Calvin Hancock watched the coverage of Congressman Drexel’s assassination on the gigantic screen on the living room wall of his penthouse apartment. Calvin had several other abodes, including a villa in Rome, a chateau in Versailles, and a country manor in Gloucestershire, to name a few, but he tended to gravitate toward penthouses because they offered him the most privacy.
His penthouse in Washington was a floor-through duplex, with its own elevator. He had security at the ground floor, of course, but upstairs he was completely alone.
Calvin Hancock was a money man cast from the Koch brothers mold, a kingmaker of such power and importance that his endorsement could make or break a career. If Calvin Hancock backed you, you were in. In the last election Calvin Hancock had spent over a quarter of a billion dollars trying to keep Kate Lee from being elected. The fact that he failed had been a bitter pill to swallow.
The phone rang.
Calvin Hancock checked caller ID and snatched it up. “Yes.”
“It’s done,” Abdul-Hakim said.
“I know it’s done. I’m watching television. Believe it or not, it made the news. What happened last night?”
“What do you mean?”
“Stone Barrington showed up at the White House dinner. Alive, needless to say.”
“You called at the last minute. The best men were not available.”
“Then you should have gone yourself.”
“I was working on a backup plan.”
“Is it taken care of?”
“It is. We’re monitoring his phone calls. Will that be sufficient, or would you like me to arrange a second attempt?”
“That will do for now. What about the movie producer he called?”
“It’s taken care of. We had him met at the airport.”
“Here?”
“There. In Santa Monica.”
“That’s fast work.”
“We had an ISIS recruit from UCLA, an impressionable fanatic. He was happy to get the job.”
“Are you sure he’s trustworthy?”
“It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t know anything.”
“All right. Good.”
That was the word Abdul-Hakim had been waiting to hear. Without Calvin Hancock’s approval, a job was never done. Now he could move on.
“What next?” Abdul-Hakim said.
“The girl.”