“That there were drones where they shouldn’t be, and it’s being treated as some sort of possible attack.”
“That’s right.”
“So the A word is attack, then?”
Sam wanted so badly to lie to him, to protect him, but five minutes on his phone would reveal the truth.She’d rather he hear it from her.“In this case, it stands for ‘assassination.’”She and Scotty had declared that a swear word when Nick first became president.
“So, like, they were coming for Dad?”
“We don’t know that for sure, but that’s the theory.”
He stared out the big windows at the city they called home.
“What’re you thinking?”
“At times like this, it’s better not to think.”
Smiling, Sam wrapped an arm around him and kissed the top of his head.“I love you so,somuch, and you’re just what I need right now.Thank you for that.”
“You and Dad are just what I need all the time.Thank you forthat.”
“Being your parents is the greatest pleasure and privilege of our lives.”
Chapter Two
The reports were surreal.Fourteen drones had been recovered, equipped with semiautomatic weapons that, had the drones made it through the robust layers of security, could’ve killed scores of people gathered for a fun and joyful event at the White House.Everyone Nick loved might’ve been killed in the effort to get to him.
No one had claimed responsibility as of yet, and the investigation was in the earliest stages.His intelligence team was working as fast as they could to gather data and trace the origin of the devices.
From his vantage point at the head of the table, Nick eyed the others.Teresa Howard, the National Security Advisor he’d inherited from President Nelson, and Defense Secretary Tobias Jennings, also inherited.Nick liked and trusted them and planned to retain them in their roles going forward.
Admiral Forrest Malin, the new chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, replacing General Michael Wilson, who, along with other members of the Joint Chiefs, had betrayed Nick—and the Constitution—so flagrantly.
Grace Crowley, acting head of the National Intelligence Agency, whose permanent appointment was pending before the Senate.She was one of the people retired Senator Graham O’Connor, Nick’s friend and mentor, had recommended.
They were in the process of putting together their own team, mostly from Graham’s deep stable of contacts and trusted allies.
Vice President Gretchen Henderson, Nick’s choice to fill the role he’d vacated after he was promoted, was asking all the right questions and demanding fast action from subordinates.She and her teenage children had been on the South Lawn during the Egg Roll, and she was clearly rattled by the day’s events and the understanding of what could’ve happened.
Hours after being hustled off the South Lawn, they still had no idea where the drones had come from.It was easy to lose track of time in the windowless Situation Room under the glow of fluorescent lights.
“The first two that were recovered have no identifying marks,” FBI Director Sally Monroe said.Nelson had appointed her to a ten-year term following the murder of the previous director, Troy Hamilton.“No brand-name components or serial numbers.It’s possible they were homemade.”
“And still no claim of responsibility?”Secret Service Director Ambrose Pierce asked.
“Nothing yet,” Crowley said.“We’ve picked up no chatter or any indication something like this was in the works, which we normally would’ve if they were sent by known terrorist groups.”
They were spinning their wheels at this point, and Nick had heard enough.When he stood, everyone else did, too.“I’m going upstairs,” he said to his chief of staff, Terry O’Connor.“Keep me in the loop on any developments.”
“Yes, sir.”
He left the room, feeling frustrated, disgusted and unsettled.All the systems in place to protect the nation’s capital had held that day, but this was a daunting reminder of the many threats of violence against the government.As the CEO of that government, he was the main target, but a mass casualty incident on the lawn of the White House would’ve had the desired effect of causing chaos, even if he hadn’t been one of the victims.
That one of his family members could’ve been killed made him sick.Scotty, Aubrey, Alden, Elijah, his little brothers, Sam’s nieces and nephews and many other family members and close friends, all of them so dear to him and Sam, had been in grave danger that day because of him.
Because he held the highest office in the land.Because he’d inherited it, rather than winning it in an election.Because he was the youngest president in history.Because they didn’t agree with the way he did the job.
Who knew which of those things had motivated someone to fly drones armed with semiautomatic weapons into the National Capital Region’s airspace?Who knew what motivated anyone to do such a thing?
