“The country needs reassurance, Dutch,” Birdie said. “They need a calming influence. They need a known quantity, a leader they know and can trust.”
Birdie reached into his coat pocket and pulled out Dutch’s resignation letter. “This is that cold day, Mr. President,” Birdie said.
But Dutch was already beyond that issue. His resignation would go into effect, but he already knew it couldn’t possibly go into effect at a time like this. Because if he knew anything, he knew that the timing of these successive bombings didn’t occur by happenstance. The attacks were undoubtedly planned months in advance. All they were waiting for, like most cowardly terrorists, was the absolute best time to attack. When word came down that the President of the United States was resigning, and it would all be official after his meeting with the Speaker, they timed their attacks to coincide with that meeting. Whoever decided to attack the United States of America did so at what Dutch was certain was their optimal time. So Dutch had no illusions about what he had to do.
But convincing Gina of what he had to do was another matter entirely.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Gina sat alone in the library, in one of the two wingback chairs she and Dutch often sat on and talked for hours. It started during her recovery. Dutch would often bring her into this room and they would relax. It was always their peaceful place.
Until now.
Something was wrong in the country and there was nothing peaceful about it.
While Christian, and the Secret Service, oversaw Little Walt in the front of the house, Dutch had asked Gina to go into the library and wait for him there. He had to field yet another call and then would join her.
That was nearly half an hour ago. Now he was coming through the door.
Gina looked up as he closed the door. And she could see the change in him already. Gone was that vibrant, happy Dutch who just hours before had been joking with her about sweat. Now was the serious Dutch, a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders again, and a man who had nothing to joke about.
Her heart melted.
He grabbed the second chair and sat it in front of Gina. Then he sat down and crossed his legs.
“Sorry it took so long,” he said to her.
“Tell me what’s happening, Dutch? What is this all about? Is it Al-Qaeda?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“They said they were determined to strike in the U.S. again. Is that what’s going on?”
“CIA isn’t ready to rule it out, but we can’t rule it in, either, at this point. We just don’t know.”
Gina’s face took on that earnest look Dutch always saw when she was disturbed. “How many people have died?” she asked him.
A thump of pain flicked through Dutch’s body. “Eight hundred so far,” he said.
Gina’s already disturbed face took on a look of grave concern. “Oh, Dutch,” she said heartfelt. “All of those people!”
“It was carefully choreographed. They struck in small town America, where there wasn’t the kind of surveillance the big cities enjoy, and they struck with what we believe were pre-set explosions.”
“And no-one’s claiming credit?”
“Not yet. But that’s why,” Dutch said as he uncrossed his legs, leaned forward, and took Gina’s hand in his hand, “I need you to understand.”
Gina stared at him. “Understand what?”
This was one of the hardest things he would ever have to say to Gina, and it broke his heart that he had to say it. But he had to. “I need you to understand that I can’t resign right now.”
Gina’s heart began to pound. “What do you mean?”
“I have to calm a terrified nation, Gina. They don’t know if this is a one-day event, an everyday event, or if more explosions will rock their world this very day. There’s panic out there.”
“I understand that,” Gina insisted, “but Crader’s in charge. Crader can calm the nation.”
“No, he can’t.”
“Yes, he can, Dutch! You made him your vice president because you believed he could run this nation. You decided to resign because you believed the country would be in good hands with Crader. Why can’t he do his job and handle this? Why does it always have to fall on you?”
“It’s not always me.”
“Yes, it is!” Gina said firmly. “I’m not taking that back. You’re their knight in shining armor who always runs to their rescue. And Walt and I have to get caught up in those rescues.”
“I know that, Gina.”
“When we got married you were already president. I know that. And I know what I was getting myself into. But I didn’t put any pressure on you. You were the one who said you wanted to resign. You were the one who said Walt and I would never again have to so much as visit Washington. You said that.” Tears were in her eyes. “And I believed you.”
Dutch looked at her tear-stained eyes. And his heart ached even more. “What do you want from me, Gina?”
“I want you to give up the armor. Give it to Crader. Let him be their knight. Let him be the hero.”
“This isn’t about being any gotdamn hero!” Dutch said furiously as he stood from his seat, his hands balled into fists of tension. “This country is at war with an enemy we don’t even know. There is no way in hell I can resign right now!”
Gina watched as Dutch began to pace the room. She hated putting him through this, but going back to Washington wasn’t an option for her anymore.
“You can counsel Crader behind the scenes,” she said, “and advise him.”
“That won’t work.”
“It will work if you’ll try it! I have confidence in Crader.”
“I have confidence in him, too. But he can’t calm the nation, Gina. They don’t know him like that. He’s never been in this kind of position. I have to let them know that in this strange new world they’re experiencing today that there is still some consistency. Only I can do that. They know me. They trust me.”
Dutch never tooted his own horn, but he knew he had to pull out all the stops to convince Gina. “It won’t be forever,” he continued. “It’ll only be until the country can get a better handle on what’s going on. Until the panic subsides. Then we’ll return home.”
Gina’s heart slammed against her chest. “Then we’ll return home?” she asked him. “What are you talking about? You expect Walt and me to go back to Washington with you?”
Dutch looked at her. “Of course I expect it,” he said. “I’m not leaving my family behind. Where I go, you and Walt go.”
But Gina was already shaking her head. Dutch hurried to her side. He sat in the chair in front of her, leaned forward, and took her hands again. “We go as a unit, Gina. We have to.”
“No,” Gina said. “I can’t.”
Dutch gripped her hands. “You can.”
But she was still shaking her head, and looking around, seeking reason. “I can’t go back there,” she said. “I can’t relive that, Dutch. I can’t----”
Dutch saw the panic began to surge in her. “Gina, listen to me,” he said. “It’s going to be okay.”
“No, it’s not! It’s never okay when I go there. You can’t ask that of me, Dutch, not after you told me I never had to go back.”
“Honey, this isn’t something that was planned. You can do this. I’ll be right there, Gina. I’ll protect you.”
“But it’s not about protection. It’s about that fishbowl, that life, the vultures that circle us as if we were designed for their pleasure. It’s about what happened to me at Jade’s house. I still have nightmares, Dutch.”
Dutch rubbed her hands. “I know, sweetheart.”
“I walked through that door and saw Jade standing there, and I thought everything was alright. Then I heard those gun shots.”
Dutch wanted to pull her in his arms if it would stop her from re-living that awful day. But he also knew she needed to retell it until it no longer held power in her life.
“When I heard those gun shots
,” she continued, “I thought Jade was in trouble. I thought somebody was shooting Jade. And I remember thinking how you were going to be so devastated to know that something had happened to your little girl. I didn’t know it was me, that I was the one in trouble, until I started falling. I still dream about that fall, Dutch.”
She looked him dead in the eye. “I can’t go back there. You can’t ask that of me.”
Dutch closed his eyes. He wished to God he didn’t have to ask her. He wished to God this craziness hadn’t happened right now, when there was no way in hell he could walk away now.
He opened his eyes. Gina had tears in hers. And he knew he had to be firm. It broke his heart, but he knew he could no longer ask her, he had to tell her.
“I have to go back, Gina. There’s no two ways about it. I have to. And you and our son are coming with me.”
“But I told you I can’t.”
“I know what you told me. But I’m telling you that you can, and you will come with me. Now go upstairs and pack a few things. They’re preparing my departure now. I’ve got to address the nation.”
Gina felt as if she’d been hit in the gut. She knew how Dutch could be when his mind was made up. She was the only one who could change it, but it always required some epic battle before he would even consider changing. And with the craziness going on all across this country, she had no heart for any fight.
She stood up, and walked out of the library.
After she left, Dutch buried his face in his hands.
“Lord, forgive me,” he said.
After another round of conference calls with his cabinet, world leaders, and Crader, Dutch walked out of his office with his entourage of agents, staff, and Birdie Camp. The presidential motorcade was ready to depart and Air Force One was at the ready, too. But when Christian came downstairs just as the entourage had emerged with word that Gina was not going, his sense of cool was about to reach its limit.
“What do you mean she’s not going?” Birdie Camp angrily asked Christian. “The country needs her husband!”
Christian, however, directed his comments to Dutch. “When I told her that you were ready to leave,” he said, “she told me that you can leave all you want, but she wasn’t going.”
“Oh, this is absurd!” Birdie declared. “Our country is at war and she won’t stand by our president?”
Dutch looked at Birdie. “Don’t you dare talk about my wife that way,” he said. “You and the staff get in the cars. I’ll be there.”
Birdie was a powerful man in his own right, and he wasn’t too keen on Dutch Harber giving him any orders. But he knew Dutch was right. He had no call interfering in the squabbles of a couple, even the First Couple.
“Yes, sir, Mr. President,” he said and led the staff out of the house.
Christian remained beside Dutch. “Get Little Walt,” he ordered him.
But Christian had a ready comeback. “She said no, sir,” he said.
Dutch looked at him. “She said no about what?”
“Getting Little Walt. She said she wasn’t going, and her baby wasn’t going either.”
Now Dutch had had it. Gina was taking this shit too far. He hurried up the stairs, taking them two at a time, until he was hurrying down the long corridor that led to the master bedroom. He knew this day would be trying. As soon as he saw all of that destruction and carnage he knew it was not going to be a good day. But he never dreamed his biggest fight would be with his own wife.
He threw open the bedroom door. Gina was standing at the window, her arms folded.
“Enough is enough, Gina,” he said. “Now let’s go!”
She turned to him. “I told you I wasn’t going!”
“And I told you have to go! Now I don’t wanna hear any more about it. I know this is painful for you. I know you don’t want to ever see that place again. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to leave my family here without being here to protect them. Now you get your shit together and get your ass downstairs, Gina, and I’m not telling you again!”
“You didn’t have to tell me this time,” Gina declared. “I told you I wasn’t going, and I’m not going!”
Her obstinacy riled something inside of Dutch. This day was ass-backwards already, and now his wife too? He hurried to her, grabbed her arms, and slung her against the side wall, her back hitting the wall.
“Now you listen to me, Regina Harber. I’m not fucking around with you anymore. I have to be in DC. That means you and Walter have to be there too. So stop this nonsense and get your ass ready to go and get it ready now!”
He shoved her when she continued to just stand there. But Gina wasn’t backing down. “I’m not going!” she yelled. “I said I wasn’t going and I’m not going and you can’t make me! I can’t go, Dutch. It’s too soon!”
“Okay, fine,” Dutch said as he headed for the exit. “Stay here. Gotdammit!” He began hurrying out of the bedroom.
At first Gina didn’t understand why he would give up so quickly. That wasn’t like Dutch at all. Then it clicked. “Little Walt,” she said, and then she ran out of the room.
“He’s staying with me, Dutch!” she yelled as she ran down the hall and up to him. “You can’t take him away from me!” She slammed her fist into her husband’s back just as he was about to go into Little Walt’s bedroom.
Her lick barely stumbled him but he turned around with his hand raised, ready to slap the shit out of Gina.
But when he saw her recoil, and he realized what he was about to do to the woman he loved, he froze. What in the world was he thinking? She nearly lost her life in DC just a month ago, and he was angry that she refused to go back there? And then, to add insult to injury, he was going to take her baby too?
He dropped his hand, stared at her, and then pulled her into his arms.
Gina was in tears by the time Dutch embraced her. Because she was torn too. She knew he was stressed beyond measure already and he hadn’t even gotten to Washington yet. And she knew that this pain was all because of her.
Both of them felt the sting of this sudden wrong turn on a day that started out so right. They were laughing and joking earlier. Now they were at each other’s throat.
They stopped embracing. Dutch felt embarrassed about his anger, which angered him even more.
“Kiss Little Walt for me,” he said as he kissed her on her cheek. “I’ll give you a call when I can.”
Gina watched him as he headed down the hall, and then the stairs. She leaned against the wall, closed her eyes, and cried.
When Dutch came out of his home, his staff and the Speaker were already seated in the waiting limousines. The presidential limousine, however, was vacant. The agent-in-charge walked up to Dutch as he stood at the top of the steps.
“She’s staying, sir?” he asked him.
“She’s staying,” Dutch said regrettably. “That’s why I want you to triple security here.”
“I will, sir.”
“My wife and child will be here without me, and until I know more about the threat we face, I don’t want them leaving this estate.”
“Yes, sir.”
“My wife will battle you about that, but you have my orders. She’s not to go anywhere until I get back here, or at least until the threat is averted. I don’t care if you have to lock her in this house, you’d had better not disobey my order.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dutch is about to begin walking down the steps. Then he remembered Jade and Sam. “Oh, and make sure security is beefed up for my daughter and her mother.”
But the agent was ahead of him. “That’s already been taken care of, sir. Because of the unknown nature of the threat, we have them en route to the White House now. For their own protection.”
“Did they have a problem with that decision?”
“None whatsoever, sir. They didn’t resist at all.”
At least Jade and Sam accepted his help.
“When do you think you’ll be back, sir?” the agent asked.
Dutch didn’t even want to think about that. “Soon,” he said as he began walking down the steps. “I pray soon.”
Once he arrived at the limo, however, the agent opening the door suddenly looked behind him.
“Sir,” the agent said, motioning his head toward the top of the steps.
Dutch turned around. Gina, holding Little Walt’s hand, was just coming out of the house. When Dutch saw them, his heart rammed against his chest.
“Daddy!” Little Walt yelled as soon as he saw his father, and then he tore away from Gina’s hand. He took off down the steps, with agents attempting to keep up with him, as he ran up and jumped into Dutch’s arms.
“Careful, son,” Dutch said with a smile as he gladly embraced him.
Then he looked up the steps at Gina. She remained at the top of the steps. She was terrified, Dutch could not only see it, but feel it, and she was torn. Everything within her wanted to stay. Everything within her wanted to stand by Dutch.
Dutch knew what he was asking of her. He knew what a major step this was for her. He therefore placed Little Walt back on his feet and, with him, began walking up the steps. When he was near enough, he reached out his hand to her.
At first Gina just stood there, her entire body shaking. Then she took his hand.
As Dutch walked down the steps with his wife and son, he could feel something shift deep within him. He loved Gina more, at this very moment, than he’d ever loved another human being in his entire life. She was willing to face her fear, to go against her very nature, for his sake. And knowing something that profound, and that incredible, humbled Dutch Harber.
Little Walt jumped into the limo first, while Dutch placed his arm around Gina’s waist, and guided her in.
CHAPTER TWELVE
LaLa sat on the couch in Crader’s West Wing office and watched as he fielded yet another call from yet another anxious governor affected by the rash of bombings. When he hung up, she could see the tension all over his face.
“What do they want from you?” she asked him.
DUTCH AND GINA: WHAT HE DID FOR LOVE Page 11
