She had begun to pack, again, after the phone call from Marianne. It appeared there was trouble. She was pretty certain that Marianne hadn’t run her mouth to anyone. She was too smart for that. And she definitely hadn’t said anything to anyone. So why was the president of the United States in Marianne’s office asking about a potential threat? Somebody knew something. And that didn’t sit well with her.
Alex was a self-made woman. Born Alexandra Sokolov, she was an orphan. She grew up under the government’s care and had figured her life was meaningless. That was until he, Joseph, came for her that day.
He showed up, out of the clear blue, one afternoon when she was fourteen. The headmaster of the girls’ home had found her in the library and told her that she had a visitor. This was very strange. No one ever came to visit her. But it sounded exciting, so she followed the headmaster to the foyer, where a man in a suit and tie introduced himself and asked if she’d like to take a walk.
They walked the grounds of the compound, as none of the children were allowed to leave without the accompaniment of one of the staff. But the compound was large and completely fenced in, so there was plenty enough room for a stroll. Eventually they found themselves a long way from the house, in the back of the property in a wooded area, a good four hundred yards away from anyone.
He made no attempt at small talk. Rather he explained to her that he knew who she was, where she was from, who her real parents were, and why she was at the orphanage. He even told her that her real name was Alexandra Sokolov. He had a very compelling story, and she was hooked from the moment he introduced himself. Anything was better than where she was.
Joseph explained to her that he could take her away from there. That he was family and had papers to prove it. He could train her and give her a skill set that would never go unneeded.
“What do I have to do?” she remembered asking.
He answered her by pulling out a pistol with a silencer on it.
“Have you ever seen one of these?”
“On television and in the movies,” she answered.
“Have you ever held one?”
“No.”
“Here.” He took her hand and showed her how to hold the weapon. “Now see that tree right there?” He pointed.
“Yes.”
“Shoot it.”
She remembered not even hesitating. She pulled the trigger and the gun spat. The recoil sent her arm over her head. That made her angry. Not only had she missed the tree, but she felt like such a weakling for not being able to control its recourse to her arm. Without a second thought, she stiffened her arm and lowered the gun again, taking aim at the tree. She pulled the trigger again and again until it just clicked and no more bullets came out. She had hit the tree six out of nine times.
“Did you like how that feels?” Joseph asked.
“Yes.”
“Would you be able to do that to a person?”
Again, she didn’t even hesitate. “Yes.”
Joseph had smiled at her. He had the warmest and nicest smile.
When they got back to the house, Joseph informed the headmaster that he was her uncle. He produced some papers and a letter from the Canadian government instructing the headmaster to turn Alex over to him.
Naturally, the headmaster made him wait as she made some calls and checked out his story. But apparently, it did. Ten minutes later, she was packed and leaving the house. There would be no more orphanage for Alexandra Sokolov. There would be no more Alexandra Sokolov either, Joseph had explained. From now on, she would be Alex Smith.
The flashing graphic on the television brought her back. She reached for the remote and turned the volume up. It appeared that a banker in New York had committed suicide. But that wasn’t what piqued her interest. Soon, the news anchor was connecting the dots and explaining how Wall Street had taken a turn that morning. The entire market was crashing. Some experts were saying it could be worse than the crash of 1929, the event that ultimately led to the Great Depression. Once again, large investments in government-funded companies and programs were going belly-up.
Was this part of what Chin and Marianne had planned? No, it couldn’t have been. Something else was at play here. Something was wrong. This had nothing to do with Chin. As a matter of fact, this would jeopardize everything they had done. Marianne was right. They had a problem.
She stuffed the rest of the clothes in the bag and called the private terminal at the airport. She asked to be transferred to the hangar where her plane was being kept. The dispatcher connected the call and told her, “Have a good day. Eh?”
“‘Allo,” the man said in his French-Canadian accent.
“I need to be wheels up in two hours.”
CHAPTER 33
Keene and the team were back in Washington, as per the president’s orders. When Boz had stepped outside the diner in Chicago to call him earlier, President Grant ordered that they return immediately. He had received another message from the Prophet.
They had been following the news of the market crash throughout the flight. Megan’s ability to connect to a satellite gave them the option of watching live news coverage. And it was bad. Not just bad, horrific. Banks all across the nation had begun to close for the day and lock their doors. ATMs were being emptied by long lines of customers trying to get as much cash out as they could. It was happening again, just like 1929. And as of yet, there was no explanation. One of the correspondents from one of the news channels said that the president had asked all the networks for thirty minutes of airtime before the crash had even happened. The question now was, did President Grant have knowledge of the crash? And if so, how could he let it happen? And even more importantly, could he have helped to stop it? These were all questions Keene himself planned on asking the president in about five minutes.
The Suburban entered the secure area of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The guard outside waved them in, having been instructed to do so the moment they arrived. Chief of Staff Hardy met them at the door to the West Wing and led them in.
“He’s in the Oval,” Hardy said. “He’s waiting for you.”
“What’s he saying?” Keene asked.
“Nothing,” Hardy replied. “Not a single word. He’s canceled all of his appointments for the day. He’s called for Chief Justice Spencer, Vice President Walker, and Marianne Levy to join us. They’re all on their way.”
“This can’t be good,” Megan said. “All three branches of the government represented?”
Keene agreed. He didn’t know what was going on inside the president’s head, but there were only a handful of reasons why the president would call a private meeting with all three leaders and the head of Homeland Security. And he was sure he wasn’t going to like this.
Hardy opened the door to the Oval Office and let them in. President Grant immediately stood and came to them.
“Mr. Keene, Ms. Taylor, are the two of you all right?”
“We’re fine, Mr. President,” Keene answered for both of them. “What’s going on?”
President Grant shook his head and said, “I’ll explain in a moment. But first sit down. There’s something I need to show you.”
He pulled a thumb drive out of his pocket and inserted it into a laptop that was sitting on the desk. He clicked a few buttons and turned the screen around so that everyone could see.
The Prophet’s message played while the three of them looked on. When it was finished, he ejected the thumb drive, closed the lid, and looked at his guests.
“I’m not sure when I actually received this.”
“How do you mean?” Keene asked.
“I mean, it was sent some time between last night and this morning. I didn’t see it until earlier.”
“Before or after the stock market?” Boz asked.
“Before.”
“And you think it has something to do with this?” Keene said, more a statement than a question.
President Grant sighed. “I have no choice but to,” he said.
“I agree,” Keene said. “Mr. President, we need to be out there chasing this guy. Not sitting in here. Look what he’s already doing.”
“Mr. Keene,” President Grant said solemnly, “I agree with you—”
“Then let’s get going!” Keene said, standing up. “Give that thing to Taylor, and we’ll—”
“Just a moment,” President Grant interrupted him.
Keene sat back down.
“I was saying,” President Grant continued, “that while I agree with you that this video is related to what’s happening right now on Wall Street, I cannot say with certainty that this man is responsible for it.”
Keene was stunned. He couldn’t believe the president was going to defend this guy. Again.
“Then why are we here?” Taylor asked.
“Because I can’t rule it out completely,” President Grant said. “So I am going to turn this over to you, Ms. Taylor.” He dangled the thumb drive. “And I do want you to continue pursuing this man, Mr. Keene. But I want you all to know that I’m going to go in front of the American people and do as he asks.”
“What!” Keene stood up again. “Mr. President—”
“Mr. Keene!” President Grant said, raising his voice. “Sit down!”
Keene did as he was told, but his head was about to explode. How could the president go on television and give in to this terrorist’s demands?
“Guys, listen,” President Grant said, his voice calm once again. “Our country is in real trouble right now. This thing with the stock market, it’s happening. And there’s nothing that we can do to stop it. You heard what the man said. He said that God was going to remove the idols of our nation. What’s our biggest idol? Money! Our economy. Our way of life.
“This could very well be nothing more than a terrorist attack. And I’m willing to concede that fact, if you can provide substantial proof that that’s all it is. But in the meantime, our people are going to be losing their minds by tomorrow morning. Our country could be decimated in one week, due to this fallout. Right now, more than anything, the American people need encouragement. And direction. And I’m going to give it to them. Whether you approve or not, Mr. Keene, I will go on television tonight and tell the American people that we have become a godless nation. And that if we have any hope of recovering from this, they had better listen.”
“And what if they don’t?” Boz spoke for the first time since arriving.
“Then God help us all,” President Grant said.
Just then the door opened up again, and in walked Marianne Levy, already in midsentence.
“Mr. President, I thought when we met earlier today—” She stopped short, obviously surprised at seeing the others there. “What’s this about?”
Keene had heard about her but had never met her. And what he’d heard about her wasn’t pleasant. Even Kevin Jennings admitted to him, once, that he wouldn’t cross paths with her. The woman was a commanding presence. And she didn’t look very happy.
“Who are you all?” she continued.
“Marianne, thank you for joining us,” President Grant said. “These are the two agents I told you about this morning. Jon Keene and Megan Taylor.”
Keene was about to say hello but got cut off.
“And you?” she said to Boz. “Who are you supposed to be?”
“He’s a personal friend of mine,” President Grant answered for him. “He’s helping Mr. Keene and Ms. Taylor.”
“And what’s this about Chief Justice Spencer and VP Walker joining us? What are you trying to pull, Calvin?”
Just then, Hardy arrived with the final two invitees to the meeting.
President Grant wasted no time once they arrived. He motioned for them to sit and started talking.
“Vice President Walker, Chief Justice Spencer. Thank you for joining us. I’ll get right to the point. I have reason to believe that there is an imminent and impending threat to our nation’s security. Pursuant to article sixteen, section 1a of the Intelligence Enforcement Act, I hereby ask that the powers granted to Director Levy and the Department of Homeland Security be returned to the Executive branch, until said threat is deemed neutralized.”
CHAPTER 34
Marianne Levy was beyond mad. She was furious. Never before had she been as blindsided as she had just been in the president’s office. She should have known that her impromptu meeting with him earlier was no coincidence. She should have expected that he would try something like this eventually. And now here she was, relegated back to nothing more than a standard cabinet-level position.
President Grant showed them all the video of the man calling himself the Prophet. And though he wouldn’t admit it, she knew that the reason he was doing this was not that he thought there was an impending attack. He simply hated her and wanted her out of the way. And he had used this morning’s stock market event to convince them. The irony was, there actually was a threat! But it had nothing to do with this Prophet. And it surely didn’t have anything to do with the stock market. At least not yet. And it was already in place. There was nothing President Grant or anyone else could do to stop it. And so now she had a choice to make.
She knew when the IEA—the Intelligence Enforcement Act—was brought into law that there was always going to be this possibility looming over her head. Especially since Grant was the one who appointed that stupid chief justice three years ago. But since the days of the peace treaties in the Middle East, she never thought that, outside of someone declaring war on America, she could ever have this happen to her. And Walker, there was a real winner! The only reason he got on the ticket in the first place was because he had the ability to swing Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania in the election. The man was a complete idiot. He had no idea how to even be an effective senator, let alone vice president of the United States. He would collapse at the thought of actually assuming the role of the president. The whole country would collapse. And that was what she was counting on now, as she planned her next move. She would still get what she had set out to get. Now it was just a matter of tweaking a few details. And so she made up her mind. She had a new plan. Mr. Chin would now have a decision to make. And she had to see Alex. She had a job for her to do.
“Mr. President,” Keene muttered. “That was …”
“Intense,” President Grant finished his thought. “Yes, I agree. But needed.”
The four of them sat in the Oval Office, having just finished the ceremony, if you could call it that. It wasn’t so much a ceremony as an event, Keene thought. Something of the kind he had never witnessed before. And the look on Marianne Levy’s face. It was utter shock and dismay. That brought a quick smile. But he quickly stifled it, knowing the mood was anything but joyous right now.
It happened so quickly, he thought. It was like a roller coaster that shot out of the gate and slammed to a stop two minutes later. President Grant had made his declaration then shown the video to the chief justice and VP Walker. Before the video went to a blank screen, he told them that he had Keene, Taylor, and Boz on assignment looking for the guy. He brought up the explosion at the warehouse in Chicago and then restated his position. Without a second thought, the chief justice and vice president nodded to each other. President Grant then produced the necessary documentation to make the order official, and the two of them signed it without a word. Marianne Levy had stood there, mouth agape. The shock of it all had rendered her speechless.
She did, however, manage to spew a few eloquent curse words as she stormed out of the office. And as she left, she turned to face President Grant and spat, “You’ll be sorry you ever crossed me!” And then she was gone.
The president thanked the chief justice for his time and excused him. He told VP Walker that he would speak with him in more detail in a little while. But for now he needed the vice president to step out.
“What now?” Keene asked.
“You three go do your jobs,” President Grant said.
“So you still want us to find this guy?�
� Taylor asked.
“I do,” the president affirmed. “But maybe not for the reason that you all think you need to find him.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Keene asked. Here we go again.
“It means what it means, Mr. Keene. I do want you to find this man. But”—he held up a hand—”and I do mean but, you are not to harm him in any way. Do I make myself clear?”
“Mr. President.”
“Mr. Keene,” the president held him off again. “I mean it. Do not harm this man. You may not subscribe to my thoughts on matters of faith. I get that. But I am still the president. And until someone invokes some other constitutional amendment to remove me from this office, I will be the one making these decisions. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir,” Keene said, frustrated.
“I know how you feel about this man,” the president said. “But I know deep within my soul that he is not HAMAS, al-Qaida, or any other terrorist. I truly believe that there is something bigger at play here. But I won’t abdicate my responsibility in protecting this nation either. That is why I’m giving you permission and the full resources of this office to find him. If I’m wrong, and he is somehow involved in a plot to bring down this nation, we will prosecute him to the fullest extent of my power.”
That assuaged Keene’s anxiousness a little bit. At least the president hadn’t completely lost his mind, he thought. But he still disagreed with the man. This was nothing more than an elaborate terrorist plot.
“But if I’m right,” the president continued, “then I—we—are going to need this man’s cooperation going forward.
The 13: Fall Page 12
