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They spent billions a year on gathering intelligence, and what did the government get in return? Nothing. The vaunted CIA had failed to predict the two most significant events of the last twenty years: the fall of the Soviet Union and Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Rudin sometimes felt like he was losing his mind. It seemed that the more vociferously he pointed out Langley's failures, the more people shu
Rudin wiped a thick layer of sweat from his face and cleared his throat with a rumbling hack. Turning to the far corner, he deposited his spit with a well-aimed shot. It was probably that damn Reagan's fault, Rudin thought. Reagan was to blame for most things in Rudin's mind. If there was ever a face that could be put on evil it would be that of Ronald Reagan. Rudin had little doubt that the former President had directed the CIA and the Joint Chiefs to inflate the Soviet Unions numbers so they could get the budget increases they were after. After Reagan it had been his successor Bush, a former director of the CIA, who had decided to cozy up to Saddam Hussein. The maniacal leader went from being a trusted ally to enemy number one overnight. It was just another example of how duplicitous and incompetent the CIA was.
Rudin was right. He knew it in his deepest being. The others were wrong. Even members of his party had turned their back on him and it was all because of that damn Thomas Stansfield and President Hayes. At least Stansfield was dead, but that didn't solve his problems. Now he had Ke
Ke
That, however, didn't help the fact that the President had a
Rudin felt that they could reason with Clark. Show him why it was in his best interest, in the Republicans' best interest to kill Ke
Disaster struck when somewhere along the way, the President found out what they were up to. Unknown to Rudin, Secretary Midleton and President Hayes didn't have the best of relationships. Apparently a deal had been struck during the campaign. Midleton, a senator at the time, had finished third in three consecutive primaries. Midleton came to Hayes, the party's front-ru
Midleton never quite got it through his head that Hayes was now his boss. The arrogant secretary of state had been caught and warned several times for sticking his nose in other departments' business. President Hayes had very clearly warned him that he was to stay out of the CIA's business. It appeared Hayes had found out that Midleton had ignored his orders and was attempting to undermine Irene Ke
Midleton was not the only person the President had been angry with that day. Literally minutes later Rudin had been escorted into the Situation Room by the speaker of the House. When the President entered the room Rudin knew something was horribly wrong. He didn't know President Hayes was capable of such anger. In a screaming match, Hayes told Rudin that who he chose to become the next director of the CIA was none of his goddamn business and if he heard another peep out of him, he would do everything in his considerable power to strip him of his chairmanship and make sure he suffered a humiliating defeat in his next reelection. Rudin had left the meeting in utter shock.
That night he received a phone call. The person on the other end informed him that Secretary of State Midleton had committed suicide. Before Rudin could respond, before he could take a breath, in the time it took him to blink his eyes he became terrified. Albert Rudin had been around Washington too long to think that Charles Midleton would kill himself out of embarrassment. The man was vain, but come on. To end your life over being forced to resign, especially so early in an administration? If Hayes floundered as President, it would have made Midleton look like the smart guy for getting out. There had to be something more to it, and in Albert Rudin's mind that something more was Thomas Stansfield. Rudin felt it way down in his creaky old bones. Midleton had been murdered. He had been killed by Stansfield for something that he had done, or tried to do. It had been his final warning to all his enemies before he died. Don't mess with Irene Ke
In the weeks since Midleton's alleged suicide, Rudin had spoken to no one of his suspicions. But now that Stansfield was dead, he was going to begin making some inquiries. He had to. There was no way after all these years that he could quit the fight against the CIA. His own party had turned his back on him. They had moved to the center with that smug bastard Hayes leading the charge. Sure their polling numbers were up, but those could change overnight. He needed to stay true to the core beliefs of the party. The CIA needed to be reined in, and if it cost him his job, so be it. He needed to do what was right. The soothing combination of hot steam and an overwhelming sense of righteousness gave Rudin the belief that he could do it, that he could do anything. If he just stayed the course, he would find a way, and President Hayes would be made to pay.