Chapter 30
CHAPTER 30
“ I t’s not Sutton,” Cy said to the room.
“How can you be sure?” Warrick asked. Cassidy and Sutton should be there any second. He’d spent the last forty-five minutes talking to Birch, Tate, and Humphrey. He’d learned Humphrey was nothing like the rumpled, fumbling man he appeared to be. The man was a bona fide genius about military history. Warrick was sure that Humphrey had more military knowledge stored in his head than was in the entire Library of Congress.
“Because Ryan just texted. Cassidy and Sutton’s DS agents just saved Sutton from someone trying to throw her off the hotel balcony. His office is responding to the scene to keep everything hushed up,” Cy told them as Tate gasped and Birch began asking Cy for more details.
“Then there were three,” Warrick said right as the door to the room opened. Sutton Ramsey strode into the room as if she owned it. There was no sign she’d just fought for her life except for the red marks on her cheeks and the wrinkles on her suit coat.
Veronica was already up and asking for Sutton’s coat so she could have it pressed before the others arrived. “Do you want some makeup for those red marks? They’re going to bruise,” Veronica told her.
“Yes, please. Thank you.” Sutton turned to the room and her gaze stopped on Warrick. A DS agent stood outside the door as Veronica closed it after her. “So, you’re the man who has risen from the dead. Sutton Ramsey, the Secretary of State who is not trying to kill you.” Sutton held out her hand and Warrick shook it.
He glanced to Cy and Ahmed, who both gave a small nod, saying she appeared to be telling the truth. Five minutes later after nonstop questions, Cy and Ahmed both leaned back in their chairs and everyone in the room agreed—Sutton Ramsey was not part of group trying to gain power and control of the world.
“What now?” Sutton asked.
“Now we have you come join the summit as if nothing happened. Mingle and listen to everyone around you. I’ll introduce Warren,” Birch said, looking to Warrick, “as a reason for countries to be more open with each other. The whole theme is unity and cooperation. I’ll lean into it. See who seems worried that Warren is here. Then we wait for them to make their move.”
“Okay,” Sutton said, standing up. “Can someone get me a knife? A dagger would be best.”
“Why?” Warrick asked as everyone got ready to start this charade.
“I’m a fencer. If someone tries to kill me again, I’d like to be able to defend myself.”
“I’ll have Abby bring you one and a vest to store it. It has a pocket in it so all you have to do is in reach between your breasts and grab it,” Cassidy told her.
“Perfect. Thank you. I’m also guessing no one is going to fill me in on security measures and who all these heavily armed people are walking around the house? I mean, I saw an old lady who had the largest gun I’ve ever seen sticking out of her purse when we entered the embassy,” Sutton told them.
Cy shook his head. “Miss Violet will break a hip or a shoulder if she tries to shoot her old fifty-five caliber gun.”
“She’s going to smack you with a spatula if you try to take it away,” Ahmed warned as Sutton’s eyes slowly got larger.
“You’re messing with me, right?” Sutton asked, glancing at them all.
“Sutton,” Birch said, drawing her attention as Cy hurried from the room. “Let’s get you hidden as guests begin to arrive. Then you can walk in with a large group acting as if everything is perfectly normal.”
“Birch, what aren’t you telling me? Hey, I met them in Italy—” Sutton’s voice faded as Birch led her down the hall.
“We’re going to have to fill her in soon,” Tate said with a sigh. “I think she’s proven herself, but my friends’ lives are at stake. I’m not telling just anyone. I’ll only tell the next president.”
“I understand how hard it is to open up and trust new people,” Warrick told her.
“You,” Tate said, squeezing his hand, “are very brave.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I hope we’re wrong about a new threat emerging in the world. I don’t want to see people placed in danger,” Warrick told her.
Tate frowned. He could see how she’d appeared as the picture perfect, perky blonde journalist. However, she was much more sincere in her actions than most in the media, who were currently trying to whip up controversy every day. “It’s been years since we’ve seen a threat like Mollia Domini. History has taught us there are always people who will lie, cheat, and kill for more power. They think they deserve it. Their motivation is based on hate, not love. Genghis Khan was ruthless in his killing to gain the largest empire in history. He didn’t do it for the betterment of the people he was taking over. He did it for power, for wealth, for ego. The Roman Empire will teach you that, too. Look how often they killed each other to be the next leader, just for their child or brother to kill them so that they could wield the power and wealth of the empire. You saw it again and again over the centuries and then into more current history with Napoleon, Hitler, Mollia Domini. It would be na?ve to think someone else wouldn’t try gaining the power they think they’re owed.”
“We’ve been tracking the rise in increasingly worrisome world leaders,” Humphrey told them. “Several ‘free states’ have evolved into dictatorships. Freedom of the press, of speech, and even the ability to obtain run-of-the-mill information about the status of your country has eroded or is simply gone for citizens of several countries now. Women in some countries have lost the ability to speak in public. The fingers are always pointing, but never at themselves. Look at us. We’re victims of this big, bad rival state. All the while, they are amassing weapons of mass destruction. Feuds are igniting. The world is at a tipping point.
“One charismatic leader or one strong military group and they’d either be able to send the world into chaos or bring it back from the brink. The question is who is going to be stepping up to stop this out-of-control train? Birch and his allies, like Mo, are trying to bring peace,” Humphrey told them. “But Tate is right. It was only a matter of time before good faces evil once again. The difference is, we’ve been waiting for them to appear. We know what to do. We know who to call. We know how to cut the head off the snake.”
Warrick nodded. “We just need to find the snake.”
“Exactly.”
“And today, I’m your bait.” Warrick looked out at the group around him. It had been personal before. But now it was about so much more than himself or even his family. He, for one, wasn’t going to sit back and let evil win again. They took his family from him. He wasn’t going to let them take the world. “Well, let’s go hunting.”
Warrick waited beside Birch behind a closed door as they listened to Mo give a welcome speech from the dais in the large ballroom before turning it over to the various religious leaders to give different cultural blessings.
People clapped and then Mo introduced Birch to the audience for opening remarks before people had the chance to breakout into smaller groups based on their country’s needs and interests.
“Let’s set the trap,” Birch whispered before plastering on a smile and stepping out from behind the door.
Birch gave a brief rundown on the United States’ relationship with Crusina over the decades. He spoke of the murder of Warrick’s parents and the presumed murder of Warren Hawkins. Birch then spoke about how Deming helped solve a decade long mystery. Birch drew an analogy between Warren Hawkins recovery and return to his home and the friendship and cooperation between countries. It was brilliantly done, and he was sure Deming was smiling and nodding as if this actually had happened. But to Warrick it reminded him of the political games his parents had played. However, Birch and Tate did remind him of his parents who served for the good of all the people. Deming, too. It brought hope to him as he listened. Hope that good would conquer evil.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Warren Hawkins,” Birch called out.
The door opened and Warrick found himself instantly transported back to his teen years. The political smile. The small wave. The way he made sure to make eye contact with everyone. These were all lessons his parents had drilled into him since he’d been a small child.
He saw Cassidy in the crowd along with Deming, Dasha, and a very surprised Director Beaumont, who Cassidy was watching closely.
Beaumont went to open his mouth and Cassidy grabbed his arm. She shook her head and Beaumont closed his mouth. One look was enough for Warrick to know Beaumont was not part of this. His shocked reaction was genuine.
“Thank you, Mr. President for the warm welcome back. My memory loss has been a struggle to deal with, but I’m so very grateful for the cooperative efforts of Crusina and the United States to confirm my identity and get me home again. I have great hopes of following in my father’s footsteps and bettering the world from behind the scenes. I look forward to meeting you all, especially those of you who were friends of my parents. Thank you.”
Warrick stepped back as people clapped and whispered. It had been over ten years, but they apparently had a long memory. Warrick had used the same language as Culpepper had in prison regarding bettering the world from behind the scenes. He hoped it would help to root out this snake in the grass. Now it was time to sit back and see who slithered out of the shadows.
Cassidy had a firm grip on Beaumont’s arm. He snapped his mouth shut during Warrick’s speech, but the second people clapped and a group rushed to talk to Warrick, Cassidy pulled her CIA boss out of the room and into the hall.
“What the hell is going on, Davies?”
“Everything Warrick said is true,” Cassidy whispered. “He really is Warren Hawkins. Although, he doesn’t have amnesia. He’s hunting down the people responsible for killing his parents and we’ve stumbled onto something much, much larger.”
“What?” Beaumont asked, back in CIA boss mode.
“A new Mollia Domini. Culpepper is involved and some mystery man who used to work for the State Department and then the DS known as Nicholas Houser.”
“Nicholas Houser is dead. He died in a road side bomb two weeks after the Crusina embassy attack.”
Cassidy shook her head. “Presumed dead since a body couldn’t be fully identified. However, his fingerprint showed up in Crusina when I was ambushed and pressured into joining this new group. Warrick helped save me from that situation. I should also mention that Warrick Vidar is who we all described as The Boogeyman.”
Beaumont was clearly shocked as he dropped his voice. “The new Ahmed?”
“There is never another me.” Beaumont jumped out of his skin and Cassidy smothered her laugh as Ahmed stood inches behind Beaumont. “Is he good or do I need to dispose of him?” Ahmed asked Cassidy about Beaumont.
Ahmed glared as Beaumont broke out into a sweat and spun around to face him.
“I’m fanboying so hard right now,” Beaumont finally said, sticking out his hand. “I am such a huge admirer of your military intelligence and keen ability to read situations.”
“Then I’m glad I don’t have to kill you. Now, we can work together.”
Beaumont’s eyes lit up. “Yes, sir. What do you need me to do?”
“Talk to the other directors. See what they say about Warren being back. Report back to Cassidy.”
“Right away.”
Cassidy watched Beaumont hurry off as Sutton Ramsey slipped down the hallway and gave them a slight nod before ducking into the large conference center Mo had set up in the ballroom. Smaller groups would be in the various sitting rooms and conference rooms around the house and even some set up outside in temporary building they had set up in the gardens.
“The Rose sisters have spotted Jacob, Tim, and Heather. Faith has made contact with Jacob, Nikki is about to meet Tim, and Sydney is slowly making her way to Heather. They said all were nice upon entering the embassy, but all three were talking about the rumor of Warren Hawkins being here. It’s clear the three of them are tight through work. Personally? We don’t know yet. But, because they were speaking rather loudly, several others heard and started talking about Warren. The game is in play. Be ready. You too. They came for you once. They might come for you again.”
“Thanks, Ahmed. I’m ready.”