Chapter Eighteen
A few hours after gunfire erupts at the UK Delegates dinner — White House
“How was he even able to get through to the Kennedy garden in the first place?” Maverick asked as we all sat in Collier’s office hours after the shooting in the Kennedy garden.
The president was due back in an hour and we still had no fucking idea how such a thing had even been able to happen in what was supposed to be the safest place in the entire country.
The assailant, a man dressed in a camo bulletproof vest with ‘ALPHAS PRIMUS’ emblazoned across the front and back had managed to hop the fence that should have been well-watched and guarded, armed with an assault rifle had made his way to the East wing where he’d pointed his gun directly at Lennon and opened fire.
He hadn’t been gunning for anyone else but her.
Alphas Primus was a so-called alpha rights group that had been gaining steam over the past several years since there had been several omega protections laws that had been federalized.
To some they were traditionalists, fighting for the state’s abilities to choose their own laws.
To me they were a bunch of domestic terrorists hell bent on oppressing an entire group of people in the states that already didn’t make protecting omegas their priorities.
It hadn’t taken long for them to put out a statement denying any connection to the man who had attacked Lennon tonight, but he wasn’t just some guy. He had military training, that much had been clear from the way he’d approached us.
The sheer luck of it all was that all four of us were around Lennon at once. Dallas took Lennon to the ground and the other three of us and the other agents that were nearby managed to gun him down before he could really do any damage.
No one was very hurt other than the bullet graze Dallas had taken to the shoulder, but there was one thing still bothering me as I listened to Maverick go through the entire night with Collier for what felt like the hundredth time.
Sure the guy had military training and was outfitted pretty well with his assault rifle and several pistols, not to mention the two grenades on his belt that I shudder to think about what would have happened had he gotten the chance to actually use them, but none of that would have matter had he not been able to get onto the grounds in the first place.
The White House was one of the most well-guarded buildings in the world.
Even when the president wasn’t in residence it was supposed to be impenetrable.
Every inch outside of the president’s residence was mapped with cameras and it was absolutely crawling with Secret Service agents and other staff who would notice if someone in a fucking bullet proof vest hopped the fence.
I didn’t need to be as smart as Dallas to know what that meant for tonight and every other time Lennon’s life had been in danger.
It meant that someone in this White House had helped that man get inside of the fence and that meant that no one outside of our core team could be trusted. Not even Agent Collier.
“We’re unsure,” Agent Collier, who looked exhausted after dealing with the events of the past couple of hours, said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“IT is working with all of the camera feeds that seem to have glitched in several spots. We’re concerned that this operative used some kind of weakness in the system and manipulated it to get in. ”
I leaned back in my seat and glanced over at Zeke who seemed to have come to the same conclusion as I had because he was staring at Collier with narrowed eyes that the older man seemed to not see.
“How are we supposed to protect Lennon if she’s not even safe here?” Zeke asked incredulously, ignoring the look Maverick was shooting in his direction. It was rare for Zeke to have an outburst like this, but after tonight I’d wager it was pretty warranted.
“Ms. Holloway,” Collier corrected coldly, “Will be protected one way or another, and need I remind you that you serve at the pleasure of the president and me. I have half of a mind to pull your detail from Ms. Holloway right now seeing how your boundaries seem to be starting to get blurred, Agent Adams. Something I did bring up to the president when we were briefing her on your team at the start. Your father’s closeness with the Holloway family seems to make you think you can break protocol and call her by her name.
Not to mention the argument you were engaging in with her before the shots were fired, don’t think we didn’t interview all of the staff in the garden tonight. Am I clear?”
Zeke leaned back, his jaw clenched, but he said nothing and nodded instead.
“Good, now the president is set to arrive soon and she wants to meet us in the Oval. Go clean yourselves up and grab the other Agent Wilson, gunshot wound or not he’s still on duty. Dismissed.”
Then we were unceremoniously dumped into the hallway together as the rest of the world seemed to crank on, agents and other staff bustling around us to get their nightly tasks complete before POTUS returned to the White House and their priorities shifted to orbiting around her and her needs again.
“I hate that bastard,” Zeke grumbled, another uncharacteristic response from the alpha. “He acts as if we invited that asshole to come and shoot at Lennon ourselves.”
“He’s not wrong,” Maverick said as we headed down the hallway together toward medical.
“We need to get our priorities straight. Tonight never should have happened the way it did. Number one we should have insisted that the party move back into the East room and number two we never should have questioned Ms. Holloway about her personal relationships.”
Zeke stopped in his tracks.
“Ms. Holloway? Are you kidding me, Maverick?” Zeke asked, his dark eyes flashing with anger as he stared up at Maverick’s impassive face. “Be so for real. Lennon is more than just Ms. Holloway, I know it and so do you.”
“She is our security target. That’s all it can be, Zeke,” Maverick told him, his voice tight.
“Bullshit, that’s bullshit.” Zeke shook his head and shoved the door to medical open. It was a small office with a tiny window and one bed that was currently occupied by Dallas who was already getting dressed again.
“What’s the update?” he asked as he buttoned his bloody shirt up.
“Slap on the wrist,” I told him, keeping an eye on the two alphas who had enough tension between them to bungee jump off of a bridge with. “He reminded us of our professionalism and Maverick agrees with him.”
Dallas snorted. “Yeah, I bet he did. And what about the asshole with the gun?”
“Alphas Primus already said they have nothing to do with him,” Maverick said, his gaze shifting away from Zeke for a moment. “You feeling all right?”
Dallas shrugged with a wince, probably because the motion pulled on the stitches in his shoulder. “I’ve been better, but nothing that some Neosporin and a beer won’t fix.”
“You can’t fix everything with Neosporin and alcohol, Brother,” I told him, chuckling. Earlier when I’d seen him bleeding I’d feared the worst, my body locking up with panic until he’d waved me off and handed a crying Lennon up to Maverick and before heading off to be seen by the doctor.
Seeing him joking and walking around now made all of the tension that I was still holding in my shoulders melt away as I hovered close to him, my shoulder brushing against his.
He was my twin, and tonight we’d come dangerously close to being separated forever.
That was going to fuck with me for a while.
“You can fix most things with at least one of those things, B,” Dallas joked as he stood. “Now what’s up with the wonder twins over there?”
I ignored the irony of his words considering we were the actual twins in the room and shrugged. “Maverick agrees with the director and Zeke doesn’t. I think we all just need a break.”
“Uh-huh,” Dallas said watching as the two continued to whisper-argue with each other on the other side of the room. “And something about your face tells me we won’t be getting that any time soon?”
“Nope,” I told him cheerfully. “We have a meeting in the Oval in fifteen minutes.”
Dallas groaned. “I’m gonna need to go find a clean shirt.”
“And probably a new jacket,” I added, eyeballing the new hole in the one he was currently wearing.
“What a fucking day,” Dallas said, scraping his auburn hair out of his eyes and snagging his glasses off of the side table.
“I saw you two, Maverick, that day in the kitchen—” Zeke was saying as we rejoined them but he stopped as soon as he saw us.
“What did you see?” Dallas asked, his green eyes darting in between the two.
“Nothing,” the two of them said together, looking more suspicious than ever.
Dallas just snorted at that. “And here I thought we didn’t keep secrets from each other.”
“Dall—” Zeke began but Dallas just cut him off with a wave of his hand as he turned to the door.
“Not tonight, Zeke, you guys can tell us all of your dirty secrets later. Right now I need to find new clothes and some caffeine before I drop, seeing as that beer is probably off of the table for the night, right B?”
“Right,” I said, though my mind was still on Zeke and Maverick as I hurried to follow after my brother.
Dallas may not have cared at the moment what their secrets were, but I found myself morbidly curious.
What had they been talking about and what had Zeke seen in the kitchen?
***
Lennon looked a little less worse-for-wear than the last time I’d seen her.
When we’d handed her off to Lisa and Landon to take up to the residence and clean her up, the front of her dress had been soaked with blood and her pale blonde curls had been crushed and mussed beyond repair.
Now she sat on one of the fancy couches in the Oval Office under her mother’s arm and dressed in a matching dark blue sweat set that made her pale face look even paler as she stared blankly ahead of her, clearly still in shock from the events of the evening.