登陆注册
10471700000007

第7章

6:47 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

The Oval Office

The White House, Washington DC

She was alone when they showed Luke into the room.

For a moment, he thought she might be asleep. She sat in the sitting area, slumped in one of the armchairs. She looked like a broken rag doll, or a high school kid showing contempt for the teacher by slouching.

The new Resolute Desk loomed behind her. The heavy drapes were pulled, blocking the tall windows. On the floor, around the edge of the oval carpet, there was an inscription printed:

The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself-Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The words went all the way around the carpet, finishing right where they began.

She wore blue slacks and a white dress shirt. Her jacket was hung on the back of one of the chairs. Her shoes were off and lying askew on the carpet.

Despite her posture, her eyes were sharp and alive. They watched him.

"Hi, Susan," he said.

"Did you watch my press conference?" she said.

He shook his head. "I stopped watching TV over a year ago. I feel a lot better since I did. You should try it."

"I told the American people I'm not going to step down."

Luke nearly laughed. "I bet that's going over well. What happened? You like the job so much you don't want to give it up? I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way."

A small smile appeared on her face. The smile, barely there, reminded him of why she had once been a supermodel. She was beautiful. Her smile could light up a room. It could light up the sky.

"They stole the election."

"Of course they did," he said. "Now you're going to steal it back. That sounds like a plan." He paused. Then he told her what he honestly thought. "Listen, I think you're better off without this job. Now they won't have Susan Hopkins to kick around anymore. Let them find out how bad it is without you. They'll beg you to come back."

She shook her head, the smile growing brighter. "I don't think it works like that."

"I don't think so either," he said.

She shook her head. A long exhale escaped from her.

"Where have you been, Luke Stone? You should have stuck around. We had a lot of fun in here, once the chaos died down a little. We did a lot of good. And you were going to teach me to shoot guns once upon a time. Remember?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. You wanted to shoot the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. I remember. But I haven't fired a gun in nine months. I was going to the range once in a while, trying to keep my skills up. Then I decided why bother? I don't want to shoot anyone. And even if one day I have to, I feel pretty sure it'll come back to me."

"Just like riding a bicycle?" she said.

He smiled. "Or falling off of one."

She sat up and indicated the chair across from her. "You really don't know what's going on?"

Luke settled down in the chair. It was an upright chair, neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. "I heard a few rumblings in the distance. The new guy is hard right. He doesn't like the Chinese. He's going to bring the manufacturing jobs back. Not sure how he's going to do that-fire all the robots? Either way, if that's what people want…"

"Ignorance is bliss, I guess," Susan said.

"Not exactly bliss, but-"

"The man's a fascist," she said. "He's a billionaire, a robber baron, who has funded white supremacist groups for decades, apparently even when he was in the Senate. He plans to go to war with China on his first day in office, possibly with tactical nuclear strikes, although I'm not sure how many people really believe that. He wants to build security fences and walls around Chinatowns in American cities. His remarks suggest hatred for minorities, gay people, disabled people, anyone who disagrees with him, as well as contempt for the independence of the judicial branch of government."

Luke wasn't sure what to think about all that. He had been out of the loop for a long time. He trusted Susan, and he could tell that she believed what she was saying. But he had trouble believing it himself. He had served in the military under conservative Presidents, and on the Special Response Team under liberal Presidents. Yes, they were different from one another, but radically different? White supremacy, security fences around minority enclaves different? No. Not really. No matter who was in charge, there was always something you might call the American Way.

"And you're saying that people voted for this?"

She shook her head, emphatically now. "We believe that there was widespread voter fraud and voter suppression in at least five states, all of them swing states. That's why I say they stole the election."

Luke was beginning to see the puzzle, but there were pieces missing. "You want me to investigate this?" he said. "Is that why you called me back here? It seems like there would be a hundred other-"

"No," she said. "You're right. There are a hundred other people. We've got data analysts looking at the voting machines. We've got investigators out interviewing people about voter suppression, especially in black districts across the rural South. And circumstantially, anecdotally, the evidence is already pretty strong. We really don't need you for the investigation."

He was confused by her reply, and maybe a little annoyed. He had been alone, high in the mountains, working on his own issues. Challenging himself. Challenging God to kill him. Maybe even finding some clarity.

Now he was back in Washington, DC, getting yelled at by his son and smirked at by his former mother-in-law. He was sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic and undergoing security checks. He had shaved his beard off and gotten his hair cut. He was back among regular humans and their interests and their worries. When he was a soldier in combat, they used to call it "back in the world"-a place he really didn't want to be.

"So what am I doing here?" he said.

"I'm not sure yet," she said. "But I know I need you. I did something unprecedented by refusing to hand over power. It's never been done before in American history. Things could get hot around here very quickly, and I don't have many people in my administration that I trust. I mean completely, one hundred percent, without a doubt. A few, yes, but no more than that."

She pointed at him. "And you. Early in my tenure as President, you saved this country again and again. You saved my life. You saved my daughter. You might have saved the world from a nuclear war. Then you disappeared just when things got good. I've never met a man like you, Luke. You're built for bad weather, to put it mildly. And it feels to me like a storm is brewing."

Built for bad weather.

He had never heard it put quite that way before. But of course it was true-she had him pegged, better than Becca ever had. Better than he had ever pegged himself. Not only was he built for it, it was what he lived for. When the weather was nice, he grew bored. He wandered off. He went and looked for a hurricane to get lost in.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Stay close. Live in the White House Residence for the time being. We can give you an official title-personal bodyguard. Intelligence strategist. It's a little funny, but that doesn't matter. Chuck Berg is still head of the Secret Service home security detail. He knows you and respects you. There are plenty of rooms to stay in. You can have the Lincoln Bedroom if you want. We've had a few celebrities stay in there. The singer from the rock band Zero Hour and his wife slept over just a few weeks ago. Nice people-the guy's nothing like his stage persona. He's been doing a lot of charity work in Africa, paying for water filtration systems and so forth."

She stopped for a breath before going on. "Obviously, the White House was completely rebuilt two years ago, so Lincoln himself never really slept in the new Lincoln Bedroom, but…"

It seemed to Luke that she was babbling now. She was like a little girl trying to explain something important to an adult, without ever saying what it was.

"You want a security blanket," he said. "That's why I'm here."

She nodded. "Yes. I had one when I was a child. It was soft and had a friendly dinosaur image woven into it, which over time faded away to a green blur. I called it Little Cover. God, I miss that thing."

Now Luke did laugh. It came out like the sudden barking of a dog. It felt good to laugh. He couldn't remember the last time it had happened.

"Little Cover, huh?"

"That's right. Little Cover."

Was there something more to what she was asking him? He couldn't tell. Heck, the White House Residence? That had to be an upgrade from the room at the Marriott they'd given him last night.

"Okay," he said. "I'll do it."

同类推荐
  • Wintering Out

    Wintering Out

    'Seamus Heaney has gone beyond the themes of his earlier poetry and has made the giant step towards the most ambitious, most intractable themes of maturity. The power of this book comes from a sense that he is reaching out towards a type of desolation and of isolation without which no imagination can be seen to have grown up.' Eavan Boland, Irish Times 'Keyed and pitched unlike any other significant poet at work in the language anywhere.' Harold Bloom, Times Literary Supplement
  • Tales from the Hood (The Sisters Grimm #6)

    Tales from the Hood (The Sisters Grimm #6)

    Fans of fractured fairy tales will be delighted to discover the fantasy, mystery, adventure, and humor in the beloved New York Times bestselling Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley, now with new cover art. The nine wildly popular books are favorites around the world. They were among the first books to bring a distinctly girl-power spin to fairy tales—a trend followed by hit television series and movies such as Grimm and Maleficent; the bestselling book series the Land of Stories; and more. Now, books one through six in this smash-hit series appear with new covers, with books seven, eight, and nine available as revised editions soon.
  • Lion's Honey
  • Through a Glass, Darkly
  • Evita, First Lady

    Evita, First Lady

    Eva Peron was a star and a legend during her lifetime, one of the most alluring women of the twentieth century. Through the hit Broadway musical Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber, her story became famous, and with the release of the film starring Madonna as Eva Peron, her life became a media obsession once again. Whore and feminist, tyrant and saint, Evita was the beautiful and legendary woman who rose up from poverty to become the hypnotically powerful first lady of Argentina. To millions of poor people she was a savior; to her enemies she was a monstrous dictator. In this riveting biography, John Barnes explores the astonishing paradox of this champion of the poor who attacked the rich and, in the process, made herself the wealthiest woman in the world.
热门推荐
  • 风吹矮子呆又萌

    风吹矮子呆又萌

    【丁大爷放话了:此文不宠你削我!】“我姓艾不姓矮!谁再叫我矮子我站在丁蓝风头上俯视你!”说着端出课椅,上面用修正液写着“丁蓝风”三个字,站在上面气势汹汹看着叫她矮子的人。这句话是她进大学后的口头禅,但是天天挂在嘴边的“丁蓝风“她并不认识,只知道他在学校身高了得。第一次见面,她和平时一样站在刻写着他名字的凳子上俯视一个叫她矮子还嬉皮笑脸的男生,男生笑指了指她身后,回头看去,一个让她踩着凳子都要仰视的男人……他把视线移到她凳子上,淡淡开口:“你暗恋我?”她推开他拿着凳子落荒而逃,却不知道麻烦才刚刚开始……他能文能武却爱扮猪吃虎,把她耍得团团转;她节约吝啬却遇上他骗吃骗喝。她身高152cm,学霸一枚,特技:叨叨;缺陷:情商低。他身高190cm,历届学生会主席,特技:扮猪吃老虎;缺陷:无。且看全能男神如何拿下无情商呆萌女汉子,爆笑日常乐不停。【推荐新文《豪门第一蜜婚》】
  • 上清化形隐景登升保仙上经

    上清化形隐景登升保仙上经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 苍穹独道

    苍穹独道

    身为一个孤儿,从小父母不在身边,被一个老头所收留,从小励志要找到他的父母。从而要解开自己的身世之谜。。。。
  • 青春娱乐圈换我来追你

    青春娱乐圈换我来追你

    从小一起长大的朋友,竟然喜欢我!而我却不知道。直到她离开我的那一天,我才明白自己的感情。那一天我本来想和她道歉但是被她的举动刺痛了心,那一天我彻底的伤了她的心,也彻底的失去了她!时隔七年,上天让我再次遇见她。可她好像不认识我了,这是怎么回事?她身边的孩子是谁?啊——不管怎样,你都逃不了我的手心了!因为,我爱上你了!(本文是宠文,但是前面有段时间是虐心的。)所以不要怀疑,放心入坑!顺带说一句,作者是新手。不要欺负新人哦!更新时间不定,我有空就多更一些。
  • 佛为心王菩萨说投陀经

    佛为心王菩萨说投陀经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 春秋繁露义证

    春秋繁露义证

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 雕花楼传奇

    雕花楼传奇

    姑苏美,美在太湖水。太湖碧波万顷,水天一色。太湖中水产极为丰富,鱼虾成群;其中银鱼是最为著名的美味佳肴,清朝时推为贡品,与梅鲚、白虾一起,被称为“太湖三宝”。湖中岛屿星罗棋布,或大或小,或高或浅,或雄峻陡峭。或缥缈虚无。内中有一小岛,名为洞庭东山。确切而言,东山实为伸人太湖中的一个狭长的半岛。东山上风景如画,茶绿、梅紫、果黄、桔红,真是一座花果山。四月碧螺五月梅,六月枇杷和杨梅,七月桃李八月瓜,石榴枣子遍三崖,九月白果加板栗,金秋桔子堆成山。誉之为蓬莱仙景,一点也不为过。
  • 春庭月落花

    春庭月落花

    民国时期,军阀混战,商贾两女上演民国版上错花轿嫁对郎。在那样的家庭中,究竟会不会有真正单纯的人?面对妹妹的黑化,大姐的压迫,大哥的表白,父亲的离世,战争的残酷,容清茶还会不会找到自己真正深爱的那个人?她该何去何从?一个个表面的笑容背后,究竟还藏着怎样不可告人的秘密?是真心实意还是笑面虎?又该去想信谁?谁能告诉我答案?
  • 蛮妻迷人,BOSS恋恋不忘

    蛮妻迷人,BOSS恋恋不忘

    她是小迷糊,表白弄错对象,错惹了高冷男神,却因此得到了他的宠爱。她爱他,他宠她,为了保护她,不得不忍痛把她推开,她痛,他更痛。登堂入室的小三,一而再再而三的挑衅她,她忍,他故意冷落她,对她视而不见,她也忍,但当她面对他拥着小三在自己面前现场直播激情真人秀,并向她扔去一份离婚协议书时,她忍不了了。
  • 陌上春

    陌上春

    新书《女医青枝》,敬请关注...孔兰:这个夫君不是好人,我要逃跑......陆岩:这个女子怎会有多种身份,马车上遇到的小乞丐是她,酒楼里遇到的女店小二是她,听说她竟还当了偷牛女贼?孔蓉:这世上最有成就感的事情就是,你把一个眼里只有复仇的美男子,改造成眼里只有你的美男子......杜程:谁能想到,我只把剑亮了一下,敌人就望风而逃了......其实啊,我偷偷告诉你们,我真的不是剑术高手......