The Eleventh Commandment

‘No, Mr President, I’m

not. But I am certain of one thing: Jackson loathes - I repeat, loathes - Helen Dexter as much as you do.’

‘Well, that’s as good as a personal recommendation,’ said the President. ‘What else made you pick him? Because if loathing Dexter was the primary qualification for the job, there must have been a fairly large number of candidates.’

‘He also has the other attributes I was looking for. There’s his record, as an officer in Vietnam and as head of counter-intelligence, not to mention his reputation as Deputy Director of the CIA.’

‘Then why did he suddenly resign when he still had such a promising career ahead of him?’

‘I suspect that Dexter felt it was a bit too promising, and he was beginning to look like a serious contender for her post.’

‘If he can prove that she gave the order to assassinate Ricardo Guzman, he still might be. It looks as if you’ve chosen the best man for the job, Andy.’

‘Jackson told me there was one better.’

‘Then let’s recruit him as well,’ said the President.

‘I had the same idea. But it turns out that he’s already working for Dexter.’

‘Well, at least he won’t know Jackson’s working for us. What else did he have to say?’

Lloyd opened the file and began to take the President through the conversation he had had with the former Deputy Director of the CIA.

When he’d finished, Lawrence’s only comment was, ‘Are you telling me I’m expected to just sit around twiddling my thumbs while we wait for Jackson to come up with something?’

‘Those were his conditions, Mr President, if we wanted him to take on the assignment. But I have a feeling that Mr Jackson isn’t the sort of person who sits around twiddling his thumbs.’

‘He’d better not be, because every day Dexter’s at Langley is a day too many for me. Let’s hope Jackson can supply us with enough rope to hang her publicly. And while we’re at it, let’s hold the execution in the Rose Garden.’

The Chief of Staff laughed. ‘That might have the double advantage of getting a few more Republicans to vote with us on the Safe Streets and Crime Reduction Bill’

The President smiled. ‘Who’s next?’ he asked.

Lloyd glanced at his watch. ‘Senator Bedell has been waiting in the lobby for some time.’

‘What does he want now?’

‘He was hoping to talk you through his latest set of proposed amendments to the Arms Reduction Bill’

The President frowned. ‘Did you notice how many points Zerimski has picked up in the latest opinion poll?’

Maggie began dialling the 650 number moments after she had turned the key in the lock of their little house in Georgetown. Connor started to unpack, listening to one end of the conversation between his wife and his daughter.

‘Just phoned to let you know that we’ve arrived back safely,’ Maggie tried as an opener.

Connor smiled at the unconvincing ploy. Tara was far too acute to fall for it, but he knew that she would play along.

‘Thanks for calling, Mom. It’s good to hear you.’

‘Everything all right at your end?’ asked Maggie.

‘Yes, fine,’ Tara said, before spending the next few minutes trying obliquely to assure her mother that she wasn’t about to do something impetuous. When she was convinced that Maggie was convinced, she asked, ‘Is Dad around?’

‘He’s right here.’ She handed the phone across the bed to Connor.

‘Can you do me a favour, Dad?’

‘You bet.’