“Adam, was that the business you wanted to discuss? Buying me out?”
“In part. You definitely have the kind of name that could be successfully franchised nationally.”
“You mean, you like the ring of ABC Security?”
Now his host’s smile turned wry. “No. I think you know what I mean... but I won’t press. This is an idea you’ll either come to or not. You might think on it and get back to me — who knows? In the meantime, I have another modest proposal.”
“I hope it’s not cannibalism.”
“You know your Swift as well! A man of action and of the mind. I like that.” His cheeseburger, like Thomas Paine, was history. He used his napkin. “Joe, I want you as head of my security team.”
Reeder, also finished eating, raised a palm as if taking an oath. “I’m flattered, but no. I like being my own man. But I can offer you one of my best people... particularly if the assignment is temporary.”
“It would be temporary, which is why I think you might want to take it on yourself. Given your track record, I would prefer you.”
“Not a field agent anymore. Sorry.”
Benjamin folded his hands, leaned forward just slightly. “Joe, I like you. My two offers could easily become one offer — sell me your company, then come to work for me... for just one year. At the end of that year, if you like, you can go back to running the DC office of ABC.”
“That’s a lot of letters, Adam.”
“It’ll be a lot of numbers, Joe, on the check I write. Amy will never have a financial worry in her entire life.”
Reeder let out some air. “You really do do your homework — but no... though my offer of sending you my best man stands. Besides, you already have a head of security, don’t you?”
“A former colleague of yours — Jay Akers,” Benjamin said, nodding. “Jay has his strengths, but he’s... how was it Ian Fleming described James Bond? A blunt instrument.”
“Adam, if you have James Bond on your staff, who needs Joe Reeder?”
A warm chuckle grew into a full-throated laugh. “Look, Joe... for what I have planned, I need someone who can relate better within my corporate family. Who has a sense of subtlety and... discretion.”
“What’s your complaint with Jay? He’s a good man.”
“Perhaps, and I like having ex — Secret Service on my team... but Akers is rubbing my second-in-command, Frank Elmore, the wrong way. Claims Frank has me surrounded by mercenaries, for the most part. Not that there isn’t some truth in it. Sometimes it’s like I’m traveling with a band of thugs.”
“Worked for Capone.”
“But not for presidential candidates.”
“Is that what you are, Adam?”
He ducked the question. “Having your respected presence on the scene, directing my security team — even the ones who do look like thugs — would frankly allow me to bask in your highly recognizable, heroic presence.”
Hero again. He managed to keep the burger down.
Reeder said, “You’d like your personal detail to be more presidential. And I’m probably the most famous ex — Secret Service agent around. I get that. If you don’t mind my asking, what exactly are your plans?”
Benjamin considered that. “I believe it’s time I tested the presidential waters. See what the people think. See how a speaking tour might impact the polls. Then I can make a decision that makes sense.”
“Yeah, common sense, I know.”
Benjamin held Reeder’s gaze. “Joe, you’ve been around the political circus a long time, and you know as well as I do that our country is in trouble. The right and the left continue to move farther apart, to a point where our two major parties are essentially radical fringe groups with unearned power.”
“Been that way a while now,” Reeder granted.
“The center, where most people live, has become disenfranchised as the extremes on both sides scream at the top of their lungs, drowning out any, yes, common sense. And so nothing gets done. Congress is paralyzed. It’s time for the center to take back what is rightfully theirs. It’s time for the majority to rule the country again. Time for common sense to prevail in this country once more.”
Reeder had heard enough campaign speeches in his time to recognize one a mile away. “You aren’t just testing the waters, Adam. You’re going to do this thing, aren’t you?”
“Probably,” he admitted with a twinkle and a smile. “Almost certainly. But don’t quote me.”
“Big step,” Reeder said.
“Yes it is — and we’re kicking this off with what I’m calling ‘A Citizen’s State of the Union’ speech next Tuesday, at Constitution Hall. It would be my pleasure, even if you’re reluctant to come officially on staff, to have you join me at the rally. You and a guest, if you like. What say?”
Reeder gestured to the Five Guys bag, in which wadded-up wrappers and napkins now resided.
“After a feast like this,” he said, “it would be ungracious of me to decline.”
Benjamin leaned forward and clutched Reeder’s forearm. “Joe, we’re going to do great things together. Help me lead the country we love back to where there’s some real harmony, and make these damn political parties work together, not against each other.”
“We’ll just start,” Reeder said, “with me saying yes to your invite.”
The billionaire’s smile was an embarrassed one. “Got carried away a little, didn’t I? Sorry. Thanks for coming, Joe. And I look forward to seeing you at the rally. I’ll put the arrangements in motion.”
Benjamin rose.
So did Reeder. “Uh, before I go... can I ask you something? Kind of out of left field?”
“Certainly.”
“A friend of mine died the other night.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thank you. The police call it suicide, but I know better. His name was Chris Bryson. In the weeks before his death, he received a few calls from your company.”
“Which company?”
“CSI. He may have been an investor, or somebody of yours may have wanted him to look into something. He was a security consultant. Name doesn’t mean anything to you, does it? Chris Bryson?”
“No, I’m sorry to say it doesn’t. But you have my sympathies, and I’ll check with my people and see what those calls were about.”
“I’d appreciate that. Sorry to bother the CEO with such trivialities.”
“The death of one good man is a loss to us all.”
“Thomas Paine?”
He shook his head, smiled a little. “Adam Benjamin. And that you can quote.”
Heading out to his car, Reeder admitted to himself that everything Benjamin said did make sense, common or otherwise. But a guy who stood up in public saying such things, particularly if that guy got some traction...?
Might not get carried away as much as carted out.
On his back.
Five
“The liberal left can be as rigid and destructive as any force in American life.”
Sometimes Amy Reeder longed for her father’s gift at reading people — spotting and interpreting the tiny behavioral tells of their moods, their inner thoughts, their outright lies. Right now, for instance, she had no fricking idea what her boyfriend, Bobby Landon, might be thinking.
Well, one thing she could read: he was pissed.
Not that that was anything unusual lately.
Sitting on the couch in her Georgetown apartment, still in the gray suit she’d worn to her part-time job as a senatorial intern, Amy inconspicuously brushed away the beginnings of a tear.