Chapter 46
President Strump called his head of security, Ty Veck, into the Oval Office.
“I’ve fired people that I thought were patriots. Are you a patriot?”
“Mr. President, I don’t want to offend you, but you offended me by asking. Of course I’m a patriot. I serve at your pleasure and will guard your life with mine.”
“Uh, yeah, okay. I need to capture two inventors to work for me. It’s their patriotic duty to do it. I need someone to take charge of finding them and bringing them to me. Will you do it?”
“Capture, as in kidnap?”
“They’re not the same. Maybe I should have said it as they will be loaning me, the country I mean, some of their time and brainpower.”
“Doing what?”
“That doesn’t concern you.”
“This town is awash in rumor and speculation, Mr. President. Some people are saying that you want to use the invention to become the leader of the world.”
“Bullshit. I want to keep our great country safe. So you know about the invention, huh? Then what’s the problem? You hung up on these people being taken and forced to work for our great country, which incidentally I’ve made a thousand times better by my heavy-handed actions? Is it like an ethical issue for you?”
“It’s neither ethical nor legal, sir. But I don’t want to see our great country get flushed down the toilet by the holier than thou progressives masquerading as U.S. Congressmen and wannabe presidents. Yes, I will take charge of dealing with the inventors, for I, sir, am a patriot.”
The president stood and gave his bodyguard a hug.
“Finally I have someone who thinks like me to do my bidding, er, I mean, to help me save our great country.”
“All of us have an obligation to serve, Mr. President. If that means some of us have to give up part of our lives to keep our country strong, even if we don’t want to, then so be it. Like me, for instance.”
The president saw that this man was speaking what he was thinking, but was confused by his answers; he couldn’t understand how anyone could agree to follow his orders but disagree on what he was being ordered to do. But he didn’t care—as long as he helped capture Stone and Danders. Plus, he had no one else, and time was passing.
The president explained what happened with McGowan in Centerville, and how both he and McGowan were looking for the same people. The president’s vast resources had thus far been unable to find the men, so he ordered spying on McGowan’s people as a means to find them.
“When is the last time Stone and Danders were seen?”
“After they left McGowan’s house, they were seen driving a truck outside Stone’s property, then they vanished.”
“Doesn’t it seem impossible that these guys can disappear, especially when you consider how many people are trying to find them? They must be right under our noses.”
“No shit. So how you gonna find them?”
“Force them out into the open.”
“Great idea. It’s worked so far.”
“Let’s capture someone who means something to them. Danders has a wife, Stone a girlfriend. Do we know where they are?”
“You think we haven’t tried to find them, too?”
“Then what should be done next? I’ve been in my new job for two minutes—give me a chance, will you?”
“Watch your mouth. I am the president. Show respect.”
“Respect goes both ways. I’m probably your last best hope to help capture these two, so I suggest that we work together.”
Becoming frustrated and defensive, the president began to yell.
“Get your ass in gear and find those sons of bitches!”
The president and Veck headed to the war room to meet with the leaders of the team trying to find the two men. A few involuntary eyebrows were raised when the president told everyone that Veck was now chief of staff, but they all knew to think only about finding the two men when they were in the president’s line of vision.
“Someone give me an update,” the president demanded.
A four-star general rose and reported.
“Shortly after the area outside the garage cleared, several smoke bombs were set off. Our microphones picked up the sounds of engines, and tires rolling across asphalt. There is no doubt that vehicles drove through the smoke and escaped without us being able to identify them. We also have no doubt that Stone and Danders made a road trip to the Washington D.C. area, returned, and are on the road again. We have little doubt that they are headed back to D.C., and we’re following up on all the leads we have gotten about the first trip. These men are skilled, logical, and unflappable; therefore, we think they will not risk driving far before changing their mode of transportation. Accordingly, every airport, train station, and marina from Long Island to the Chesapeake Bay has been sent their pictures and have been ordered to let us know if they spot the two men; they are armed and dangerous and must not be engaged.”
“They will drive, I’m sure of it,” said Veck. “There’s millions of vehicles on the road in the northeast; there’s thousands of planes and trains. It will take longer than flying obviously, but it will be far easier to blend in. Do we have any information whatsoever about their trip back to Connecticut? No one has come forward with a ‘you know, I might have seen something but I said nothing at the time’?”
No one had.
“With all the goddamn eyes looking for them, how were they missed?” demanded the president.
Veck intuited immediately the enormity of the task, especially having prey as knowledgeable and clever as Stone and Danders.
“Needle in a haystack, Mr. President. They changed vehicles before anyone could spot them.”
“Needle in your eye, Veck. Rationalizations, excuses, that’s all I hear. Why can’t we run the films we have for the times of their trip through facial recognition to find them?”
“Smaller needle, bigger haystack, Mr. President. We don’t have cameras on every street in the country, yet. Plus, they might have disguised their faces,” answered the four-star general.
The president had to admit that was true. He didn’t care.
“Run the films we have through the software; pull every asset we have into this. They must be found.”