Chapter 508

Sunday morning I spent several hours in the gym - more than I had in the last several days put together - and felt good afterwards.

I went to the basement and put on the heavy vest and survived with it on for 30 minutes. That settled the question I had about when to start back to Washington; it would be tomorrow.

I called Ed and Bill to let them know. The convoy plans and other logistics had already been worked out and they were waiting on me to say when.

A few minutes before 1100 the girls, the boys and I made our way through the tunnel back to the house to watch Hanna’s program. We ate lunch as we watched.

At the end I breathed a sigh of relief; the editing had been reasonable and I did not come off as overbearing or a dunce. Over all I was happy. I was sure that there would be more requests for interviews now, but I intended to do no more.

The four of us talked about the radio station going out of business. We talked about if there was any value adding it to the business line to use for advertising and changing the format to something that was more compatible with the area.

There was also a discussion about adding a couple more business venues. Marcy wanted to diversify more; her thoughts were that we were in too deep with the government. She ran percentages all the time and the revenue from sources not connected to the government contracts needed to be higher.

I didn’t see that there was going to be a problem because Vicky and Ching Lee both had dozens of requests for security contracts - large and small - from major business and high profile individuals. Evaluating their needs and pricing was going to take weeks.

The fact that I had been attacked and survived only increased the requests for security audits.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Jenny, Marcy, Lorrie and the boys.

At 1700 Jenny’s phone rang; the C5 was 100 miles out and would be on the ground in a few minutes. I wanted so badly to go see Andy and Bob to welcome them back. Instead Marcy, Jenny and Lorrie went and I stayed with the boys.

Oh well, I would see them Monday afternoon. Vicky and Ching Lee would be back mid-week. I was anxious to hear the stories from their trip.

At 0600 I was sliding across the seat in the Suburban wearing the heavy vest and helmet. There were eight Suburbans in the convoy and both Blackhawks overhead. As usual there were to be two MSP and then two Transit Authority cars joining us.

Both armed Blackhawks were getting staged inspections starting tonight. Several techs from Sikorsky were going to help Robbie’s techs with the work. It would take a week to do the inspection piece-meal like that but Ed insisted they were needed to fly cover over my convoy.

There were multiple changes coming to my Washington travels; the times I left home would be varied from 0500 to 0800. The times I left Washington would vary from 1300 to 1900 and some days I would work from my command center, just to keep everybody guessing.

This whole operation would have been terribly expensive, if the justice department had not been picking up most of the tab.

The trip went smoothly even with all the extra SUVs. The news traffic helicopters had alerted the media group I was coming.

Just as we parked Robert sent me a text, “The Prince has upped the price; you are now worth five million dead and they have added the members of the task force at one million each. As you can guess, we have made small gains in breaking the new codes but have a long way to go.”

“Send me the breakdown of that part of it; use the big black book,” I replied.

There were dozens of reporters - including some of the White House inside press folks - standing by the fence with the big cameras.

“0900 press room,” I shouted out to them after I exited the Suburban and stepped through the side door into the secure area.

Ben was already in the office and coffee had just finished brewing.

“Any dots connecting on the ten you arrested?” I asked.

“Lots of data on the phones and on their computers; they are still being interrogated,” he replied.

“I’m only going to be here till 1300 today; my security team is going to change my arrival and departure schedule every day to keep them guessing,” I said.

“Keep them guessing? Are you implying there is going to be another attempt to kill you?” Troy asked. He and the President had walked in behind me.

“Yes. The bounty is now five million on me. They have also added the members of the Task Force with a one million each bounty,” I said.

“Until we find the money man and kill him, the attempts will not end. The tactics and determination we used against Osama are being used to get me and now the Task Force. They fail to realize that the war against domestic terror will continue on without us,” I said.

“The one thing the Task Force has done is change the way the agencies are working together and the way they are looking at the data. The improved result has been apparent,” I said.

“Troy, can you get me the press room with plenty of coffee and donuts setup for 0900?” I asked.

“I can do that,” he replied.

“I saw your interview yesterday; it was very interesting and informative. I never realized you watched the local political landscape so closely,” the President said.

“I just like to stir the pot; there is an election coming up and that will give them something to talk about. It may improve some things as well,” I replied.

“Most people that do what you did have an agenda,” Troy replied.

“I have an agenda; I want the code updated, permitting relief and the 90 foot limit gone,” I replied.

“Spoken like a true Politician; are you still sure that you are not running for office?” the President asked.

By the time we finished talking all the Task Force was in and seated. I expected the President and Troy to leave; instead they took seats.

“Ben, you are still in charge; you are going to have to work with the Secret Service and Justice for 24/7 security for each of the members. What have you learned from the arrest?” I asked.