely that all three of them are dead. We’ve had a massive search operation going on now for two months, and I believe it would have turned up some trace of them if they were still alive.”
“You’d better hope they’re dead. Things are coming to a head now at Casa del Diablo. They promise me that the first shipment will be ready in less than a month. We can’t have word leak out now.”
“No, sir.” The Chief of Staff hesitated. “Should you issue a statement on the Navarre settlement?”
“Not just yet. We’ll wait a little longer. Let those ignorant rednecks stew a while longer. It has to look like the action we’ll be taking is justified”
“It will be, sir. Knowing those people in Texas, I think you can count on that”
The arrogant son of a bitch wasn’t near as smart as he thought he was, the Chief of Staff told himself as he let himself into his town house