Page 65 of No Vow Broken

“However, the more sensationalisticWashington Timesreports that sources inside the Maryland and DC police departments had confirmed that individuals in a wedding party were present at both attacks,” Rock added.

Slash and I exchanged a glance. This confirmed our worst fear—that our little wedding was about to go viral. We were going to have to take special care to accomplish all our necessary tasks today without being unveiled, then hole up in the hotel as much as possible until the wedding.

“Are there any stories about the pope’s trip?” Slash asked Rock.

“Sure, several, but they’re buried under the avalanche of attention on the attacks. Imagine that.” He swiped the screen on his phone. “This article remarks that the pope is scheduled to arrive in the US tomorrow and meet with the president, then conduct a Mass on Sunday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. No mention of what he’s doing on Saturday. However, according to sources inside both the Vatican and the Archdiocese of Washington, it wasn’t certain if the attacks on the president would cancel or delay the prelate’s visit. Church officials were also vague regarding his specific schedule, either indicating uncertainty or for security reasons. Imagine, the pope is coming to DC, and it isn’t even front-page news.”

A Secret Service agent approached our table and asked if he could speak with us privately. I glanced at Slash to see if he had any idea what this was about, but he just shrugged.

“Sure, lead the way.”

He took us to a small office near the front desk that they’d commandeered for a command center. Another agent and a Maryland state trooper sat there waiting. The agent waved us to a couple of chairs, so we sat.

“We’re sorry to bother you, but there have been several changes to the security plan for the wedding on Saturday. We wanted to update you to allow you time to make any necessary adjustments to your plans. First, we’ve decided to conduct all the security screening for guests and participants at an offsite location. We’re not allowing private vehicles at St. Michael’s for obvious reasons. We’ve secured an acceptable location for the screening that will be easy for us to secure and still accommodate your guests. We recommend, however, that you arrange consolidated transportation for all the guests here at the hotel to the screening location. That will simplify things greatly and speed up our efforts.”

“You mean like a bus?” Slash asked.

“Yes.” He swept his hand toward the state trooper. “Trooper Denton has said they’ll provide police escort to the wedding to minimize problems with the congestion due to the media interest.”

“Understood,” Slash replied. “I’ll ask our wedding planner to take care of it. What about guests arriving in their own vehicles?”

“We’ll provide you with directions to the screening site. Please ask those coming separately to arrive two hours prior to the event so we have time to process everyone and get them to the church on time.”

I glanced at Slash. “Add that to the list for Amanda, too.”

“Secondly, we’d ask you to remind all guests to bring their invitations to the screening. We’re already having issues with news media and others trying to fraudulently gain access to the hotel by claiming they have reservations or are members of the wedding party. Also, if you could provide someone who can recognize as many of the guests as possible to assist us at the entry point, we’ll ensure that they’ll make it to the wedding in plenty of time.”

“We could ask Beau to do that,” I said looking at Slash for confirmation. “He’s a detective on the Baltimore police force.”

“That would be excellent,” Trooper Denton said.

“Lastly, please let your guests know that cell phones are not permitted at the wedding. It’s a security concern. We’ll collect the phones at the screening location and return them after the wedding. I hope that won’t be a problem. I’ve been told that you have a professional photographer to capture pictures and video of the wedding.”

“We do,” Slash confirmed. “Is that all?”

“There are other minor changes, but those are the ones that will impact you the most. Do you have any questions?”

“How will the Holy Father arrive at the wedding?” Slash asked.

“The president and first lady have offered to transport him via Marine One. They’ll be arriving by helicopter just prior to the start of the wedding.”

Just thinking about it made me anxious. The overwhelming security and media issues reminded me we were going to have to somehow figure out how to sneak past the media to meet with our photographer at the church this afternoon. I would need some help.

“I do have one special request for assistance,” I said. “We need help to get us to the church this afternoon undetected.”

“And I have another one,” Slash said. “I just need to make a couple of secure calls using your equipment.”

The Secret Service agent considered, then nodded. “No problem. I’m sure we can accommodate both requests.”

THIRTY-FOUR

Slash

The agents were quite helpful. They used their unique secure communication system to patch me into a secure phone at the White House, and the operator there connected me to Candace Kim at NSA headquarters. She picked up quickly, almost as if she’d been expecting my call.

“Hello, Candace,” I said without introducing myself.

“Hello, old friend. You’ve been quite busy stirring up a ruckus. Unusual, even by your standards.”

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