Washington Power Play, page 28
“Yes, we both read it,” said Paul with a nod.
“In my opinion, what General Cartwright said was inappropriate. President Braddock is our commander in chief.”
“Even after his interview, you still decided to leave the military and to work for General Cartwright in his campaign?” Paul inquired.
“Yes, sir,” Mallory replied. Then, after a pause, he added, “I had given General Cartwright my commitment to join with him about twelve or so hours before the article appeared. I thought about reversing that decision, but I didn’t think it would be right to go back on my word. Since then, I’ve seen some very troubling things.”
“Please tell us about them.”
“Two days ago, I flew General Cartwright to Paris on a secret trip. He told me it related to the campaign. He also told me I wouldn’t be attending meetings with him. That was unusual. He had only done it once before in November, six months ago, when we took a trip to Singapore. Usually, I attend meetings and take notes. General Cartwright had also been acting strangely in the few days before we went to Paris.”
“Strange how?” Kelly interjected.
“Nervous. Anxious. That wasn’t like him.”
Paul resumed the questioning. “What happened in Paris?”
“We arrived at the Bristol Hotel at about seven o’clock in the evening and checked in. I was given a room on the second floor. Cartwright was on the sixth. Before we went to our rooms, he dismissed me, telling me to enjoy an evening in Paris.”
“And?”
For an instant, Mallory looked away from Paul. Then he turned back, “I did something I shouldn’t have,” he said, sounding defensive.
“What was that?”
“I was concerned about General Cartwright, so I climbed up to the sixth floor using an inside staircase. I hid in the staircase with the door open a crack, watching General Cartwright’s room. I’ve never done anything like that before.”
“What happened then?”
“About an hour later, General Cartwright left his room. He looked around suspiciously, then walked to the elevator. When he got inside, I ran down the corridor to see where the elevator was going. It went to the seventh floor. I raced up the inside stairs and looked out. At that moment, I saw General Cartwright go into a room with an armed Chinese guard in front. From the layout of the floors, I believe it was room 724, sir.”
“What did you do then?”
“This will sound ridiculous.”
“Go ahead.”
“I was so upset that I went to a local bistro. I could barely eat, however I drank almost two bottles of wine. After leaving the bistro, I threw up in the gutter along the street. Back at the hotel, I collapsed into my bed. I was sick from what I saw. I haven’t told anyone about it until now.”
“Any idea who Cartwright was meeting or why?” Paul asked.
Mallory shook his head. “But obviously you think he’s doing something wrong or you wouldn’t be here.”
Before Paul could respond, Kelly said, “Tell us about the Singapore trip.”
“This was also top secret,” Mallory replied. “Last year on November 20th, General Cartwright had a confidential meeting at the hotel we were staying at, the Raffles Hotels. Again, I was excluded. I don’t know who he met with.”
Paul turned the focus to Mallory’s meeting with Martin. “On one occasion, you met with a Washington lawyer named Andrew Martin in his office on Pennsylvania Avenue.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What was that about?”
“General Cartwright had to attend a meeting with the president at the White House. He asked me to deliver an envelope to Andrew Martin.”
“What did it look like?”
“Standard brown, eight and a half by eleven. It was sealed and had Andrew Martin’s name on the front. No other markings.”
“Do you have any idea of the contents?”
“No, sir. General Cartwright asked me to deliver it personally to Andrew Martin, not to a secretary.”
“And did you do that?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you speak to Martin?”
“Only to introduce myself as General Cartwright’s aide. Mr. Martin seemed busy. He thanked me and I left.”
Paul looked at Kelly.
“Are you aware,” she said, “of any other meetings General Cartwright had with Chinese officials?”
“No, ma’am, I’m not.”
“What about newspaper interviews or speeches he gave that dealt specifically with China?”
Mallory thought about it for a moment, then said, “Last year, November 5th, General Cartwright gave a speech at West Point to the senior class and the faculty. I was in the audience, but the press was not invited. In his speech, he said it was imperative that the United States find a way of dealing with China’s rising military power.”
“Do you have a copy of the speech?” Kelly asked.
“It’s in my computer. He wrote it himself, but he asked me to review his draft and make suggestions.”
“Did you?” she inquired.
“Only minor ones.”
“Could you forward it to me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Kelly turned to Paul. “Do you have anything else to ask Captain Mallory?”
“Nothing, I just want to thank you,” Paul said. “This has been very helpful. Please don’t discuss this interview or what we said with anyone else.”
“Of course not.”
Kelly gave Mallory a card with her encrypted cell number and the email address where he could forward the West Point speech. He promised she would have it within the hour.
“If you recall anything else you think we might like to know,” said Kelly, “please call me any hour of the day.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
When Mallory left the room, Kelly turned to Paul. “I want to check hotel records for confirmation of Mallory’s statements, however I think it’s clear that General Cartwright is our mole.”
“No doubt about it,” Paul agreed.
“This is a horrible situation. Cartwright is very popular and the likely Republican presidential candidate. We’ll take a lot of heat over this. People always like to shoot the messenger.”
“You can start with Wilkins. He’s a big buddy of Cartwright’s.”
“He may be,” said Kelly, “but he’ll have to accept the fact that Cartwright is guilty. We’ll give Wilkins the news at a task force meeting tomorrow morning at ten.”
“Better wear your Kevlar vest.”
“Good idea. I’m staying at my dad’s house tonight. I’m sure he’ll have one. Also, I would like to set up security at your house.”
“Do you think that’s necessary?” Before she had a chance to respond, he added, “Okay, do it.”
At Kelly’s request, Carol Bailey arranged for a car and driver to take them to their offices in Washington. The whole way, she kept her hand on her gun, but nothing happened.
Washington
Back at FBI headquarters, Kelly briefed Forester on the crash and the interview.
Alarmed, he told her, “You need more protection. What do you want?”
“I’m okay for now.”
“Don’t be foolish. I’ll authorize whatever you need.”
“I understand. Thank you.”
As soon as Kelly got to her office, she checked her computer. Mallory had forwarded Cartwright’s speech. It was titled, “The United States and China: Is War Inevitable?” Kelly began reading.
“The single greatest challenge our nation faces is the rising economic and military power of the People’s Republic of China. Nothing else—not the Middle East or Russia—poses an existential threat to the United States. Somehow, we must find a way of reaching an accommodation with Beijing. There is much about the regime in Beijing that is reprehensible. For example, their record on human rights and free speech and their intimidation of neighboring countries. However, we cannot permit the world’s two superpowers to drift into a destructive war with horrific casualties on both sides. Nor can we let this occur by a miscalculation in Beijing or in Washington.
“Ever since the end of the Second World War, the United States has called the shots in establishing international order. But that is changing with rising Chinese power. In many respects, the situation is similar to the rise of Germany after 1870 that challenged the British-led world order. Those nations did not reach an accommodation, and their failure to do so was one of the leading causes of the First World War.
“We must meet with the leaders in Beijing and structure an agreement that will eliminate the threat of war. We have a useful precedent—we were able to reach such an agreement with Russia at the end of the Second World War. As a result of the courage of our leaders then, and their willingness to compromise, we were able to avoid a costly nuclear war with Russia, which at the time seemed inevitable. That compromise, which ceded control over Central Europe and Eastern Europe to Russia, was met with enormous criticism from many Americans. But in retrospect, it was clearly the correct decision.
“Unfortunately, I am not optimistic that our current leaders have the same courage, wisdom, and foresight to make the necessary compromises with China. Let me be clear: I am not urging surrender to China. Instead, I want us to reach accommodations, and those will mean making concessions.”
The remainder of Cartwright’s speech followed the same approach. When Kelly finished reading it, she felt sick. She was now entirely convinced that General Cartwright had been spying for China. In his hubris, he believed he was wiser than President Braddock, the man the American people had elected. And in his view, that superior wisdom entitled him to usurp the role of the president, as he had done in the East China Sea incident. And that same rationale permitted him to accept campaign money arranged by Beijing in order to capture the American presidency and to impose his accommodations with China on the country.
The reality, Kelly realized, was that Cartwright might get away with it. It was also possible, she thought, that their task force was the only thing that could stop him.
Beijing and Countryside
To implement Andrei’s idea of establishing a Caribbean bank account for $10 million in General Cartwright’s name, Liu enlisted the assistance of Yue Choi, the director of China’s Latin American investments.
Yue, who had thick glasses and a scholarly look, seemed frightened when he entered Liu’s office. “You can relax,” Liu told him. “No one is questioning your actions.” That made Yue smile.
The spymaster disclosed as little as possible about what he was doing. “For reasons I will not explain,” he began, “I want to open a bank account on a Caribbean island in which we have significant investments, one where we will be able to find a cooperative bank.”
Without hesitating, Yue replied, “That’s an easy decision. Trinidad is the place.”
“Tell me why,” Liu commanded.
“Trinidad is industrial, not a beach resort for rich Americans,” Yue explained. “It has significant oil deposits, and we’ve entered into long-term contracts to acquire much of that oil. Trinidad is also close to Venezuela, where we now have a strong presence.”
“Do you have a bank you’ve worked with particularly in Trinidad?”
“The National Bank of Trinidad and Tobago. Its CEO is Alistair Singh.”
“Can you trust him?”
“About as well as you can trust anybody in that part of the world.”
Liu snarled. “Fine,” he said. “Here’s what I want you to do. Establish an account at that bank in the name of an American, Darrell Cartwright. Then transfer in ten million dollars from NRW bank in Shanghai.”
“Singh will need a card on file electronically with an address and signature for Cartwright.”
“List his address as Washington, DC. I assume Singh will accept that?”
“If I tell him to. What about the signature?”
Liu thought about it for a moment, then recalled that Cartwright had signed a document forwarded by Xiang in one of the eight envelopes. He could have one of his handwriting experts forge the signature from that. “I’ll send it to you electronically.”
“That should be sufficient. I’ll forward it to Singh.”
“Give Singh one other instruction,” said Liu.
“What’s that?”
“He shouldn’t disclose when the account was opened or the source of the funds to anyone unless you expressly authorize it. Is that clear?”
“Absolutely.”
Later that day, Liu went to see President Yao, who had left the heat and smog of Beijing behind for his house in the mountains.
They walked along a lake near the president’s house, security guards trailing behind—close enough to provide protection, but far enough so they couldn’t overhear what was said.
“We now have leverage over General Cartwright,” Liu told President Yao.
“How? Tell me.”
Liu explained about the Trinidad bank account.
Yao immediately understood. “So if Cartwright would like to drop out of the presidential race, or if he is elected and intends to renege on his commitments to you, then you can threaten to disclose the Trinidad account to the American media. Knowing that would destroy him, Cartwright would have to do your bidding.”
“Precisely.”
“Excellent,” Yao said.
That was the most complimentary thing Yao had ever said to Liu. “Wait, there’s more,” said Liu as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a picture of Helena and showed it to Yao. “She was a Russian girl Cartwright slept with in Prague. That night, she gained access to his computer and forwarded emails to Moscow. Disclosure of that, too, would destroy him.”
“Without any doubt,” agreed Yao. “You have done well. Now we have total control over him—this man who is likely to be the future president of the United States.”
Chevy Chase and Washington
The night after the attack was uneventful for Kelly. As a result of her father’s CIA work, he had installed an extensive security system in and around his house, including an invisible electronic fence at the perimeter. Forester also stationed two agents in a car in front of the house. Kelly felt secure sleeping in her old room with Julie next door.
Kelly was up at 5:30 the following morning. After making a pot of coffee, she was on the computer. Working with the IT people at FBI headquarters, she was hacking into hotel computers. By seven o’clock, she had established that Minister Liu had been registered in room 724 at the Bristol the night that Cartwright and Mallory had stayed there.
Mallory had told her that he and Cartwright had stayed at Raffles Hotel in Singapore on November 20th. Hacking into the Raffles computer system was difficult, but Kelly kept going until she got what she wanted. Minister Liu had also stayed there that night.
The case against Cartwright was getting stronger.
“Good luck,” her father told her when she left the house at seven. Julie was still sleeping.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll need it.”
At ten, she started the task force meeting. Kelly began by presenting the evidence she and Paul had assembled.
Farrell quickly agreed with them. “Cartwright is our mole, no doubt about it,” he said.
But not Wilkins. As she had anticipated, the national security adviser was furious. “You’re slandering an innocent man, a military hero of the United States.”
“Look at the evidence,” Kelly insisted.
Red-faced and raising his voice, Wilkins pointed to Paul. “You’re the damn lawyer. Explain to her that if you presented this evidence to a judge, he’d toss out your case.”
Before Paul had a chance to respond, Farrell’s phone rang. He glanced at it and said, “It’s the CIA director’s secretary. I better take it.”
He moved into a corner with the phone. Kelly heard him say, “Yes, sir, I’ll be there in thirty minutes.” He put away the phone and turned to Kelly. “Director Harrison wants a briefing about the task force and what we’ve done. I’ll have to tell him about Cartwright.”
“Absolutely,” said Kelly. “Go do it.”
Once Farrell was gone, Wilkins bore in on Paul. “You know I’m right. All you have is circumstantial evidence, at best.”
“It’s strong,” Paul said. “The eight meetings with Martin, and then Xiang comes the next day to pick up the envelopes.”
“Cartwright must have had scores of meetings with Martin.”
“The Bristol Hotel meeting with Liu,” Paul continued.
“You have no idea what was said,” Wilkins retorted.
“I doubt they were discussing the Olympics.”
“Oh, bullshit. You don’t have nearly enough to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt, and you know damn well I’m right.”
When Paul didn’t respond, Wilkins pressed on. “Arthur Larkin couldn’t possibly be ready to go for an indictment.”
“I was waiting until after this meeting to present it to him.”
“I’m sure you were. You’d like to gain some support for this absurd conclusion so the AG doesn’t toss you out of his office.”
Kelly watched Paul beginning to wither. They had to get more evidence.
“Fine,” she said. “We’ll apply the old Washington adage. Follow the money.”
“What do you mean?” Wilkins asked.
“We know from press accounts that Carl Dickerson, an LA businessman, has been giving Cartwright tens of millions of dollars for his campaign through super PACs. Paul and I will fly out to LA and meet with Dickerson.”
“For what reason?” Wilkins asked.
“To prove that some of this is Chinese money, or that the Chinese are leaning on Dickerson to give money to Cartwright. It’s all part of a conspiracy to commit espionage.”
“Yeah, right,” Wilkins said. “To me, it sounds like a waste of time and taxpayer money.”
He looked at this watch. “Sorry. I have to get back to the White House.”
“It’s been swell,” Kelly mumbled under her breath.
When Wilkins was gone, Kelly said to Paul, “I intend to do one other thing. I’ll ask Joanne Moore at the Treasury to canvass offshore banks and determine whether Cartwright has an account funded by the Chinese. That would really help nail down our case.”
