Deception Point Page 55

A leviathan was rising from the water beside the iceberg, breaching the surface with an alarming hiss. Like or so mythical sea monster, it came-sleek, black, and lethal, with water foaming around it. Tolland forced himself to blink his eyes. His stack cleared slightly. The beast was close, bumping up against the ice like a huge shark butting a lessened boat. Massive, it towered before him, its skin shimmering and wet.As the hazy image went black, all that was left were the sounds. Metal on metal. dentition gnashing at the ice. Coming closer. Dragging bodies away.RachelTolland felt himself being grabbed roughly.And then everything went blank.64Gabrielle Ashe was at a upright jog when she entered the third-floor production room of first principle News. Even so, she was moving slower than every superstar else in the room. The intensity in production was at a fever pitch twenty-four hours a day, but at the jiffy the cubicle grid in front of her looked like the stock exchange on sp eed. Wild-eyed editors screamed to one a nonher over the tops of their compartments, fax-waving reporters darted from cubicle to cubicle comparing notes, and frantic interns inhaled Snickers and Mountain Dew between errands.Gabrielle had bang to ABC to see Yolanda Cole.Usually Yolanda could be found in productions high-rent district-the glass-walled undercover offices reserved for the decision makers who in truth required some quiet to think. Tonight, however, Yolanda was step forward on the floor, in the thick of it. When she saw Gabrielle, she let go forth her usual shriek of exuberance.Gabs Yolanda was wearing a batik body-wrap and tortoiseshell glasses. As always, several pounds of garish garments jewelry were draped off her like tinsel. Yolanda waddled over, waving. HugYolanda Cole had been a content editor with ABC News in Washington for sixteen years. A freckle-faced Pole, Yolanda was a squat, balding fair sex whom everyone affectionately called Mother. Her feminine pr esence and good humor disguised a street-savvy ruthlessness for squeezeting the story. Gabrielle had met Yolanda at a Women in Politics mentoring seminar shed attended shortly after her arrival in Washington. Theyd chatted nigh Gabrielles background, the challenges of being a woman in D.C., and finally closely Elvis Presley-a passion they were awed to discover they shared. Yolanda had taken Gabrielle under her locomote and helped her make connections. Gabrielle free stopped by every month or so to say hello.Gabrielle gave her a big hug, Yolandas enthusiasm already lifting her spirits.Yolanda stepped back and looked Gabrielle over. You look like you aged a hundred years, female child What happened to you?Gabrielle lowered her voice. Im in trouble, Yolanda.Thats not the word on the street. Sounds like your man is on the rise.Is in that location some place we can talk in private?Bad timing, honey. The President is holding a pressing conference in about half an hour, and we sti ll havent a clue what its all about. Ive got to line up expert commentary, and Im flying blind.I know what the press conference is about.Yolanda lowered her glasses, looking skeptical. Gabrielle, our correspondent inside the innocence House is in the dark on this one. You say sacristans campaign has advance knowledge?No, Im face I have advance knowledge. Give me five minutes. Ill tell you everything.Yolanda glanced down at the red albumin House envelope in Gabrielles hand. Thats a White House internal. Whered you labour that?In a private meeting with Marjorie Tench this afternoon.Yolanda stared a long moment. Follow me.Inside the privacy of Yolandas glass-walled cubicle, Gabrielle confided in her trusted friend, admiting to a one-night affair with Sexton and the fact that Tench had photographic evidence.Yolanda smiled broadly and shook her head laughing. Apparently she had been in Washington journalism so long that nothing shocked her. Oh, Gabs, I had a hunch you and Sexton had probably hooked up. Not surprising. Hes got a reputation, and youre a bewitching girl. Too bad about the photos. I wouldnt worry about it, though.Dont worry about it?Gabrielle explained that Tench had accused Sexton of taking illegal bribes from blank space companies and that Gabrielle had just overheard a secret SFF meeting confirming that fact Again Yolandas expression conveyed little surprise or concern-until Gabrielle told her what she was thinking of doing about it.Yolanda now looked troubled. Gabrielle, if you want to hand over a legal chronicle saying you slept with a U.S. senator and stood by while he lied about it, thats your business. But Im telling you, its a very bad move for you. You need to think long and hard about what it could mean for you.Youre not listening. I dont have that kind of timeI am listening, and sweetheart, whether or not the clock is ticking, there are certain things you just do not do. You do not sell out a U.S. senator in a sex filth. Its suicid e. Im telling you, girl, if you take down a presidential candidate, you better get in your car and drive as far from D.C. as possible. Youll be a marked woman. A lot of people spend a lot of money to put candidates at the top. Theres big pay and power at stake here-the kind of power people kill for.Gabrielle fell silent now.Personally, Yolanda said, I think Tench was leaning on you in hopes youd panic and do something dumb-like bail out and confess to the affair. Yolanda pointed to the red envelope in Gabrielles hands. Those shots of you and Sexton dont mean squat unless you or Sexton admit theyre accurate. The White House knows if they leak those photos, Sexton will just claim theyre phony and throw them back in the presidents face.I thought of that, but still the campaign finance bribery issue is-Honey, think about it. If the White House hasnt gone public yet with bribery allegations, they probably dont intend to. The President is pretty serious about no negative campaigning. My guess is he decided to save an aerospace industry scandal and sent Tench after you with a bluff in hopes he might scare you out of hiding on the sex thing. Make you stab your candidate in the back.Gabrielle considered it. Yolanda was making sense, and yet something still felt odd. Gabrielle pointed through the glass at the bustling news room. Yolanda, you guys are gearing up for a big presidential press conference. If the President is not passing play public about bribery or sex, whats it all about?Yolanda looked stunned. Hold on. You think this press conference is about you and Sexton?Or the bribery. Or both. Tench told me I had until eight tonight to sign a confession or else the President was going to announce-Yolandas laughter shook the entire glass cubicle. Oh please Wait Youre killing meGabrielle was in no humor for joking. WhatGabs, listen, Yolanda managed, between laughs, trust me on this. Ive been dealing with the White House for sixteen years, and theres no way Zach Hern ey has called in concert the global media to tell them he suspects Senator Sexton is accepting shady campaign financing or sleeping with you. Thats the kind of information you leak. Presidents dont gain popularity by interrupting regularly scheduled programming to bitch and moan about sex or alleged infractions of cloudy campaign finance laws.Cloudy? Gabrielle snapped. Flat out exchange your decision on a space bill for millions in ad money is hardly a cloudy issueAre you sure thats what he is doing? Yolandas tone hardened now. Are you sure replete to drop your skirt on national TV? Think about it. It takes a lot of alliances to get anything done these days, and campaign finance is complex stuff. Maybe Sextons meeting was perfectly legal.