The Almighty Part 3

And now he knew he could.

Satisfied, he got out of bed and walked to his clothes which were heaped on a chair. He sought and found his watch. It was early evening. If he stayed away a little longer, he would miss the wake, and the mourners, and Hannah. He would phone Harry Dietz and Bruce Harmston and have them bring in some food, bring it up to the publisher's office of the Record. They could dine together, celebrating, and plan his new stewardship and his ultimate victory over the king who was dead.

Dressing, he looked over at the bed. Kim was breathing shallowly, sound asleep.

Going to the bed to cover her, one thought came to him as he stared at that wonderful naked body.

He and Kim, they had f.u.c.ked each other. But one of them had also f.u.c.ked his father.

CHAPTER TWO.

Immediately after landing at National Airport in Washington, D.C., from Chicago, on this sunny late morning, Victoria Weston took a taxi to her father's two-story townhouse located on Prospect Street in Georgetown. Her father, Hugh, had come home for his lunch break and was waiting for her.

After the black housekeeper, Selma, had greeted her with a kiss, picked up her overnighter and garment bag and shouted for her father, Hugh Weston appeared almost immediately. Victoria flung herself into her father's arms. She loved him and had not seen him in months.

At last he held her off and scrutinized her. 'Far as I can tell, you look great, fit and trim,' he said.

'Maybe you could stand a few more pounds -'

'I'm 118, and I'm staying that way until I find me a man.'

'What's with this man stuff? Ever since I can remember you've had dozens of men at your heels.'

'I mean the right man.'

'How old are you? Twenty-four.'

16.

'Twenty-five, going on twenty-six, almost thirty.'

'Twenty-five. Correct. Forgive me. At sixty, one tends to get hazy about birthdays, other people's as well as one's own.' He looked her over again. She was a tall, willowy girl with loose blond hair, luminous eyes, a pert nose and wide grin; she was vivacious and cheerful, and particularly attractive in her pale apricot sweater, slim rust-colored skirt, hand-woven leather sandals. 'Sorry, Victoria,' he said, 'I'm not worried about you. There'll be many right men.' He took her hand and led her into the living room. T can't tell you how tickled I was with your winning the Chicago Hildy Johnson Award, a great coup in journalism. Congratulations again.'

'Thanks, Dad.'

'I read those clippings at least three times. That was a h.e.l.luva series, that expose. Imagine all those so-called respectable married women working part-time for that madam on Lakeview Avenue. What got them to do it? Surely they didn't need money.'

'They needed excitement. They were bored.'

'Well, you deserved the Hildy Award. Was your mother pleased?'

'I think she was embarra.s.sed that her darling daughter could write publicly about such things.'

Hugh Weston was not surprised. 'Yes, that figures.' He eyed his offspring. 'How is your mother?'

Hugh Weston's wife of thirty years had been unhappy as a newspaper widow. Their only child, Victoria, had been the product of many efforts to hold together their marriage. In the end, it had not worked. Six years ago they had enjoyed an unacrimonious divorce, and less than two years later his wife had married a wealthy businessman and now dwelt luxuriously in Evanston, Illinois.

'Mother?' she said. 'She's a meat-packer's widow, but he keeps better hours than you ever did. He comes home long before dawn. Mother is Mother, which is why I moved to Chicago and got my own apartment as soon as I could. We still talk. I see her maybe once every two weeks. Sa-ay, what about you, Dad? How's the new job holding up?'

A year ago Hugh Weston had been appointed press secretary for President of the United States Thomas Callaway. He had given up his job as managing editor of the Chicago Journal and moved to the White House and this Georgetown house.

'It is not exactly The Front Page, Hugh Weston said ruefully, 'but I like being on television and meeting rich socialites. Now I've got to leave you for an hour.'

Victoria pointed at him. 'I've just figured it out. Those are tennis shorts you're wearing. You mean you find time to play tennis? I know you did when I was a kid, but -'

Hugh Weston held up a hand to stop her. 'Victoria, this President likes to play tennis on Sundays.

And he likes to play me because he can beat me.' He went to the french windows, where a tennis racket was propped up against the wall. T have a confession to make. I liked it so much, I joined two neighbors in the block in buying a court. I own a third of it and use it when I can. I don't have to be back at the White House until three, so I'm using it now. Want to watch me?'

'Thanks, Dad. I think I'll shower and freshen up. Then I'll make us lunch. What do you want?'

17.

'The special Victoria Cheese Omelet. Maybe a small salad first.'

'You've got it.'

He started to leave, then turned around. 'Hey, what are you doing here on a weekday? I thought you were a working girl?'

'I was. I quit the paper last Friday, Dad. I came here because I want to talk to you about it.'

He nodded. 'Okay. Make me that omelet and we'll talk. See you in an hour.'

After her father had left, Victoria Weston went upstairs to the spare bedroom where her overnighter and garment bag were waiting and unpacked. After that she undressed, took a quick shower, and put on a red-and-white-checked blouse and faded jeans. She went downstairs to the kitchen, told Selma to go back to her favorite soap opera, and started to make lunch.

An hour and a half later Victoria and Hugh Weston were enjoying their lunch in the sun-filled dinette. During the salad he had discussed his tennis game, and his partners. Now, pushing the salad plate aside, waiting as his daughter served him a generous portion of the cheese omelet, he said, 'Okay, Vicky, you quit the Citizen. You came here to talk. Tell me what you want to talk about. I'm listening.'

'My future,' said Victoria, taking her seat across from her father. She sampled the eggs, approved, and looked up. 'I want to talk about my future, my immediate future, like tomorrow.'

'Go ahead.'

'Dad, I was on that Chicago weekly for a full year, after getting out of Northwestern. Then I put in two years at that suburban daily, but I wasn't going anywhere. I was the best feature writer on the paper. In fact, too good for it. There was a monotony, a sameness to the kind of stories that could be dredged up. I needed more. I needed a challenge. So I quit. That way I knew I had to find something better.' She paused for her father to say something, and when he remained silent she said, 'Well, maybe there's more to it than that.' 'Want to tell me?'

'One part's professional, the other personal. The professional part first. There I was on the women's page; I wanted out of that rut. I always wanted to be on the news side. You know that. I thought all my extra work on that expose would do it. Especially after I won the award. But no, my managing editor wouldn't promote me. He was probably raised on G.o.dey's Lady's Book. Woman's place? In the recipe and lovelorn section. I was really furious.'

'I see. What about the personal part?'

Victoria hesitated. 'A brief involvement. He was married, and promised to get unmarried. He didn't.'

'Were you hurt?'

'Only momentarily.' She reconsidered the episode. 'Not really. I'm sure it was just as well. As I told you, I'm still looking for Mr. Right.'

'And as I told you, you'll find him.'

'Anyway, I wanted a change. Above all, I wanted to get away from that crummy suburban paper.'

She added with certainty, 'Dad, I know I'm ready for something big-time.'

18.

'I'm sure you are. Maybe you've made the sensible move.' He paused. 'I was going to suggest that you let me make a pitch for you with my old sheet in Chicago. But you say you want a change.'

'Thanks, Dad, but no. It's more than just a change. There's been one Weston there, and he can never be surpa.s.sed. My feet aren't big enough to fill your shoes.'

T think you're overdoing it a bit.'

'I'd really like to leave Chicago. I'd like to try at the summit.'

'New York?'

Victoria nodded. 'Yes, New York.'

Weston ate his omelet and thought about it. He wiped his mouth with his napkin. 'It's pretty crowded there, Vicky. Would you consider a slight detour, maybe upward, editorial staff of a magazine or book publishing house or even television? I have some contacts -'

Victoria leaned against the table. 'Dad, I want what you had, newspapering. I've always envied your life, the excitement, the craziness, the day-to-day aliveness.'

'The short money,' said Weston with a wry smile.

'To h.e.l.l with the money. I'll live in one room in a ghetto, eat an apple a day, mend my own panty hose - as long as I can wake up unable to wait for my job to begin, and go to sleep knowing I want more hours of the same. I want to be Nellie Bly. I want to be Annie Laurie. I want to be Dorothy Kilgallen.'

Hugh Weston sat back in his chair. 'Well...' he said.

'Well what?' Victoria asked intently.

'New York,' he said. 'Tough town. Let me think.'

He rose, wandered about looking for his tennis jacket, extracted a caked pipe, tobacco, pouch, and lighter, and moments later was seated across from his daughter once more, smoking. She eyed him intently, waiting.

'I was just reviewing my contacts in New York,' he said, 'and I just had a notion. My mind went to Ezra J. Armstead. Remember him?'

'E. J. Armstead. "The Giant," they called him. You worked for him on his Chicago paper. He died this week, didn't he?'

'Yes, he died. That means the New York Record will probably go to his son, Edward Armstead - Edward was his only heir, far as I know - and Edward and I were very close in Chicago.'

T remember him well, Dad. You used to bring him home for dinner sometimes. You practically treated him like a son.'

'A good man, not that much younger than I, but in a sense he didn't have a father, and he would often turn to me. We had a close relationship. I haven't seen him in a while, but I think he still feels kindly toward me. Perhaps I should give him a buzz. We might luck out -'

Victoria clasped her hands. 'Oh, Dad, that would be perfect. The New York Record -'

19.

'Whoa, there.' Weston pushed himself to his feet. 'There are a few ifs along the road - if Edward Armstead inherited the sheet, if he is looking for new personnel, if he'll consider you.., well, let's find out.'

Weston went into the living room, where a telephone sat upon the rolltop desk that he had brought from his office in Chicago. While Victoria nervously removed the lunch dishes, Weston called long-distance information and got the number of the New York Record. He dialed the number and waited.

'Record? I'd like to speak to Mr. Edward Armstead. Tell him Hugh Weston is calling from Washington, D.C___ Okay, I'll hold on.'

Weston saw that Victoria had materialized in the living room, untying her ap.r.o.n, also holding on.

The telephone crackled. Weston was instantly alert, receiver pressed to his ear. 'Yes, this is Hugh Weston,' he said and listened. 'Harry, Harry Dietz! My G.o.d, it's good to hear your voice again...

Oh, I'm fine, fine... Yes, it is a little drafty in the White House, but I'm enjoying it. I just wanted to give Edward a ring, to see how he's doing... What? He's right there? He wants to speak to me?

Great. Put him on.'

Hugh Weston saw his daughter's tense face and gave her a wink.

He was engaged on the phone again. 'h.e.l.lo, Edward. How are you?... I'm glad. Anyway, my condolences. The old man had a long run and a good one, and you had a long wait... Edward, I understand exactly how you feel.' He paused. T a.s.sume you're taking over the papers, and the Record.' He listened. 'Good, good, good. And just in time. The paper needs an infusion. You'll do a super job, Edward, n.o.body knows it better than I.' He listened. 'Well, thank you, Edward, that's kind of you, and I appreciate it. But I'm out of the newspaper business for good. I wanted to retire.

Where's a better place than the White House?' He laughed. Then he sobered. 'Actually, I'm calling not only to wish you well but to find out if you're going to be a.s.sembling your own team.' He kept the receiver to his ear attentively. 'Well, that fits in with something I want to speak to you about.

You were kind enough to want an old Weston - but in fact, you can have a new Weston as good if not better than the old one.' "Oh, Dad,' Victoria called out. 'Don't do that.' Her father hushed her with his hand. 'Here's what I mean, Edward,' Weston said into the phone. 'You remember my daughter, Vicky - well, she's a grown woman now, and a crack reporter. She's worked for three years in the Chicago area, two of them on an important suburban daily. She knows the ropes. She's decided to move on to a job that's more challenging. She quit her Chicago position last week, and came here to ask my advice this morning. I thought of you, and I wondered if you've have the time to see her, would want to -' He stopped, listened, and smiled broadly at the mouthpiece. 'That's wonderful, Edward, wonderful. You won't be disappointed. What?... It's Victoria, Victoria Weston... All right, perfect. Good luck to you, too, Edward, the best of luck. You deserve it. Let me know the next time you're coming to D.C. We'll hoist a beer together... Good. I'll tell Victoria.'

He hung up and turned to Victoria, beaming.