Protect and Defend by Richard North Patterson Read Free Book Online Page B

light of the Irish—it was the legacy of James Kilcannon.
    “What about Bannon?” she asked. “That he didn’t want you here?”
    “That he should have retired before he wore himself out. And that his death was so pointless. Because I
am
here, and the last thing I’ll do is put another Roger Bannon on the Court.”
    “Who
will
you appoint, Kerry? Any ideas?”
    “None of my own. But Ellen Penn was whispering in my ear.”
    “So
that
,” Lara replied, “is why she cut in when we were dancing. I wondered why she’d run the risk.”
    The remark, as Lara intended, lightened his mood. “It’s the new political dilemma,” he agreed. “Presidents dancing with vice presidents. Do I lead? Does she follow? Does that make me a chauvinist, and Ellen too vice presidential? She finally decided the hell with it.”
    Lara’s reporter’s reflexes might be rusty, but her political sense was still acute. “She must want you to appoint a woman.”
    She felt Kerry smile at her prescience. “Not just any woman,” he amended. “A very particular woman.”

PART II
THE NOMINATION
     

ONE
     
    “C AROLINE M ASTERS ,” Ellen Penn urged Kerry, “is perfect.”
    She sat beside Clayton in the Oval Office, facing Kerry’s desk. If nothing else, Kerry reflected, this meeting would reveal how well his Vice President and Chief of Staff might coexist. In looks and manner they were opposites—Ellen small, bright-eyed, and intense; Clayton bulky, calm, and practical— and their relations were, at best, edgy. Clayton had not favored her selection: intensely loyal to Kerry, he saw Ellen as far too independent, a Roman candle of feminist enthusiasms. Even worse, Kerry suspected with some amusement, Clayton worried that her passions might skew Kerry’s judgment: one of his earthbound friend’s postinaugural missions was to save Kerry from his own worst impulses.
    Part of this, Kerry knew, was born of a friendship so intimate that they could read the other’s thoughts. Years ago, Clayton had schooled Kerry in trial tactics; Kerry was godfather to Clayton’s twin daughters; Clayton had managed each of Kerry’s campaigns—two for the Senate, one for President. Only Clayton knew the truth about Kerry and Lara.
    But, Kerry cautioned himself, Clayton’s motives were neither simple nor selfless. It was clear he wanted to become the first black Attorney General; after that, Kerry surmised, Clayton aspired to his own spot on the Court. These ambitions depended on Kerry’s own success: a failed nomination, brokered by Ellen Penn, would not serve Clayton’s interests.
    Watching Clayton at the corner of his eye, Kerry spoke to Ellen. “I remember the Carelli case,” he said of Caroline Masters. “She handled it well. But ‘perfect’?”
    “Perfect,” Ellen repeated. “You owe California; you owe women. And there’s never been a woman Chief before.
    “
This
is the woman. She’s young, telegenic, and articulate. She’s a great witness for herself—four years ago, when she was nominated for the Court of Appeals, she breezed through the Judiciary Committee on a unanimous vote. Chad Palmer and Macdonald Gage
both
voted to confirm her. What are they going to say
now
—that a woman shouldn’t be Chief Justice?
    “They’d hardly dare. The Republicans’ stand on abortion has repelled women by the truckload. That’s why we won, and they lost.” Ellen snapped forward in her chair, as if impelled by the force of her own argument. “Chad Palmer knows that, and he also wants your job. Gage wants it, too. You could use a Masters nomination to divide them.”
    “Why the rush?” Clayton interjected. “This is the most important appointment a president can make.”
    Ellen did not turn to him. “The Court’s deadlocked,” she said to Kerry. “That argues for a new Chief ASAP, and creates more pressure on Gage and Palmer to get out of the way. And with Caroline, they’ve got no weapons. The FBI and Justice vetted her for the