by Vince Flynn
The six FBI agents were waiting out of sight behind containers on either side of the truck lane. Schoyer watched them get into position and then passed on the word to let the trucks enter the yard. From the observation deck Shoyer had watched as the Madagascar and another ship to the north were unloaded. The blue cranes that moved the large forty-foot containers were almost impossible to ignore. Their hypnotic movement gave the special agent in charge of the Columbia, South Carolina, field office an idea.
When the first semi stopped in the loading zone, Schoyer brought his digital two-way radio to his mouth and told his people to get ready. What the drivers of the truck couldn’t see was that as the vehicle in front of them was being loaded, a second crane was swinging in a container and setting it down behind their empty trailer to pen them in. Schoyer could clearly see the faces of the suspects as they looked skyward watching the container intended for the truck in front of them swing into place.
Schoyer waited until the timing was just right and then told his people to go. Three agents assaulted each side of the truck. The first agent on each side yanked open the door while the next agent in line pulled his man from the cab and threw him to the ground. The third agents on each side covered the other two from a distance of ten feet with their weapons drawn. The two suspects were subdued and cuffed without even the chance to protest.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Sikorsky S-61 Sea King helicopter raced in over the capital city faster than usual. The pilots of Marine One didn’t share the president’s confidence that it was safe to return to the White House, but they weren’t in the habit of telling the president what to do, so, like the good Marine aviators that they were, they followed their orders and performed their duties to their utmost ability. The Secret Service, however, behaved slightly differently. Jack Warch, the special agent in charge of the presidential detail, had protested fiercely, first to Valerie Jones and then almost as fiercely, but certainly more respectfully, to the president himself.
Warch and the president had a good working relationship. The president almost always listened to the agent’s security concerns, and would often do what he could to ease Warch’s fears, but on the issue of going back to the White House in the midst of the crisis, the president could not be swayed. Warch put up a fight, but he knew when to quit. Just like the Marine aviators, when the president gave an order, you were expected and conditioned to follow it. Warch did officially state that he thought the move was premature and ill advised, but then went about arranging the president’s departure.
Irene Kennedy had watched the proceedings in her usual silent but perceptive way, reading between the lines and looking for the political motive behind each rationale for returning to the White House. Having worked her entire adult life for the CIA, Kennedy believed in keeping secrets. There was little doubt in her mind that it would be better if the American people never knew what had just happened down in Charleston. Life was difficult enough for the average person without having to worry about nuclear annihilation.
Unfortunately, burying the entire matter, while a nice thought, was for all intents and purposes no longer an option. The press was onto the story. She herself had implemented Operation Ark with the expectation that they wouldn’t make it past noon the next day before the press broke the story, and she was right. Not only had the reporter from the Times refused to back down when Jones spoke to him, but two additional reporters were now on the story. Poor Tim Webber, the White House press secretary, had his finger stuck in a dike that was about to lose all structural integrity. If they didn’t get back to the White House quickly and help him field questions, there was going to be a flood.
Kennedy was a person with high standards but realistic expectations. Concealing from the press, and the American people, what had taken place over the last twelve hours was hopeless. The more rational course was to get out in front of the story and manage it. This was where Kennedy agreed with both the president and his chief of staff. She would have preferred to keep the president securely tucked away at Site R until they had a better understanding of what they had just thwarted, but there were huge economic and political issues at play.
The economic issues were easy enough to understand. Financial markets thrived on stability. If the announcement of a hike in interest rates, or an increase in unemployment, could send the stock market plunging, it was not difficult to imagine how news of the evacuation of America’s political leadership from Washington would be received. Hayes didn’t mention the political repercussions, but Kennedy knew what he was thinking. He was not going to sit safely in a secure military bunker while average citizens went to work, thus opening himself up to charges of cowardice by his opponents.
Hayes had been very adamant that the quickest and best way to avoid any type of panic was for him to be seen behind his desk at the White House running the country. For the most part Kennedy agreed, and when asked by the president she said so. An impromptu plan of sorts was then initiated by Hayes. He ordered the vice president and the Secretary of Homeland Security to stay put at the Mount Weather facility and Treasury Secretary Keane to meet him at the White House. Secretary of State Berg was to remain at Site R with National Security Advisor Haik, and Kennedy and Jones were to accompany him to the White House.
Kennedy couldn’t remember how many times she’d been on Marine One, they were too numerous to count, but she could tell they were flying faster than normal as they came in low over the National Mall. She looked out the small window at the World War II Memorial. Workers were busy erecting bleachers and getting ready for the dedication ceremony on Saturday. Rapp was already on his way back, expected to arrive sometime this evening. In the morning she would have him start looking for any possible link between the thwarted attack and the ceremony.
The helicopter banked hard and everyone in back reached for their armrests. Kennedy looked up at Warch, who was sitting in a jump seat by the cockpit. Like most Secret Service agents he tended to carry himself in a very stoic manner, but Kennedy knew him well enough to elicit from him a roll of the eyes and a crooked frown. Warch was not in the least bit happy with the president’s decision to come back to the White House.
Gripping his leather armrests the president leaned out into the aisle and said, “Jack, are you trying to punish me?”
“Wouldn’t think of it, Mr. President. Just trying to make sure we get you back to the White House without getting you shot out of the sky.”
Hayes looked over at Kennedy and flashed her one of his engaging smiles. For the second time this morning he said to her, “Great job, Irene. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Thank you, Mr. President,” Kennedy allowed herself a smile, “but it’s Mitch who you should be thanking.”
“Don’t worry, I plan on it.”
He reached out and grabbed her hand with almost boyish enthusiasm and said, “We stopped the bastards, Irene! We stopped them cold. They took their best shot at us and we stopped them.”
Kennedy’s smile grew. “Yes we did, sir. Yes we did.”
The director of the CIA was not one to gloat, but it was hard to suppress the heady, almost intoxicating feeling of having just foiled a terrorist attack that would have destroyed Washington, D.C.
THE MOTORCADE STEADILY pushed its way through the heavy downtown traffic; three big black Chevy Suburbans with government plates, lights flashing, sirens whooping, and no police escort. When the vehicles pulled through the heavy black gate of the White House, the pack of reporters standing on the north lawn dropped everything and ran to get into position. It was rather comical watching the pencil-thin TV journalists jostle with the more sturdy photographers and cameramen. Normally there was a pecking order, and reporters who had the most seniority in covering the White House were politely allowed to the front, but not this morning. The pressure was on. Producers were barking over earpieces and editors were screaming into mobile phones. The rumor mill was in overdrive, and a scoop mentality was driving the pack
.
The dark tinted windows of the trucks frustrated even the brightest flashes of the cameras as the photographers tried to get a glimpse of who was inside the middle vehicle. Through experience they all knew to disregard the first and last truck, which would only contain burly men in suits, with short haircuts and guns. If you hung out in Washington, let alone at the White House, this type of setup was commonplace. Important people being driven about in dark vehicles, with dark windows and bodyguards, was very Washington.
To these savvy reporters, such a sight would normally elicit no more than a passing curiosity, but not this morning. The lack of information or usable footage of anyone either entering or leaving the White House drove the reporters, photographers, and cameramen into a paparazzi-like frenzy.
The doors to the first and third vehicle sprang open and a group of men wearing lapel pins, sunglasses, and flesh-colored earpieces stepped onto the curb and made a path for their boss. Attorney General Stokes got out of the backseat of the middle vehicle with Peggy Stealey on his heels.
Reporters began shouting questions, photographers snapped photos, and cameramen jostled everyone in an attempt to get more than one second of unobscured footage.
Stokes strode through the phalanx without flinching. He had been through this enough times to know it was important to stand tall, maintain a neutral expression, and ignore the cameras. Shielding your eyes from the flashes only made you look like you were trying to hide something.
“Attorney General Stokes!” one of the reporters shouted. “Is it true the president was evacuated from the White House last night?”
“Where is the president right now?” another reporter shouted.
Stokes stayed the course. His years of lawyering had taught him to usually ignore such questions, but this morning, after what they had just been through, he decided to have a little fun. “I’m headed inside to meet with him.”
The attorney general and the tall blonde entered the building, and left the press looking at each other skeptically. They’d been on the White House press secretary all morning demanding to know where the president was, and they’d gotten nowhere. The fact that the press secretary refused to answer their questions was proof that the president wasn’t where he was supposed to be.
A few reporters continued to shout questions after Stokes had entered the building, but stopped as soon as the heavy white doors were closed. When the din of griping had died down they grew aware of another noise. A noise they were all familiar with. They ran northward, away from the building, and began searching the sky. The distinctive thumping was that of a helicopter, and there was only one helicopter in the world that was allowed to penetrate the airspace around the White House.
One by one they began cursing Tim Webber for not allowing them to cover the arrival of the president from wherever the hell it was that he’d been.
Peggy Stealey was more than aware that this was her first time in the Oval Office, and she wished her appearance matched the occasion. She found her hair, makeup, and choice of clothes severely wanting. As always, Attorney General Stokes was dressed impeccably in one of his three-button Hugo Boss suits. Stealey was sure one of his people had gone over to his house where Martin’s perfect little wife had everything packed in the attorney general’s Orvis garment bag.
Stealey didn’t have people, not yet anyway, so she was still stuck in the boring gray Talbots pantsuit that she’d thrown on in the middle of the night. The outfit was to women’s clothing what vanilla was to ice cream. There was absolutely nothing exciting or memorable about it, and if that wasn’t bad enough she didn’t even have anything to dress it up with. No necklace, no earrings, not even a bracelet, a watch, or bejeweled hair clip. She was stuck with a plain elastic band to hold her signature blond hair back and a nondescript pair of black Jill St. John flats on her feet.
Stealey had been in the White House dozens of times to meet with other senior administration officials, and had even sat in the back row of a few cabinet meetings. But on those occasions she was just one face among dozens. This morning was different in so many ways. This was history in the making, and Stealey was planning on helping shape it. Stokes had told her about his rebuke of the vice president and the approving look he’d received from the president. The opportunity was there. All they had to do was take it, and Stealey had a plan that would suit everyone’s needs.
President Hayes entered the Oval Office with a spring in his step. Jones and Kennedy followed a few steps behind. Stealey felt a little better upon noticing that the president was in a pair of khaki pants and a white button-down shirt. That brief reprieve vanished a second later as a diminutive man in a starched white jacket whisked into the room from the opposite direction. He was holding a dark blue suit, pressed shirt, tie, and a pair of shiny dress shoes.
The president ignored his two guests and said, “Carl, you’re the best.”
With a beaming smile the president’s Navy steward, who had stood his post for twenty-two years, said, “It’s nice to have you back at the White House, sir.”
Hayes had no doubt that Carl knew more about what had transpired over the last twelve hours than all but his top advisors. “Thank you, Carl. Would you please hang that stuff in my bathroom and bring us some coffee?”
“Absolutely, sir.”
Hayes turned to face Stokes and Stealey, who were standing by the fireplace. He glanced at Stealey, and she noticed the brief questioning look as he tried to place her. The look was very subtle. He tried to mask it with a smile, and then his eyes moved quickly to Stokes. Stealey guessed miserably that given her appearance, it was likely that the president thought her a member of the attorney general’s security detail and not one of his top lawyers.
The president clapped his hands together and said, “Martin, you and your people did a phenomenal job this morning.”
“Thank you, Mr. President. It was a great team effort.”
“It sure was.”
“Mr. President,” called out Kennedy as she walked behind the president’s desk, “would you mind if I used your phone to contact General Flood?”
“Of course not.”
There was a knock on the door and this time a woman entered carrying a garment bag. “Excuse me, Mr. President.” The young woman immediately turned her attention to the president’s chief of staff who was in the corner talking on her cell phone. “Val, I’ve got your stuff.”
Jones covered the phone. “Put it in my office.”
Stealey made a mental note to pack that “go bag” the first chance she got. Never again would she be caught so utterly unprepared.
“Mr. President,” said Stokes, “I’d like to introduce you to my deputy assistant attorney general in charge of counterterrorism, Peggy Stealey.”
Hayes smiled as he walked across the office, his right hand extended. “I think we’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“More or less…yes, sir.”
“Peggy,” said Stokes, “was a big part of what went down this morning. She was the one bringing everything together on the domestic front.”
“Well then you have my gratitude and my thanks.” The president clasped her hand with both of his.
Her boss had just exaggerated quite a bit, but Stealey wasn’t about to argue with him. If they wanted to give her credit, who was she to argue? “Thank you, sir.”
Kennedy hung up with General Flood and joined the group. “Hello, Peggy.”
“Good morning, Doctor Kennedy.” Stealey was surprised that Kennedy had remembered her name. They had met only twice before, and both times in a large group.
“General Flood says SEAL Team Six found a sizable amount of molded C-4 plastique explosives. Based on the initial estimate they are guessing that the explosive charge was designed to be placed around the bomb’s physics package we found in Charleston.”
“An implosion device.”
“Exactly.”
“What about the other two ships?” asked the president.
&nbs
p; “The search is underway, but nothing so far.”
“We’re not thinking a second bomb at this point, are we?” asked Hayes.
“It’s too early to rule that out completely, but based on the pattern we’re seeing my guess is we’re going to find other key components used to assemble a full-up nuclear weapon.”
“How far are the other two ships from the coast?”
“Over sixty miles. The Coast Guard is handling the situation with the Navy providing backup.”
“When can we expect an answer?”
“Within the hour. The initial sweep on each vessel came up negative for nuclear material. Now they’re moving cargo around to get at the specific containers.”
“Let me know as soon as we find anything out.”
“I will.” Kennedy checked her watch. “If it’s all right with you, sir, I’d like to go down to the Situation Room, and get caught up on the complete picture.”
“By all means. I’ll join you in a little bit.”
Kennedy left, and Jones came over to the group, a look of exasperation on her face. “The press…I swear there are times when I think the Communists had the right idea.”
Everyone laughed.
“What’s the problem now?” asked Hayes.
“Nothing. At least nothing I need to concern you with at the moment.”
“You sure?”
Jones hesitated. “I’ve called a strategy meeting in thirty minutes. It can wait until then. The simple fact that you’re physically here at the White House has taken the wind out of their sails for the moment.” The chief of staff ran a hand through her tousled hair.
“Val,” said Stokes, “I’d like you to meet Peggy Stealey, my deputy assistant attorney general in charge of counterterrorism.”
Stealey shook Jones’s hand and noted the dark circles under the chief of staff’s eyes. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so bad about her appearance.
