Deceived (16 page)

Nick checked
his watch. The hearing would begin any minute. The senators had already
arrived, most had taken their seats; they simply waited on the call to order
from Chairman Callahan
.

Meg plopped a
stack of documents on the witness table, then took the seat to Nick's right. "Nervous?"
Nick asked her.

Meg shook her
head.

"Good,
because I thought I'd let you handle the opening statement."

Meg's eyes went
round. "I
…
"

Nick laughed
softly "A joke, Meg." Their relationship had warmed a bit over the
last few days
—
fine with Nick, now that the ground rules had been set.

"Funny."
She smiled unevenly, then nudged Nick and pointed to the balcony. "Looks
like your Q Rating's fallen."

Nick looked to
the balcony, to the one C-Span camera there. "Q Rating?"

"Yeah,
Hollywood uses the term to score name recognition," Meg explained. "Star
quality. Didn't you say CNN
and
C-Span televised the last hearing? Looks
like CNN crossed you off the list."

Nick nodded. It
didn't surprise him. CNN had covered the first session with the expectation of
fireworks, instead they got a civil
—
in television language read low
ratings
—
hearing. Civility was back page news, and evidently they decided
not to waste their equipment on another boring afternoon session. C-Span, on
the other hand, thrived on the mundane
.

CNN's absence
didn't bother Nick; the print media was still quite adequately represented, and
he would gladly sacrifice the dubious benefits of television exposure for
another hearing as well-mannered as the last. An unlikely prospect, according
to Carolyn.

Smith Pettit
had called Nick yesterday afternoon with a final settlement offer
—
fifty
million dollars. Nick had almost dropped the phone.
Fifty million
, when
he had documented overbillings of less than thirty million? Carolyn had
counseled him to accept the offer
—
in her words, "the settlement
makes the public whole
…
more than whole. Your job's over; let the FBI
handle the investigation into Scott's death, McKenzie's death
—
that's
their job."
She was right. He knew he was right, but—
He rejected
the offer, even after Carolyn had turned harsh, the teacher questioning the
reasoning of the student. Intuition told Nick he had something bigger than
billing irregularities by the tail, and the only way he'd ever find out what
was to keep digging. Carolyn's last words were of warning: "You don't
agree to this deal, I understand Whitford's ready to play hardball." When
Carolyn "understood" something, it was pretty much a guarantee.

Hardball, from
Whitford, an unpleasant prospect.

Nick nudged
Meg, who still focused on the C-Span camera. "Forget about Q
Ratings," he said, pointing to Senator Callahan, who now held a gavel in
his hands. "We're about to start."

Callahan gave a
brief opening statement. Nick's was briefer still. Thirty seconds at most, then
he prepared to jump to the meat of his testimony. "There have been
significant developments since the last hearing," Nick announced. "I
would like to start by summarizing certain findings that are of crucial
—
"

A senator
cleared his throat loudly, interrupting Nick. Eyes flipped in the sound's
direction, toward Senator Charles Whitford III, who stared a long moment at
Nick before speaking, his voice resonating in the now still chamber. "Mr.
Chairman, I believe the last hearing ended during the questioning phase. If the
committee has no objection, I would like to make a few additional inquires of
our esteemed witness before he continues with his statement."

Chairman
Callahan looked left, then right, and encountering no dissent, nodded. "You
may proceed."

Senator Whitford
kept his eyes locked on Nick, adding a disarming smile. "Mr. Ford, over
the last month or so I've listened to hours and hours of figures, estimates and
projections from your office
—
if nothing else the absolute volume of
statistics has been stunning. My colleagues and I are always heartened to find
the taxpayer's money being so diligently spent by bureaucrats such as
yourself." Senator Whitford spit out 'bureaucrats' like a curse. "Congratulations
to you and your team; you must be very pleased with yourselves."

The senator
paused, but Nick said nothing, unwilling to acknowledge the insincerely offered
praise. He had a sudden vision of Whitford as an ancient consul of Rome, about
to turn his thumb down
.

Senator
Whitford eventually resumed. "
…
Mr. Ford, your title is what?"

"Senior
Auditor, Special Investigations Division."

"And how
long have you held your current position?"

"Senior
auditor? Seven years."

Senator
Whitford puckered his lips and wagged a finger in Nick's direction. "That's
not quite accurate, is it?"

"Excuse
me?"

"I believe
that until a few days ago you were acting Assistant Comptroller of the
Government Division, isn't that correct?" Senator Whitford demanded.

"Unofficially,
but I had reserved the option to
—
"

"
Yes
or
no
, Mr. Ford," the senator interrupted, frowning.

"Unofficially
…
yes.
I was."

"I see. You
were an assistant comptroller, but are no longer. As to the reason, it is my
understanding that
…
how should I say it
…
you did not see eye to eye
with your superiors. Is that correct?"

"The choice
to give up the assistant comptroller position was my own, senator."

"I'm sure
it was." The senator shrugged sarcastically. "Just as I'm sure your
demotion
from assistant comptroller to senior accountant had nothing what-so-ever to do
with your professional fitness."

A cheap
twisting of words that Nick started to object to, but Senator Whitford spoke
over him: "I wonder, Mr. Ford, if you might have made a rush to judgment
about Smith Pettit an older and wiser head might not have made?"

"It is not
my place to
judge
anyone, senator," Nick countered.

"Certainly
your presence here is not quite so innocuous as you would have us believe. You
have made recommendations to the committee, correct?"

Nick took a
deep breath. Take your time, he reminded himself. "Yes, sir, based on the
evidence we collected."

"We've
heard
your
evidence
, reams of it, but now we're trying to grasp
something more amorphous: the truth.
…
Who is your direct boss in the
Special Investigations Division?"

"Dennis
Lindsay."

"And his
boss?"

"Carolyn
Reed."

"Carolyn
Reed, the Comptroller General of the GAO?"

"Yes,
sir."

"You
respect their judgment?"

"Yes,
sir," Nick answered, deciding it would not further his cause to answer
"no" with regard to Dennis

"And have
you ever had occasion to discuss the audit of the Yünnan Project with
them?"

"It's come
up a few times," Nick conceded.

"I'm sure
it has. Mr. Ford, has Ms. Reed or Mr. Lindsay ever suggested you seemed overly
'caught up' in this audit and might consider recusing yourself from it?"

Senator Whitford's
sources were good, Nick gave him that. "I don't remember exactly
—
"

"I can
call them as a witnesses, Mr. Ford," Senator Whitford interrupted,
"if you need your memory refreshed."

"If I may
finish my thought, senator. I don't remember their exact words, but yes, they
did at one point suggest something to that effect."

Senator
Whitford nodded slowly. "I see. So two older, wiser heads, people with
valuable extra years of experience, offer their advice and you ignored it, is
that correct?" The senator punctuated the sentence by slapping the bench
in front of him.

"Senator,
as I said, I value Ms. Reed's opinion, I value Mr. Lindsay's opinion, but
I
am in charge of the audit, and in that capacity
I
must make decisions
I
am comfortable with."

Senator Whitford
pursed his lips while undertaking another series of slow nods. Six times his
head rocked forward. "You've got the keys to daddy's car, son, but with
privilege comes responsibility."

Nick swallowed
a comment and forced a half smile instead. It was no time to be baited, not
now, when Whitford so clearly sought his head. "I can assure you, I take
my responsibilities very seriously, Senator."

Another series
of damn nods. "I'm sure you do, Mr. Ford. I'm sure you do." The
senator pointed a finger at Nick. "
…
Now, let's get to the facts in
this case. For those of us who aren't as well versed in financial statements as
yourself, can we simplify things? According to you, in plain English, there
were cost overruns in the Yünnan Project contract?"

"Significant
cost overruns, sir, and incurred by Smith Pettit, in my estimation, with the
intent
—
"

The senator
lifted his hand; his voice took on a harsh edge. "Let's never mind your
view of their 'intent' for a moment. Let me put it this way, but for the cost
overruns, we wouldn't be meeting here today, isn't that correct?"

"I suppose
so
…
yes."

"I agree. Now,
Mr. Ford, can you explain what a cost-plus contract is?"

Nick nodded. "Certainly.
Let's say Company A contracts with Company B to perform some task. Under a
cost-plus contract, Company A reimburses Company B for all of its costs
plus
an additional amount equal to some percentage of those costs. The
"plus" is essentially Company B's profit margin. A cost-plus contract
eliminates a fixed dollar bid's inherent risk. It insures a reasonable profit
to the contractor, but keeps either side from reaping a windfall."

"A very
concise explanation," Senator Whitford said. "I thank you. You are
the author of an article entitled 'Cost-Plus Contracting, Uses and Abuses,' are
you not?"

It took a
moment for Nick to remember the article in question, then he said,
"Co-author."

"Co-author."
The senator nodded his head seriously. "I've had the chance, yesterday, to
peruse the article." He drew out peruse, like peru-u-u-s-s-se. "I
came across an interesting passage at one point." Senator Whitford held up
a piece of paper. "May I read it to you?"

"Of
course."

The senator
made a show of removing his reading glasses from his suit's breast pocket. He
put them on, balancing them near the end of his nose. "I quote," he
read, "'Cost overruns are a common and predictable byproduct of cost-plus
contracting.'" Senator Whitford raised his head, looked at Nick from above
his glasses. "Do you remember writing that, sir?"

"
…
If
it's in the article, I assume I did."

"I can
assure you, you did. Now, the Yünnan Project contract is a cost-plus contract,
isn't that right?"

Nick nodded.

"For the
record, sir."

"That's
correct."

"Therefore,
at the time the contract was signed, according to your own testimony, the government
should have expected there would be cost overruns."
"The article was making reference to historical evidence."

"And I've
lived long enough to learn history can teach us a thing or two about the
present." Scattered laughs followed the aside; Nick realized Whitford had
the audience in his pocket. "By your own account, Mr. Ford, the government
could have predicted cost overruns, yet when there are cost overruns, you waive
your hands in indignation and talk of imposing Draconian penalties against
Smith Pettit."

"Sir, the
D.C. police may be able to predict there will be "X" number of murders
a week in this city, that doesn't mean they don't do everything they can to
investigate those murders and bring the murderers to justice."

Senator
Whitford pounced immediately. "Sir, are you now comparing the executives
of Smith Pettit to
murderers
?"

It was becoming
clear to Nick he was way out of his league; Whitford was twisting everything he
said. He took a moment to collect himself
—
there were ten rounds to a
fight and he had to keep his feet. "Of course not.
…
I am simply
presenting evidence as I have been called upon by the committee to do. I make
no recommendation of whether legal action should be taken against any of the
parties involved."

"But you
do, sir. By using terms such as 'gross negligence,' and 'fraud,' you have
pervaded these proceedings with an aura of illegality, implied that some very
good people should go to jail."

"I'm not
saying anyone should go to jail
…
"

"How very
charitable, Mr. Ford. How very charitable. Then you are prepared to withdraw
your charges against Smith Pettit?"

"The
GAO's
charges," Nick corrected.

Senator
Whitford pounded the bench sharply. "Do you recommend they be withdrawn or
not?"

"I do
not," Nick stated firmly.

"Then, Mr.
Ford, I sincerely hope
you
are withdrawn, because I have reason to
believe you are not only incompetent to hold the job of assistant comptroller,
you are incompetent to hold any position within the GAO."

Senator Raine's
turn to thump the bench. "
Mr. Chairman!
" she shouted, coming
to Nick's defense, but she did not even slow Senator Whitford down.

"Mr.
Ford," Senator Whitford continued, "do you mean to sit there and tell
me you have not singled out Smith Pettit for persecution?"

"
Absolutely
not,
" Nick fired back.

"I see. I
am holding in my hand a report prepared by your office, dated yesterday,
entitled 'Status report, documented billing irregularities, Yünnan
Project.'" Senator Whitford lifted the report for all to see. "You
are familiar with it?"