Page 88 of State of Alert

Brant’s left eyebrow lifted ever so subtly. “Is that an order, sir?”

“Take it any way you wish. Life is short. Don’t wake up twenty years from now and realize you missed the good stuff.”

“Thank you, sir.”

After Brant left the room, Nick settled back into the upholstered chair and attempted to eat part of the turkey club he’d requested for lunch. However, his stomach wasn’t interested in food after he’d heard more about the coup that was barely thwarted. He tried to imagine what it would be like to be the first U.S. president to be deposed by the military. The action would’ve sent the entire world into a spiral from which it might’ve never recovered. Had the Joint Chiefs considered that kind of fallout while they made their plans?

As seasoned military leaders, they surely knew that theripple effect would’ve resulted in worldwide instability. As the United States went, so went the rest of the world. It was unfathomable to him that people who’d served more than thirty years in the military and achieved the highest ranks preferred that kind of instability to working with Nick to ensure a successful presidency.

He picked up the phone and asked Terry to come in.

His chief of staff knocked on the door a few minutes later and entered the sitting room.

“Want some turkey club?” Nick pushed the plate toward his friend.

“I won’t say no to that. Haven’t had time to eat yet.”

“Don’t skip meals on my behalf.”

“I rarely miss a meal.” He patted his flat stomach. “Gotta work out like a fiend to offset my intake.”

Nick handed him the ketchup, knowing he liked his fries smothered in it.

“I take it you saw the press conference,” Terry said as he dipped a fry.

“I did.”

“I know it’s hard not to take these things personally…”

“How else should I take it?”

“It’s ridiculous. Goldstein will spend the rest of his life in prison rather than living large on his fat pension. The other three will lose their pensions and do some time. A lifetime of honorable service and sterling reputations gone in an instant. I don’t get why they’d take such a risk.”

“I guess they felt the situation was dire enough that extreme measures were warranted.”

“The situation isn’t dire, and you know that. They knew it wasn’t. This was a craven power grab and nothing more.”

“This makes six members of the Nelson administration who’ve either betrayed me or disgraced themselves and their offices on my watch.”

Former Secretary of State Martin Ruskin had cavorted withprostitutes in Iran, and after Nick had demanded his resignation, he’d become a vocal opponent of all things Cappuano. He was a frequent guest on cable news, deriding every move Nick made.

During the investigation into Tom Forrester’s murder, Sam had learned that Attorney General Cox was up to his neck in gambling debt, which made him a blackmail risk. And now four former members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were facing charges or had accepted plea deals to testify against the ringmaster.

“What’re you thinking?”

Nick glanced at Terry. “We need to clean house. Bring in our own people. We should’ve done that from the start, but the shock of Nelson’s sudden death and my ascension made it easier to keep the existing team in place.”

“Are you talking abouteveryone?”

“I think it has to be, don’t you?”

“Um, well… It’ll take a minute to replace them with our own people, which will hamper our ability to get things done in the meantime. Do we even have enough people to replace them all?”

Terry’s reminder that Nick’s political career thus far had been somewhat brief wasn’t lost on him. He didn’t have the deep stable of allies and supporters that most people had by the time they landed in the Oval Office. “Probably not, but how do I go forward with the current team when I have no idea who I can trust and who I can’t?”

“It’s a problem, for sure. We could bring Dad in to oversee this project. You might not have a deep bench, but he sure does.” Retired Senator Graham O’Connor had one of the deepest benches in town, with more contacts, friends and associates than anyone in politics.

“That’s a good idea. We could have him prepare the new team and then clean house all at once when we’re ready to introduce the new people.”

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