Reprisal!- The Eagle's Challenge Read online

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Each of them knew that they had a tail following them, but they refused to be rattled by it. To do so would have given the person behind the surveillance (assumed to be Starks via Bascome or Starks via the Brotherhood) the upper hand. It was better to let the spies continue to think they were undetected, and that way, they knew exactly where the surveillance was. To change what they did and/or where they went would have given Starks control over them. It was Bob Westlyn who had contacted a friend who had experience in military intelligence and now owned a private security firm, to set up counter-surveillance teams on each of them, to help confirm exactly who was behind it. If it was who they thought it was, then it was a clear case of an illegal use of government assets by a government official and only made their case stronger.

  The best part of all of it was that Bascome wasn’t aware he had been found out or that he, himself, was being watched. As the president and Bascome schemed to ruin Steve Howard and Senator Bains, they were completely blind to the fact that they, in turn, were being investigated. Together, Howard and Bains had used their connections to bring the military brass, a few well-placed senior members of the Justice Department, individual members of the CIA and FBI, as well as the Kilauea team together in preparing for their prosecution on corruption charges.

  In addition, Bill Richland had found a source within the NSA who was digging into the death of David Ashrawl on the QT. So far, they had found out the names of the four men who had gone to the CIA safe house to execute him and confirmed the identities of the men by showing pictures to the CIA guards who were on duty that day. They all worked for the NSA’s investigative arm and reported directly to Bascome.

  Steven Howard, Senator Bains, Senator Witcomb and Senator Hines met at Kilauea’s Bryson City facility with Bill Richland and Bob Westlyn to discuss the supposed documents that were the smoking gun, triggering the Senate ethics hearings for Senator Bains and Steven.

  Senators Witcomb and Hines were the leading Republicans who sat on the Ethics Committee, which was holding the hearings, and the only hope that Senator Bains had to get a remotely fair hearing—if it even got that far.

  “Okay, we’ve got five days until the hearings, and we know for a fact the documents that Rougeford is trying to pass off as genuine are complete fabrications created by Bascome,” Bill Richland stated as a matter of fact. “The best part of the situation is Senator Rougeford has no idea he is about to be blindsided by us. He’s tried to play his cards really close to the vest by not publicly sharing the documents. But we found them on Rougeford’s computer, and we downloaded them, along with the appropriate date stamps and security markers proving the original dates, which in turn proves he received the documents from Bascome and that they were fabricated on Bascome’s computer.

  “I propose that we wait until Rougeford presents the documents at the hearing and then we expose Rougeford and Bascome for the unethical fools that they are,” he continued. “All we really need to decide is if we want to hit him at the start of this farce of a hearing, or if we want to wait and blast him publicly after he rests his case. I don’t know which would be better. Have him postpone the hearings indefinitely, which might cause the media to keep bring it up over and over, giving it a life of its own, or waiting to embarrass him publicly by proving that he was part of a false prosecution and part of an evidence tampering ring that leads directly to Starks!” Richland concluded.

  “It’s a crime to present false evidence to Congress, but just how far the scandal will reach will depend on whether we can get the public to take a real interest in the hearings or not. If they do, it could force Congress to take action, instead of sweeping it under the rug,” Steven shared.

  “I doubt we’ll get the Democrats to hold any hearings that might embarrass Starks any time soon. Once the truth gets out, they’ll do like they always do and close ranks, stonewalling every attempt to bring one of their own to justice,” Senator Witcomb lamented.

  “I agree with Harold. We cannot make any assumption along the lines of Congress doing anything to Rougeford or Bascome, even if we prove they violated the ethics standards and the rules of Congress,” Senator Hines added. “Just look at the way they have handled the scandals of the last few years. If it is a Republican who is accused, they attack. If it’s a Democrat, they turn a blind eye and refuse to even acknowledge there’s a problem.”

  “Then I take it you feel we should let Rougeford know that we will be talking to the media and presenting proof the documents are fabricated and that Bascome, the president’s national security advisor and the director of the NSA, was the one who fabricated the documents, which opens him up to conspiracy charges from Justice, in addition to ethics and criminal charges?” Senator Bains asked Hines.

  “Oh, no!” Senator Hines jumped in. “We have to let that pompous ass hang himself publicly and then lower the boom on him and Bascome. It’s the only way to get the public’s attention. If there was some other way, I’d take it, because who knows how long the public will pay attention to the hearings? They may have tuned out long before we get a chance to refute Rougeford’s claims. Remember, they control the media, and once he has made his claims, they may drop the subject off the front page, even if a bomb went off under his chair. They’ll publicize the rumor and lies, conveniently forgetting to mention the truth. Republican scandals sell!” Senator Hines pointed out the obvious.

  “That means we have to make the proof an even bigger scandal. But we could be looking at a huge trainwreck if the media refuses to cover the whole hearing,” Senator Bains lamented. “We’ll be taking a big chance, letting Rougeford spout his lies, while we take the fifth until it is our turn to present our proof. The media will claim we aren’t defending ourselves because we’re guilty and there is no defense. We all know once he’s made his outrageous accusations, we’re as good as convicted, based on the media coverage of Washington these days. There has to be something we can do to counter act this tide of lies,” Senator Bains spouted off in her best political speech-making tone.

  “The media has already convicted us, in case you haven’t been reading the papers,” Steven added. “What’s wrong with confronting each and every piece of so-called proof as he presents it?”

  “Rougeford is the chairman of the Ethics Committee, and he doesn’t have to allow you to speak until he’s done presenting his whole case. He can grill you, and you can deny everything until you are blue in the face, but you cannot present any evidence of your own until he allows it. If his past behavior is any predictor of the future, he won’t allow you to challenge his claims until the media has moved on, leaving your rebuttal on page sixty-four in section F of the Sunday Times, next to the tampon ad or the monster truck rally ads. The media will willingly bury you two because you are not part of the liberal elite,” Senator Witcomb commented.

  “There might be a way…” Bill Richland finally spoke again.

  “Oh?” Senator Bains inquired as Bill arranged his thoughts.

  “Yes, I’d like to hear it,” Steven demanded politely.

  “Okay,” Bill said as he began gathering his thoughts. “What’s stopping us from stealing Rougeford’s thunder and turning the table on him? Remember when Congress, a few years ago, wanted to allow the illegal immigrants to have amnesty, and the radio talk show hosts called on everyone to call their congressmen and senators to give them an earful about not rewarding people for breaking our laws?

  “The Congressional switchboard was so swamped with calls they had to shut it down for something like seven straight days. They estimated that over a hundred million calls were made to the Congressional membership in less than three weeks. Hell, most of your colleagues in Congress started running scared when their constituents started telling them they would vote for anyone but them if they allowed that bill to pass. The bill died, long before it ever was voted on. Why can’t we publicly start asking voters to call in and have the public ask for Congress to start investigating Bascome and Ro
ugeford and put a stop to their unethical, illegal and partisan witch hunt?” Seeing no one looked too excited about that idea, Bill continued brainstorming.

  “Or… we could use the foreign press to start the inquiry into the documents exposing them for what they are and exposing the fact Bascome forged them. They can bring Combs’ purchase of his very expensive Porsche back up, as well. At the least, it will reduce the public’s interest in you two and maybe give the real story some traction. Plus, it might force them to drop all inquiries regarding the two of you to defend themselves,” Bill offered as an alternative.

  “I doubt anything to do with Combs will matter much to the public. After all, he’s dead.”

  “Yes, he is, but how did he die?” Bill asked.

  “It was in all the papers,” Senator Hines remarked curtly.

  “Yes, the papers said he died from a car accident, having lost control while driving way too fast. But did he have an accident, or was he killed like Ashrawl was? It was reported that he was racing before the crash, but no one looked into it because no one got the license plate,” Bill informed them.

  “Bill, I can only deal with so many conspiracies at one time,” Senator Bains complained.

  “Given the track record of this president, it is possible,” Bill pressed.

  “I guess it is, but we’re working on solving the hearing issue right now,” Steven stated.

  “Would you be interested if I told you that Bascome made a trip to the Cayman Islands the day after Combs died? He went to a bank there—The National Bank of the Cayman Islands—and made several internal transfers of cash from Combs’ account and then closed it. The money was taken out and split between two other accounts we believe are Bascome’s and Starks’.”

  “Really? How much money was there?”

  “Almost twelve million. It was split fifty-fifty between the two accounts. Bascome then immediately transferred the money to his account in Cyprus. Starks’ money is still in his Cayman account.”

  “So you think that Bascome and Starks killed Jason Combs for the money?” Senator Bains asked.

  “I don’t know, but it seems a reasonable guess,” Bill added.

  “I can have some unnamed person on Rougeford’s staff leak that the senator is taking huge amounts of campaign cash from Starks and then have the writer speculate whether that’s the reason that Rougeford is calling for hearings. Then we’ll have them explain that it’s a felony to present false evidence against a sitting senator or president. If Rougeford is trying to present false evidence, the campaign funding would appear to be a payoff. We then slip a memo onto Rougeford’s computer, stating he wants more campaign funds to continue with the hearings. That will provide even more proof it was a bribe, not a legal campaign funds transfer.” Bill offered yet another idea.

  “I could even go so far as to slip a memo onto Bascome’s computer that would say that he might be able to get more funds, but the senator would have to guarantee that he would put Senator Bains through the ringer to get it. If we do this right, it might lead to the start of the investigation into where Starks got the money to share with Rougeford,” Bill boldly suggested.

  “I don’t think I want to know how you can access Rougeford’s computer, but I like the idea of having the media looking at Rougeford and Bascome, rather than us. But just how do you expect the media to give this story any play when they are so far up Starks’ ass, they can’t see daylight?” Senator Hines pointed out.

  “Oh, ye of little faith! I’ve already planted several stories that have run on the front page above the fold in several major newspapers without ever having a reporter write a thing. The computers they use to print the papers are extremely vulnerable to cyber attack, and so I can run any story we want to run without fear of exposure. How do you think Steven here has managed to get the Times and the Star behind the legal eight ball? We planted the story they ran about the false reporting of the story by their own reporters!” Bill Richland bragged.

  “You did what?” Whitcomb asked.

  “We planted the truth when they refused to print it! We didn’t plant any information that wasn’t one hundred percent true,” Richland stated defensively as Steven looked down and shook his head slightly, knowing Bill had crossed the line ethically and morally in his enthusiasm.

  “How are we any better than they are, if we plant stories in an effort to manipulate public opinion?” Whitcomb brought up.

  “Damn it, Harold! Grow up! We have to play this game by their rules or we’ll be buried by them. It’s a lot like the war on terror. We can’t attack them conventionally because they aren’t conventional. They don’t play by the rules of civilized nations; they play by whatever rules the situation dictates. Starks is playing by Alinski’s Rules for Radicals. He’s playing the media, the public and Congress against each other, while he acts as the one above the fray. But he’s causing the fray for his own benefit! If we don’t fight fire with fire, we’ll lose this country to the likes of Starks, and we’ll never, never get it back!” Senator Bains exploded. “Now, let Bill move on with his ideas, and accept that we have to let the ends justify the means if we’re going to stop Starks and the Democrats from selling us down the river to socialism or, worse, foreign interests!” Senator Bains concluded her rant towards Senator Whitcomb, who held up his hands in the sign of surrender.

  “Look, a couple of the editors who perpetrated the false stories have already been fired, along with the writers who wrote them. Plus, the legal eagles for the papers are doing everything they can to get Steven to take a settlement,” Bill finished sharing some of his secrets with the senators, but Steven drew his finger across his throat, trying to get Bill to shut up about behind-the-scenes work at Kilauea Corp.

  “That puts things in a different light. I think that planting the stories has winner written all over it,” Senator Hines stated with a small smile on his face. He then looked at Senator Whitcomb, waiting for the man to agree, which he did after a moment by nodding and mumbling to himself.

  “I just never thought I’d have to play the game at this level. I guess I’m still naïve… I actually thought the Democrats, especially after Clinton and Obama, would do all they could to lead the country and place the country above partisan politics and personal gain.”

  “Unfortunately, when the opposition plays in the dirt, you can’t clean it up unless you get some of it on you,” Steven offered.

  “Yes, I think we should proceed with our own truths,” Senator Bains commented, bringing the group back on subject, “and put Rougeford in his place.”

  Senator Whitcomb nodded in concurrence, along with Senator Hines.

  “Do it!” Steven quipped. “Let’s just hope that no one questions our ethics. After all, we’re guilty of the ends justifying the means, and that makes us no better than them, but no worse, either. Our good friend, General Clarett, pointed out to me a couple of years ago: ‘You can’t fight a war and not harm innocent people.’ Despite our best efforts, innocent people die in war. The enemy hides within the general public, forcing you to kill some of the innocent people in order to eliminate the bad guys. That’s how the terrorists are fighting against us right now. That’s how Starks is fighting us, as well! Starks wants there to be casualties among the innocent. He needs them to hide behind, to use as tools to justify his behavior as their protector, even though he’s the one who has endangered them from the beginning.

  “We can’t guarantee that Rougeford will act according to plan, so I propose that we keep in touch over the phones you received when you first arrived. They are encrypted. If Rougeford spooks and rabbits on them, you can bet Bascome and Starks will double, if not triple, their efforts to discredit us and run us out of office and business while our plans develop,” Steven added.

  “Bill, do what you can do with the press, foreign and domestic,” Steven said. “I’ll let you decide whether you go with subtle innuendo or with a brash, take-no-prisoners kind of story. I guess I don’t care, as long as you ma
ke sure you mention that the Department of Justice is looking into Congressional leaders, who may have helped fabricate the evidence against Senator Bains and myself. Quote us as having no comment on the ongoing investigation, but put the proof of fabrication in the story while mentioning it was received from unnamed sources.”

  “I’d change the name of the agency doing the investigation from the Department of Justice to the FBI. We don’t want to tip our hand to the real DOJ investigation of Bascome,” Senator Bains mentioned.

  “I got it handled,” Bill replied as if he were the young, go-to Turk, trying to make his bones with the bosses despite he was fifteen years’ everyone’s senior.

  “Steven, what do we do about those damn men tailing us?” Senator Bains inquired. “I know you told me to be patient, but it’s beginning to bother me. They are everywhere I go. Then, yesterday, I was involved in a fender bender, and the man who hit me pinned me against side of my car with the door while I was looking for my insurance information and told me to back off my criticism of Starks or the next time, it wouldn’t be just a little love tap.”

  “What?” Whitcomb blurted out, clearly alarmed.

  “Then, before I could react and before the police arrived, he drove off. It was frightening how easily they cornered me! I can’t help but think that after we discovered that Starks, through Bascome, had that man Ashrawl killed, they are now planning on killing me. The men who were following me just stood on the other side of the road and grinned like they knew all about it.”