A Year to Forget (The Accidental Time Travellers Book 2) (23 page)

“I’m afraid it is sir.”  Abaddon replied.

“David what did you find out about NASA?”

“Nothing positive sir.”

“Yes I was wondering if you could be a little more specific than that.”  Kennedy snapped.

“Sorry.  The Russian defector told us that the Soviets will be able to land on the Moon within the year.  We are nowhere near capable of doing so, given the problems with the explosion on Apollo 8, it would be a real danger to even consider landing on the Moon in the next flights.”

Kennedy shook his head in disappointment.  “So what you are all telling me is that we have lost the Space Race, astronauts have lost their lives for no reason, we are on the verge of nuclear war with the Russians and because of poor security on your plane we have suffered a terrorist attack.”

Nobody dared respond to Kennedy.  “I can’t believe the best people in this country have put me in this position.  Do you realise the position I’m in!  If we don’t catch Jacob Cohen then we are absolutely fucked!”

“We actually have a solution to the Space problem.”  Hughes said.

Kennedy looked pleased and was about to ask what it was when the telephone rang.  He lifted it quickly, as if pulling of a plaster to get the pain over with.

“Hello.  When?  Oh my God I’m on my way.”  Kennedy slammed the phone down and looked completely broken.

David had never felt worse in his entire life, he had made a deal with the devil.  He would get Sharon back, but after the things he had done already he knew that he wouldn’t deserve her.

“Hoover is dead.”  Kennedy announced.

Abaddon sold the lie beautifully.  The way he feigned that shocked expression, the way he looked around the room in surprise and finally the way he spoke.  “What happened?  He was here just an hour ago?”

“Heart attack.”  Kennedy replied.

This time no one needed to act surprised, Hoover had died of natural causes at the exact same time that Faraday had been sent to kill him.

“Before we go we need to resolve this problem, without Hoover our chances of catching Jacob are fucked.  What is the solution to the Space Race?”  Kennedy asked.

“Did you see the film released last year, 2001: A Space Odyssey?”  Howard asked.

Kennedy looked baffled.  “No, I’m quite busy.  With last year being an election year and all, I’m afraid I missed it.”

“Well as you know I have directed many films in the past and the director of that film Stanley Kubrick is a personal friend of mine.”

“So has he built us a rocket?”  Kennedy asked sarcastically.

“No.  But I believe we can stage the Moon landing with the help of Stanley.  He can help us ensure its realism, we have a rocket, Apollo 11 prepared to launch in July.  All we have to do is launch the rocket as planned, the original intention had been for it to reach the Moon, we now know that it is simply not possible.  Myself and Stanley have a strong knowledge of set design, camera angles and space travel. Only Stanley, the people in this room, and a couple of astronauts prepared to go down in history as the first men to walk on the Moon need to know about this.”

“This is insane!”  Kennedy yelled.

“I know it sounds crazy...”  Howard started.

“Because it is fucking crazy Howard!”

“Why is it crazy?  If we don’t do this we lose the Space Race, on the back of everything else that has gone wrong in the past few months your position would come under threat.  There are only so many failures that the public will tolerate.  The death of Hoover makes the winning of the Space Race even more essential.  You already have everything you need to proceed with the plan, you have me, and I can persuade Stanley.  We can make it look real!  We have the money to do it.  In terms of the astronauts used, I can’t think of a single one that would pass up the opportunity to become the most famous man in history.” 

As David listened to Howard he had to admit that he was a good pitcher.  David was sold on the idea.

Howard’s speech seemed to have had some affect on Kennedy as well.  “I’ll think about it Howard.  If that is the only solution then I need to get to the hospital, we have a funeral to arrange and we need to pray that Hoover explained what is going on in Cuba to someone before he died.  Knowing the run of luck that I’m on, there is no chance!”

Chapter 60

Bobby was sitting in the corridor of the hospital nursing a cold cup of black coffee.  He couldn’t believe how wrong everything had gone.  In two months he had lost his grandmother, his father, a good friend in Jane and now Hoover.  He couldn’t trust David or Abaddon anymore, let alone Will, and Faraday was annoyed with him.  How did we get here, he wondered.  How did all of this happen?

He took a sip of the cold coffee, grimacing at its taste.  He began to wonder what it was he was trying to achieve, he had no reason to put himself through any of this.  Perhaps it was the right thing to do but why should he always be the one to do the right thing?  Kennedy and Abaddon had arrived at the hospital three hours ago, he hadn’t seen them since.  The passing nurses had mentioned a press conference which no doubt that had already happened.  The only person they cared about was Hoover, who cared about Annie?  Bobby was sitting outside her room, she had been asleep for an hour or so.  She was petrified that the attacker would come back and finish her off.

Bobby had vowed not to leave her alone, and he did not intend to.  He had managed to get a message to Chase, he was on his way to the hospital.  But Bobby would stay until morning, it was the least he could do.  Whoever had attacked her would suffer dearly for their mistake.  There was no doubt that the attacker had been after Hoover, but whoever had attacked Annie should have left her out of it, the bastard. 

He tried another sip of cold coffee, he wondered why he had done it.  He glanced at his watch, it was midnight.  There was a long way to go until morning.  His thoughts turned to Nancy, the guilt was beginning to kick in.  If he had died she would not have rested until the person responsible had paid a heavy price, yet here he was sitting outside a hospital room of a middle aged black lady he barely knew. 

Until now, Bobby had managed to explain away any creeping doubts by reassuring himself that he had a responsibility to protect and serve the country, he was being professional.  He couldn’t shake the feeling that whoever had broken into Hoover’s home, had done so on Abaddon’s orders.  Hoover had just told them all that he thought he knew what Jacob was doing, Abaddon had an obvious motive.  He had stayed with the President so he hadn’t done it himself.  It had to be David, there was no one else.

He was interrupted by the appearance of President Kennedy, he looked exhausted and sat in the seat beside Bobby.

“What a day.”  Kennedy said, as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“What a year.”  Bobby replied.

“How is she?”  Kennedy asked, gesturing to Annie’s room.

“She’ll be okay, she’s had a fright and has a nasty bump.  Whoever did it hit her hard.”

“Unbelievable....”

“Have you thought anymore about Abaddon and Hughes being behind this?” 

“Of course I have.  I just don’t believe it, Abaddon has no reason to do this to me.”

“He wants to be the President.”

“One day he will be, he doesn’t need to do it corruptly.”

“As soon as Hoover told us about the CIA plots he winds up dead.”  Bobby argued.

“I know, I know.  But for all we know it was a burglary, or some nut.  Hoover had a heart attack, it could have been someone trying to attack her and then when he found her, he had the heart attack.”

“You don’t believe that.”

Kennedy sighed.  “I don’t know what to believe.”

“How are relations with the Soviet’s?”

“Better, I was just speaking with him.  It will blow over, he acts as though nuclear war doesn’t frighten him, but he’s a person just like anyone else.  Nuclear war would be the end of days.”

“Good.”

“Have you decided who is going to Havana?”  Kennedy asked.

“Well I’m going to send Faraday but I don’t know who Hoover was planning to send.”

“Send Chase, they can work together well.  We will need to take a long look at the FBI.”

“We?” 

“Well with you being the new Director, I would expect you to be looking into how best to improve the Bureau.”  Kennedy smiled.

“You’re kidding right?”

“I’m afraid not, Clyde Tolson is temporarily taking charge until we have shut down your department.”

“What about the others?”

“You can take who you want, but I don’t want you doing it just because they are friends.  I want you to do what is best for the FBI.”

“Why me?”

“I need someone I can trust, you and Teddy will be able to look after the law and order of this nation.  For too many years the FBI has been a weapon at Hoover’s disposal, all he cared about was himself and his Bureau.  The only reason he was still in charge was because he helped us after Jack died, but he only did that for himself.”

“I think towards the end he was doing his best.”  Bobby stated.

Kennedy shook his head.  “With the tools he had, Jacob Cohen should have been caught long ago.  You will catch him Bobby, he is public enemy number one.”

Bobby could not believe that he was now one of the most powerful men in the country, he felt incredibly nervous.  As he considered this, he saw Chase walking along the corridor towards them.

“Chase, how are you?”

Chase smiled.  “Well I’ve been trying to find that journalist, she’s not been at the office or at home.  I was quite pleased when you asked me to come here.”

“I’m afraid I’m sending you to Cuba now.”  Bobby smiled apologetically.

Chase looked as though he thought it was a joke.  “Why?”

“We have a lead on Jacob Cohen, he is in Havana.  Faraday will go with you.”

“When are we leaving?”

“Just now.”  Kennedy replied.

Chase looked slightly annoyed at being messed about.

“If you speak to Clint Hill, he is just down the corridor, he will arrange for a plane to take both you and Faraday to Cuba.”  Kennedy instructed.

Chase skulked off down the corridor.

Chapter 61

Faraday knelt down, the night sky was dark, and there wasn’t a star in the sky.  He looked through the binoculars, she was taking off her black dress while Will watched.  As he lowered his binoculars he looked up to the sky, it was starting to rain.  He was suddenly startled.

“Where am I?”  He whispered under his breath.

He looked around and saw that he was standing on a rooftop, Jane and Will were having sex just across the street.

“Why have you done this to me?”

He heard the sound of footsteps walking towards him, someone else was on the roof.  When he looked at the man he let out a shriek, half of the man’s head was missing but he recognised the other half. 

“How are you James?”  Jack Kennedy asked.

“I’ve been better.  How are you?”

“I’m dead James.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“You did what you could for me.”  Kennedy replied, half of his mouth smiling while the other half was lifeless.

“Why are you here?” 

“You brought me here James.  You don’t seem yourself.”

Faraday pointed across the street to the window, he could see Will on top of her now.  “She cheated on me.”

“What are you going to do about it?”  Kennedy asked.

“I need to kill him.”  Faraday declared, the rain was now torrential.

“Why?”

“Because he deserves it!”

“Like Hoover did?”

“I didn’t kill him.”  Faraday replied defensively.

“We both know that you did.”  Kennedy stared with a severe expression.

“He helped kill you!”

“I know that James, I never liked him.”

“Well then I did you a favour.” 

Kennedy laughed.  “It makes no difference to me anymore.”

“No, I suppose not.”

“Why are you helping them James?”

“I have to.”

“But why?”

“It makes no difference why.  Abaddon will succeed regardless of whether I help him or not.”

“But with you helping him, who is left to stop him?”

Faraday had no response, the rooftop suddenly became a hospital room.  Faraday looked around in amazement.  He was back in the hospital room where he had first met David and Bobby.  He and Kennedy were stood underneath the clock that hung on the wall opposite the bed, the clock that had tormented him for weeks.