Volume 4: White Devil Chapter 260: Covenant
After Bill realized from his wife's subtle movements that Tommy had agreed to their request, he brought Rosario and her ex-husband, the former mayor and ex-husband who had once had absolute power in Miami in the 1970s, over.
"Tommy, this is David and Rona, Tommy Hawke, Otilia's husband, the founder of Vox TV Network, and a Californian." Bill introduced the two parties while holding a glass of wine.
David Kennedy is fifty-five years old, wears gold-rimmed glasses, is talkative, likes to laugh heartily when chatting, and looks very friendly. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but went to law school in Miami and then stayed in this city. The reason he gave was that he liked this city, but Tommy speculated that it might also be to expand the territory of the Kennedy family whose hometown is also in Massachusetts, although this guy did not say what his relationship with the Kennedy family is.
He served as the 31st and 33rd mayor of Miami. The vacancy in between was when he was arrested and charged with bribery. He was suspended for about five months. Although the police had evidence, he did not confess which senator asked him to help his son get rid of the crime, and he did not disclose which justice he would bribe. Therefore, the justice of the Florida state court finally announced the dismissal of the charges against him and restored his position as mayor of Miami.
However, after his term as mayor expired, he chose to give up running for re-election because his scandal had been deliberately spread nationwide by his opponents and instead resumed his lawyer status. However, he did not represent anyone in any lawsuits. On the contrary, for many non-elected government positions in Florida and Miami, he could generally make the other party's wishes come true as long as they offered him a high enough price.
Success stories include having a guy who had never attended college and had no previous firefighting experience successfully serve as the head of the Miami City Fire Department.
He helped his second wife Rosario transform from a real estate agent to a member of the Florida Hospital Cost Control Monitoring Committee, president of the Florida Women's Chamber of Commerce, president of the United Against Crime Fund, member of the Miami City Council, and deputy mayor of Miami.
It also includes a Cuban man who married his young and beautiful sister as his third wife, thus becoming the mayor of Miami from a Miami City Commissioner.
However, David himself believes that his peak period was when he was mayor of Miami and helped Nixon with campaign advice. Nixon even promised to appoint him as the US ambassador to Latin American countries after his election. Unfortunately, a bribery scandal broke out at that time, which made him lose the opportunity to make further progress in politics.
Listening to David Kennedy mentioning the names of former President Nixon, former Florida Governor Bob Graham and other people, and the deeds they had told, Tommy finally understood why this unremarkable guy was worthy of both Bill and Hillary coming over. It turned out that this guy without any position was actually one of the real powerful figures in Miami. Although he had no status as a politician, he still had a strong power to call the wind and rain in Miami.
For example, this guy mentioned Bob Graham, the former governor of Florida and current U.S. Senator.
That is the person that both Bill and his wife recognize as their favorite, and the only choice for the Democratic candidate for Vice President of the United States. In other words, if Bill is really elected president, his most desired vice presidential partner is this person. He served as governor of Florida for eight years and achieved a true balance in all aspects. Both the Republicans and the Democrats praised him. Polls showed that his approval rating in Florida reached an astonishing 87% when he left office.
As for his successor, the current governor, Republican Tommy saw in the newspaper that his approval rating is an equally astonishing 24%. Not only are the Democrats attacking him, the public is calling for his resignation every now and then, and even some Republicans are unhappy with him. This is all thanks to David Kennedy's behind-the-scenes instigation.
Because the new governor is actually going to initiate a reform in Florida. He wants to crack down on drug crimes, he wants to crack down on public security crimes, he even launched a campaign to empty the prisons of death row inmates, trying to actually execute those death row inmates who should have been executed long ago but have been detained all this time.
Maybe he really does it for Florida, but these guys in Florida's political circles feel that Florida doesn't need his goodwill, so his approval rating is so miserable that he will never be able to win re-election. The next governor will be an outstanding politician who is recognized by both parties and can strike a balance in all aspects.
Rosario's previous bizarre trial bill for furloughing death row inmates was introduced to counter this guy's campaign to clear out the prisons of death row inmates. Although it led to the tragic murder of the Parkers, because the media did not report it extensively at the time, Rosario's bill actually received support from many people, who believed that her bill was very humane.
Listening to David talking about these interesting stories about Florida as if he was telling a joke, Tommy could only sigh that with such politicians and people with cerebral palsy, Florida really lived up to its reputation as a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery.
His ex-wife, Rosario, nicknamed Rona, was ten years younger than him. She was a charming Cuban girl. Tommy even suspected that this middle-aged Cuban woman might have had an affair with Bill, because when he was chatting with David, the Cuban woman had approached Bill's ear several times and whispered intimately.
But David shouldn't mind, because he now has a third wife, Mia Suarez, also a Cuban woman, just 32 years old this year, a ballet dancer, and has a brother named Xavier Suarez, the current mayor of Miami.
The city of Miami belongs to David Kennedy. Even if he cannot continue to serve as mayor due to the scandal, he can use his power to push his ex-wife to the position of deputy mayor and his current wife's brother to the position of mayor in the name of democracy.
If Tommy, who is behind Jeff Lavine, controls several national and even global television networks, he would not be interested in owing a favor to Bill and Diane, a couple with big appetites, if he were an ordinary local financier. He could deal with a little flea like Jeff Lavine in Miami himself.
Tommy could also understand the other party's honesty towards him. He was the financial sponsor and the other party was a politician. They were not in a competitive relationship but a cooperative one. David already knew his own strength through Bill, so he wanted to tell Tommy as much as possible about his abilities at this time to prove that it was worth it for Tommy to be friends with him, at least in Florida.
But in fact, Tommy was not interested at all in this guy's talk of showing off his great power in Florida. He was not a businessman engaged in those traditional industries. He needed friends like David Kennedy in major cities in the United States to help solve the headaches of cheap land, cheap labor, tax breaks, workers' strike intervention, etc. Except for Keybank in New York, Vox in Washington, and BT in Los Angeles, his investments in the computer industry were all in Silicon Valley, which was the territory of Stanford University. If there were really problems that needed to be solved, he could directly let the Stanford professors who worked in those companies or cooperated on certain projects. As for some larger industry-related policy issues, he needed to face Congress directly. Such regional local snakes were not very effective, and it was more cost-effective to give the money to the lobbying companies on K Street in Washington.
"The elderly couple are currently accompanied by a Republican lawyer." Tommy was already drowsy when he heard this, but the other party was still chatting in the manner of dealing with gentlemen. This made Tommy too lazy to listen any further, so he directly got to the point: "Jeff's campaign manager thinks that although Rona can inherit Jeff's seat, it doesn't mean that she can take a vacation next time."
"Of course, confront Ileana Letty in advance." David Kennedy nodded. "I have discussed this issue with Tom about Rona's experience. He blamed the current governor for attacking Rona with the Parkers' murder case. She brought up the past in order to promote the campaign to clear out death row prisoners and for the bloody massacre. By tying that stupid Governor Martinez to her, her approval rating will definitely drop."
"I wonder how many execution warrants the governor has signed?"
"This year alone, there are ninety-seven."
"Then let the Florida Legislature pass a dozen bills? It would be best if the prisoners to be executed included Cubans, blacks, and whites. Then when the media criticizes the governor, they will also remember to mention Ileana Letty's name when they curse him."
"I think so too. I can get some death warrants passed by the state legislature as soon as possible. If your BT and Vox pay special attention, Tommy, we can even get President Bush to go through the process before he comes to the stage to help that woman. The headlines are that the president came to Florida and the Republicans held a massacre of Cubans and blacks to welcome him."
Tommy looked at David Kennedy with dissatisfaction. The old guy really thought of himself as a young and ignorant countryman. Bush came to Florida to support Ileana Letty, and his own TV network attacked him with such a sensational headline. Tommy believed that Bush might not continue to pay attention to the outcome of such regional elections, but he would definitely concentrate on thinking about how to deal with himself, the person who damaged his reputation. The most important thing was that if he was in such a hurry to deal with it, the situation would return to its previous state. Jeff had basically no chance of winning in the future, and Ileana Letty was also seriously injured by Jeff. The biggest winner was still this bastard's ex-wife.
Do you really think that Bill told him that he agreed to let Jeff give up his seat in the end because of his energy and the pressure from Bill and his wife, so he still thinks he can let him fully help him attack his opponent?
"David, I told you that Jeff must win the election, and your ex-wife can only wait for me to give her food. This is the only condition for the cooperation. Otherwise, we will continue to play with our own dolls. I don't care if the game continues." Tommy emphasized his tone and said to the other party:
"As the Bible says, I give you the vegetables that bear fruit all over the earth and the fruits with pits in them, and you eat them. But if you kill a person, I will punish you."
David was slightly stunned at first, but then he smiled and said, "It sounds like I, Noah, made a covenant with God."
"Isn't it? God gave life to Noah and all things, and I gave your ex-wife political life." Tommy did not deny it, and said defiantly: "I have the final say on how to play the game."
"Don't be nervous, Tommy. I have no objection." David looked at Tommy deeply, then glanced at Hillary who was concentrating on chatting with Otilia in the distance and didn't approach at all. Then he smiled without any anger and said to Tommy, "No problem."
The cunning Bill had actually been observing the two of them from the side. Even when the conversation between them became a little tense at the end, he did not stop it. Instead, he waited until he was sure that David had taken a step back, then he stepped forward with a slight regret in his heart and easily changed the subject.
He was actually looking forward to Tommy irritating David, and then David doing something to teach Tommy a lesson in Miami, because then the old guy would owe him another favor.
Unfortunately, this old bastard saw through his and Diane's little tricks. He was indeed a little angry because of Tommy's reaction, but when he found out that he and Diane did not step forward at the first time, he keenly realized that Tommy's words later might be a trap set by him and Tommy to make him angry and make the situation worse. Then, needless to say, he would owe this couple a big favor.
Thinking of this, Bill felt a little bit angry at Tommy. This guy was too mature, and he didn't seem like a lively young man in the previous conversations. So a slight change of mood would easily alert the old foxes. It was not like Stephen and the couple's previous collaboration, where every time there were politicians who were angered by Stephen's angry face and were deceived and owed him a favor.
Seeing that David Kennedy did not lose his temper, Tommy quietly gave Bill a helpless look, then walked towards Ottilia and invited his girlfriend to dance on the dance floor.
After Tommy left, Hilary also came over while chatting with Stephen. David then looked at the couple and said with some dissatisfaction: "Even if it was just your little trick, this young man's performance was too arrogant. I forgot when was the last time I saw such an arrogant countryman."
"Of course it's me. I'm a country boy too. Have you forgotten that?" Bill said with a smile, "But you'd better put away your arrogance, David. Tommy is stronger than you see."
"Really?" David smiled.
Stephen, who had been silent, hugged Gina and said lightly, "Yes, if you want to try to cause trouble for him, I'll tell you the content of the first level of the game. Bill, Diane and many powerful people in the military Democratic Party will talk to you as soon as possible about the compensation issue for the tens of millions or more money you caused them to lose."
"That's too much, Stephen. He is not you." David laughed when he heard Stephen's words. He was quite familiar with Stephen. After all, Stephen's grandfather was a big donor to the Democratic Party, and his father was the Assistant Secretary of Health in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Almost every Democrat serving in Congress had received donations from the Bean family, including David Kennedy's boss, former Florida Governor and current Senator Bob Graham.
So even though Stephen was young and energetic, he felt it was natural. After all, anyone with so many senators and congressmen standing behind him as thugs had the right to be arrogant.
Stephen drank the wine in one gulp, then walked towards the dance floor with Gina in his arms. "Of course he is not me, Mr. Kennedy. The second level is me. The content of the second level is that I will stop all donations to the Democratic Party this year. Then you need to go to the Democratic National Committee and explain in detail to those Democratic congressmen who did not receive donations why Stephen Bean stopped making large donations to the Democratic Party. Of course, the premise is that you have completed the first level and have not committed suicide or died accidentally."
David Kennedy's face changed. Stephen turned around and looked at him and laughed. "It's just a joke. I learned it from Tommy. That guy often scares people like this."
After saying that, he put his arms around Gina and slid onto the dance floor.
Hillary smiled and repeated Stephen’s words: “It’s just a joke, David, don’t take it seriously.”
"What else can I say? Of course, send the external relations secretary over and let Rona's team listen to the other party's orders." David Kennedy sighed and spread his hands: "No wonder that guy wanted the external relations secretary to join his team without talking about anything. Now I understand, he arrogantly gave Rona a bite of leftover food just because you and your wife acted as lobbyists."
