Page 20 of A More Perfect Union

Rook took a minute toprocess the detail. She generally prided herself on staying up-to-date on allthe scuttlebutt in the Beltway, but it was simply impossible to keep up witheverything and she had a tendency to focus on the things that naturallycaptured her interest. The military wasn’t one of them. Still, the nameBloomfield sounded vaguely familiar. “Bloomfield. That’s one of the guysGarrett is considering to replace Daniger, right? Head of the Joint Chiefs?”

“That’s right.”

“How have I not heardabout this development?”

“I’m thinking that upto now the press has been distracted by the Nine Tech hearings.”

“‘Up to now’?”

“Yes. Arnie Wilkinsfrom thePosthas started digging around, but we’ve managed to hold himoff. We’ve back-burnered the Joint Chiefs’ announcement, but Daniger’s ready tomove on and we can’t leave the position vacant. Not with everything going on inSyria right now. Once we announce his replacement, everyone’s going to startdigging.”

“And Bloomfield’s oneof the guys in the running?”

“He’s not one of theguys, he’stheguy. Garrett has already settled on him.”

“Well, that’s easy.Get him to unsettle and go with your second choice.”

“Not happening.Garrett has known him forever. He promised Bloomfield the position and thinksgoing back on his word because of his son’s indiscretion is a show of weakness.By all accounts Bloomfield himself is as clean as they come.”

Rook sipped hercoffee, her brain churning. Julia hadn’t brought her here, under Secret Serviceprotection, to tell her all of this was a foregone conclusion. There was more;there had to be more. The key was whether she wanted to ask and potentially diginto a situation she had no interest in pursuing. She tapped her fingersagainst her leg while the silent standoff between them played out.

Julia broke first.“Aren’t you going to ask what I want?”

“If I ask, it impliesI have some interest in getting involved. Which I don’t. I have plenty of work,and it sounds like you have this little matter under control.”

Julia glanced aroundand then hunched closer. “You’d be wrong.”

Rook had known Juliaa long time. A veteran campaigner and a fearless political advocate, Juliadidn’t scare easy, but Rook spotted a trace a fear in her eyes. The questionwas, could she resist knowing what had put it there?

Chapter Seven

Zoey pushedthrough the turnstile and followed the uniforms up the steps at the PentagonMetro stop, thankful for the anonymity the crowd granted her. Unlike the lastfew times she’d been here, she was no longer a visitor, but an employee,stationed to this base of sorts for an indefinite assignment.

It would take somegetting used to. She’d lived off base a couple of times during her career, butit wasn’t her preference. The commute back and forth was a waste of valuabletime. Time she could be working, serving. Time she didn’t have to wonder whatto do with herself. But living on base wasn’t an option here, and with MargaretSharp’s help, she’d been lucky enough to find a rental in Vienna, a simpleMetro ride away. She’d fallen in love with the house at first sight, thankfulfor the large fenced yard, situated well apart from the other houses on thestreet, unlike the apartments she’d occupied in the past where her nosyneighbors took advantage of every opportunity to observe her comings andgoings. The new house was the nicest place she’d ever lived, and she couldhardly believe it was hers for as long as she was stationed here.

She walked throughthe Pentagon entrance and looked around, trying to decipher which of the manylines she belonged in. Whenever she’d been here in the past few weeks, Sharphad had a sergeant greet her with a badge, but she wasn’t a guest any longer.Her orders said for her to check in at security, but the windows at the frontof the line all looked the same. She turned back and forth, looking for afriendly face to whom she could direct a question and found herselfface-to-face with Jack Riley.

“Major Granger, niceto see you again.”

“Nice to see you too,Major,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief. “When you said you worked here, Ididn’t imagine there was any way I’d wind up running into you on my first day.”

He tilted his head.“You’re working here too? I thought you were headed back to Fort Hood.”

She felt a twinge ofguilt at not sharing her new assignment with a fellow soldier, but then sheremembered she’d been following Sharp’s orders. “Last-minute change of plans.Guess they decided I’d stay out of trouble if they kept me close, although Idon’t know where I’m going, so they may have been wrong about that.”

“I’ll help you out.Do you know which office you’re assigned to?”

“Joint Chiefs,reporting to General Sharp.”

“You’re in luckbecause I’m headed in that direction and I know exactly where Sharp’s officeis.”

She remembered Sharptelling her he was Jack and Addison’s godfather. She held up a hand. “I got alittle ahead of myself. I need to check in with security and personnel first. Idon’t want to keep you. If you’ll just point me in the right direction.”

“Nonsense. I’m earlyfor a meeting, so I’ll get you where you need to go. Come on.”

She followed Jack toa window around the corner and waited as he explained the situation to theofficer checking IDs. The entire lobby was teeming with people, from a crowd ofwhat were obviously tourists to a group of men and women wearing the uniform ofthe Brazilian Air Force that she assumed were here to tour the building aswell. She provided her credentials to the man at the window and nodded as heexplained where she should report next to get her badge, relying on Jack toknow the specifics. He motioned for her to follow, and they walked through thecheckpoint metal detectors and up the escalator to the main level.

“Any of this lookfamiliar yet?”

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