THE 13: STAND BOOK TWO (20 page)

Jennings waited until they were all settled in his office before he finally started. He told Keene about what the Prophet had told him concerning the threat. He then filled him in on how he had made some calls, which led him to Peterson, which caused him to send Megan and Eli south.

When it was Keene’s turn, he told them about how the Prophet had confirmed pretty much the same thing to him, but that he really didn’t have any details. Except that the Prophet had told him that he was going to be the one to stop it.

“I have no idea what that means,” Keene admitted. He looked to Boz. “What do you think, Chappy?”

Boz shrugged. “I’m not sure, Jon. I don’t know if that means that you’re physically supposed to stop it, or if you have information that will help us, collectively, stop it…or…I don’t know.”

Keene rolled his head around. His neck was getting stiff and he was getting tired. He was about to suggest they call it a night when Jennings spoke.

“I’m not sure if this has anything to do with it or not, but there’s one other thing I found out this morning.”

Keene turned to his boss. Jennings had a concerned look about him. And that concerned Keene.

“Megan and Eli found Nolan Peterson dead this morning.”

Keene listened as Jennings told them how the call from Vargas had led them to the body.

Halfway through the story, Keene could feel the hair on the back of his neck standing up. His senses were tingling even before Kevin finished. He knew whatever was coming next was not going to be good.

“So did Vargas ever get a look at who was inside the car?” Keene asked.

“I’m getting to that,” Jennings said. “Vargas said that as he was looking out into the parking lot, he saw a woman getting back into the car.”

There it was. Alarms started going off inside Keene’s head. The kind that said,
Whatever you’re about to hear next, Jon, you’re not going to like one bit
.

“Vargas said when she turned into the streetlight, he saw her face,” Jennings said.

“Who was it?” Keene asked.

Jennings pinched the bridge of his nose. “I think it was the Russian.”

A
lex Smith stood outside the old farmhouse with Pemberton as they waited for the last two guests to arrive. She still had the events of last night racing through her mind. It was one of the best nights she could remember. It had started when Pemberton spilled who it was he wanted eliminated. The president. What were the chances? Twice in one lifetime? Then, as if it couldn’t get better, the unexpected run-in with that poor old man. The sheer ecstasy that coursed through her veins, as she waited outside the motel, deciding how to dispose of him. In the end, she decided to just make it quick. A single shot to the head. Quick and clean. Instantly she had been flooded with the satisfaction of being back in the game. It had set the tone for the rest of her night with Farid.

The wind began to kick up, so she pulled her collar up over her face as they waited for the final two guests to arrive. The governor, as Pemberton introduced him, was already there. That only left Irving and Hayes.

She saw the beams of a pair of low-riding headlights punch through the trees at the front of the drive. Even in the dark, she could tell it was an old pickup truck. The dimness of the headlights gave it away. A few seconds later, Hayes pulled into the gravel next to Pemberton’s pickup. She checked her watch: 7:28 p.m.

“Well, lookie-there. Right on time. There’s a first time for everything.”

Hayes ignored Pemberton’s barb. Instead, he walked over to the governor. “Joe, good to see you.” He and the governor shook hands. Then he pointed to her. “And who might you be, young la—”

Pemberton cut him off. “Let’s save introductions for when everyone’s here.”

Hayes huffed at him and stuck his hands in his coat.

Within minutes, another set of headlights pierced the trees. They all watched as the headlights bounced back and forth along the winding dirt road, until finally an Infiniti FX-hybrid came to rest beside the other vehicles. A very distinguished-looking man stepped out and walked over to everyone.

“Pemberton, you need to fix that stinking drive. I think I just knocked my oil pan out.”

“It’s a farm, Irving. If you ain’t got enough sense to drive your pickup, then I don’t feel sorry for you.” Pemberton turned around and started walking toward a shed that sat just a few yards away. He stepped inside briefly and then returned.

She heard a
click-phsst
as the concrete slab beside her began to move. Pemberton motioned for everyone to follow as he descended a set of concrete steps. She fell in line and started down the stairs. After a few seconds, the slab moved back into place.

Inside, Pemberton showed everyone to a sitting area complete with a nice wooden round table and a few chairs. One in particular stood out to her. “Nice chair.”

Pemberton extended his hand. “Be my guest.”

“I use to have two of them at my old place,” she said.

Pemberton shot her a look that said he was impressed. She sat down, remembering how comfortable the Aresline could be.

The others all took a seat while Pemberton went to the bar and fixed some drinks. When he came back, he passed them out. “A toast.”

Everyone raised a glass.

“To new partnerships. And a better future.”

Everyone nodded and drank as Pemberton sat down with his guests.

“Thank you all for coming,” he started. “Everyone here knows why we’re here.” He pointed to Alex. “I’d like to introduce you all to my acquaintance. This is Alex Smith. And she is going to be very helpful in our endeavor.”

Everyone took turns nodding to her and mumbling hello. She politely reciprocated.

Pemberton continued, “What’s the deal, Irving? You get to Sykes, or what?”

Irving set his glass down on the table. “I’m afraid it’s not good news. I drove up there to meet him. We talked for about two hours.”

“What did you tell him?” It was Hayes.

“I didn’t
tell
him anything, Milton. You want him to go straight to Walker and blow this whole thing up before it gets started?”

Instantly, the two men began arguing. Alex sat back and watched. It was amusing. For the level of seriousness this conversation held, they were at each other like schoolboys.

Finally, Pemberton slammed his hand on the table. “That’s enough!” Then to Alex, “I apologize, Ms. Smith. Everyone’s just a little on edge these days.”

She gave a curt nod. If these men had known she was largely responsible for the fact that they were in this situation to begin with, they’d probably try to kill her right there. “I understand.”

“Now,” Pemberton said, turning back to the men, “let’s start again.”

Irving gave Hayes a sneer and continued, “As I was saying, Sykes isn’t going to budge. When I asked him what he thought about everything going on, he said he wouldn’t do anything differently. Said that Walker, for all the negative press, is doing exactly what this country needs.”

“Then how do you suppose we move forward?” the governor asked.

“We can’t do anything without Sykes,” Hayes said. “He controls the military. Even with Walker out of the way.”

“Wrong,” Irving said.

“Wrong?” Pemberton said.

“Sykes might be in charge of the military. But he’s a soldier, just like the rest of them. He’s an order taker. And right now, Walker doesn’t sneeze without Jennings giving him the okay.”

“So we get rid of him,” Pemberton said.

“What do you mean, get rid of him?” Hayes asked.

Pemberton looked to her. “What do you think, Alex?”

“It can be done.”

“What can be done?” Hayes asked.

“If the situation is right, I could do them both at the same time,” Alex said.

Hayes looked at Pemberton. “What is she talking about?”

“What do you think she’s talking about? Killing them, of course.”

Hayes shot up out of his chair. “Now, hold on just a minute. No one said anything about killing anyone.”

“How did you think this was going to go, Milton?” Pemberton asked. “You think we were just going to go in there and drag Walker out and tell him Joe was the new president? You’re naive, man! Walker has to go. And I mean
go
. And if Sykes won’t side with us, Jennings has to go, too. You heard Irving. Sykes follows orders. If Walker isn’t giving them, Jennings is. This is war.”

“It’s
going
to be a war, if you start killing off the president and his CIA director!” Hayes said.

“Don’t be an idiot! We’ve always known that it was going to come to this.”

“Not me. Maybe you. I told you that we could do this through the law. Walker is abdicating his responsibility to protect this nation. All we need is enough of Congress to—”

“Wake up, man! Listen to yourself. There is no law! We’re half a country. And that half is divided. You want change? Then we’re going to have to take it!”

This is fun
, Alex thought,
watching these guys fight between themselves
. But she had no intentions of being here all night while these idiots tried to figure out how to get the job done. And possibly change their mind about her. It was time for her to step in. “Excuse me, gentlemen.”

Everyone got quiet.

“Mr. Hayes, I’m sure somewhere in your mind you envisioned a scenario in which bloodshed could be avoided. However, I’m just going to be honest with you. Even if the governor can accomplish what you’ve proposed, that’s not going to happen. At a minimum, Jennings will need to be removed. He won’t sit by and watch the governor steal the presidency. And if the governor
can
accomplish what you’ve suggested, Walker will still be a problem.”

“Who are you, anyway?” Hayes snapped at her.

Alex allowed her peaceful demeanor to shift. She narrowed her eyes and cocked her jaw. “I’m the one person in this room who can give you what you want. I’ve removed world leaders, dictators, and heads of state—all so men like you could do what you want to do—restructure a nation. So if you’re done acting like the sanctimonious defense lawyer that you are, why don’t you sit down and shut up.”

Hayes looked at her with a stunned expression and sat back down.

“I like her, Gavin.” Irving laughed.

“Now,” she said, taking her seat again, “if you’ll allow me, I’d like to offer you a solution to your problem.”

“Please, go ahead,” Pemberton said.

“Mr. Irving, you’re the former secretary of the navy, are you not?”

“I am.”

“And governor, you are the intended successor to President Walker, yes?”

The governor nodded.

“And it would not be far fetched to assume that, as president, you would have the power to call the former secretary back to duty, should something happen to Secretary Sykes. Right?”

“I would suppose it wouldn’t be far fetched at all. Especially given our relationship.”

Alex was lost. She had no idea what the man was talking about. However, Irving took care of that.

“Joe is my son-in-law.”

Alex smiled. “Even better!” She clapped her hands together. “See? Problem solved. With Jennings out of the way, the governor can remove Sykes and call Mr. Irving back to duty, who can then instruct the military to do whatever you wish.”

“So then.” Pemberton rapped his knuckles on the table. “The only thing left to decide is when.”

Alex looked at him. “How soon are you ready to take over the White House?”

Pemberton rubbed his chin. “Well, Joe is a pretty popular guy around here. But I don’t know how much the rest of the country knows him. It’s going to take a week or two to stir some dust up.”

“And I know just how to start,” Irving said. “Sykes said Walker is going to give some sort of big speech tomorrow. He’s gonna try and rally the country behind him over this idea of turning back to our godly principles. Sykes said Walker has something big he wants to announce. I say Joe goes up there and makes a scene.”

Pemberton snapped his fingers. “Yeah, that’s good. Soon as Walker announces whatever it is he’s going to announce, Joe can come out and immediately counter it.”

“I can do better than that,” the governor said. “I’ll stand in the audience. And when he starts in, I’ll make him debate me right there. In front of his God and everyone.”

“Good,” Alex said. “It’s settled. However, there is still the little matter of protocol.” She winked at Pemberton. “Did you have something to ask me?”

Pemberton rolled his eyes and sighed. “Ms. Smith…we would like you to kill Kevin Jennings.”

Alex smiled and nodded. “I’ll begin making preparations to take Jennings out. And in a week or two, once the governor has the American public stirred to the point of utter contempt, if need be…I’ll pay Walker a visit and tip the scales in your favor.”

Pemberton smiled. “And with Joe and Jake leading the charge, we’ll kick the Chinese back where they came from.”

M
egan slammed her fist on the steering wheel. “Shoot!”

“I don’t get it,” Eli said. “This map doesn’t show any turnoffs after that huge bend back there for another two miles.”

“There’s no way he could’ve gotten that far ahead.”

“Not the way we were following him,” Eli agreed.

“Well, he must’ve turned in somewhere. Did you see anything? I didn’t.”

Eli shook his head. “No, I was looking at the map. But that doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

Megan hit the brakes and swerved the car around. “Hold on.”

Eli quickly reached up to grab the handle on the top of the door frame as his body weight was pushed against the door. “What are you doing?”

“Turning around. We missed a turn somewhere.”

“Yeah, but we can’t just go creeping down the road looking for it. You might as well hang a big flashing sign on the roof saying, ‘Hey where’d you go?’ ”

Megan knew he was right. If there was an unmarked turnoff, and it was some sort of driveway, driving by slowly could give anyone who was watching a heads-up that someone was there. “Okay. Then we’ll just have to go steady and not miss it.”

Eli looked over to her with a serious face. “You know we’ve got one, maybe two shots at this before we’d be advertising ourselves again. Right?”