Chapter 56

Without a doubt the next few months were the darkest of my many lives. The sadness equaled the days following Beth Ann’s tragic death when I was Brian. Losing Jennifer, combined with the loss of Hawk and Polly, was almost more than I could stand. When it was coupled with Stacy walking out on me, I almost tossed in the towel and walked away.

Sam and Shane Victorello kept me sane during those tough days. One or the other was in almost constant contact with me, keeping me engaged in the day to day running of the government and forcing me to think about things other than what I’d lost. Joshua Walsh kept me informed as leads on those involved slowly developed.

We had plenty of work to do. Between the assassinations of Jennifer, Polly and Hawk, we were bogged down with pressure to find someone to blame and start a war with them. In my heart of hearts, I was fine with the idea of starting a war and killing everybody involved in the attacks on my loved ones, but I really wanted to make war on those responsible. When the facts were clear, I had no trouble foreseeing how our military was going to respond.

D.C. remained a virtual prison camp, with blockades, tanks and an armed presence everywhere you looked. The procession that took Polly and Hawk to Arlington National Cemetery looked like a massive war game, instead of a funeral. The five services contributed an extraordinary amount of support to protect those of us willing to brave the potential attacks that seemed to be becoming commonplace. Sam was simultaneously inside the mountain in Colorado while all this went on. His task was to insure the continuation of government should we be attacked.

I walked the route alone. Stacy was true to her word. She packed her things and never looked back. Whatever changed inside her with the murder of Jennifer, Hawk and Polly, was too much for her. When thinking about what I’d lost became too much, Charger and I would go out and run around the grounds at the White House. If we were out at Camp David, we’d go play alongside one of the lakes I liked, where I could throw sticks out into the water and he’d chase them down and swim back with them.

His dependability was a big part of my mental health.

In the weeks following the attacks, our intelligence people ferreted out a huge network of people involved. They represented a consortium of wealthy, dangerous and angry group who wanted to rape and pillage the earth for their own profit and were accustomed to killing anyone that said otherwise. Jennifer, Hawk and Polly were murdered because these scumbags were infuriated about some common sense regulations that I signed into law, related to how certain manufacturing materials were disposed.

Once their identities were nailed down, they were quickly surveilled and taken out. Their fortunes were efficiently seized, and the majority interest in their companies was transferred to companies that would be better stewards of the environment. Their deaths were barely noticed by the world because they were all of a kind. These people spent fortunes remaining invisible to the world, so that their nefarious enterprises could operate with a minimum of outside meddling.

Joshua Walsh spent an afternoon with me, going over the network that had been dismantled. He was pleased to share how the CIA was planning to supervise the surviving, junior members of the consortium and his means of thwarting every business in which they attempt to engage. Once those that planned and participated in the attacks met their eternal judgment I started to feel like I could try to live again instead of merely existing.

Slowly things returned to normal around sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue. My days were a blur of sameness that threatened to kill me with boredom. Charger was my one respite from the crushing loneliness. He and I made a habit of taking short trips to the Cave House and Camp David, where we successfully avoided the hordes of cardboard cutout people, vying for my attention.

It was while I was still healing from the murders that I realized it was time to think about re-election. When I seriously thought about it, I decided not to think about it all and announced my intention to retire from public office, instead of standing for reelection.

“Sam ... It’s time to get busy getting ready for the election.” He had no idea what was coming.

“Yeah ... Been there – Done that.” Even though he sounded uninterested, I knew better.

“Here’s what I think.

“You will need to build a huge cash base and go right at it from the first moment. Don’t even think about slowing down and the election will be a walk.”

He still hadn’t gotten my drift. “What will you be doing while I’m running all over the country, making speeches, kissing babies and generally being useless?”

“It makes no difference, Sam. You will be President and I will be far away, not thinking about politics and all the people who want to kill me.” You could have bought him for a dime and gotten back nine cents change when I dropped that bomb on him.

“Sam, you had a heart condition that forced you to retire from office. I finished your term and denied you the chance to complete what you started. It’s time I gave you back the office and let you find closure. I know I need closure and I won’t find it here...”

We talked about timing and I agreed to make my resignation official in two days. That was soon enough that no one would leak it and spoil Sam’s moment in the sun, and long enough for him to firm up support from his old base.

It turned out perfectly.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” it was two nights later and I was standing in the same spot where Sam retired. “Your support has meant the world to me as I recovered from the twin tragedies that befell our country. If not for your kind words, beautiful cards and expressions of condolence, I might still be trapped in that dark place we all enter when we lose the love of our lives.

“Fortunately I had Sam Brownbock at my side, doing what was necessary to lighten my load, ease my days and find moments to sit quietly and think about my life and what its cost me to serve America since I was in my teens.

“It’s because of the support and professional abilities of Vice President Brownbock that I can stand here and with total confidence, announce my intention to retire from office effective immediately...”