Free The Run by Stuart Woods Page B

dozen yellow roses to the hospital in advance of the announcement, and early in the afternoon on Wednesday he called the vice president at Walter Reed.
    “How’d it go, Joe?”
    “Perfectly, Will; she’s already recovering beautifully, and her doctor is pretty confident that she won’t need further surgery.”
    “I’m glad to hear it, and so is Kate.”
    “How are you coming on your campaign plans?”
    “Well, we’ve been mostly confined to making lists of people we want, but Sam Meriwether has signed on as campaign manager.”
    “A great choice.”
    “I’m going to want some of your people, as soon as you cut them loose,” Will said. “When can I start talking to them?”
    “Not until after my announcement on Friday,” Adams said. “And, at this stage, there are only a couple who aren’t already on my current staff. I hope you won’t steal too many of those.”
    “You tell me if there’s someone you don’t want me to ask.”
    “I’ll leave it up to them, Will, but you have to realize that this is going to come as a great disappointment for all of them. They’ve been looking forward to the campaign. Maybe you should give them a few days to get used to the idea.”
    “Sure, I will.”
    “I’d better get back to Sue; I’ll tell her you called.”
    “Give her my love.” Will hung up and went back to work. Ten minutes later, the phone rang.

    “It’s Senator Kiel,” his secretary said.
    Will picked up the phone and spoke to the minority leader of the Senate. “Afternoon, George,” he said.
    “You okay, Will?”
    “You bet. What’s up?”
    “I was a little annoyed that I didn’t know Susan Adams was having surgery, until I saw it on CNN.”
    “I don’t think she wanted anybody to know until she was sure it went well.”
    “But you knew.” Kiel sounded a little peeved, but then he usually did.
    “Sue called us over the weekend. She and Kate are…” Will let his voice trail off; he had been about to say that they were close, and that wasn’t exactly true. He knew what was coming next.
    “What about this thing in the Post this morning?”
    “I haven’t read all the Post yet. Which thing?”
    “The thing about Joe might be dropping out.”
    Now Will was stuck. “I heard about that,” he said.
    “Is it true?”
    “If it is, I’m sure you’ll be hearing directly from Joe,” Will said.
    “If it’s true, are you going to run?”
    Will knew that Kiel would likely be his biggest opposition. “Tempting, isn’t it?”
    “Sure is. You know damn well I’ll run. What about you, no kidding?”
    “You never know,” Will said. “But if I do, you’ll be among the first to know.”
    “I like you, Will,” Kiel said, “and I’d hate to have to clean your clock in the primaries.” He chuckled unconvincingly.
    “I’d hate that, too, George.” Will laughed.
    “Who do you figure for the Republican nomination?”

    “Eft Efton, Hale Roberts, or Mike Knowles.” Howard “Eft” Efton, congressman from Texas, was Speaker of the House, Hale Roberts was governor of Ohio, and Michael Knowles was senator from Kansas.
    “That’s what I figure, too. You reckon either you or I could beat one of them?”
    “Why not?” Will replied. “Of course, I’d rather have been vice president for the past seven years, like Joe.”
    “Joe won’t give it up,” Kiel said. “He’s wanted this for a long time, and it’s his for the taking. Nobody just walks away from the presidency.”
    “That would certainly be unlike Joe,” Will said.
    “Okay, see you later,” Kiel said, and hung up. Will punched a button and called Tim Coleman into his office. “I want you to call Moss Mallet and commission a nationwide poll of likely Democratic voters and find out who they’d vote for in the primaries with Joe Adams out of the race.”
    “That’s going to cost.”
    “We’re going to have to have it anyway, and I’d like to have it before Joe withdraws and muddies the waters. Don’t tell Moss