The Oracle Year(28)

“Let’s say you’re right, and we want the Oracle,” he said. “Director Franklin seems to think that you can find him for us. Tell me your plan.”

“Plan? I don’t have a plan. I mean, you haven’t hired me yet. Why should I do the work before I have the job? That would be crazy,” the Coach said.

Leuchten frowned.

“Fair enough,” Leuchten said. “What I need to hear, though, is what makes you so damn effective. Give me your sales pitch. Tell me why you think you can do better than the entire U.S. government. So far, I haven’t seen anything particularly impressive.”

The Coach shrugged. “I bet that’s what Annie Bridger said,” she responded.

Leuchten leaned back in his chair, his mouth pressed into a tight line.

The Coach grinned.

“Where will you be, Tony, if your boy loses that election? He’d be just another guy. And you . . . well, you’d just be out there. Unprotected. Guy like you, lots of enemies, am I right?”

The woman lifted her drink and took a swallow. She very deliberately replaced the glass, not back on the book, and not on the coaster she’d been given, but about three inches to the right, on the polished surface of Leuchten’s twelve-thousand-dollar Baker table.

“I am so damned effective, sir, because I know people. I remember people. I have one hell of a Rolodex up here.”

The Coach tapped her temple.

“Comes in handy. Must be about a million people up in my skull—all different kinds. Bakers, butchers, cleaners, cooks, and carpenters. Someone comes to me with a problem, I sit back and think on it, and before I know it, names start popping out of my brain like bread out of a toaster. But knowing the right people for the job is only the first part of what I do. Once I have my team set up, I start to live up to my name. After all, a team without a coach is just a bunch of people playing with each other.”

The Coach gave Leuchten a serene look.

“You know,” she began, “outside all this Coach business I’m as ordinary as you like. I’ve got a nice old husband, some great grandkids, and a garden that I dearly love. I’m about eighty-five percent retired, too. There’s not much to do in life, good or bad, that I haven’t done.

“This Oracle thing, though,” she added, “this has my back up. He seems interesting, in a world that, from where I’m sitting, isn’t interesting enough. If you hadn’t called me on it, I might have tried to figure out who this fellow is myself. Nothing like a good mystery, right?”

Leuchten digested that.

“So, here’s my offer,” the Coach said. “I find the Oracle for you. You get control over the future again, one way or the other. I get to meet him—which is almost pay enough. This guy’s a mover and a shaker, tell you what.”

“Just like that?” Leuchten said.

“Just like that,” the Coach answered.

“I’ll need more. I need details. I can’t take this back to the president.”

The Coach stood up, pulled out the seat directly next to Leuchten’s at the head of the table, and sat back down. She leaned in. Behind her mildly stylish glasses, the woman’s eyes were very blue and very clear.

“Very respectfully, Mr. Chief of Staff, I don’t think you do need details. If you hire a plumber, do you get down there on your hands and knees and watch him mess around with the pipes for three or four hours? Nope. You wait until he tells you the john’s unclogged. You don’t want to hear about all the shit he has to wade through to solve your problem.

“If we have a deal, then you’ll get the Oracle delivered to you, in person. He’ll be alive and well, and I’ll throw in whatever other information I discover about what he’s up to along the way. That’s it. Done.”

The Coach waited for Leuchten to respond, keeping her face close. She smelled like scotch and peppermint and damp wool.

“So what this means, ultimately,” Leuchten said, not pulling back, “is that we have to turn you loose, with absolutely no control or authority over the actions you will take in the name of President Green, and in the name of the United States of America.”

The Coach inclined her head.

“And the price?” Leuchten asked, his voice clipped. “You said meeting the Oracle would almost be enough compensation. What else do you want?”

The Coach leaned back, a smile appearing on her face.

“Well, it’s not about money. I’ve made so much over the years, I don’t need a dime. Hell, I even cover my own expenses.

“Here’s how it’ll work. Someday, I might want your boss for one of my teams. Now, there’s no guarantee I’ll ever need President Green at all. I’m almost retired, like I said. But if I do call, then he’ll come, and he’ll do what I ask. I’ve got a few ex-presidents on my roster, but a sitting one is a whole other thing. He’s got a year and change left in this term, and I’ll make sure he gets a second one, so that’s over five years he could be available to help me out.”

“You’re insane,” Leuchten said. “The president cannot hold superseding allegiances. And thank you for the offer, but getting Daniel Green a second term is my job. I think I can handle it.”

The Coach laughed a little.

“Maybe. But I’ll do it better. You broker this deal, you can just sit back and relax for another four years, Tony. Trust me.”