Page 47 of Enemy Within
However, sources say that the White House’s moves are scattered, and that senior advisors are kept out of the loop on key strategic decisions. An air of suspicion and mistrust has settled over the West Wing. Many staffers appear to be on edge and ready to snap, on the heels of former President Jack Spiers’s assassination attempt.
21
Washington DC
“ISTILL CAN’T BELIEVE he’s gone…” Jason Brandt blinked fast as he bit his lip.
“It hasn’t even been a week since President Spiers was attacked, Jason.” Jennifer Prince leaned in, dropping a kiss to his cheek. She lay beside him in bed, her body pressed against his. “It’s okay to still hurt.”
Jason shook his head. “Where is Ethan? Ethan’s been gone for too long. Why didn’t he come back after the attack?” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “The president is in ICU. He’sbrain-dead. The truth about the clone of Mrs. Spiers is out now. And Ethan’s… justgone?”
“Do you have any idea where he is?” Jennifer’s thumb stroked along the center of his chest, over his sternum. “I really thought he’d be sitting by the president’s bedside, day and night.”
“The official statement is that he’s in seclusion, mourning the events.” Jason shook his head. “But that came from Pete, and Pete said it came from President Wall.” He grimaced. It was still hard to sayPresident Wall. No longer President Spiers.
And his boss, First Gentleman Ethan Reichenbach, was missing.
Jennifer stilled. She frowned, biting her lip. “You think…”
“I don’t know what to think.” He swallowed and rolled toward her, burying his face in her neck. Her hair smelled like sunflowers, like the shampoo she’d brought over and left in his shower one weekend. “I don’t want to turn into Pete.”
What had happened to them all? In two weeks, the whole world had changed. When had it begun? When had the slide into disaster and anarchy happened? Sochi? Earlier?
Or all the way back, to Madigan’s betrayal, his attempted coup?
What had been Madigan’s first act of rebellion? When had he first turned against the United States and started working for himself?
Madigan had shredded the world in one massive blow. President Jack Spiers, brain-dead after his miraculously-back-from-the-dead wife was revealed to be a clone, an assassin sent by Madigan to rip out the heart of the United States. And Ethan, missing after Leslie’s reappearance. Not a word, not a hair seen of him since the attack on the CIA and Jack’s hospitalization.
They had beensoin love. He’d seen it, watched it. Hell, he remembered the gossip that had flown through the White House, back when Ethan was still the president’s lead Secret Service agent. How close they were. How their friendship had been considered scandalous on one hand and proof of the president’s everyman appeal on the other.
The way they’d hidden in corners of the White House, stealing moments to talk and laugh together. And then, after they were outed, how they had kept their love alive. Turning toward each other, always. They had been sodeeplyin love.
What the hell was this? It just didn’t make sense. Was Ethan hurt? Wounded somehow, and in hiding? Was he so shattered, so deep in his mourning that he couldn’t face the public? Wherewashe? Why didn’t he reach out to his staff? They’d do anything for him, anything.
God, they all missed him. Barbara, the White House Social Secretary, hadn’t stopped crying. Jennifer, White House Florist, had all but moved into Jason’s office, bringing her floral designs with her. She said she didn’t want to be alone in the crypt-like East Wing. And, truth be told, he was glad she was there.
President Wall had closed the East Wing. No journalists. No volunteers. No more press junkets or interviews. No meetings. They all still came in—at President Wall’s invitation—but the place was a tomb.
Out of everyone, Pete Reyes, President Spiers’s—President Wall’s—press secretary had taken the news of Spiers’s demise and Ethan’s disappearance the worst. He hadn’t led a press briefing in days. Hadn’t left the White House in even longer. Whenever Jason saw him, Pete looked more and more disheveled with ever-darker red-rimmed eyes. He stank of tequila.
Jennifer stroked his hair and kissed his temple. “Pete’s hurting. He’s lost right now. You know he was with the president during his campaign. He worked with Spiers back in the Senate. We only worked with them a few months. I can’t imagine how he feels. His friend wasassassinated.” She exhaled shakily, pressing her cheek to Jason’s. “We should do more for him.”
“He’s so angry.”
“He needs us.” She kissed his ear and pulled back. Looked into his eyes. “We’re his friends. We need to help him.”
He nodded. Pete’s rage, his anguish, were infectious. He could feel his own heart rising to meet Pete’s bitter fury every time they neared.
It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair. Why did the world have to be so cruel? Rip apart two men who loved each other. Break a country’s back and terrorize the world. What was it Madigan wanted so badly, to do all of this?
“We need to get ready.” Jennifer kissed his cheek and pulled away, sliding out of his bed.
“Why? Why do we even go in every day?” He rolled to his back, spreading out like a starfish. “What’s the point?”
“It’s our job,” she said, stroking her hand over his feet as she passed, heading for the bathroom. “We’re supposed to be there, on call. What if today is the day Ethan comes back? Won’t you want to be there for him?”
Damn it. Jason rolled to the side of his bed and pushed himself up. He chewed on his lip, listening to the sound of the shower turning on and Jennifer slipping behind the curtain. She was right. He did need to do more. Help Pete. Help Pete’s staff. Try and bring stability back to President Spiers’s—damn it, President Wall’s—White House.
