Final Notice, page 25
Creud, being the nastiest of the three, which was saying something, began by calling McAdam a traitor to his Party and fellow Senators.
“I expect that at your age you’ve decided that you won’t run again so you can stir the pot, grab a lot of attention, and ride into the sunset as a hero. That’s a chicken-shit thing to do. Where’s your sense of right and wrong?”
McAdam couldn’t stifle the laugh, even if he wanted to. “Right and wrong? Since when did you … or any of you ... think about right or wrong? All you think about is where will the money come from for the next election, how can I make myself bulletproof with the big spenders so no one else will attract their support, and how can I make a fortune in the process?”
Wooley jumped in. “And you’ve never thought about catering to people or companies with bags of money in exchange for a bill here, a vote there? Talk about hypocrites.”
McAdam confessed, “Sure, I’ve been at the trough, although not as much as any of you three, but that doesn’t make it right and it has to stop. These pledges that we take to always vote with the Party often put us on the wrong side of what our constituents want.”
Lawnley piped in, “They don’t always know what’s good for them. They’re like kids and we’re the adults.”
McAdam looked at him like, are you all there, Chick? “You must be smoking some local crops from one of your college towns. People in Indiana really don’t need healthcare? They really don’t care about Freedom of Speech?”
Creud interrupted, “If you’re going to recite your stupid six points, save us the agony. We know about your involvement with the bankruptcy of Gulf States Steel, Nucor, the loss of 1700 jobs, and the Chinese getting all the manufacturing equipment.”
McAdam replied, “I fought hard to help Gulf States, but it was too far gone to survive. And I had nothing to do with the giveaway price of their equipment.”
Wooley added, “And we also know about you accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in drugs to treat your wife, in exchange for legislation to help Cotton State Pharma.”
McAdam responded more heatedly this time. “Not sure where you got ‘hundreds of thousands’ but Cotton State Pharma did supply some experimental drugs to help Anne with her cancer. They did it for hundreds of others, too, and the bill was a good one that passed with bi-partisan support.”
The trio kept throwing accusations at McAdam who kept parrying back. At one point, Lawnley suggested that they might be willing to support some aspects of his concern about Freedom of Speech, acknowledging, off the record, that the President had been trampling on the First Amendment a bit. But Creud interjected that they would only do so as far as Freedom of Speech is concerned, not Freedom of Religion. McAdam was getting tired. Tired of these hypocrites and … well, just tired. Getting up from his chair, he tried to end the meeting on a civil note saying that he would consider their points, but Wooley was out for blood.
“You have 24 hours to apologize or make any excuse you want to reverse yourself as publicly as possible, or we will make sure that you won’t make it through your term. You will jump ahead of Nixon and Agnew on the corrupt politician list.”
Creud added, “There is not a senator on our side of the aisle who won’t vote for expulsion, and there are even some Dems who will vote with us because you threaten all of us.”
Wooley had to get one more shot in. “And in addition to making you live your last years as a leper, we will smear your wife’s name for her complicity in accepting bribes. I hope your children have the stomach for what you are bringing down on them.”
McAdam was livid. “I knew you were a piece of shit, Tim, but bringing Anne and my family into this goes far beyond the depths I thought you were capable of.”
Creud retorted, “You should have thought about that before you decided to promote your radical agenda.”
There were no further replies because a number of gunshots were heard and the terrible three became the terminal three. It all happened so fast and without warning that they didn’t even have time to be surprised. The only person surprised was McAdam. He stood there staring at the slumped over bodies of three US Senators, dead, in his living room. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mattie Mays walk slowly from around the corner, a gun in her right hand, pointed to the floor.
“I’m sorry, Senator, but I wasn’t gonna let them spread lies about Miz Anne and you. You are good people. They are not. I took Miz Anne’s gun from the drawer and the next thing I remember is pulling the trigger.”
She slumped into a chair and sat there quietly, breathing deeply.
McAdam tried to make sense of what just happened. She’s a good woman but three people are dead, and even though it’s these three people, it’s still wrong. He sat back down and thought about what would happen next. How to deal with it, and then he realized what he needed to do.
“Mrs. Mays, Mattie, I need to tell you something and I need you to do something for me. Promise me that you will.”
“Senator, I’ll promise you anything, if I can.”
“You can and you will.”
It wasn’t easy but McAdam explained that he had about 20 days to live. She on the other hand had a lot more time. He made her promise that she would go home and not tell a soul that she had been here while the Senators were here … and not tell a soul about what she did. He told her that if he didn’t die as it seemed he would, she could confess; but if he did die, she could never confess. Mattie Mays appeared to be in a trance, but she agreed, gave him a hug, and left. It was the last time they ever saw each other.
McAdam wiped the gun clean and then put his prints all over it. He collected all the cups and glasses, put them in the dishwasher and turned it on. The phone rang and startled him. He decided to answer it and it was Sally from Doc Turner’s office. She had set up an appointment for him to see Dr. Walsh tomorrow afternoon. He told her to cancel it.
He poured himself the last glass of Hundred Acres from yesterday’s dinner. Then he sat down in a comfortable chair and called his lawyer, Dean Roberts, who, after hearing the words, “I just killed three Senators,” said, “Don’t say another word to anyone. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”
Although it’s the capitol of Alabama, Montgomery still has a small-town flavor, and in legal and political circles it’s even smaller. Dean Roberts got an agreement from Richard Edwards, Montgomery’s District Attorney, who would agree to reasonable bail for McAdam. Roberts also got an hour’s delay for McAdam’s trip to the police station for booking, so McAdam could call Rebecca and Thomas. By some miracle and with help from Thomas, he was able to conference them both in. He told them that he loved them. That they would see and hear that he killed three senators. He told them that it wasn’t how it might appear and that they needed to know that he didn’t kill them. And he told them that he had less than 20 days to live.
***
Quincy, Massachusetts ... Kansas City, Missouri ... and Washington, DC. The news wouldn’t break until late evening, but unbeknownst to Vijay, Zoe, or the Senate, tomorrow would be an eventful day.
***
Pasadena, California. Vince had just finished his coffee when the phone rang. It was Doctor Parker calling about the Final Notice. Vince gave him an update about his treatments with Dr. Malindra and Parker confirmed that at this point, it was his only hope. Trudi walked into the kitchen just as he hung up and asked who it was. Vince told her a partial truth that it was Dr. Parker asking how his treatments were coming along. Not telling Trudi about his Final Notice made him uncomfortable so he took Miles for a walk.
Trudi told Vince that she was going shopping for tomorrow’s dinner and might not be home when he returned. Another partial truth as she was first going to her doctor to discuss the results of the screening mammogram.
Dr. Laura Sawyer told her that they also needed to do a diagnostic mammogram to get a clearer picture of the tissue. The screening had highlighted a couple of areas that required a closer look. It may be nothing serious but if it warrants it, they may draw some tissue for a biopsy. Dr. Sawyer said, “Nothing to worry about.”
Trudi mentally added, “Yet.”
After her doctor’s visit, she threw herself into shopping for tomorrow’s dinner. It was the only positive thing in her life right now.
After dinner, as Trudi and Vince watched CNN, they learned about Senator McAdam and the killings. They sided with those who thought he’d done the world a favor, and Vince wondered if McAdam had a VT2.
***
CHAPTER 29 – THE DAYS AFTER
Needless to say, the next day’s headlines everywhere were along the lines of, “3 US Senators Killed by a 4th US Senator.” And due to the recent publicity that McAdam had received, everyone recognized the name of the 4th Senator.
McAdam would never appear in the Senate again and the GOP leadership, not to mention his lawyer, Dean Roberts, made sure he was not on television again; but that didn’t stop the press from presenting his version of the murders along sympathetic lines. The stories read more like self-defense rather than murder. Polls even showed that his favorability marks continued to spike up, even after being accused of murder. Many hoped that a jury would ultimately acquit him. This hope and in some cases, speculation, was brought up often on TV news and talk shows and the sentiment wasn’t lost amongst many politicians. Suddenly, McAdam’s Six Points became more palatable, even to some hard liners. As proof of that, all three of the replacements for the three dead Senators campaigned on McAdam’s platforms.
Dean Roberts had McAdam plead not guilty and their strategy was to delay the proceedings for a couple of weeks to see if the VT2 was as accurate as it was said to be. The machinations of court proceedings being what they are, the VT2 could have been off by a year and McAdam’s trial would still be in the future. Roberts, in his statements to the press, consistently stated that his client was innocent and would never be proven guilty. He was correct on both counts.
Quincy, Massachusetts. Vijay saw the newsflash on his iPhone about the shooting of three Senators, but it didn’t set off any alarms in his mind. So, it wasn’t until he got to the office and Maureen told him that most of the senior team had called about it, that the other shoe dropped. He asked her to assemble as many of the team as possible, but especially Maria, Liz and Don. Fifteen minutes later Maria, Liz, Don, Drew, Patsy and Ganesh assembled in Vijay’s office.
“What do we know so far and what does the media know?”
Drew explained that Senator John McAdam received his VT2 two days ago and a 20-day Final Notice yesterday morning. Patsy jumped in and told the story of the call from Dr. Turner and Senator McAdam yesterday morning, and her resetting the Notice periods. Drew, who had been looking at the data said, “That explains these on, off, and on-again Notices.”
Patsy went on to repeat Dr. Turner’s opinion that McAdam was not a danger. That rolled a number of eyes in the room. Vijay asked, “Patsy, could you call Dr. Turner and see if you can get any additional information?” She agreed and Vijay asked Maria to give everyone an update about what was being said by the media.
Maria made sure everyone was up to speed with Senator McAdam’s recent opinions and the extremely negative reaction from his colleagues and very positive reactions from the media and public. She then explained that the media and public’s predisposition to like McAdam had marginalized his crime, with some outlets even wondering if a jury would convict him. He had pleaded Not Guilty and his lawyer claimed that he’d be acquitted. At this point, news of the VT2’s role in the shooting was limited to those at VitalTech, Dr. Turner, and the FBI, and it’s doubtful if anyone in that room thought that McAdam would ever stand trial.
Liz asked what was known about McAdam’s meeting with the three Senators. Had anything been reported about when the meeting was actually set up? Maria didn’t know the answer to that but said she’d try to find out. Liz said, “I guess it doesn’t really matter because the bottom line is that he got his Notice and he killed them. My guess is that the meeting was already planned, but perhaps the Notice gave him the opportunity to kill with impunity.”
Don added that at least McAdam was riding high in public opinion circles, and Ganesh, with his penchant for gallows humor, asked Don if he was going to try to get an endorsement or even run ads with a picture of the Senator wearing the VT2. Kind of like one of those tennis stars and his Rolex. That got chuckles from everyone and a head shake, eye-roll and smile from Vijay. The conversation lapsed for a few seconds and you could see the wheels spinning as the marketing wannabes tried to come up with a headline for Ganesh’s idea. Fortunately, Don, the marketing guy, beat them to the punch: “When I want to kill some legislation, I rely on my VT2.” The groans were heard all the way down the hall.
Vijay brought everyone back on message. “Liz, does this change anything for us?”
“I don’t see why. The only thing that’s different here is that it was three U.S. Senators as opposed to regular people outside the public sector. McAdam had a gun. His doctor completed the evaluation and even confirmed it after the Notice was received. We shared that intel with the FBI. What it may do, however, is increase the pressure on the FBI to do something ... in other words, politics may intervene and cloud the issue. We have done everything they’ve asked, so I’d leave it alone and wait for them to make a move, if they do.”
“OK, thanks, Liz. Drew, anything to add about the progress so far with the beta test?”
Drew brought everyone up to date with the test results so far and it was all good news. Vijay adjourned the meeting and asked Maria to stay behind. He wanted her to put some extra effort into knowing as much as possible about this incident so they wouldn’t be caught off guard. She agreed and said she’d start by calling Matt, but Vijay said, “If Matt gets a call from you about McAdam, it won’t take him two seconds to figure out that McAdam has a VT2 and that he received his Notice. And we need to be careful due to McAdam’s high profile and an ongoing criminal investigation.”
Maria understood, but countered that it’s just a matter of time before it comes out, and “Matt is as much on our side as anyone.” She reminded Vijay that with the previous intel feed to Matt, most of the other publications followed his tone and there was a better than even chance they’d do it again. Besides, Matt had wider sources and might be able to help her with info, and he would be much more forthcoming if we worked with him. Vijay mulled it over and agreed but urged Maria to be careful. Right now, he had other things on his mind.
Maria returned to her office and called Matt. “Hi Matt, it’s Maria at VitalTech. How are you?”
“Great. How about yourself?”
“Doing well. I wanted to ask you what you knew about the McAdam shooting?”
Matt laughed and said, “A lot more than I did a second ago!”
“Vijay was right. It didn’t take you two seconds.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Listen. You know I can’t tell you anything, but now you have a hint, thanks to me. So, we’d like to keep ahead of this, and I’d appreciate knowing what you know. And when you’re ready to run with anything, keep me in the loop?”
“Sure. This was already a fascinating story but now it just got a lot more interesting. A lot of people have been wondering if he’ll get away with it and now it’s obvious that he will.”
“What do you mean?”
“He won’t live long enough for it to go to trial, even if he got a 30-week Notice. In the USA, you’re innocent until proven guilty at least for the moment – and by law, a defendant has to be able to speak in his own defense. So, the case will die as soon as he does – as an innocent man. It’s a fairy tale ending that most people will really like.”
“I hadn’t thought about it from quite that perspective. So, you’ll keep me posted?”
“Sure. How about over a drink?”
“Are you asking me out?”
“That didn’t take two seconds, either.”
“When you’re ready, name the time and place.”
***
Vijay couldn’t escape the feeling of déjà vu as he stood at the door of Suite 840 at the Four Seasons Hotel, nor did he want to. He knocked on the door and a bathrobe-attired Jennifer slowly opened it. He walked in and the robe slid off her shoulders onto the floor as he hungrily kissed her, caressing her completely naked and wonderful body. She did the best job she could, operating at very close quarters and shuffling backwards, to strip him of his clothes as they slowly made their way through the sitting room toward the bedroom, leaving a trail of a shirt, shoes, chinos and boxer shorts to accompany her robe. For those of you wondering if he was wearing socks – seriously? – the author feels sorry for you but is compelled to say he was.
