America 1982-Chapter 523 - 102: Making a Pact_2

David likely wouldn’t mind because he now had his third wife, Mia Suarez, still a Cuban woman, just thirty-two this year, a professional ballet dancer, with a brother named Xavier Suarez, the current Mayor of Miami.

The city of Miami belonged to him, David Kennedy, even if scandals prevented him from continuing as Mayor, he could leverage his power to install his ex-wife as the Deputy Mayor and elevate his current wife’s brother to Mayor, all under the guise of democracy.

If he hadn’t been concerned about Jeff Raven’s backer, Tommy, who controlled multiple national and even global television networks, David would have had no interest in owing the Parkers, a couple with particularly large appetites for favors, if the backer had been a local, ordinary financier. He could have dealt with a minor nuisance like Jeff Raven in Miami on his own.

Tommy could understand the other side’s openness; after all, he was a financier, and the other was a politician. They weren’t in competition, but in collaboration. David had gauged Tommy’s strength through Bill, so now he needed to showcase as much as possible his own capabilities to Tommy, proving that befriending him, at least on the Florida turf, would definitely be worth it.

But in reality, Tommy was completely uninterested in the guy boasting about his massive influence in Florida. Tommy wasn’t a businessman engaged in traditional industries requiring friends like David Kennedy in every major American city to solve problems like cheap land, cheap labor, tax concessions, and intervention in labor strikes. Aside from Keybank in New York, Vox in Washington, and BT in Los Angeles, his investments in the computer industry were all in Silicon Valley, the domain of Stanford University. Should a real issue arise, he could directly have Stanford professors who worked at those companies or were collaborating on projects intervene, and for broader industry-related policy issues, direct confrontations with the Congress were necessary, rendering local influencers like this rather ineffective, with lobbying firms on K Street in Washington being a more prudent investment.

"That elderly couple, they now have Republican lawyers around them." Tommy, already feeling sleepy, heard the other side still chatting in the manner befitting a conversation with gentlemen, which made Tommy too bored to listen further, leading him to forcibly steer the conversation back on track: "Jeff’s campaign manager thinks that although Rona can inherit Jeff’s seat, it doesn’t mean she can take a break afterwards."

"Of course, it’s best to tackle Eliana Leti head-on," David Kennedy nodded. "Tom and I discussed this. We can blame the Parkers’ murder case on the current Governor. She is pushing for the emptying of death row for bloody slaughter, bringing up the past for this very purpose, tying that idiot Governor Martinez to her. The approval ratings will surely drop."

"I think Governor’s best course of action would be to pass a few death warrants. How many has he signed this year?"

"Ninety-seven so far this year."

"So we have the Florida Legislature pass a dozen or more? It would be best if the executed inmates included Cubans, African Americans, Caucasians, and then when the media starts attacking, remember to mention Governor’s name alongside Eliana Leti."

"That’s what I was thinking. I can have the Legislature pass some execution orders swiftly. If your BT and Vox would pay special attention, we could even proceed with everything before President Bush can come to support that woman. The headline could read: ’President arrives in Florida, Republicans host a killing spree of Cubans and African Americans in his honor.’

Tommy looked dissatisfied at David Kennedy. The old man really thought of him as an ignorant young country bumpkin. Before Bush comes to Florida to support Eliana Leti, using such an explosive headline to attack him on his own network, Tommy believed that Bush might not continue to pay attention to the regional election outcome, but he would definitely be fully focused on dealing with the person who tarnished his reputation. Most importantly, by rushing things, the situation would revert to the previous status, with Jeff having basically no chance of winning and Eliana Leti being severely damaged by Jeff’s attacks, the biggest winner still being the bastard’s ex-wife.

Did he really think that Bill telling him he agreed to let Jeff eventually cede the seat was because of his own power and the Parkers’ pressure, so now he still felt like he could get him to fully support his attacks on the opponent?

"David, I told you, Jeff must win, and your ex-wife can only wait for the scraps I throw to her. That’s the only condition for our cooperation to go ahead. Otherwise, we continue playing with our own toys, and the game goes on. I don’t care," Tommy said strongly, addressing the other party:

"Like the Bible once said, ’I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. But if you take a life, I will demand an accounting.’"

David was initially surprised, but then chuckled: "Sounds like I am Noah making a covenant with God."

"Isn’t it? God entrusted Noah with all living things, just as I entrust your ex-wife’s political life to you," Tommy didn’t deny it and arrogantly responded: "I call the shots in this game."

"Don’t worry, Tommy, of course I have no objection," David said, giving Tommy a deep look and then glancing at Hillary, who was deep in conversation with Odelia and had made no approach, and then smiled without a hint of anger, reassuring Tommy: "No problem at all."