“As you’re all aware by now, we’ve been involved in a court battle. As it stands, all indications are that we will lose the court case against Sarah Caxton and the FCPA in respect of this property and our operations base in Seattle.” His lips thinned as a cacophony of indignant anger rumbled through the room.
“Throw money at the bitch. Caxton might be all high and mighty in preserving nature but she won’t be able to say no to—”
“She already did,” Alan cut short Sam Cooper, who was the U.S. cabinet Director of the Office of Management and Budget. His greed for wealth had made it easy to get him on board. He had been a valuable asset to SPEONUS over the years but there were times that his reactions were immature and naive. “And a lot of it too.”
“What about the judge? Can’t we buy him off?” Sam kept pushing. Money was always the quickest and easiest solution from his perspective.
“Good luck with that.” Billy’s deep graveling voice immediately quieted everyone in the room. He hardly ever contributed to the discussions but when he did, they listened.
“What the fuck do you know?” Sam sneered. He had worked hard to obtain respect from the board members and he refused to be cut down by a mere assassin with a fancy title in the Order.
Billy slanted an amused glance at him. One that cut him down in size and made him feel like a midget facing Goliath.
“Mr. Hewitt is correct,” the Chairman said. “No one would ever bother to try and buy off Xavier Sinclair.”
“The chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States? Why the hell would he be presiding over a property case?” Sam cleared his throat as his voice croaked in reaction to Hewitt’s ridicule. It pissed him off that the assassin knew who the judge was and he hadn’t.
“Xavier Sinclair only becomes involved in cases where he believes the justice system is being manipulated. The fact that your attorneys insisted on moving the judgment to DC triggered his interest.”
Alan cast a direct look at the only woman in the room. One who had never shown any sign of weakness or allowed any of the men to intimidate her. Because of that, he had the utmost respect for her and once again gave himself an imaginary pat on the back for insisting they recruit her five years ago. It was under their inventive guidance that she had risen to a prominent figure in the U.S. cabinet and an invaluable asset to the President of the United States.
“It was a risk we had to take.” The Chairman sipped on his coffee as he regarded Alan. “I assume Judge Brown wasn’t indisposed after all like we’d been led to believe.”
“No, once the proceedings started, it became clear Judge Sinclair intervened. We have nothing to counter his decision. At least not that I’m aware of.” Alan’s frustration was painted like a red flag across his face.
“But I might.” The female lilt drew everyone’s attention. She smiled but the glimmer in her eyes was anything but pleasant. It left those who noticed feeling chilled and wary. She had proven to be ruthless in her pursuit of power, just as much as the rest of them, if not more.
“We’re listening.”
“Xavier Sinclair will do everything to protect his family, especially his son.” Her smile broadened. “I happen to know he’s also recently become the grandfather of a little boy that his son, Hawk Sinclair, adopted—his future wife’s child. For that matter, she’s also pregnant with his child.”
“Well, that has potential.” The Chairman mused as his eyes homed in on Billy. “What would you suggest, Mr. Hewitt? Do we kidnap or kill the little boy and threaten the life of Sinclair’s future wife and child or do we severely wound him as a warning to the Judge?”
Billy’s expression didn’t change, nor did his slouching stance against the wall with his huge arms crossed over his chest. His crystal-clear gaze seared across the room to lock with the silver-haired man. His shoulders rolled in a negligent shrug.
“Neither.”
“For fuck’s sake! Why do we have to listen to this creep?” Sam burst out, elated that he had failed, at least in his own eyes.
“Care to elaborate, Hewitt?” Sergei Ivanon spoke for the first time. He regarded Billy with a searching look. Of everyone around the table and as an ex-assassin himself, he knew his mind worked differently than most of those in the room. He evaluated, projected, and planned. He would never act on impulse or blindly kill on command, no matter who gave the order.
“Xavier Sinclair is a man of integrity,” Billy flashed a glance at Ivanon, “something he instilled in his son. Neither of what you propose would sway his judgment. What it would achieve is to evoke the wrath of the entire Sinclair clan—who we know is breathing down our necks already and getting closer by the day. If you intend to give them more ammunition, go right ahead.”
“He’s right again. Proof of that is their reaction when Stone Sinclair was almost killed when they rescued their cousin Ace. Of course, that had been our intention but in the end, it fucked up our time frame.” Ivanon tapped his fingers on the table. “We’re wasting time. I suggest we take the loss of the properties and concentrate on building different access tunnels into the underground bunkers. They are secure and no one would ever know they exist. We have to seal off the current accesses leading from the restaurants before we have to vacate them and stand the chance of discovery. It’ll cost us more money but I believe it’ll be the quickest solution.”
“More money! We’ll lose millions from our coffers,” Sam protested loudly.
“Shut the fuck up, Cooper,” Alan snapped, finally reaching the end of his tether with the presumptuous fool. “The money we lose will have no effect on the gold lining your goddamn pockets every month. We’re the ones carrying the loss.”
“Let’s not forget the greater good and the reason SPEONUS was created in the first place, Mr. Cooper.” The deep, calming tones of the Chairman immediately calmed the two men’s ire. “We need to concentrate on our aim. We can’t afford to be discovered. Mr. Kezzler is one hundred percent correct. The bunkers have been designed to keep our identities and locations secret. To move it now is foolish, and besides, since it’s underground and we’re about to lose ownership to the land above, as Sergei rightly said, no one will know we’re here. It actually gives us more cover.” He leaned back in his chair and glanced at Alan. “I assume you brought proposed drawings for us to consider?”
The next hour was spent discussing and approving the plans for digging and building new steel encased tunnels into the two operation bunkers.
“How long would it take to finish the tunnels?”
Alan glanced at the woman and smiled. “I’ll get my contacts in the two cities to register fiber installations today. That way no one will question or investigate big work teams. If they start tomorrow, it should be done within the three weeks before the final judgment is made.”
“Good.” The Chairman rubbed his hands together. The gleam in his eyes shone like bright beacons as he glanced from one person to the next seated around the table. “President James Grayson will be declared deceased in two days at which time you, Madam Secretary, will become the President of the United States until our selected candidate is elected in four months.”