6:47 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
The Oval Office
The White House, Washington DC
She was alone when they showed Luke into the room.
For a moment, he thought she might be asleep. She sat in the sitting area, slumped in one of the armchairs. She looked like a broken rag doll, or a high school kid showing contempt for the teacher by slouching.
The new Resolute Desk loomed behind her. The heavy drapes were pulled, blocking the tall windows. On the floor, around the edge of the oval carpet, there was an inscription printed:
The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself-Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The words went all the way around the carpet, finishing right where they began.
She wore blue slacks and a white dress shirt. Her jacket was hung on the back of one of the chairs. Her shoes were off and lying askew on the carpet.
Despite her posture, her eyes were sharp and alive. They watched him.
"Hi, Susan," he said.
"Did you watch my press conference?" she said.
He shook his head. "I stopped watching TV over a year ago. I feel a lot better since I did. You should try it."
"I told the American people I'm not going to step down."
Luke nearly laughed. "I bet that's going over well. What happened? You like the job so much you don't want to give it up? I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way."
A small smile appeared on her face. The smile, barely there, reminded him of why she had once been a supermodel. She was beautiful. Her smile could light up a room. It could light up the sky.
"They stole the election."
"Of course they did," he said. "Now you're going to steal it back. That sounds like a plan." He paused. Then he told her what he honestly thought. "Listen, I think you're better off without this job. Now they won't have Susan Hopkins to kick around anymore. Let them find out how bad it is without you. They'll beg you to come back."
She shook her head, the smile growing brighter. "I don't think it works like that."
"I don't think so either," he said.
She shook her head. A long exhale escaped from her.
"Where have you been, Luke Stone? You should have stuck around. We had a lot of fun in here, once the chaos died down a little. We did a lot of good. And you were going to teach me to shoot guns once upon a time. Remember?"
He shrugged. "Yeah. You wanted to shoot the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. I remember. But I haven't fired a gun in nine months. I was going to the range once in a while, trying to keep my skills up. Then I decided why bother? I don't want to shoot anyone. And even if one day I have to, I feel pretty sure it'll come back to me."
"Just like riding a bicycle?" she said.
He smiled. "Or falling off of one."
She sat up and indicated the chair across from her. "You really don't know what's going on?"
Luke settled down in the chair. It was an upright chair, neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. "I heard a few rumblings in the distance. The new guy is hard right. He doesn't like the Chinese. He's going to bring the manufacturing jobs back. Not sure how he's going to do that-fire all the robots? Either way, if that's what people want…"
"Ignorance is bliss, I guess," Susan said.
"Not exactly bliss, but-"
"The man's a fascist," she said. "He's a billionaire, a robber baron, who has funded white supremacist groups for decades, apparently even when he was in the Senate. He plans to go to war with China on his first day in office, possibly with tactical nuclear strikes, although I'm not sure how many people really believe that. He wants to build security fences and walls around Chinatowns in American cities. His remarks suggest hatred for minorities, gay people, disabled people, anyone who disagrees with him, as well as contempt for the independence of the judicial branch of government."
Luke wasn't sure what to think about all that. He had been out of the loop for a long time. He trusted Susan, and he could tell that she believed what she was saying. But he had trouble believing it himself. He had served in the military under conservative Presidents, and on the Special Response Team under liberal Presidents. Yes, they were different from one another, but radically different? White supremacy, security fences around minority enclaves different? No. Not really. No matter who was in charge, there was always something you might call the American Way.
"And you're saying that people voted for this?"
She shook her head, emphatically now. "We believe that there was widespread voter fraud and voter suppression in at least five states, all of them swing states. That's why I say they stole the election."
Luke was beginning to see the puzzle, but there were pieces missing. "You want me to investigate this?" he said. "Is that why you called me back here? It seems like there would be a hundred other-"
"No," she said. "You're right. There are a hundred other people. We've got data analysts looking at the voting machines. We've got investigators out interviewing people about voter suppression, especially in black districts across the rural South. And circumstantially, anecdotally, the evidence is already pretty strong. We really don't need you for the investigation."
He was confused by her reply, and maybe a little annoyed. He had been alone, high in the mountains, working on his own issues. Challenging himself. Challenging God to kill him. Maybe even finding some clarity.
Now he was back in Washington, DC, getting yelled at by his son and smirked at by his former mother-in-law. He was sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic and undergoing security checks. He had shaved his beard off and gotten his hair cut. He was back among regular humans and their interests and their worries. When he was a soldier in combat, they used to call it "back in the world"-a place he really didn't want to be.
"So what am I doing here?" he said.
"I'm not sure yet," she said. "But I know I need you. I did something unprecedented by refusing to hand over power. It's never been done before in American history. Things could get hot around here very quickly, and I don't have many people in my administration that I trust. I mean completely, one hundred percent, without a doubt. A few, yes, but no more than that."
She pointed at him. "And you. Early in my tenure as President, you saved this country again and again. You saved my life. You saved my daughter. You might have saved the world from a nuclear war. Then you disappeared just when things got good. I've never met a man like you, Luke. You're built for bad weather, to put it mildly. And it feels to me like a storm is brewing."
Built for bad weather.
He had never heard it put quite that way before. But of course it was true-she had him pegged, better than Becca ever had. Better than he had ever pegged himself. Not only was he built for it, it was what he lived for. When the weather was nice, he grew bored. He wandered off. He went and looked for a hurricane to get lost in.
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Stay close. Live in the White House Residence for the time being. We can give you an official title-personal bodyguard. Intelligence strategist. It's a little funny, but that doesn't matter. Chuck Berg is still head of the Secret Service home security detail. He knows you and respects you. There are plenty of rooms to stay in. You can have the Lincoln Bedroom if you want. We've had a few celebrities stay in there. The singer from the rock band Zero Hour and his wife slept over just a few weeks ago. Nice people-the guy's nothing like his stage persona. He's been doing a lot of charity work in Africa, paying for water filtration systems and so forth."
She stopped for a breath before going on. "Obviously, the White House was completely rebuilt two years ago, so Lincoln himself never really slept in the new Lincoln Bedroom, but…"
It seemed to Luke that she was babbling now. She was like a little girl trying to explain something important to an adult, without ever saying what it was.
"You want a security blanket," he said. "That's why I'm here."
She nodded. "Yes. I had one when I was a child. It was soft and had a friendly dinosaur image woven into it, which over time faded away to a green blur. I called it Little Cover. God, I miss that thing."
Now Luke did laugh. It came out like the sudden barking of a dog. It felt good to laugh. He couldn't remember the last time it had happened.
"Little Cover, huh?"
"That's right. Little Cover."
Was there something more to what she was asking him? He couldn't tell. Heck, the White House Residence? That had to be an upgrade from the room at the Marriott they'd given him last night.
"Okay," he said. "I'll do it."
