Carter's Fortress - 26. Chapter 26

Parliament Hill, seat of power for the Federal Government. It was a block of tall gothic-styled buildings with their green copper roves, bronze statues of former Prime Ministers, and memorials to fallen heroes.

Will stepped out of the car, shrugging in his heavy woolen coat as the snow fell heavily only a few days before Christmas day. And it did feel like Christmas. For the first time since the whole affair had started--the elections and the politics, the bribery and the scandals--Will drew a breath as he looked about him, and walked through the doors to change the country.

His shoes rang on the polished marble floor as he undid his coat, letting it flow out behind him as he walked through the halls, passing the artwork and the statues on his way to the Prime Minister's office.

He realized then what his father had taught him about honour and what Robert had shown him about duty. There were some things that meant you made sacrifices, choices that would be made for the greater good; but there were times when you had to make a choice that would force change one way or the other.

The Prime Minister was getting ready to leave, the Christmas vacations were about to begin, it was really a formality that he was on the hill at all that day, and when the young, newly-elected MP for Toronto-Centre had asked to see him, he had just assumed it was a young man wishing him Merry Christmas.

William Carter entered the office and folded his hands behind his back, hardly a meek and humble new MP looking to curry favour. The PM paused his packing of papers into his brief case to turn to him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

Will smiled. "In a manner of speaking, yes," Will said, producing the manila envelope and handing it to the Prime Minister.

The PM sat down; fishing out his glasses he opened the envelope and pulled out the documents inside. He read over them carefully and looked up at Will, "What is it you think you have here?"

"I know exactly what I have there," Will responded. "I have enough evidence to launch an investigation into Emillio Grevano's handling of the National Exhibition project, an investigation that will show him embezzling millions of taxpayers' money, it will show how he bribed at least one Member of Parliament, possibly more..." He paused, "Should I go on?"

The Prime Minster's shoulders sagged as he looked up at the young politician, "If you take this to the media it will be a public humiliation for our government. That this kind of ... misappropriation of funds can happen at all would be enough to destroy our party's credibility, not to mention rock all confidence in our future policy decisions."

"I know," Will said firmly. "Which is why I am here."

The PM looked up at the young man, "Not on the hill a week and already you're playing the game. What do you want, a cabinet post? Do you want the Gay Marriage Bill to pass?"

Will chuckled dryly, "I'm not out for myself, here." Will moved and took a seat, much to the PM's annoyance since he had never offered one. "And as for gay rights, I have no intention of winning that battle this way. We are going to win our equality the right way in the courts and in open parliament, not in some back room deal so you can save your neck."

"Then what do you want? You're a smart man, you're after something or you would have taken this to the press by now." The PM sat back, his eyes hard and firm. He didn't like being outmaneuvered, especially not by a young upstart politician who wouldn't be on the hill were it not for his support.

Will nodded. "Good to see I'm not being underestimated anymore," he stated flatly. "I see several things that will come out of this," Will folded his arms. "Firstly, Emillio Gravano is not going to jail, but I have enough evidence to put him away for a very long time. Add to that I have a witness who..." Will smiled, "will testify should I ask her to."

* * *

Will had waited until intermission, when the Shadow Heritage Minister had gone to the washroom and Marc had gone off in search of a drink, to sit down with the minister's wife. She knew perfectly well what he wanted, and why he was there. She, unlike her husband, was an intelligent person who played the game.

It was easy to get the story of her husband's affair. Will had guessed it on the plane, and it was really the wife filling in the details for him. She had found him cheating, but instead of divorcing him she had chosen to hit him where it hurt him the most, his career. She had brought the manila envelope to Robert Avery because she had known he wouldn't be afraid to do something with it.

When Will had asked for her help she had been reluctant at first, but then Will could be very persuasive when he had to be.

* * *

"I want him to finish the Exhibition Center on time, and massively under budget." Will smiled, "Considering his alternative is jail I don't think he will mind too much making up the additional costs out of his own pocket."

The PM nodded, "Go on."

"Secondly, I want the additional funds set aside for the Exhibition Center, the additional two hundred and fifty million awarded a few months ago to be redirected. They are going to," Will pulled out a slip of paper, "twenty-one million will be going to the Nunavut detachment of the RCMP to properly fund their operations. I want an additional sum of money set aside for development up there..."

"What do you care about Nunavut?" the PM demanded angrily. "It's not your riding..."

Will arched an eyebrow, "Because it is the right way to spend this money. Speaking of my riding, or more specifically, Toronto, I want you to deliver on your promise of money to the Toronto infrastructure... Call it living up to your promises."

"Anything else?" The PM sounded angry.

Will chewed on it a moment and shook his head, "I think that's about it. This way everyone gets what they want, you get your Exhibition Center, Gravano stays out of jail, Nunavut gets its funding..."

"And what do you get out of this?" The PM demanded.

"My integrity," Will replied standing up. "Have a Happy Christmas, Mister Prime Minister."

* * *

Will was sitting alone in his office up on the hill; it was a small office set aside for back bench MP's so they could work close to the houses of parliament. From his window, Will could see the falling snow drifting in white sheets across the Ottawa River.

He'd managed somehow to maintain his own self-respect, doing the right thing even though he had come close to stepping over the line. He leaned on the desk, still in his coat, resting his head against his hand as he stared.

He'd done what had to be done; he'd made a significant difference in his government's policy. Everyone was happy in one fashion or another, except for him. He wondered if this was really what politics was all about, a constant one-upmanship in an effort to do a little bit of good. If it was he was going to have a long four years in office, perhaps longer if he decided to run again.

"You mind if I come in?" Andrew asked, standing in the doorway dressed in one of his smart suits, his hair swept back and eyes tired.

Will rubbed the bridge of his nose as he gestured to a seat, "What's up?"

"I was fired today," Andrew said simply. "My firm found out about the photos; even though Gravano has nothing... now... they fired me rather than risk losing him as a client."

"I'm sorry," Will said shifting in his chair. "I know how much your job meant to you."

Andrew smiled tiredly. "It's not that bad, I can bounce back. I have an offer to become a crown prosecutor. The pay's not as good, but..." he sighed, "the job's more rewarding."

"I understand," Will said standing up and shaking Andrew's hand. "Thanks for...everything."

Andrew smiled, "You say that as if you're expecting me to leave." He pointed out the window, "My office is just over there and the Supreme Court is next door, so no, I'm not leaving just yet."

Will shook his head as he walked out into his office, Andrew a few steps behind. Alicia, already hard at work doing nothing, smiled at him as Lisa repositioned her desk and began to unpack her things. He was short-staffed, but the people that did work for him were loyal.

Alicia grinned and held up a memo. "Turns out our dear Mister Hackett has been fired," she said in an off-the-cuff, by-the-way manner,

He glanced at her and shrugged. "Merry Christmas," he said, doing up his coat and heading for the door; he had a short fiancé waiting for him at home, and all things considered, it was going to be a good holiday for him.