"Of course. But there is one thing-"
"Yes?"
"To do a good job, I'll need my own people."
"Such as?"
"Agent Martha Breckinridge would make an excellent addition to the White House Detail."
"Consider her promoted."
Inside the Oval Office, a telephone rang. The President ignored it for a moment as he studied Garrison, meeting his gaze directly before walking to the desk and picking up the receiver. Garrison closed the door quietly.
He walked downstairs to the command post. A shift change was in progress. Agents checking weapons, going over rosters and security surveys, signing in and signing out equipment. There was a hush as they noticed him. The agents moved to him and shook hands one by one. Moving on through the office, winding his way through the maze of desks and chalkboards, Garrison accepted more greetings.
Later, Garrison departed the White House in an unmarked car. The sky was a bright azure backdrop to a band of clouds, bright white and fleecy, illumined from within. For the first time in weeks, the humidity had dissipated and there was a steady, cool breeze. Passing by the guard booth at the Northeast Gate, he looked back. He'd viewed the scene a hundred times: the ancient elm trees bent over to the sidewalk from the White House lawn, a circle of red tulips surrounding the fountain. Along Pennsylvania Avenue, tourists were busily posing for and taking photographs.
Garrison told himself that, for all its intrigue and venality, Washington, D.C., was still a place of hope. He knew that during the War of 1812, the British had burned the White House down to the ground. But things had returned to normal. He walked by Blair House, where, in 1950, White House Detail agents had been in a gunfight with terrorists who tried to assassinate President Harry Truman. But old Harry never missed a beat. Maybe that's what it was about D.C. that made it different - its permanence. Through riots, demonstrations, assassinations, war, and corruption, Abe Lincoln still pondered, the Marines still kept Old Glory at the top of the pole, and the tourists continued to file past the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, holding their children by the hand.
Garrison stopped at Margit Holakoui's flower shop. After introducing himself as the newly appointed White House Detail Agent in Charge, he purchased a dozen red roses at the White House discount price.
Carrying the flowers in his gun hand, he got back in the car and headed for Prince George's County Hospital to visit Martha Breckinridge.
****
About the Author
GERALD PETIEVICH is a former U.S. Secret Service Agent. Mr. Petievich numbers among his novels To Live and Die in L.A., Boiling Point (published as Money Men) and The Sentinel, all of which were made into major motion pictures His other novels include Earth Angels, Shakedown, To Die in Beverly Hills, One-Shot Deal, Paramour and The Quality of the Informant.
The Sentinel Page 29
