Page 42 of Now or Never
Chapter Seventeen
“This way.” The woman walking ahead of them wasn’t Secret Service. She looked more like some low-level staff person. An assistant, but in the White House of all places.
This woman didn’t have to worry about protecting herself from the threat Kenna and Jax presented, because the Secret Service had divested them of every weapon they’d been carrying and their phones before they could even set foot in the door.
Jax hadn’t been happy that the government would have unfettered access to their cell phones while they were in this meeting, but there wasn’t much they could do beyond accept AD Ranturno’s word that wasn’t going to happen.
Kenna held on to Jax’s hand through the hall with its high ceilings and ornate artwork above the center rail that ran along the wall. Wallpaper under it and cream paint above. It would be impressive if they were here for the tour, but being torn away from what they had been working on and summoned against their will to a secret meeting meant she refused to admit this place was awe-inspiring just on principle.
The assistant gestured. “Follow me.” She wore a knee-length skirt, white blouse with a jacket over it, and flat shoes.Pantyhose. A short haircut she could tuck behind her ears and horn-rimmed glasses.
They descended a set of carpeted stairs in the corner of the building. Kenna didn’t know enough about the place to know where they were, but she was pretty sure this wasn’t part of any normal tour. The artwork grew sparser, and downstairs was a whole lot more utilitarian. This wasn’t somewhere the public got to see.
Jax said, “Is it true the White House has as many floors below ground as there are above?”
The assistant glanced back at him but said nothing. “This way.”
She kept walking down the hall, making her comment redundant since that’s what they were doing. Without taking a turn, because there weren’t any until the end. It was a long corridor with closed doors on either side, all labeled with numbers. At the end, the corner took a sharp right angle, and beyond that was a set of double doors. A red light above.
Kenna glanced at her husband and nearly laughed at the look of wonder on his face. Okay, so that was adorable. He was totally geeking out about being in the White House.
She leaned over as they walked. “Maybe we should come back and do the tour,” she whispered. “We can pretend to be from out of town.”
The assistant stopped at the door and produced a key card from her pocket. After a hard swipe through a card reader, the light turned green. She opened the door for them but stayed in the hall. “Through here.”
Jax went first, still holding Kenna’s hand.
A few steps in, he stopped. Instinct she didn’t understand had her wanting to stay behind him, tucked at his back where she was protected and no one could see her, or get a good anglefor attack. The door shut behind her, bumping her forward with the heavy sound.
“Mr. Jaxton.” The voice of the president of the United States of America wasn’t a voice you’d fail to recognize. She just had that tough, weathered tone to her. The commander in chief because her predecessor had died, and as vice president, she had immediately been sworn into office. “Mrs. Jaxton.”
Kenna looked over the shiny wood conference table and at least twelve high-backed leather chairs. The president, Miriam Tetherton, walked from the far end where there was a small cabinet with a water pitcher and glasses and a glass decanter of something that looked like bourbon, over to them, holding her hand out.
But she wasn’t alone in the room.
Kenna shifted to Jax’s right and met the president’s outstretched hand with her own. “Madam President. Not to be rude, it’s nice to meet you and all…” Maybe. Depending. “But this isn’t a conversation I’m interested in having.” She pointed to the man over on the far left of the room. “Not with him.”
“Kenna?” Jax glanced from the man to her and Tetherton, wariness in his body language.
“I can understand your reticence.” The president clasped her hands together in front of her, showing off the muscle tone in her biceps thanks to the sleeveless dress. Miriam Tetherton looked like a CEO, which fit. Even down here, meeting like this in low light in a secret room, she was going to play boss and politician.
“It’s not reticence. It’s dislike.” She glanced at him. “You knew if I’d known you were here that I never would’ve gotten in that car. That’s why no one informed me.” Kenna looked at the president. “We already know you’re either withDominatusor you’re someone they control so thoroughly they’re willing to riskinstalling you as president, because they’re in control either way. So I guess we know what your deal is, but not why we’re here.”
Tetherton’s expression remained neutral. “We all have a part to play.”
“I don’t.” Kenna lifted her hands. “My family has no part. We’re nothing to do with any of you. If I thought it would do any good, I’d tell you to pass that on up the chain.”
Jax shifted, and she knew he needed an explanation.
Kenna took his hand, holding on tight. “Jax, this is Petyr Blazevic, the Croatian head of their military.”
“The treaty.” Jax’s tone indicated dislike, but it wasn’t about politics. “And the bombing.”
“He and I have met before, of course. When he visited the platform where I was being held prisoner so they could experiment on me.” Kenna glanced at the president, just to see if she had any empathy in her, or a clue as to what was happening.
A slight flex of the skin around her eyes was the only tell.
“Not to be on the nose or anything…” Except Kenna had no problem with that. “But I hope you know what you got yourself into.”
