THE 13: STAND BOOK TWO (41 page)

Walker smiled. “Now, Joe. You know that I cannot officially make that declaration on the phone with you here tonight. Just promise me you’ll be in attendance for the Prophet’s speech.”

“Oh, I’ll be there. You can bet on it. And I’ll make sure that Jake and Gavin are with me. They’re going to want to see this in person.”

“You do that. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Walker pushed the button with his finger and hung up the phone. He let off the button again and waited for a dial tone. When he got one, he started dialing again. A few clicks and buzzes later, the line began ringing. This time it was answered on the first ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Tess. It’s Gray. May I speak with Calvin?”

“Sure, Gray. Just a second.”

Walker heard her pull the phone away and call to her husband. Then she came back on. “He’s in the bathroom. He’ll be out in a second.”

“I’ll hang on for him,” Walker said, laughing.

After a few seconds, Grant came on the line. “Hey, Gray, what’s going on? Everything all right?”

“Everything’s good, Calvin. They got you peeing in a cup again?”

“Funny,” Grant quipped.

Walker cleared his throat. “Remember last time I was there, you made me a promise? About how you’d never wait again when God asked you to do something?”

“Yes, I do. What’s going on?”

“I just got done meeting with the Prophet.”

“Wow! I bet that was exciting. What was he like? Did he tell you what his speech is going to be about tomorrow?”

“As a matter of fact he did. That’s what I’m calling about.”

“Really? How so?”

Walker smiled to himself. “Don’t make any plans for tomorrow night, Calvin. You have somewhere to be.”

K
eene and Boz were back at the hospital again. This time with Quinn in tow. Keene had tried to get more information out of Quinn on the ride there, but Quinn was tight lipped. He just kept deflecting Keene’s questions.

“We can discuss all of this when we get to the hospital, Jon. It’s important that the others hear what I have to say.”

Keene finally let it go.

Now they were in a waiting area that Jennings had turned into a conference room. He’d had a nurse clear out the space. He then had the four marines that Keene had posted at Megan and Eli’s doors stand guard at the end of the hall. Everyone was present, except Eli, who was being pushed down the hall right then in a wheelchair.

“Good to see you out of that bed, Eli,” Keene said.

“Had to,” Eli said. “I was about to go nuts just sitting there.”

“Tell me about it,” Megan said.

“Hey, at least you can walk,” Eli answered. “I’m going to be bumming around in this jalopy for another six weeks.”

Finally Keene stood up and introduced Quinn to everyone. They all gave the Prophet their attention.

“I’m very glad to meet all of you,” Quinn said. “I know it’s been an incredible five months. I want to thank you for not trying to kill me.”

That got a few laughs.

“Thank Boz,” Keene said. “I
wanted
to kill you. He talked me out of it.” He laughed.

Quinn looked to Boz. “Yes…thank you, Boz.”

“So what’s going on, Quinn?” Megan asked. “I mean, I have to be honest with you. We’re all kind of scared. I mean, you just call into a news station and tell the world that you’re coming to announce God’s decree. Should we be worried?”

Quinn had a pained look on his face. “Honestly, Megan, I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Keene asked.

“Just what I said,” Quinn answered. “I don’t know. He hasn’t told me yet.”

Jennings sat up in his chair. “You mean, you’re just going to go in there tomorrow and…what? Wait for God to tell you what to say?”

Quinn held his palms up. “I know that may sound crazy to you all. But yes. That’s exactly what I’m going to do. That’s exactly what He has told me to do.”

“Then what was all that with President Walker a little while ago?” Keene said.

“Jon, I’m only doing what God tells me to do right now. He told me to have Walker call Nolan and make sure Nolan was going to be there. Sometimes He gives me a whole thought-out scenario. Sometimes, He just gives me one thing at a time. Right now, He’s giving me one thing at a time. I have no idea what God’s decree for this nation will be tomorrow night. But I do know this. He wants, more than anything, to see this nation repent and turn back to Him. I imagine whatever His decree is, it will be an ultimatum.”

“Why would God tell you to invite Nolan? I don’t get it,” Megan asked.

“He didn’t say. Maybe it’s so you can take them into custody. I just don’t know. What I do know is that President Walker will be making a big announcement.”

“What announcement?” Keene said.

Quinn smiled. “I don’t know.”

Keene was getting frustrated. “You’re killing me, Quinn.”

“I promise you, Jon. I’m not trying to frustrate you or anyone else. I don’t know what Walker’s announcement will be. God has chosen to share that with Walker personally. I only know it involves President Grant.”

Keene felt his blood pressure begin to rise. “President Grant is going to be there?”

“Yes. And that is why it is imperative that security is tight. Outside of the people in this room and President Walker, no one knows President Grant is even awake. I expect it’ll be quite a scene.”

T
he scene at the Capitol building was just short of chaos. Reporters lined the halls and the inside of the House chamber. Senators, representatives, and their staffers were all crammed inside the room jockeying for the best seats. Quinn had even opened the event to the public. He said God had said whoever wanted to be there could be there. So the entire gallery was packed, and even more people were trying to get in. Those who couldn’t stood outside the doorway pushing and shoving, trying to get a look inside.

Keene felt like he had been dropped into the middle of a war zone. He had, along with Jennings, put every available agent he could find from every department he could think of on the grounds. And still, if something bad were to happen, they would be hugely outnumbered.

His earbud crackled and he heard someone say something, though he couldn’t discern the words. He pushed a finger in the other ear to try and mute out the noise. He picked his wrist-mic up to his mouth. “This is Keene. I lost that last transmission. Say again.” The earbud crackled again.

“This is Boz. I’ve got eyes on Nolan. He just arrived.”

Keene had been waiting for this for the last half hour. Quinn was set to speak in the next ten minutes and Nolan hadn’t shown up yet. “Okay. Are Irving and Pemberton with him?”

“Roger that. All three present.”

“All right. Bring them in.”

Keene waved his arm at the five or six agents in sight and gave them the prearranged hand signal. The agents all moved into place and began pushing spectators back out of the aisleways, creating a lane for Boz to come through. Keene moved to the center of the chamber and started moving people out of the front row.

“Okay people, I already told you. This section of seats is reserved. You’ll need to move.”

The people grumbled and shouted curses at him. He had no sooner gotten them to move when a beefy, older gentleman waddled over and sat down. “Excuse me, sir. I need you to move. This section of seats is being reserved.”

The man looked up at him. “Young man, I am Congressman Cartwright, from the Commonwealth of Virginia. This is my seat and I’m not—”

Keene grabbed the large man by his collar and hauled him up. “I don’t care who you are, or what state you’re from. If there even
is
another session of Congress after this, you can sit wherever you like. But right now, I said
move!”

The man looked as if Keene had threatened him with his gun. His face turned pale and his eyes started darting back and forth as Keene let go. The man promptly put his head down and scurried off.

Just then, Keene looked up to see Boz entering the chamber with Governor Nolan. He was followed by former SECNAV Irving and an older man whose intensity made him seem younger. Keene locked eyes with him immediately. He wanted to see the man who was responsible for everything that had transpired these past weeks. He got a cold chill down his spine as Pemberton never looked away. Pemberton even smiled when their eyes met.

Suddenly, the massive crowd inside the chamber took notice of the fact that Nolan had entered the room. A few people began to shout support and clap. In another few seconds, the entire room had erupted in applause. Nolan painted a big smile on his face and began the descent down the aisle, waving and pumping his fist. By the time he had made it to the front, he had all but incited a riot. The place was going crazy.

Keene tried to sweep his gaze around the room to look for anything troubling. But it was pretty much useless. There were too many people. And they were all standing and shouting and clapping. He started feeling uneasy. The whole thing felt like it was about to get completely out of control.

Alex Smith and Farid Naser waited until Nolan arrived to make their entrance. Alex knew that when the governor showed up, the place was going to go nuts. Just this morning she had watched an interview with Nolan on one of the major news stations. He had informed the reporter that he had spoken with President Walker just last night. Walker had personally invited him to the event. He said Walker had informed him that he would be making a big announcement. Nolan was asked if that announcement was going to include his being nominated for VP. Nolan had winked at the reporter and said, “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, huh?” He followed it up with, “But if I were you, I wouldn’t miss it.”

Alex walked to the same entrance she and Farid had come through last night. The same guard was there. She didn’t even bother with her fake ID this time. She just nodded and said, “Hey.”

“Hey,” the guard said back. And then he pushed the buzzer and waved them in.

When they had cleared the guard, Farid looked at her. “This is way too easy.”

“Told you. Bureaucracy.”

She and Farid had already scoped out the room and had their plan in place. She would sit in the gallery up above the chamber. Farid would stay on the ground level. At some point, when Alex gave him the signal, he would yell, “GUN!” The panic that was sure to ensue would give her the opportunity she needed to take her shot.

They stopped short of the stairs that led to the upstairs gallery.

“Okay,” she said. “This is it. You sure you’re okay?”

He smiled at her. “Yes. I’m fine. Let’s go.” He turned to walk into the chamber.

Alex grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. She leaned in and kissed him. “I love you.”

Farid’s eyes got wide and his mouth was open. Finally he blinked a few times and then pulled her close and kissed her again. “I love you, too.”

She pushed away from him and giggled. “I’ll see you in a little bit. Remember what I said. When you yell, you take off with the crowd. I’ll meet you at Union Station.”

“I’ll be there.”

Inside the chamber, the crowd exploded as Nolan entered the room. She squeezed Farid’s hand and turned to go up the stairs.

President Walker and Quinn Harrington were being held in the Senate chamber on the other side of the building. Megan and Eli were with them, along with Jennings and a few guys that Keene had handpicked to watch over them, Ramirez and his team. They had been sitting there for almost thirty minutes. Keene had promised to come and get them just before it was time. And now he was walking down the hall and through the rotunda to do just that.

He had gotten halfway when he pulled up short. There were still a hundred people or so lining the hallway. And he’d had to push past almost all of them just to get back to the rotunda. But something wasn’t right. Something had caught his eye. And this time he wasn’t going to let it go. He hurried down the other side of the hall to the Senate chamber. He needed Ramirez and the boys. Now.

He all but kicked in the door to the chamber as he got there, which immediately caused Ramirez and the men to jump in front of the Prophet and the president and then drop into firing position.