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chapter fifty-eight
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sweep it into the corner
or hide it under the bed
say these things they go away
but they never do
-Keane, "This Is The Last Time"
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January 28, 2004
4:30 pm
Sam flipped her pen anxiously in her hand as she scanned over her latest field report, giving it one last read-over before scrawling her signature and the date on the line at the bottom of the page. It had taken her three days of stalling, but she finally settled her resolve on finishing the report when Martin sent her several articles pertaining to Wyland Industries that he pulled off of Lexus Nexus. Short newspaper clippings referencing Wyland's presence at several political fundraisers and events, but although she could sense that they were close, they did not yet have enough information to hang him with.
She, like Martin, suspected that Wyland had found some covert method of contributing illegally to re-election campaigns in order to buy off votes and keep Washington quiet. For the time being however, they decided to keep everything quiet until they got confirmation. Martin had spoken to a friend he had at the New York Times who was prepared to run the story on the front page as soon as they had substantive sources for a front page article.
She rose from her desk and strode purposefully to Jack's office, field report in hand. The office was empty as Jack was attending the weekly SAC's meeting that had been rescheduled for this afternoon, so Sam let herself inside the darkened office and placed the report on top of Jack's in tray.
Sitting back down at her desk, she opened her email and scanned through the new messages as she tried to kill the last few minutes before they were free to go home for the afternoon. Her eyes immediately fell on a new email from Martin, and she opened it with a quick glance over her shoulder.
It was short and straight to the point, obviously written in a hurry.
Sam-
I'll be on the next flight as soon as we vote on 302. I'm hoping to make the out of Dulles on the 2:40 and get into La Guardia at 4:13. Hang close to the office if you can, I think I might have something. Rick, Anna, and John are coming with me.
Martin
Sam closed the email quickly, her mind racing with the possibilities. It must be something important if he was bringing his three closest advisors with him; Rick Harvey was his press secretary, Anna Meyendorf was his chief counsel, and John Holmquist was his new chief of staff of just a few months. John had actually been a college friend of Martin's who had been working for a political consulting firm before Martin's former chief of staff, a man who had been a recommendation of his father's, decided to retire following a series of small strokes.
She released a heavy sigh and rubbed her temple, oblivious to the presence behind her.
"For someone who isn't in the middle of working on a big case right now, you look like you've got a lot on your mind."
Sam craned her neck as she heard Viv's soft voice echoing with concern, and Danny just a few steps behind.
"I don't know," Sam replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
"You don't know?" Danny teased; his voice was light and his smirk evident. "Sudden problems with a split personality?"
Sam rolled her eyes and shook her head in spite of herself. "It's nothing," she smiled, "I'll find out later."
"Later?" Viv gave her a knowing look. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you still have the files on Wyland, would it?"
"How did you know?"
Viv leaned forward and squeezed Sam's shoulder reassuringly. "I had a feeling," she replied. "I was just wondering when you were going to give the rest of us a chance to pitch in."
"You want to help?"
Danny raised an eyebrow, "Por supuesto, linda. We're in this together."
xx
6:00 pm
Martin got through security without any problems and quickly darted into the elevator so as to avoid the curious stares of any of the busybody tourists or guests who might still be in the building. John stood beside him, but Anna and Rick had gone directly over to his New York offices to start preparing for any potential media fallout that could come if the story broke.
The elevator jolted to a stop at Sam's floor and the doors slowly slid open.
Martin felt John's eyes on him as he said, "So I finally get to meet the famous Samantha?"
Martin shrugged but couldn't fight the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. "I guess you do."
"She must be pretty special if she's willing to put up with you, Martin," he laughed.
"As a matter of fact, I am," Sam interjects, her eyes sparkling as she comes up behind the two men and takes them by surprise. "I'm Samantha; you must be John."
"It's good to finally meet you." John winked, "You're a braver soul than most."
"Don't I know it." Sam smirked.
"Please don't give her ideas," Martin groaned good-naturedly as he sought out her hand.
"Anyway," Sam smiled and turned on her heels, gesturing with one hand for them to follow her into the bullpen. "Down to business. What do you have for us?"
Martin shuffled carefully into step behind her, eyes scanning the bullpen as she returned to her desk. She sat in her chair and spun around, her blonde hair falling haphazardly around her shoulders. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Danny emerge from the break room, the door swinging furiously on its hinges as Naomi followed close on Danny's heels. "Us?" he asked, suddenly realizing her choice of words.
Sam tilted her neck and looked up at him. "Danny, Naomi and Viv found out that we've been looking into Wyland a little bit further, and they wanted to stick around and see if they could help," she explained matter-of-factly.
Within a matter of minutes, Danny, Vivian, Naomi and Sam had gathered around the table in the center of the bullpen, notepads out and pens ready. Vivian assumed the de facto leadership of the group as she said, "Sam already filled us in on what you two have been looking at, but she didn't know what it was that you found that brought you back to New York."
Martin joined them around the table and cast a quick glance in Sam's direction before beginning to recount the unusual events of the morning that led him to his sudden change of plans and arrival in New York.
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Martin leaned forward against his desk and sighed quietly, holding the phone away from his ear as he listened to Edward McCloud, a senior Republican Senator from Minnesota, ramble on in the attempts to strike a deal on 302.
He looked up as a knock echoed from against his office door. "Come in," he prompted as he covered the receiver with one hand.
The door creaked open and Beverly popped her head in. "John Holmquist brought one of your interns here to see you; he says it's important."
Martin nodded in acknowledgement and held up his hand to motion that he would be with them in just a few minutes, and Beverly shut the door quietly behind her.
Bringing the phone back to his ear, Martin groaned inwardly as he heard McCloud still continuing incessantly on the other end of the line. "Listen, Edward," Martin interrupted finally. "If you wanted something from me you should have come to me more than an hour before the final vote is scheduled. This bill is going to pass regardless; you lost. I'll see you at roll call."
Without another word, Martin placed the phone back on his desk and activated the intercom to buzz John in to his office.
"Good morning, Senator," John grinned broadly back at his friend. John was a tall man with brown hair and brown eyes, and he absolutely thrived on the energy and fast pace of Washington politics. Though John had not been among Martin's closest friends in college, they were in several classes together and always were able to identify with one another as two young men who were trying to find their own way in the vision their parents held for them. And when Martin's former Chief of Staff retired, John had been the first person put on the short list to replace him.
"Good morning, John," Martin greeted his friend. "You said you had something important before the vote?"
"I just heard from Ziletti at the White House. It's going to pass 62-38, easy," John replied. "But that's not why I'm here." He turned to the intern that stood beside him. "Senator, this is Josh Clarence. He's working with our office this semester while he is preparing to start his senior honors research at Georgetown."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Josh," Martin replied, stepping forward to shake Josh's hand. "Are you enjoying your time with us so far?"
"Definitely. It's been a great opportunity," Josh nodded his head with conviction. He smiled shyly and in his clean-cut jacket, tie, and slacks, reminded Martin a lot of himself when he spent a summer interning for the now-retired Senator Jackson of Virginia, an old friend of his father's.
"That's good to hear."
"Josh was a page for Senator McCloud when he was a junior in high school," John folded his arms across his chest emphatically as he began to explain. "When he found out that we were looking into Wyland, he came to me..." John turned to his left and motioned to the young intern. "Go ahead, Josh. Tell him what you told me."
"I uh, I'm not sure about this. I mean, I had only been there for a week or so when this happened..." Josh began, stuttering uncertainly. It was obvious that he was nervous and felt out of place.
"It's okay, Josh," John prompted. "Just tell him what you saw."
Martin smiled encouragingly at the boy and he continued, "Well, it was the first night that I had to stay really late because they were trying to override the veto on the Repeal of the Environmental Safety and Procedures Act. Jennifer, Senator McCloud's secretary, got a fax from Wyland Industries at the last second and she made me run it to the Senator before the vote went down. I know I wasn't supposed to look at it, but I slipped on the wet floors and I happened to see a couple of pages..." Josh paused and took a deep breath in to steady himself. Looking Martin straight in the eye, he continued in a much firmer voice, "There was a copy of a bank transfer to an account in the name of Henry Jamison. I didn't think much of it at the time... but eventually I learned that Jamison is one of the names that Senator McCloud uses when he wants to arrive somewhere anonymously." Josh released a heavy breath and shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe it's nothing, but I remember running a lot of confidential messages from Mr. Wyland while I was working for Senator McCloud."
Martin met John's eyes for a half a second, and an understanding passed between the two of them. This could be their big break if they really wanted Wyland to be brought to justice.
"Josh," he started finally, after a few minutes of letting this new revelation sink in. "You want to work in Washington one day, don't you?"
"I do, Senator. Very much so."
"Well, I'd have to say that you're off to a very strong start."
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Martin finished telling them what he knew, and he watched as each member of the team silently focused in on what he was telling them. He could see each one of them beginning to form conjectures, the wheels in their heads turning with ideas.
Finally Sam caught his eyes as she spoke up. "Well," she began "I guess now we have something solid to look for."
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