Page 163 of Enemy Within
Everyone thought they were staying at the InterContinental. Two presidents couldn’t occupy the White House at the same time. Jack and Ethan had gone to the Residence to pack a bag each, taking suits and jeans, shirts and their mementos. Jack’s teddy bear, Ethan’s photo book. The rainbow coffee mug, still sitting beside the coffee maker. Leslie’s folded flag. Jack still wore his broken watch, and he’d worn Ethan’s sweatshirt from the day of Leslie’s blast until the day he stepped foot back on American soil, greeted by President Wall and a mob of reporters at Andrews Air Force base.
They rode the elevator up a few floors and then back down, disappearing to the basement and the secured employee parking garage. The doors opened, and Scott and Levi waved from their SUV. Different than the first, and not government black, the SUV slipped away from the hotel every day with Ethan and Jack lying down in the backseat. They left the stone-faced Secret Service agents at the hotel, a part of the ruse.
An hour later, Scott pulled into his driveway. He and Levi turned around. “We know this is your last night here in DC. Is there anything you want to do?”
Tomorrow, before dawn, they were flying out to Texas. Finally, Ethan was going to meet Jack’s parents. Maybe it would be the last time Jack would see his parents, too. Inevitability and terror hung over them like a guillotine, coloring every thought, every word. Would they be able to do this or that again? Was this the last weekend he’d be able to hold Jack’s hand? Kiss him freely without prison bars in the way?
Jack’s smile was faint, but it was still there. Exhaustion tugged on him, a weight that hung on his soul. He’d aged in the past few weeks, growing weary before the committee during the hearings. “I just want to spend time with my friends. Thank you, Scott, for letting us stay here.”
“We’re happy to have you.” Scott reached back and squeezed Jack’s knee. “Even Stacy is glad. She is happy you both are back. And that you brought me home, too.” He winked.
Ethan caught Scott and Levi trading looks and smothering grins as they got out of the car. He wrapped his arm around Jack’s shoulders and kissed his temple. “I think they’re planning something,” he whispered.
Scott pushed open his front door.
A roar of cheers rose, hoots and hollers and whistles. What sounded like a stadium of people clapping. Across Scott’s front entrance, two banners hung crookedly.Congratulationsblared in rainbow colors, alongside a statelierJust Married.
Jack’s jaw dropped as he stepped into Scott’s house. He spun, trying to take it all in.
Every member of the Secret Service White House team was there. Even Welby, looking grouchy in his full-leg cast as he sat on Scott’s couch, his crutches propped nearby. Pete was there too, his arm looped through Jason’s as he helped him stand. Barbara, who’d found Jason bleeding out in the garage and pressed her floral cardigan against his wounds, keeping him alive until the ambulance arrived, stood on Jason’s other side. Jack’s staff, from Diana Ramirez, his White House counsel—who’d first put together the argument that Ethan and Jack could live together as the first couple—to Director Mori and General Bradford. Even General Bell, standing and smiling in his gruff way.
President Elizabeth Wall stood off to one side, holding a glass of champagne out for Jack.
Jack shook his head, tears filling his eyes. His lips trembled, and he covered his face with his hands as the tears started to fall. Ethan wrapped him up as the cheers rose again, a roar of clapping that went on and on.
Finally, he was able to speak. Ethan kept a hand on his back, and Jack threaded his fingers through Ethan’s. “Thank you,” he breathed. His voice still shook. “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Every one of you helped me. Every one of you believed in me… even when I didn’t believe in myself. And that is a gift that I will never forget. I don’t know what is going to happen. But I will always love each and every one of you.” His lips trembled again, but he forced out, “Thank you,” and smiled for his friends.
The party lasted for hours, every guest staying until they’d spoken to Jack and Ethan and congratulated them on their marriage. Thanked him for what he’d done. Expressed hope for the outcome of the hearings. Liz, Scott’s daughter, bounded for them, wrapping first Ethan and then Jack up in giant hugs. Even General Bell, who saluted Jack crisply when Jack approached. “Mr. President,” he said, only dropping his salute when Jack returned it. Bell turned to Ethan and held out his hand. “Mr. First Gentleman.”
Smiling, Ethan took his hand, shaking firmly.
Bell turned back to Jack. “Thank you for putting that monster down.” Nodding, he moved off, back into the crowd.
Jack’s hand clenched on Ethan’s, shaking hard. He turned away from the party, closing his eyes as Ethan held him. For now, the nightmares were still too close to the surface. Madigan’s ghost was tenacious, haunting Jack at every moment. Ethan did what he could, staying by Jack’s side, and always, always being there when Jack turned to him. “I’m with you all the way,” he murmured in Jack’s ear.
SCOTT FOUND LEVI IN his backyard, squinting up at the stars as he played with a plastic champagne flute. He sauntered to his friend, his hands in his pockets. He’d ditched his jacket and tie hours ago and had rolled up his shirt sleeves. The summer night was cool, but compared to the Arctic, it was a sauna.
Levi pressed his lips together and looked away. He frowned, glaring at Scott’s fence line. Licked his bottom lip, over and over. “I gotta ask you something, Scott,” he finally said. “When I was leading the detail, I went through everyone’s background checks again. But I never found yours.” He looked up, right into Scott’s gaze. “Where is your background check? You hiding something?”
Scott snorted. He tipped his head back, laughing. “Iknowyou’re not accusing me of working with Madigan. Iknowyou’re not.”
Levi looked like he wanted to puke. “I didn’t know what to think. I still don’t.” He shook his head, grimacing. “C’mon, man. You know what this looks like.”
“Yeah. I do. I also know what it looks like to run your own background investigation. That’s why I gave it to Harry.”
Levi blinked. “Inada?”
“Yeah.” Scott jerked his thumb, gesturing back to the party. “We can go ask him. He’s here. I asked Harry to run a deep dive on me and on Director Triplett. I wanted it to be aboveboard. I needed everything to be tight. No possibility for anything shady. And Harry was the only guy I trusted at headquarters.”
Levi doubled over, breathing out in a great whoosh as he started to laugh. “Jesus Christ, man…” He shook his head. “You couldn’t leave that in a damn memo?”
“Well, I kinda left in a hurry.” Scott laughed and grabbed him, pulled him close. He wrapped his arms around Levi, groaning as Levi squeezed him tight, hard enough to crack his back. “I’d never turn, Levi. I’d never turn against my friends.”
“I know,” Levi breathed. “That’s why I couldn’t believe it. I never said anything.” Pulling back, he glared at Scott. “But you owe me, like, seven meals. Cause that’s how much I threw up, worrying about you.”
Scott chuckled and pulled him close again, steering him back inside his house. “Deal. We can start here. Stacy made her brown sugar sliders. I swear, I want my last meal to be these things.”
“Keep eating them, and they will be.” Levi grinned, Scott slugged him in the shoulder. Their eyes met, relief rejoicing in the depth of Levi’s gaze.
