Page 111 of Enemy of My Enemy
Silence stretched through the office, thick like the cloying pall of a funeral. Something was dying, and Ethan didn’t want to look too closely at what. He could sense it, though. Smell it, even. The stink of despair and terror hitting the back of his throat.
Irwin broke first, speaking with a roughened voice. “Mr. President… we have so much to discuss.”
Jack blinked and stared at the surface of his desk.
“General Moroshkin has taken Russia. He parked tanks outside the federal legislature in Moscow and leveled the parliament building. Forces loyal to him have secured military sites around the country. His coup has been successful. There are pockets of resistance forming, but…” He trailed off.
Sergey was out there somewhere, trying to fight back. Him and Sasha, left with what remained of the Sochi police forces, vastly outnumbered. Ethan’s head dipped.I’ll never see them again.
“Director Rees is gone.” Irwin swallowed. “He was killed in the first strike on the retreat. Six Secret Service agents were killed as well. We’re trying to figure out how to repatriate their remains and bring them home.”
Ethan’s jaw clenched so hard he swore he felt his bones break. Those men were his friends, his family. Men he’d laughed and drank with. Men he’d trusted and who had trusted him in return. And now they were gone. So many agents, gone.
Fury sizzled against his soul.
“Deputy Director Olivia Mori at the CIA is being briefed now. She’ll meet us when we land in Washington.”
Jack nodded slowly, his lips pressed into a hard, thin line.
“We need to discuss our options, Mr. President. General Moroshkin and Madigan now have under their control the full arsenal of Russia’s nuclear weapons, and their conventional stockpiles as well. Control over their military forces. Madigan just went from a stateless terrorist to a major player within the world’s largest nuclear power.” Irwin’s eyes narrowed as Jack stayed silent. “Mr. President. Weneedyou. Now.”
Jack’s gaze flicked to Irwin. Fury burst from him, cold in the depths of his eyes. “What do you need from me, Lawrence?” he growled. “Someone to say yes? Someone to nod? I’m not very good at anything else. I don’t come up with any grand plans as president. I haven’t done anything meaningful except fuck up the world! Fuck up everything I ever touch! Mygrandlegacy!” His hands flew wide as he jumped to his feet. “I’m not very good at being what anyoneneeds,” he hissed. “My wifeneededme. And look what I did!”
A thousand blades sliced through Ethan’s back, burying in the center of his heart. His lungs seized, not a single whisper of air moving through him.
“I wasn’t there for her!” Jack hissed again, his voice trembling. “Sixteen years…”
Irwin looked Jack dead in the eyes. “Mr. President, we have to be objective about Mrs. Spiers’s return.”
Jack’s jaw dropped.
“She spoke of others. Other people Madigan kept alive while the world thought they were dead. We’ve run into several of these individuals throughout our mission against Madigan. At every turn, they were workingagainstus. WorkingforMadigan.” Irwin squared his shoulders and raised his chin. “We have to consider the possibility that Mrs. Spiers’s loyalties arenotwhat they appear. Who knows what Madigan has done to her? What kind of psychological experiences he subjected her to. Sixteen years is a long time.”
Ruby rage flooded Jack’s skin, colored his cheeks bloody. Veins bulged from his neck, pounding fast and furious. “Lawrence—” he growled.
“Mr. President, you are not objective—”
“Damn it!” Jack shouted, slamming his palm flat on his desk. “Leave my wife to me!”
“Jack! You’retooclose to this!”
“I’mnotabandoning her again!” Jack roared, leaning across his desk and bellowing into Irwin’s face. “I willneverabandon her! I failed her already! I won’tagain! Not after—” His voice broke, and he clamped his mouth shut, his jaw trembling.
Irwin’s gaze slid sideways, again, to Ethan.
Ethan closed his eyes.
Jack leaned forward, his hands flat on his desk, and hung his head between his shoulders. “Lawrence,” he choked out. “I can’tdothis. Not right now. I needyouto do what you do best. Bring me options. Options I can say yes to.”
Irwin’s soft exhale seemed overloud in the silent office. “Yes, Mr. President.” This time, he didn’t look at Ethan. “Excuse me. I’m sure you two have much to discuss.”
Turning, Irwin slipped out. He closed the door behind him, a softsnikalmost shattering the world.
Ethan’s hands slicked with sweat. Frantic, panicked sweat, like a caged animal leaking terrified stink every which way. His heart was beating too fast, far too fast, and he was dangerously close to hyperventilating through his nose. He tried to calm down, tried to breathe slower, but the walls were closing in, the same beige bulkheads of Air Force One he’d leaned against with Jack, watching the sunrise over—
Squeezing his eyes shut didn’t stop the memories. There was a hollow emptiness to it, though, the memory tinged with the taste of fear.
Would he ever have those moments again?
