Chapter 52

The Speaker sent his chief of staff to meet Marine One and usher us into the offices I used while the White House was under construction, well the main chamber. Out of respect, the Speaker refused to reallocate the space, since it had been mine, until after I was no longer President. I kept a secretary and a small cadre of aides who responded to mail, send out replies, and gather information. The best thing about it was having some privacy until the Speaker was ready for me.

My private office was quite comfortable. I likened it to an exclusive living room in an elite golf club. The sofas were leather, plush, and I sank into them when I sat down. The desk was modern, and the judge's chair fit me like a glove. When I worked out of the Capital, I was very happy using this suite. Now that I kept a small staff here, I kept the private office and occasionally met with congress members there.

Rick came in, armed to the teeth, and spooky as a March hare. Between him and Steve, I was feeling nervous, again.

Steve stopped in, and stayed when he saw Rick, and then Victorello showed up to make it an official party. I picked up the phone and told the White House operator to send snacks and finger foods for twelve to my private office at the Capital.

Turning to Victorello, I said, "Spill it. Right now, spill it."

He colored up just a bit and said, "We have a threat. It may be credible. It may be nothing, but my gut tells me it's real. For the last few weeks NSA has been gathering phone traffic between multiple parties, and the topic was killing you. We can't pin them down because they use a different phone every call. If we didn't have voice prints, we wouldn't even be able to tell you this much."

Steve jumped in. "Mr. President, what we have pieced together points to something major, maybe something here at the Capital, but we have such a small amount of intelligence to work with that everything is just some wild guesses, and gut instinct.

"We're here with everything we've got, to keep you safe. Even the speaker was required to walk through a metal detector today. I have no idea what else we could do to secure you, but if I did, we'd be doing it."

He looked like he'd missed a lot of sleep, recently, so I said, "You know something, Steve? You and your guys got me this far, and through some horrible attempts. So chill out, relax, take a load off, and let's get through this speech and I will keep a low profile for the next few weeks, while you all shake the trees and see what falls out."

I could see all three visibly relax.

We were still enjoying the peace when the door opened and Hawk walked in.

Steve jumped to his feet and said, "Mr. Vice President. No one told me you were joining us tonight, or I would have been out to welcome you, Sir."

Hawk waved him back down and said, "No one told you, because I never told anyone of my intentions, until we left for the Capital. There is far too much expense wasted on me. No one wants to kill the Vice President. It's all about him," he pointed at me. "So, my advice is this - I know you have picked up some threats. Figure out where they lead, and for God's sake, keep him alive."

I had to agree with that sentiment.

"Hawk, how the heck are you?"

He laughed and said, "You gave me that name and now my son-in-law calls me by it. I want to brain that kid, but he gave such beautiful grandchildren, I give him a pardon each time."

We talked about kids, grandkids, wives and significant others until the Speaker knocked, and walked in.

"Mr. President. Welcome back to the Chamber. We are pleased that you were willing to accept our invitation on such short notice, and we should be ready for you in about twenty minutes, if that is alright with you, Sir."

Everyone nodded, and he left to deal with his own problems.

That's when it hit me.

The Speaker ... Cutler ... Stanton...

Oh, crap.

"Steve, get the Vice President to the secured bunker. Hawk, I think the speaker might be behind the threats, and he definitely was in Cutler's camp, and best friends with Stanton. Shane Victorello spoke into his sleeve, and the doors flew open, as a dozen Secret Service Agents poured in, surrounded the Vice President and literally dragged him out. As he was moved through the hallways, numerous other agents blocked doors, stopped foot traffic, and generally scared the starch out of a bunch of congressmen.

Steve went with Hawk, Victorello stayed with me, and another phalanx of agents surrounded my office.

Shane looked at me and asked? "I am not doubting you, Mr. President, but what gives?"

I collected myself and said, "Cutler and the Speaker came up through the ranks together. The report I studied when Charles appointed me Vice President, covered all high officials, and every time Cutler's name came up, Stanton and the Speaker came up also. For someone to have gotten my invisible phone number they had to have extraordinary clearance and that would certainly include the Speaker of the House.

"Stanton was my back channel to the Speaker. I spoke to Ken, he spoke to the Speaker and things happened our way. If Stanton and Cutler were connected, the Speaker was in it somewhere. The question is, what do we do now?"