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“It’s because they’re so stuck in their own world. We’ve allowed them to depict us as a bunch of goons who smack prisoners around because we get some sick, sadistic thrill out of it. They hold us accountable, but we never hold them accountable.”
“How in the hell are we going to hold them accountable?” O’Brien asked in his raspy voice.
“By telling them about these other two cells and letting them know the third one is on the loose.”
“And what are you going to do when they ask for the details about this plot? The whole damn reason we haven’t told them so far is because they always want to know the details. Are you going to tell them the Brits farmed it out to the Thais—and they tortured the shit out of them?”
“You’ll see when we go back in there.”
“What are you waiting for? You’ve already gone through two thirds of them.”
Rapp smiled. “I’m waiting for Lonsdale.”
“Why her?” Nash asked.
“Because she chairs Judiciary, and that’s where this whole thing is headed.”
One of the committee staffers poked their head in the door and told them it was time. Rapp said they’d be right along, and then as soon as the door was closed, he looked each man in the eye and said, “You guys all have deniability, so stop looking so damn defeated when you’re in there. You’re warriors…be proud of what we do.”
CHAPTER 44
SENATOR Lonsdale hurried down the hallway as quickly as her black leather Marc Jacobs pumps could carry her near perfectly proportioned frame. Her rail-thin chief of staff was galloping beside her, his long, lanky stride doubling his boss’s. They crossed over from the Hart Senate Office Building to Dirksen. Technically they were two buildings, but they existed as one, with every floor of the two buildings connecting. Lonsdale and Wassen went through the senator’s private door. Wassen stopped to have a word with the two executive assistants, but the senator kept moving.
She went straight into her large office and closed the door. This one was drastically different from her office in the Capitol. It was almost as big, but where the other one was ornately decorated, this one was utilitarian. There were no marble or plaster reliefs, just Sheetrock and carpeting. The furniture reflected the space. Everything was very linear and slightly modern.
Lonsdale kicked off her pumps and grabbed her pack of cigarettes and lighter from her top-left desk drawer. She flicked the switch on the special ventilation unit she’d had installed and fired up her first cigarette. The smooth, warm smoke filled her lungs and she felt herself begin to relax. It took every bit of her reserve to sit there silently for two hours while her colleagues maneuvered. There was Joe Valdez, whom she had never been impressed with, serving up one retarded question after another. She could see that, as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, he was going to try and get a piece of the action, but the way she had it figured he was fifth on the list, and she wasn’t going to give him jack shit.
A couple puffs later she looked down and scanned her call sheet. Most of the names weren’t important enough to call back today, but there were a few she would have to get to tonight when they wrapped things up. For now she wanted to get herself in the right frame of mind for her shot at the den of liars. Pretty much everyone had gone over their allotted fifteen minutes, and Lonsdale planned on doing the same. She figured as chairman of the Judiciary they would all expect her to go after them, and fifteen minutes wasn’t nearly enough to question the five of them.
An unmarked manila folder lay on the desk. She opened it and began reading the list of potential questions her staff had put together for her based on the first round of questions. By the time she’d finished reading them, she was finished with the cigarette. She stabbed it out in the crystal ashtray, where it sat there crooked and tattooed with red lipstick. Lonsdale hesitated and then decided to grab another one. She’d just finished lighting it when Wassen entered the room. As always, he closed the door behind him.
“Five minutes.”
She nodded and exhaled a cloud over her shoulder toward the ventilation machine.
“Second one?” Wassen asked with a curious eye.
“I didn’t know you were counting.”
“I’ve noticed an uptick lately,” he said in a disapproving voice.
Lonsdale’s pretty little nose scrunched up, and it looked for a moment like she might stick her tongue out at him. Wassen unnerved her at times, probably because no one knew her better. Since the death of her husband thirteen years ago, he had been her constant companion. He was like a father, husband, and girlfriend all rolled into one.
“Big deal,” she said as she took another drag. “I’m still only smoking a pack a week.”
Wassen knew it was closer to two, but there wasn’t time to argue about it right now. “Did you review the questions?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“They’re fine.”
“Any idea who you’re going to start with?”
“Kennedy,” she said as she turned and looked at herself in a full-length mirror on the wall. “I’m going to light her up and then go after Rapp, and if I have time I’ll take Nash apart.”
“Sound strategy.”
