THE 13: STAND BOOK TWO

by ROBBIE CHEUVRONT

  Because of that, she and Farid sat parked on Seventeenth Street NW outside the White House perimeter. It was as close as they could get, what with the added security since the Chinese invasion. They had been here now for almost forty minutes and still hadn’t seen anything yet.

  “What are we looking for again?” Farid asked.

  Alex pointed across the street. “Since the invasion, everyone who works inside the White House enters and leaves the grounds through that exit.” Another bit of information she’d found out. “Secretaries, staffers, Sykes, Jennings, all of them.”

  “So we’re waiting for Sykes to leave.”

  She pulled the binoculars back up to look. “Yes.”

  “And then we follow him home?”

  “Yes.”

  “Won’t he have security?”

  “Maybe.”

  “And then what?”

  She lowered the binoculars again. “And then nothing. Remember, I told you, we need to just watch his routine for a day or so.” She pulled the binoculars back up. “Unless…an opportunity presents itself.”

  She continued to look for another twenty minutes before she saw a line of cars appear at the guard shack. Two limos, bookended by two blacked-out SUVs.

  Farid leaned across her to get a better look. “Is that—”

  “The president. Yes,” she said. “And that means that Sykes will probably be along in just a few minutes.”

  They had been listening to the news on the radio and had learned that Walker was scheduled to appear on at least three news stations this evening. And that meant that business at the White House was done for the day.

  The president’s motorcade had barely left the guard station when another blacked-out SUV appeared at the guard station. Alex raised the glasses once more. A broad smile crossed her face at what she saw. She threw the binoculars into the backseat and put the car in DRIVE.

  “Is that him?” Farid asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “And he’s not alone.”

  “Who?”

  “Jennings.” She waited for the SUV to exit the guard station and pull out onto the street and get ahead of them. She was surprised, though, that even after a few seconds, no one else followed them.

  “No security detail,” Farid observed.

  She smiled and thought to herself, Opportunity?

  She waited for the SUV to go through the light and then pulled out behind them. She had been following marks for over a decade. She had pretty much mastered the art of tailing someone in a car. But the man driving the SUV in front of her was the master. If she didn’t do this perfectly, Jennings would spot her. And then she would have a problem. A hundred different scenarios ran through her mind of how Jennings would turn the tables on them, should she be careless and allow that to happen. None of which she wanted to deal with.

  Fortunately, traffic was heavy. It was easy for her to stay back and unnoticed. But after about thirty minutes, she became curious. Unless Sykes and Jennings were neighbors, they weren’t headed to Sykes’s house. She had been this way before. With Marianne Levy. Marianne had driven her out here once to show her where Jennings lived—just in case she should ever need to pay him a visit. After that, she had studied the area and found at least three different routes to and from Jennings’s house.

  Opportunity?

  “Hang on,” she said to Farid. At the next light, she turned.

  “What are you doing? I thought we were following them.”

  “We are. But traffic is starting to lighten up. And I don’t think they’re headed to Sykes’s place.”

  She explained how she’d been to Jennings’s place before. And that, if she was right, they could take a different route and get there about the same time. “And we won’t run the risk of Jennings spotting us,” she finished.

  “What if you’re wrong?”

  She felt a small tingle in her spine. “I’m not wrong.”

  Thirty minutes later, she turned onto the street where Jennings lived. She drove at a decent speed—not too fast for anyone paying attention to notice, but not too slow, either. She just wanted to make a pass and see if Jennings was already there. She used her peripheral to look as they passed. No SUV.

  Opportunity.

  Jennings, strangely enough, was apparently not too concerned with privacy. His house was an older ranch-style that sat back from the road on a corner lot, with a long drive that led up to a two-car garage. There was no fence. No protective line of trees. Nothing. The only thing separating his home from his neighbor’s was a small row of hedges that lined the left side of the front yard. The right side bordered the cross streets in front. If she parked down the street, on the cross street, she could see Jennings’s drive and still be several hundred yards away. She stopped at the next intersection and turned right, to make the block.

  A few minutes later, she and Farid were parked fifty yards away, in a line of other parked cars along the street. And given the direction Jennings was headed when she departed from him, they should see him roll right up to the intersection up ahead and then turn left—away from them. From there, the driveway was another immediate left. She had the perfect view. She crouched down in the seat and waited.

  Less than three minutes later, a blacked-out SUV rolled up to the stop sign and turned left. Then it turned again. Into Jennings’s drive. Alex watched as the car pulled up to the garage and stopped.

  First Jennings got out of the driver’s side. She saw Sykes come around from the passenger side. Then the rear driver’s side door opened.

  She felt her breath catch as she watched the third man—whom she hadn’t seen when they pulled out from the guard station—get out of the SUV. He stopped and looked around the area. She reached behind her and put her hand on the Glock—fully expecting to see the man come rushing toward them. After a couple of seconds, he began walking slowly, continuing to look around the surrounding area. Finally, he followed Jennings and Sykes into the house.

  She felt that tingle in her spine begin to fade away.

  Hello, Jon Keene.

  “What are you doing, Jon? Get in here.”

  Keene took another look around the area. Something was off.

  “Jon!”

  He swept his gaze around again but couldn’t see anything suspicious. He walked up the drive and went inside.

  “What are you doing out there?” Jennings asked.

  “Nothing. Just looking around.”

  “Well, get in here. Help Bob get his things from the guest room. I’ll fix some coffee.”

  “Forget the coffee,” Sykes called from down the hall. “What’s for dinner?”

  Jennings looked at Keene. “He thinks this is a restaurant and I’m some kind of chef or something. Three days I’ve been dealing with this.” Then, yelling back down the hall, “How ’bout I send you a bill for eating all my food, huh? What about that?”

  Sykes came back into the room laughing. “Hey, it’s not my fault you’re a great cook.”

  Jennings walked into the kitchen. “How ’bout it, Jon? You hungry?”

  Keene really wanted nothing else but to get Sykes home. Sokolov was in DC. He could feel it. And he wanted to catch her. “I’m good. Thanks.”

  “Well, I’m not,” Sykes said. “I could eat the south end of a northbound skunk. So what are we having?”

  Jennings rolled his eyes. “I’ll see what I have.” Then, “Jon, turn Fox News on and see what’s going on with Walker.”

  Keene found the remote for the TV and turned it on. The interview was already over, but the pundits were all seated around a big glass table debating it.

  “…I don’t know, Jeff. Walker makes a pretty good argument. And who’s to say that God didn’t send this Prophet to warn us? I mean, I’m a man of faith. Surely it’s not out of the realm of possibility. I think Walker is right. Nolan is dangerous, stirring up a conflict between us and the Chinese right now. We have enough problems to worry about.”

  “Listen, Chris, I’m not sayi
ng that you’re wrong. But Walker took an oath to protect this country at all costs. And he swore that oath on a Bible! Don’t you think that God would honor that?…”

  A few others jumped in and gave their opinions. The whole scene was one step below a circus. Jennings came around the counter and told him to change it to CNN. Walker was going there right after Fox. Keene did and saw that it was the same thing. Except they were all weighing in on what Walker had said over at Fox, while talking about all the things the people at Fox failed to ask. The lead guy at the table seemed to satisfy them, though, when he said, “Well, in about twenty minutes, Butch will be sitting down with the president. You can bet he’s going to ask some hard questions.”

  Keene tossed the remote on the couch beside him and tuned out. Something still didn’t feel right. He sensed it when they pulled in the drive. But he couldn’t put his finger on it. Maybe it was just because he was so angry with Jennings over taking Boz out of Sykes’s house. He was still trying to figure out how he was going to handle that problem after he got Sykes home.

  The phone ringing in the kitchen brought him back. He turned to see his boss pick up the receiver. Jennings nodded a couple of times and said, “Uh-huh…yes…that’s great news. Yes…someone will be over soon. Thank you very much.” He hung up the phone and looked at Keene. “Good news, Jon. Megan’s awake. She’s asking for you.”

  Keene felt his heart skip. Megan’s awake! He sighed a huge sigh of relief. He felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted.

  The news anchor on the television was giving everyone a five-minute warning. Walker was about to go live. Jennings came out from the kitchen and stood by the couch. “Jon, why don’t you go?”

  Keene felt an immediate surge of anticipation. He wanted to. More than anything. But he wasn’t about to leave Jennings and Sykes alone. “I can’t. I need to be here.”

  Jennings looked at him. “You need to go see Megan. There’s no telling how long she’ll be awake. They said they have her pretty sedated. Bob and I will stay here, eat some food, and watch Walker do his interviews. We’ll be right here when you get back.”

  Keene had a thought. He’d already been toying around with the idea on the drive here. “What if we call Ramirez and the boys? They could sit outside while I’m gone. Besides, I think I can use them at the house.”

  Jennings walked back to the phone in the kitchen. He picked up the receiver and dialed. “Yes, this is Director Jennings. I need to speak with General Markus.”

  Jennings spent the next two minutes on the phone. He informed the general that he wanted Ramirez’s team to report to his home forthwith. He gave General Markus the address and thanked him. He hung up the phone. “Ramirez and his team will be here within the hour. Markus is sending them as we speak. Does that make you happy?”

  Keene smiled a little. “I guess it’ll have to do.”

  Jennings grabbed the keys to the SUV off the counter and tossed them to him. “Get out of here. Go tell Taylor I need her back in the office by Monday.”

  Keene caught the keys but stayed put. “Thanks, but I’ll wait till Ramirez gets here.”

  Jennings shook his head. “No. Go now, you stubborn mule. Ramirez’s team will be here within an hour. Megan might be asleep again by then. And I need to know if she has any information that might be pertinent to what we’re dealing with.”

  Keene hadn’t really thought about that. All he was concerned with was just seeing her. He had to get his head on straight. Thinking about her was becoming a distraction. And as much as he wanted to just sit and talk with her—to just catch up on the last five months they’d missed—he knew Jennings was right. Megan could have important information.

  He stood up and walked to the door. “I’ll call if she has anything. But you call me when Ramirez and his team get here.”

  Jennings said he would.

  Keene got in the SUV and backed out of the drive.

  Alex watched as Jon Keene exited Jennings’s house, got in the SUV, and left. And in a big hurry, at that. She didn’t know what to make of it. Obviously, Jennings and Sykes weren’t planning on going anywhere. Had Keene left for the night? Was Sykes staying at Jennings’s house?

  She smiled to herself. You’re pretty smart there, Jennings.

  She knew there was a possibility that Jennings knew she was alive—especially since she didn’t have the chance to make sure Agent Taylor was dead. That was something she still needed to rectify. And if Jennings knew she was alive, then he also knew it was more than probable that she would show up here in DC. She guessed he figured that keeping him and Sykes together was smarter than being isolated. Hence, Jon Keene being there with them.

  But if that were the case…where was Keene going? And why would he leave them vulnerable like that? He must’ve been called away to something extremely important to leave Jennings and Sykes in such a hurry.

  And then she realized. Keene wouldn’t leave anyone vulnerable like that, let alone the director of the CIA and the secretary of the navy—the two most important people in the country, next to President Walker. Someone else must be on his way.

  She felt the tingle in her spine return.

  An idea quickly began to take shape in her mind. If Keene ran out of there like that, then whatever it was that caused him to leave wasn’t planned. So neither would backup security be. And that meant whoever was coming, it would take them—she figured—at least twenty minutes, at best.

  Opportunity!

  She pulled her Glock out of the holster and checked to make sure she had a round in the chamber. She felt inside her jacket—just to make sure the extra magazines were there.

  Farid looked at her. “What are you doing?”

  She reached up and killed the dome light then opened the door. “Stay here and don’t move. I’ll be back in less than ten minutes.”

  Opportunity.

  CHAPTER 54

  Boz got to the news station just as Walker was finishing up. He had been listening on the radio the whole way.

  Walker did a great job, he thought. He fielded every question thrown at him. And for someone who hadn’t been a believer for very long, Boz was impressed with his knowledge of scripture and how he used it to respond to the interviewers’ questions and comments.

  The best part of the whole interview was when Walker asked them point-blank, “Do you honestly think this nation can handle another war with China right now? Look at us! Our military is stretched. Our resources are thin. They have over a million foot soldiers over there now. The only way to effectively win would be to completely destroy every square inch of land west of the mountains. And what good would that do us, Jeff? Sure, we might have defeated the Chinese, but at what cost? How many innocent lives are you willing to just throw away over there? How much of our land are you willing to obliterate?”

  That had left them almost speechless. But Walker hadn’t been finished. He kept on.

  “Joe Nolan is a dangerous, power-hungry man. He has the audacity to stand in front of a news camera and accuse me of not fulfilling my sworn oath to our Constitution. Well, let me tell you something, Mr. Nolan. When I took that oath, I had my hand on a Bible, just like every president before me. And If I recall correctly, I said the same words that every one of my predecessors have uttered—‘So help me, God.’ Who, by the way, is the very God you deny even exists!

  “Listen, fellas. I don’t sit here and pretend to be perfect. I’m not saying I have all the answers. But one thing I’ve never been is a liar. I love this country with every ounce of my being. And I would never stand in front of the American people and ask them to buy into some half-cooked story about God sending a Prophet to help us get back to where we need to be if it weren’t true.”

  After that, Walker had finished his interview with a plea. “Ladies and gentlemen”—Boz imagined Walker looking directly into the camera with a desperate look on his face—“Ladies and gentlemen, please, I beg you. Do not let Joe Nolan deceive you. There is no hope for our natio
n if we choose to go down the path that he is suggesting. The same Prophet who initially delivered God’s warning to us before, now says that God has chosen to restore us. I can’t tell you I know exactly what that looks like. However, I can tell you that God never fails to fulfill a promise. If you allow Joe Nolan to lead this country back into war with China—well, God help us all.”

  Boz flashed his ID to the man at the desk and was shown down the hall to where Walker was.

  “You did a great job in there, Mr. President.”

  Walker shook his hand. “Thank you, Boz. It felt good—getting in front of that camera and getting a chance to expose Nolan. Let’s just hope the American people were able to see it.”

  Boz was reminded of a passage of scripture just then. “Remember, sir. ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ ”

  Walker smiled. “Matthew 19:26. It’s become one of my favorite verses.”

  The head of Walker’s detail came over. “Sir, we’re ready to leave. CNN is waiting for us. Can I go ahead and tell them we’re en route?”

  “Yes, Agent Carnes. Thank you.” As the agent turned away, Walker called him back. “Agent Carnes, you know Mr. Hamilton, yes?”

  Carnes stuck out his hand to Boz. “Yes, sir. Good to see you. I guess you’re with us?”

  “Apparently so.”

  “Good to have you along. Jennings made it absolutely clear you’re in charge. So you just holler at me if you need anything.”

  Boz thanked him and said he would.

  Carnes called to the rest of the detail and they all headed for the motorcade. Boz opened the door to the limo and watched Walker climb in. He started to step in himself when Carnes called to him from the lead vehicle.

  Boz stood back up. “Yeah, Zach. What’s up?” He walked up to the lead SUV where Carnes was standing.

  “Hey, Jennings didn’t tell me much. Just that you were coming along. You want to tell me what’s going on?”