Page 290 of Incisive

“Who is then so jammed up trying to clean up this mess,”Ingalls insists,“that we can take him down in the election.That’sthe important goal here, keep in mind. Impeachment would only be the extra cherry on top. Either way, the two of them will sink in the polls andthatis the ultimate goal.”

“And making money,”Gretz says before taking a drink.

“That, too,”Ingalls says.“We’ll neuter Woodley and tank his popularity so the shit washes off him and onto Bardales, who then gets shellacked in the general. To make the Indies and Dems look like they’re the ones at fault. That they’re weak on NatSec, andthat’swhat led to this. Fear is a powerful motivator for voters.”

Ingalls points at Ellis.“You’d better nut up if you really want to be Attorney General. It’s too late to back out because thisishappening. Our benefactors in Russia are ready to play ball with us once their own operation kicks in and they take over.”He grins.“Just imagine how everyone’s going to kiss our asses when Russia is asking to play ball with us specifically after they get rid of that Kremlin fuck screwing them over. They’ve got so much kompromat on everyone else over here who might stand in our way that we’ll get whatever we ask for from the national party.”

Ellis sits back and sips his drink.“I’m not backing out. I just want to make sure nothing’s been overlooked. We’re talking about the economy taking a massive fucking hit by going after all those ports.”

“Which is why we all divested ourselves of our stocks the past couple of months,”Borens notes.“So thatwedon’t take that hit when the markets tank. Which they will, of course. That way it doesn’t look like we were involved. We have the excuse that we’re all doing it ahead of not wanting to look like we have conflicts of interests when what we’re hoping is our candidate wins in the general election and appoints us to cushy cabinet posts.Thisis why it’s been a long game.”

Boren actually grins.“We’ll be sitting pretty and able to buy back in at onemassivelybeautiful dip after it happens. Just keep rememberingthat. This is going to make us very rich men andfinallyput our party back into power. We’ll be able to roll over the damned moderate RINOs who’ve been holding us back and trying to drag us toward center. Fuck Benchley and all his friends. Fuck Florida. You won’t need them. You’ll be international, dude. And especially fuck Woodley. Thought you wanted your brother-in-law to go down? This fucks his ‘legacy.’”

Ingalls laughs.“Fucking bleeding hearts won’t know what hit them.”

Ellis scowls.“Woodley and Bardales are both veterans. They’ve both seen combat. I wouldn’t exactly call them bleeding hearts. Don’t underestimate them.”

“Doesn’t matter. We’ll own the public narrative, and that’s what matters,”Gertz says.“Willshebe a problem?”

“No,”Ellis says.“She doesn’t know a damned thing. Not telling her, either.”I realize they must mean Stella.

“Not even after?”Ingalls asks.

“Hell no. She can’t keep her fucking mouth shut.”

Well, he’s not wrong.

“I thought she wasn’t a fan of her brother?”Borens asks.“You don’t think she’d be a valuable ally after?”

“She’s not, but I don’t trust her not to screw me over to get into his good graces and save her own ass if she thinks she’ll benefit more from that.”He smiles, and it looks cold, cruel.“She bought this ticket. She’s taking the ride whether she knows it or not. Besides, I’m divorcing her after I’m appointed Attorney General. Last thing I need is ammo she can use against me to force me to change the pre-nup. She’d put my balls in a vice. I have enough stuff on her I can fuck up her life if she fights me on a divorce. It’s just an extra little ‘fuck you’ to her to divorce her once I hit that post.”

A door opens and Stella pops her head into the room.“Ellis, sweetie, I’m so sorry to interrupt. I forgot to grab my purse. I want to go buy a few things before we leave.”

The men fell silent at her entry. Ellis glares but waves her in.

“Thank you, honey,”she says with a fake smile and tone of voice I’d know anywhere.

Hell, I grew up hearing it. The syrupy sweetness.

She kisses Ellis on top of the head before she walks over, picks up her purse, and the video ends.

I need a moment to…breathe. Process. My men wait me out. “Where did she post the video?” I finally ask.

“Looks like she posted it to her website, Facebook, Twitter, and blasted the links all over. It’s already trending.”

Leo reaches over and massages my scalp again. I know I need to pull myself together but I have to take these few minutes to fall apart first.

“Why didn’t she immediately call Secret Service and report it once the attacks happened?” I numbly say. “It’s not like she doesn’t have them on speed dial. She knows she can call them 24/7 if there’s a problem.” I swallow hard. “Sheknew, I mean. Why didn’t she call it in as soon as she reviewed the video?”

“There really wasn’t a crime anyone could point to before it happened,” Jordan said. “Even I will give her the benefit of the doubt that she had nothing but braggadocio to report before the attacks. Then they were on the boat.”

“And once it happened and she knew what they were talking about,” I flatly say, “she realized she had leverage over Ellis to keep him from divorcing her and give her whatever she asked for.”

I glance at Jordan and Leo and know their thinking mirrors mine but they love me and won’t say it.

Not right now, at least.

“We’ll never know the full truth, pet,” Leo says. “Even if Stella was alive she likely wouldn’t tell us the whole story. Let’s go with what she claimed, that she was abused and terrified of Ellis and this was her first opportunity to post it. He murdered her, so the public will believe what she said. Does it really matter now?”