When a zealous CIA Chief begins personally spying on his clients to promote a secret agenda of his own devising, the beautiful Faith Lockhard, one of Washington's greatest influence-peddlers, tells the FBI all her suspicions. Now in mortal danger, she still hopes to see justice done. Yet who will rescue Faith?
CHAPTER 1
The somber group of men sat in a large room that rested far belowground,
accessed by only a single, high-speed elevator. The chamber had been
secretly built during the early 1960s under the guise of renovating the
private building that squatted over it. The original plan, of course,
was to use this "super-bunker" as a refuge during a nuclear attack. This
facility was not for the top leaders of American government; it was for
those whose level of relative "unimportance" dictated that they probably
wouldn't be able to get out in time but who still rated protection
afforded no ordinary citizen. Politically, even in the context of total
destruction, there must be order.
The bunker was built at a time when people believed it possible to
survive a direct nuclear hit by burrowing into the earth inside a steel
cocoon. After the holocaust that would annihilate the rest of the
country, leaders would "emerge from the rubble with absolutely nothing
left to lead, unless you counted vapor.
The original, aboveground building had been leveled long ago, but the
subterranean room remained under what was now a small strip mall that
had been vacant for years. Forgotten by virtually all, the chamber was
now used as a meeting place for certain people in the country's primary
intelligence-gathering agency. There was some risk involved, since the
meetings were not related to the men's official duties. The matters
discussed at these gatherings were illegal, and tonight even murderous.
Thus additional precautions had been necessary.
The super-thick steel walls had been supplemented by a copper coating.
That measure, along with tons of dirt overhead, protected against prying
electronic ears lurking in space and elsewhere. These men didn't
particularly like coming to this underground room. It was inconvenient,
and ironically, it seemed far too James Bondish even for their
admittedly cloak-and-dagger tastes. However, the truth was the earth was
now encircled with so much advanced surveillance technology that
virtually no conversation taking place on its surface was safe from
interception. One had to dig into the dirt to escape his enemies. And if
there was a place where people could meet with reasonable confidence
that their conversations would not be overheard even in their world of
ultrasophisticated peekaboo, this was it.
The gray-headed people present at the meeting were all white males, and
most were nearing their agency's mandatory retirement age of sixty.
Dressed quietly and professionally, they could have been doctors,
lawyers or investment bankers. One would probably not remember "any of
the group a day after seeing them. This anonymity was their
stock-in-trade. These sorts of people lived and died, sometimes
violently, over such details.
Collectively, this cabal possessed thousands of secrets that could never
be known by the general public because the public would certainly
condemn the actions giving rise to these secrets. However, America often
demanded results -- economic, political, social and otherwise -- that
could be obtained only by smashing certain parts of the world to a
bloody pulp. It was the job of these men to figure out how to do so in a
clandestine manner that would not reflect poorly on the United States,
yet would still keep the country safe from the pesky international
terrorists and other foreigners unhappy with the stretch of America's
muscle.
The purpose of tonight's gathering was to plot the killing of Faith
Lockhart.
"I was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1960. I received a Bachelor of
Arts in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University and a
Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia. I practiced law for nine
years in Washington, D.C., as both a trial and a corporate lawyer.
"I am married, have two wonderful children, and remain in my home state,
Virginia.
"I have published five novels -- Absolute Power, Total Control, The
Winner, The Simple Truth, and Saving Faith -- and a sixth,
Wish You Well, is to be released in October, 2000. I have also
published one novella for the Dutch entitled Office Hours,
written for Holland's Year 2000 "Month of the Thriller." I was the
featured writer for this year's celebration.
"My works have also been published in USA Today Magazine,
Britain's Tatler Magazine and New Statesman, UVA Lawyer,
Italy's Panorama Magazine, and Germany's Welt am Sonntag.
"I have also authored five original screenplays, the most current of
which has nothing to do with murder or mayhem. It is a family drama set
in the South during 1940, and it is the inspiration for my newest novel,
Wish You Well.
"To my remarkable delight, my works have been translated into over
thirty languages and sold in more than seventy countries. All of my
books have been national and international bestsellers. I am published
under my own name, David Baldacci, in all countries except in the
country of my ancestors, Italy, where I am compelled to publish under a
pseudonym. The reason for this requirement remains unclear to me.
"Over 18 million copies of my books are in print worldwide.
"Castle Rock entertainment made Absolute Power into a major
motion picture starring Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman. The novel
Absolute Power won Britain's prestigious W.H. Smith's Thumping
Good Read award for fiction in 1997, and was nominated for a major
literary award in Italy.
"Total Control was sold to Columbia TriStar for a four-hour
mini-series to be aired on CBS. The paperback version of Total
Control was a bestselling favorite for the traveling public for over
one year, even though it opens with a plane crash.
"The Winner's sales topped those of my first two novels, no doubt
aided by revealing in the novel how to fix the lottery and win a hundred
million dollars! The Winner received a starred review in
Publishers Weekly.
"The Simple Truth was the first of my novels in which part of the
plot was based upon an actual event. President Clinton selected The
Simple Truth as his favorite novel of 1999.
"Saving Faith is a novel about how Washington, D.C. really
doesn't work, and why so many people are just fine with that. During my
research for the novel, I spent so much time with politicians that I
briefly contemplated running for office, until my wife sensibly put a
stop to that nonsense. Saving Faith reached number one on the
Publishers Weekly national bestseller list.
"My books have been publicly discussed and/or read by everyone from
Howard Stern and Don Imus to Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh, from
George Bush and Bill Clinton to Charlie Rose and Larry King -- which
goes to show that many types of people know how to read!
"I am currently working with producers Lee Rich, Karen Spiegel, and
Paramount Television on a television mystery series that I created, and
that is being developed in conjunction with
