Balance of Power

TWENTY-EIGHT

In theory, the vote on gun immunity should have been conducted by roll call of senators stationed at their desks, declaring their votes in alphabetical order. But this vote was deemed too dicey, especially for the holdouts—Coletti, Slezak, and Rollins—each of whom wanted the others to make the first move. And so the vote was accomplished through a far less formal procedure. When the clerk conducted the initial roll call, most senators would not respond. Then, for a fifteenminute period, while the senators milled about the floor in a disorderly scrum, each senator could cast his or her vote at the desk of the Senate clerk. The clerk would then repeat the vote, allowing those who kept a tally to know where the voting stood.

But for the stakes, this process would have held a certain edgy comedy: Rollins, Slezak and Coletti each eyeing the other as their colleagues eyed them, all waiting for one of the three to approach the clerk. A single vote would give Fasano the fifty-one he needed. If any of the three voted in favor of gun immunity, it freed the others to avoid casting the deciding vote, instead acting as their political interests dictated. As Cassie waited at the rear of the chamber, one senator after another ventured forward.

"Fourteen minutes to go," Chad murmured in her ear. "Do me a favor, and hold out. I just bet Hampton a steak dinner at the Palm that Coletti cracks first."

"Who did Chuck get?"

"The field. You and Slezak." Chad lowered his voice. "So here's the deal, Cassie. Hold out until Vic votes, and I'll come to Maine and campaign for you. Whether in the primary, or in the general."

She studied him, surprised. Chad was no longer smiling. He knew how difficult this was for her: out of friendship and generosity, and despite his support of Fasano, Chad was telling her to vote as she liked, even if it meant helping her buck the SSA in a primary fight.

She touched his sleeve. "Thank you, Chad."

He shook his head in demurral, as though his offer was nothing of note. "Life's too short," he told her. "And this is way too serious."

* * *

In the Oval Office, Kerry watched on CNN. Superimposed on its image of the milling senators was a vote tally—eleven to ten in favor of gun immunity—and a second-by-second count of the remaining time: 12:43. When Clayton entered, the President asked, "Does Hampton have the transcript?"

"His Chief of Staff does. It's only a matter of minutes."

Peering at the screen, Kerry tried to pick out Vic Coletti.

* * *

On the floor of the Senate, Palmer and Cassie Rollins watched the minority leader take Vic Coletti by the elbow, gently but firmly pulling him aside, and hand him what appeared to be a one-page document.

"What's that about?" Cassie wondered aloud.

Chad, too, felt curious. "Can it be?" he murmured. "The White House finally found that compromising photograph of Vic with a sheep?"

"A sheep," Cassie inquired dryly. "Only one?"

"Yeah. But he was underage."

Whatever it was, the document had Coletti's close attention.

* * *

"You've been worried about Lexington," Hampton told Vic Coletti. "This is a transcript from Wolf Blitzer's newscast. CNN's got documents which Lexington concealed in the Costello lawsuit, showing that Lexington knew that the P-2 was being widely used by criminals in California. They also include the ballistics tests on the Eagle's Claw."

Coletti finished reading, then looked slowly up at Hampton. "Not pretty," he said in grudging tones. "But it doesn't say they knew the P-2 was being sold by white supremacists."

At the corner of his vision, Hampton noticed Jack Slezak observing them. "Or by Adolf Hitler," Hampton answered tersely. "You told the President you needed cover. Obstruction of justice should be cover enough. Do you really want to reward that with immunity?"

Coletti mustered a flinty smile which tightened the corner of his eyes. "The President doesn't mean to lose, does he."

"Surprise," Hampton said with a laugh as soft as it was brief. Then he put one hand on Coletti's shoulder. "The President would appreciate your help, Vic. So would I."

To both sides, senators kept stepping forward toward the clerk. With a curt nod, Coletti folded the paper and tucked it into the inside pocket of his suit coat. "Does Slezak know?" he asked.

Hampton smiled. "He will."

* * *

With four minutes left, Cassie saw Vic Coletti approach the clerk of the Senate with all the animation of a death row prisoner taking his final walk.

"Congratulations," Cassie said to Chad. "Looks like Hampton's buying."

Chad shrugged. "Just another scene from Profiles in Courage. I think I'll wander down there for you, find out how Vic voted."

This was another kindness, sparing Cassie the discomfort of looking. "Please don't wander," she said. "Sprint."

* * *

But Fasano found her before Chad returned. "Coletti?" she asked.

"Kilcannon flipped him. Time to choose, Cassie."

Senator Rollins inhaled. "It will be—in about three minutes. Where's Slezak?"

Fasano's eyes bored into her. "No clue. Whoever he's promised his vote to, it isn't me." His voice reverted to its cool, clipped tenor. "Slezak's not on my team. You are. Don't embarrass me any further."

Around them the edgy buzz of conversation rose, both the senators and the gallery anticipating the end game. "Then don't embarrass me," she said softly. "There are people watching."

"No need," Fasano answered. "I've said all I should ever need to say." Abruptly turning, he walked away.

* * *

On the screen the count stood at forty-eight to forty-eight, with one certain vote for each side yet to come. The clock read 2:14.

"Come on, Cassie," the President murmured. Something kept him from speaking Slezak's name.

* * *

"That looked chummy," Chad said on his return. His voice was conversational, as if reporting something of mild interest. "You and Slezak still have a couple of minutes. Care to know what turned Coletti?"

Contemplating yet again the potential consequences of defying the Majority Leader, Cassie remained shaken. "Sure."

With a smile, Chad told her.

After a moment, Cassie shook her head. "You know, I really despise these people."

"Lexington?"

"The SSA."

Chad gave a querying look. "And so?"

Somewhat belatedly, it struck Cassie that, all kindnesses aside, Chad would not mind at all if Fasano lost. "Tell me something," she replied. "What inspired you to sign on as Frank's point man?"

Chad glanced about them. "We cut a deal," he told her in an undertone. "This thing for a straight up-and-down vote on campaign finance reform."

After a moment, Cassie nodded. "I thought it must be something better than what Frank offered me—an end to my career. Or the President."

"What did Kerry offer you?"

"A chance to do the right thing. I just hate it when that happens."

Chad, she saw, was looking over her shoulder. "Slezak isn't moving," he reported. "You've got about a minute."

Cassie glanced at her watch. "Fuck it, Chad. This is becoming way too undignified."

With that, she walked briskly toward the clerk.

* * *

"There goes Cassie," Clayton said.

At the corner of the screen, the countdown showed 1:14. As Cassie spoke to the clerk, Kerry heard the door to the Oval Office ease open, and turned to see Lara slipping through. Softly, she told her husband, "I couldn't stand watching up there alone."

Kerry's whole being felt taut. "You're in time for the final curtain. Cassie's about to vote."

* * *

Aware of the drama of the moment, the clerk peered at the junior senator from Maine through glasses so thick that they magnified his eyes—which, at the moment, resembled those of a startled bug. Smiling, she said, "Doing a brisk business, I see. Where does the vote stand?"

"Fifty 'no,' " he answered. "Forty-eight 'yes.' "

"Close. What do you think I should do?"

Mute, he looked up at her, unwilling to venture a response. Cassie felt her colleagues crowding in behind her, straining to hear whether her vote would be "yes" with the President and Hampton, or "no" with the Majority Leader and her party. "Oh, well," she told the clerk. "Record my vote as 'yes.' "

Behind her she heard a stir. Glancing up at the Vice President, Cassie gave Ellen Penn a smile. After all, there were so few times a Vice President got to seize the limelight, and one of those was voting to break a tie.

* * *

"It's all on Slezak," Kerry told his wife.

Standing behind him, Lara gripped the top of his chair. Her fingers were white, she noticed. For a moment, remembering the murders, the tortured dealings with her younger sister which had led to the filing of the lawsuit, she had been unaware of herself.

"Please, God," she murmured, an utterance which was half prayer, half superstition. Reaching back, Kerry touched her hand.

* * *

On the floor of the Senate, the gazes of her colleagues—some direct, some more circumspect—moved to the junior senator from Michigan.

Slowly, Slezak walked forward. "He can't bolt now," Chad whispered from behind her. "He'd be cutting Kerry's balls off."

That was probably right, Cassie thought. Odds were that Slezak had been holding back his vote to find out, through Cassie, whether the vote would make a difference to the leader of his party. But when she glanced at Senator Hampton, he was standing stock-still, watching Slezak's progress with the same raptness as the others. With Paul Harshman at his shoulder, Senator Fasano pressed close to the clerk's desk.

As Slezak reached the clerk, head butting forward, Fasano edged aside. Briefly, Slezak glanced at him, and nodded.

* * *

On the screen, the tally hung suspended, fifty to forty-nine. Kerry and Lara knew only that Slezak had cast his vote.

A white numeral changed, a "zero" became a "one."

The President stood in disbelief. "We lost," Clayton said tersely. "Slezak fucked us."

Standing, Kerry turned to Lara, heedless of anyone else, and took her in his arms. "It's not over," he promised. "All I need is thirty-four votes against the final bill."

She would know this, of course, just as she knew that the struggle to hold those votes could be even more vicious than what had gone before, political trench warfare waged senator to senator. It was just that he felt the need to speak. In answer, Lara held him close.

* * *

Shortly after eight o'clock that evening, by a vote of sixty-six to thirty-four, the Senate passed the Civil Justice Reform Act. Senators Rollins and Coletti voted with the majority.