Chapter 585 - 273: Prisoner’s Dilemma

Monroe took out his phone, his hands trembling.

Leo Wallace.

He pressed the answer button, his movements as stiff as a puppet’s.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Governor."

Leo’s voice was calm, almost lazy.

"Do you like your inauguration gift?"

"You..." Monroe’s voice was hoarse. "You’re destroying this state..."

Monroe’s eyes burned with fury.

"Do you think this will accomplish anything? I’m still the Governor! I represent law and order in Pennsylvania!"

Just as Monroe was about to continue, Leo interrupted him.

"Aston, haven’t you stopped to think?"

Leo’s voice was soft.

"Why hasn’t the Democratic National Committee sent anyone to you yet?"

"Why haven’t any of the bigwigs in Washington given you a call, not even to offer a single word of comfort?"

Monroe’s pupils contracted sharply.

"Think again. Why would the Republican Party leak all that dirt?"

"Are you still threatening me with politics?"

Leo sneered.

"Aston, you’re in a very dangerous position. Politically, you’re already a dead man."

"You’ve been abandoned by both sides."

"You have only two choices before you now."

"First, continue your little one-man show. In ten minutes, FBI agents will walk into that press conference hall."

"You’ll be wearing that expensive suit of yours, in handcuffs, taken away on national television. Then you’ll spend the rest of your life in a Federal Prison."

"Second."

Leo paused.

"Resign. Right now. Immediately."

"Cite health reasons, family reasons—make up whatever excuse you want."

"As long as you’re gone, all that evidence will become unverified rumors. The investigation will be terminated. You’ll keep your freedom, and maybe even a measly little pension."

"Three minutes."

Leo delivered his ultimatum.

"If I don’t hear what I want to hear in three minutes..."

"You’re on your own."

BEEP—

The line went dead.

Monroe stood on the dark podium, clutching his phone.

He was in a panic.

’Why?’ he questioned frantically in his mind. ’Why would the Republican Party help him? Why would the Republican Party stab me in the back right now? Don’t they want the internal chaos in the Democratic Party to continue?’

And then there was the Democratic National Committee.

’Why didn’t Raymond Walker warn me? I was their hand-picked successor, their future agent in Pennsylvania. Why would they just stand by and watch me get buried by all this dirt?’

Monroe felt as if he’d been thrown into a completely unfamiliar maze.

He had always believed he was an indispensable part of the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania.

But he was wrong.

On this cruel chessboard, no one was irreplaceable.

...

「Two hours earlier. Pittsburgh City Hall, Mayor’s Office.」

Leo sat at his desk, making two calls simultaneously.

One was to Richard Taylor of the Republican National Committee.

The other was to the Democratic House of Representatives Majority Leader, Raymond Walker.

"Mr. Taylor, Mr. Walker."

Leo’s voice was steady, without a trace of nervousness.

"I think it’s time we spoke frankly."

Silence fell on both ends of the line.

Taylor and Walker were both stunned.

They never expected this young Mayor of Pittsburgh would dare to pull both of them into the same negotiation.

"Leo, you’re playing with fire," Walker’s voice was cold. "You’re a Democratic Mayor. You should be reporting to me, not hobnobbing with the Republican Party."

"Save it, Mr. Walker."

Leo chuckled softly.

"You chose Monroe to get rid of me. Since you decided not to play by the rules first, don’t blame me for finding my own way out."

"Get to the point," Taylor interrupted. "What do you want?"

"It’s simple."

Leo leaned back in his chair.

"I want Monroe out."

"I want William Saint Cloud to take over as Governor."

"In exchange," Leo said into the phone,

"Mr. Taylor, if William takes office, the position of Vice Governor will become vacant. According to the state Constitution, that position then falls to the Acting President of the Senate."

"I can make sure the Republican Party gets that position."

"And I can also ensure a Republican becomes the Acting President of the Senate."

Taylor scoffed on the other end of the line.

"Leo, have you lost your mind?"

"The Republican Party already controls the majority in the Pennsylvania State Senate. If I wanted to, I could have our person elected as the Acting President at any time. I don’t need your handouts."

"Is that so?"

Leo retorted.

"Let’s be clear about one thing. The prerequisite for electing an Acting President of the Senate is that the election can actually be held smoothly."

"I can make sure that election never happens. With my ability to mobilize people in Pennsylvania, I can paralyze traffic in Harrisburg on voting day. I can also arrange for those key senators to run into all sorts of ’accidents’ on their way to the Parliament Building."

"Politics isn’t about what you can be given, but what you can be denied."

Leo’s voice turned ice-cold.

Taylor’s furious shout came through the phone.

"Wallace, are you trying to pull these kinds of dirty tricks? Directly undermining the very foundation of the system? Do you have a death wish? Washington has a hundred ways to make you disappear. No one can protect a madman who openly defies the establishment."

"Mr. Taylor, you don’t scare me."

Leo said, "Since Monroe plans to turn me into a trophy on his wall, my political life is already on a countdown. If I’m going to die anyway, I don’t mind flipping the whole damn chessboard over before I go. We can all just sit here and watch over a paralyzed Pennsylvania and see who gives out first."