Viper Team Seven (The Viper Team Seven Series Book 1) (43 page)

Parks yanked
himself back into the present. He had a job to do and he couldn’t daydream
while doing it. He stopped in front of his men, then faced the First Family –
and refused to make eye contact with the beautiful lady – drew his sword and
yelled, “Pre-sent arms!” Every Marine saluted the First Family as they were led
back up to the reviewing officer’s stand.

Parks then
shouted, “Or-der arms!” Next he did an about-face to his men and ordered, “Pass
and review!”

All of the
Marines knew what that meant. They lined up in perfect parade form and waited
for the command to “forward march” and exit the parade field.

Parks was in the
front of the column, standing at attention, when he shouted, “Forward march!”

His sword
whipped up to his shoulder and he stepped forward with his left foot. The
Marine Drum and Bugle Corps began playing
March, Semper Fidelis
as the
parade column marched forward to leave the field.

When Parks
reached the reviewing officer’s stand he ordered, “Eyes right!” The Marines
turned their heads in the First Family’s direction as they passed. Parks again
refused to look at the President’s daughter but he could almost feel her smile
at him as he marched past her.

After the parade
column passed the President, Parks ordered, “Ready, front!” The column made a
box around the parade field and came down the side opposite the President so
they could exit.

“Ladies and gentlemen,
that will conclude our ceremony,” Parks heard the narrator say. “Thank you for
attending the President of the United States’ fifty-fifth birthday party.”

Monday, April 14
^th
– 1800 hours

Marine Barracks, 8th and I

Parks hesitantly
stepped into the Commandant’s residence and looked around. The after-ceremony party
was being held there and dozens of people were already gathered inside and on
the porch. Refreshments were lined up on a long table and Parks was cringing at
the thought of what germs could be on them.

“Hey Keith, come
over here.”

Parks searched
for the voice’s owner and found it belonged to the Commandant. Quickly he
walked over to him and stood at attention.

“I was wondering,
are you ready to cut the cake?” the general asked.

“Yes sir,” Parks
said.

“Good then let’s
get at it. The First Family’s ready and waiting.”

Parks swallowed
hard and followed the Commandant. The general led him into a large room and
both men stopped adjacent to the First Family. Parks stood at attention again
and waited for the cake.

Attention was
called and all eyes focused on the Commandant. From the kitchen doors, four
Marines emerged, pushing and pulling a cake large enough for the entire Marine
Corps. The Marine Drum and Bugle Corps played
Happy Birthday
as the cake
was brought to the President and his family.

Parks knew what
to do. He drew his sword and handed it to the Commandant, who took it and cut a
large piece of cake. Plates and forks were brought up and the general served
the President the cake. Then he cut two more, plated them, and handed them to
Parks. Parks whipped an about-face and gave one piece to the First Lady and
then turned to the First Daughter and gave her the other.

“Thank you,” she
acknowledged sweetly.

Parks didn’t
know what to say so he just replied, “Yes ma’am,” and turned back to the cake.

“Here you go,”
the Commandant declared as he returned Parks’ sword. “That’ll be all Major.”

“Yes sir.”

Parks walked
over to the kitchen with the intention of cleaning his sword as the rest of the
cake was wheeled away and served to the other guests.

Where’s
Solomon,
he wondered.
Oh well, if there’s cake, he’ll show up.

Parks finished
cleaning his sword and slipped out to the lawn to try and find some space. It
was crowded in the house and he needed to get some fresh air.

“KP, why are you
hiding?”

Parks knew it
was Solomon. “I haven’t been hiding,” he answered. “I’ve been busy cutting cake
for the First Family. What, did you miss it?” Parks faced Solomon who was
eating a huge piece of the cake. “Obviously not.”

Solomon waved
his fork. “No I didn’t miss it, but what are you doing out here? This cake is delicious,
you’ve gotta try some man.” Solomon took another mouthful.

“I’m not a real
big fan–”

“Of parties,”
Solomon finished. “I know, but I’m not talking about a party, I’m talking about
cake. Now get in there before it’s all gone.”

Parks shook his
head. “That’s not my place, Solomon. Inside is for the Joint Chiefs and other top
brass. I don’t mind that because I’d rather be out here. And uh, I’m sure the
cake tastes good but I’ll have to pass on it.”

“Okay whatever.
I’m going in though. See you later.”

Parks stroked
his sword handle and then walked over to Norse and his wife. Before he could
get to them the Commandant stuck his head out the door and vigorously motioned
for Parks to come inside. So he did.

“Keith, I want
you to meet the First Family,” the general stated as he led Parks into an even
larger room. “The President told me to introduce you.”

Parks nodded.
“Yes sir.”

The Commandant
led him to the First Family and made the introductions. “Mrs. First Lady, this
is Major Keith Parks. Major, this is Mary Winnfield.”

“How are you,
ma’am?” Parks greeted.

“I am well. How
are you, Major?” the First Lady asked.

“And this,” the
Commandant continued, “is the beautiful First Daughter, Renee Winnfield. Miss
Winnfield, this is Major Keith Parks.”

Parks noticed
the “Miss Winnfield” and tried to think of something proper to say. “How are
you, ma’am?” he asked professionally.

Renee smiled and
extended her hand. “I’m very well, thank you, Major.”

Parks tore off
his glove and shook her hand, feeling self-conscious and awkward. “It’s good to
meet both of you ladies,” he said.

“You’re the one
who gave my dad his present, right?” Renee wondered.

“Uh, yes ma’am,
that’s me. I was put in charge of the gift detail, ma’am.”

“And you
couldn’t have picked a better gift. My dad is absolutely hysterical over it. He
wanted to be a Marine you know.”

Parks didn’t
know that but he didn’t want to ask why he wasn’t one then. He was nervous
enough as it was just being around her without extending this conversation.

Seconds later,
the President and First Lady were whisked away but Renee didn’t leave. She
didn’t say or do anything and that made things ten times worse for Parks.

“Are you an only
child, ma’am?” he questioned after a long silence.

Renee looked at
him and shook her head. “No, I’m not. I had a younger brother. He was in the
Air Force actually, a pilot. He won the Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple
Heart during Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

“What happened,
did he trip on some flight line?” Parks ignorantly joked.

Renee turned her
face away as she responded, “No, he was killed in a collision with an enemy
plane in 2006. He was awarded those medals during his funeral.”

Parks felt like
a nitwit and a total jerk. He had just wrecked everything. “Uh, I’m sorry
ma’am,” he apologized. “I didn’t know. I just like to joke around about the Air
Force, but that’s no excuse, ma’am.”

Renee could
sense his regret and forgave him quickly. “That’s all right, Major, you didn’t
know.”

“Yes ma’am.
Anyway, where do you live?”

“I live in Albany, New York,” Renee replied.

Parks put two
and two together. “The President was visiting you during 1/16, right?”

“Right. What a
horrible night. It was terribly tragic. I’m just glad my dad wasn’t involved in
the attacks.”

Parks nearly
smiled. The National Security Advisor had briefed him on the
Air Force One
hijacking not long after he took command of the team. Smith had explained that
the incident was played off to the media as just a crash, and since no one knew
where the President had been coming from nobody thought otherwise. Thankfully, Renee
didn’t question how Parks knew her dad was visiting her that night.

Renee switched
topics. “Where are you from, Major?”

Parks shrugged.
“I don’t know, ma’am. Anywhere and everywhere I guess. That’s the way the
military does things though. I was a Marine Corps brat most of my childhood
years and now with me being a Marine, I don’t really know where to call home.
But I guess you could say Montana, ma’am, because that’s where my family moved
to when my dad retired.”

Renee’s eyes lit
up. “Montana? Where in Montana?”

“Billings area – Roundup actually. That’s a small town that barely can be classified as a
town.”

“How neat. I’ve
always wanted to visit Montana.”

Parks was happy
that they were finally talking about something that she wanted to talk about.
“Well ma’am, there are some places of Montana that just aren’t worth visiting,
and others that just have to be visited. Glacier and Yellowstone are two of
those places that are really worth seeing.”

“I was planning
on visiting Glacier this year,” Renee told him. “But I can never seem to make
time to go. What’s it like?”

“I’m not sure my
description could do it justice, ma’am,” Parks admitted. “You’ll have to see it
in person to really know how beautiful it is.”

“Everyone I know
that’s been to Glacier has said it’s the most beautiful and breathtaking sight
they’ve ever seen.”

“I wouldn’t go
that far,” Parks stated. “I’ve seen better things, but it is nice.” Of course
Parks didn’t tell her that one of those better things was her.

Parks glanced
around the room and noticed the late hour. He knew he couldn’t keep this
conversation going much longer. He was too nervous to keep casually chatting
with the First Daughter, and he needed to get home. There were some very
important things he needed to work out.

“Someday when I
retire I hope to move to Montana,” Renee started. “I think I would enjoy the
slow pace of life and the open spaces. I’m getting a little tired of big cities
and large crowds.”

“That’s what I
keep on telling myself, ma’am. But as they say, duty calls.”

Renee smiled and
looked at the floor. “I can’t imagine what a big difference there is between Montana and Washington D.C.”

“There’s a huge
difference, ma’am. But when and where the Marine Corps says to go, I have to
go, like it or not,” Parks declared.

“So what is it
that you do in D.C., Major?” Renee wondered.

Parks was at a
loss for words. He wasn’t going to lie to her but he definitely wasn’t going to
tell her he was the leader of an elite counterterrorism team. “Uh, well, I work
on the White House staff, ma’am.”

“I see,” she
said. “That must be a pretty exciting job.”

“Some days it
is, some days it isn’t. But overall it’s nice, ma’am.”

Renee looked
past Parks for a second and then stared at him directly. “It looks like they’re
starting the dancing,” she informed him.

Parks nodded.
“And that means it’s time for me to head out, ma’am. I never stay around once
the dancing starts.”

Renee was
puzzled. “Why not?”

Parks chose his
answer carefully. “Because there’s no reason for me to stay around, I suppose.
And I think dancing is a little bit nonsensical.”

Renee began to
say something but a pudgy hand tapped Parks on the back and he spun around to
see who it was. Low and behold, it was the rotund Navy admiral.

“If you’ll
excuse me,
Major
, if you’re not dancing, get out of the way,” the
admiral barked.

Parks forced
himself to stand at attention and keep his mouth shut.

“Well then, get
out of the way,” the admiral ordered gruffly.

“Yes sir,” Parks
agreed grudgingly. He then faced Renee and told her, “It was a pleasure meeting
you, ma’am. Have a good night.”

Renee smiled and
replied, “The pleasure was mine, Major. Have a good evening.”

Parks smiled
back and quickly whipped around and walked off. When he was in the food area he
glanced back and saw the obese admiral dancing with Renee. His blood boiled for
he knew that the admiral was merely doing that to get at him. He sighed, shook
his head, and went to find Solomon.

“Sir, would you
care for a drink?” someone asked him as he passed by.

Parks stopped.
“No, no, I’m good. Besides, I don’t drink, never have, never will.”

“Suit yourself,
sir,” the man concluded.

Parks briskly
walked out the doors and found Solomon munching on some sort of dessert bread.

“You ready to
go?” Parks asked him.

Solomon
swallowed and questioned, “So soon? It’s early still.”

“Yeah, I know
but let’s go. We’ve got to be in the office mighty early in the morning.”

Solomon tossed
his paper plate and fork in a nearby garbage receptacle. “If you say so, then
let’s go. Oh, since you didn’t get any cake, I brought you some.” Solomon
handed Parks a piece of the cake. “And you’d better eat it because it’s real
good.”

Parks promised
he would and he led the way out of the yard to the truck. When they reached the
vehicle he unlocked it and both men climbed in.

“It’s funny I
didn’t see anyone on the team other than Norse,” Parks pointed out as he forced
himself to eat the cake.

“I guess they
didn’t come,” Solomon suggested. “Oh well, they missed out because it was a lot
of fun.”

Parks agreed as
he backed the truck out of the parking lot and onto the road.

“I saw you
talking to the First Daughter,” Solomon added after a while.

Parks stared
straight ahead. “She’s a nice lady. So is the First Lady.”

“I hear she’s
going to be staying at the White House for a few days. That’ll be nice for the
President.” Solomon paused. “And you.”

Parks shook his
head. “Cut it out Solomon.”

“What? Am I
wrong?”

“Okay, please,
let’s drop the subject,” Parks pleaded. “I need to talk to you about something
very important.”

Solomon looked
at Parks sideways. “Like?”

“Well it’s
something I need you to do.”

“Like?” Solomon
repeated.

“Like what do
you know about the Directors and the National Security Advisor,” Parks told him.

“What do you
mean? I know a little bit about the FBI Director, a lot about the D/CIA, but
nothing about the DNI, Secret Service Director, and NSA. Why?”

Parks wasn’t
going to tell him. Not yet anyway. He still had research to do and he wasn’t
going to make any assumptions. “I can’t tell you yet, Solomon. But it’s
important. How much can you tell me about them?”

Solomon was
confused. “I’ll have a report on your desk in the morning. But why do you need
this, KP? Is something wrong?”

“You’ll be the
first person I tell about any useful information I may find. But for now, don’t
worry about it.”

“You know I
can’t help you as a CIA agent – I’d need authorization for that. I can only
help you as a friend that just so happens to know something about these guys,” Solomon
explained.

“I know. That’s
all I’m asking for.”

“All right then,
I’ll give you the report in the morning.”

“Thanks
Solomon.”

Parks realized
that what the National Security Advisor had said was right. This was the
beginning of a nightmare. Trouble was, it wasn’t just a dream, it was real.