Chapter 22 The Mayhem Continues #2
“This is exciting,” Caroline said.
“Look at the Christmas decorations,” Sydney murmured. “Mygod, it’s uh-mazing.”
“So beautiful,” Caroline agreed. “There are trees and decorations everywhere.”
“It’s crazy, really,” Sydney said. “I’ve never met a President. Not gonna lie… My engine is revved to see the Oval office.”
Caroline chuckled. “Revved? You are perfect for Mr. Wordsmith, Theodore Santini.”
Sydney grinned. “Yes. I. Am.”
They were escorted into the Chief of Staff’s office—where a small, lit Christmas tree filled the corner. Greystone hugged the kind-looking woman in a tailored suit and shoulder-length blonde hair. “How’s it going, Mom?”
Evelyn Baker beamed at him. “All good, Greystone.” Then, she hugged Caroline and finally Teddy.
“How’s my number-two son doing?” Evelyn asked Tank.
“Been busy. How’ve you been, Evelyn?”
Greystone made the introductions. “Sydney Austin, Evelyn Baker.”
“A pleasure, Mrs. Baker,” Sydney said.
“Call me Evelyn.” She shook Sydney’s hand, then said to Caroline, “Your sister, right?”
“Yes,” Caroline replied.
“And you’re the Olympic sharpshooter?” Evelyn asked her.
“Yes, ma’am,” Sydney replied.
“I’ve read your dossier,” Evelyn said. “Your body of work is impressive.”
“Thank you.”
“I heard you loved the goodie bag,” Evelyn said to Tank, “so I have one for each of you. We’ll collect them on your way out. The President is finishing up an overseas call. Can I get anyone something to drink?”
“I would love a water,” Sydney replied.
Evelyn ushered Sydney over to a small table in her office. There were bottles of chilled water, both stilled and sparkling. Sydney wanted to drain the bottle, but she was in the White House, so she opened the bottle, poured it into a glass, and drank it down. One refill and she felt better.
The crew was by her side, guzzling down their own waters.
“You look like you could use something to eat,” Evelyn said. “I’ll order breakfast and you can have it after your meeting.”
With a grin, Tank put his arm around Evelyn. “That’s some love right there.”
The group cracked up.
“You and Sydney stop a terror group from kidnapping five hundred women, you spot the terrorist that Sydney takes out, and you bounce right back like it’s nothing.” Greystone threw an arm around Tank’s shoulder. “You, my brother, are a beast.”
“I’d call Theodore Santini a true American hero,” said a voice from the other side of the room.
Everyone turned to see President Garrison standing in Evelyn’s doorway, a friendly smile on his face.
Sydney heaved in a breath as the President stepped into the office.
“Commander Santini, always a pleasure,” said the President. “How’s the flying?”
“Good to see you, sir. Thanks to my brother, here, I’ve actually been able to get in the plane on a few occasions.”
“Ms. Austin, good to see you. How’s the case going?”
“It’s keeping us busy, Mr. President,” Caroline replied.
“Mr. Santini, I hear you’ve made Evelyn very happy,” the President said as he shook Tank’s hand. “She’s been telling the staff she has two sons now.”
Tank grinned. “I’ve been trying to get our family normalized for a while now. It’s great to be part of the Baker family.”
The President raised an eyebrow. “I love your word choice. If you find a normal family, let me know.”
The group laughed as the President extended his hand to Sydney. “Ms. Austin, I followed your career as an Olympian. Congratulations on your golds.”
“Hello, Mr. President, it’s an honor, sir. Call me Sydney, please. And congratulations on the election, Mr. President Garrison. Will we be meeting in your office, Mr. Garrison, the President?” Sydney had blurted that garbled, run-on sentence before she could check herself.
The group cracked up.
“You know, my office is more popular than I am,” President Garrison said. “It’s steeped in history. Sometimes, I can’t believe I work there.”
She nodded.
“I got briefed before my overseas call,” the President continued. “I understand you took out the suicide bomber in the jet refueling truck this morning.”
She regarded Tank. “A total team effort. I’ve gotta give props to Tank. He heard him, confirmed he was one of our targets.”
“Excellent work, all around. What a relief that the women didn’t take that flight. Talk about terrifying.”
The President ushered everyone, including Evelyn, into his office. Sydney stepped in and stopped cold.
“Sydney,” Caroline whispered, “you’re blocking the President.”
Sydney moved out of the way. “I’m so sorry, sir, Mr. Garrison, Mr. Sir.”
Again, the group laughed.
“Sorry,” she said. “I’m not usually tongue-tied. This is a big deal for me to be here.”
“Sydney, take a moment to enjoy the room,” urged the President.
At the encouragement of the President, she did just that.
She appreciated the view of the grounds from the windows, she admired the historic desk void of any papers.
She went from artwork to artwork, soaking up what she’d only dreamed of seeing.
And she sighed at the nine-foot, stunningly decorated Christmas trees adorning two corners of the spacious office.
Being in the Oval Office, during the holiday season, was a childhood dream come true.
“Thank you, Mr. President,” she said, feeling more composed.
The President gestured, and everyone sat. Sydney and Tank on one sofa, Caroline and Greystone took their seats across from them. The President and Evelyn got comfortable in the upholstered chairs nearby.
“I’ve got an update pertaining to me and The Day of Destruction,” began the President, “and I wanted you four to hear it directly from me.”
TEDDY
“Based on the current threat level, I’ve been strongly advised to move the inauguration indoors,” President Garrison continued. “Not my choice, but we’re blaming it on what’s expected to be sub-zero temps. It will still be televised on The Mall, but I won’t be at the steps of the Capitol.”
Teddy glanced at Evelyn who was nodding in agreement.
“Event security will still be high,” continued the President, “but my family and I will be contained.”
“That’s a relief,” Greystone said. “Teddy, can you speak to any underground chatter?”
“There’s been nothing in the past thirty-six hours,” Teddy said. “That’ll change once we upload pics of the airport tanker explosion.”
The President’s eyebrows jutted into his forehead. “You’ve been communicating with them? Why wasn’t I briefed on this?”
“We’ve been operating in a vacuum,” Greystone said. “We want them to know we’re gaining the upper hand.”
“Won’t that only anger them further?” Evelyn asked.
“We have the option of doing something or doing nothing,” Teddy said. “Both send a message. We chose the more aggressive one.”
“Understood,” said the President. “Let’s circle back to Inauguration Day. We’re not going public with the change of venue. Only my family and three closest advisors, Evelyn being one of them—and now the four of you—know about the change. That information doesn’t leave this room.”
All four BLACK OPS acknowledged him with an affirmative.
“On a lighter subject,” the President said, “I’m spending Saturday at the Army-Navy football game in Baltimore.”
Ah, fuck no.
“It’s an honor to do the coin toss.” The President held up his hand. “Before you object, I’ll be spending the game in a bulletproof box. Security will be amped-up.”
“We’ll fly all four of you to the game on Saturday morning,” Evelyn said. “You’ll be guests of the President and you’ll be sitting in his box with him.”
“Does the public know you’re going?” Sydney asked.
“I go every year,” the President replied.
But every year they weren’t up against the Haqazzii terror cell and The Day of Destruction wasn’t looming large over their heads.
“Yes,” Evelyn answered, “it was confirmed the other day in a White House press conference.”
Teddy and Sydney shared a quick glance before Teddy regarded his brother.
“I see lots of eyeballs moving around,” the President said. “You don’t want me to attend, do you?”
Sydney got busy on her phone. “The game is sold out and the NFL stadium in Baltimore holds over seventy thousand.”
“And?” the President asked.
Sydney shook her head. “Security can only do so much, Mr. President.”
“I’ll be fine,” he replied. “Better than fine.” He thanked them for coming, showed them out.
With the meeting over, Evelyn whisked them into her office. Four hot breakfasts were delivered and they chowed down. After extending their thanks, she handed out four beautiful computer bags like it was Christmas, and escorted them to her assistant.
“Sean and I would love to have all of you for dinner,” Evelyn said. “I know the timing is terrible—”
“We’ll make it happen,” Greystone said. “Text me some dates.”
After they were led out of the building, they made their way to their parked SUVs.
“I know the President thought he was delivering good news,” Sydney said, “but the pit in my stomach grew ten times larger.”
“Same,” Caroline replied.
“What are the chances Haqazzii would plan something for the game?” Sydney asked.
“There’s always a chance,” Teddy replied. “I’m gonna upload the pics of the tanker explosion as soon as we’re back at the Site.”
“Watch your six,” Greystone said.
“We always do,” Teddy replied.
An hour later, he and Sydney were back at work. He hated that they were jumping from activity to activity without a moment to breathe. Though the Black Site was designed to keep them safe, it felt like a self-imposed prison.
Before uploading the photos of the gas tanker explosion, he asked Sydney for a caption.
“One by one, you will fall,” she said.
“Nice.” He added it, then uploaded the pics.
“I got the vibe the President thought we should be stealth every time we take out a terrorist.”
“Same,” he said. “I don’t agree and we aren’t switching it up now.”
“We should head to Baltimore before Saturday’s game to scope the area. If he expects us to sit in that box and watch the game while lunatics hunt us down, he’s damn wrong.”
Teddy smiled. “You got grit.”