Chapter Six
After Teresa left, Terry O’Connor came in. “Everything all right, Mr. President?”
“Not even kinda.”
“What’s going on?”
“It’s so hot, I’m not sure I can tell even you.”
Terry sat in the same chair Teresa had occupied. “There’s nothing you can’t tell me. You know that.”
“This… This could take us down, Terry.”
“How so?”
“Gretchen has been spending time, overnights at the Naval Observatory, with an old friend from Oxford who happens to be Sergei Ivanov, the Russian opposition leader.”
“What?” He released the single word on a low exhale as his expression conveyed the same shock Nick felt.
“Yeah. Too crazy to be believed.”
“And she didn’t report the contact with a foreigner?”
“No.”
“What’s the plan?”
“Teresa has gone to bring Gretchen in to discuss this.”
“And then what?”
“I’m going to ask her straight out what’s going on with her Russian friend, why she never disclosed the relationship and what the fuck is happening.”
“It’s unbelievable.”
“He’s spent six nights there this month. A fucking Russian, there under an assumed name, shacked up with the vice president at the Naval Observatory.”
“What took the Secret Service so long to report it?”
“He had a legit Slovakian passport and other documents.”
“Wouldn’t facial recognition software spot him coming into the country?”
“That’s not entirely foolproof yet, unfortunately.
Only because a new Secret Service agent was assigned to her detail and recognized him from news coverage do we even know who he really is.
” Because he couldn’t sit still for another second, Nick stood to pace as he waited for Teresa to return with Gretchen.
“This could end me. It was happening right under my nose, Terry, and I had no idea.”
“This should end her, not you. Regardless of her explanation, you have to request her resignation. We need to get her the hell out of our government.”
“Yeah, for sure, but if she’s been in cahoots with the Russians, even the good Russians, I want her arrested, not fired.”
“Should I ask Sally to come over?” Terry asked, referring to FBI Director Monroe.
“Yes, please. I want this done by the book.”
“Understood.” Terry got on his phone. “I texted her and asked her to come over and stand by.”
“I feel like I’m having a stroke or something.”
“Same. Didn’t see this coming.”
Nick laughed at the simple absurdity of the statement. “You know who saw this coming? Sam. She’s had a vibe about Gretchen from the jump.”
“What kind of vibe?”
“A gut feeling that something was off with her, but she couldn’t say what. She told me to watch my back.”
The phone on Nick’s desk rang. He walked over to take the call from his admin, Julie.
“Vice President Henderson and Ms. Howard, Mr. President.”
“Send them in, please. Thank you, Julie.”
“Of course, sir.”
Wearing an electric-blue suit and smiling widely, his vice president came into the Oval Office with Teresa.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. President. I had the Daughters of the American Revolution in for coffee this morning. What an entertaining group they are.” All at once, Gretchen seemed to sense the tension in the room. “What’s wrong?”
“Tell me about Sergei Ivanov,” Nick said.
Gretchen’s smile faded, and her complexion lost all color. “Who?”
“Cut the shit, Gretchen. The Secret Service reports he’s spent six nights at the Naval Observatory in the last month. We know he’s a friend from Oxford who’s been working for years to overthrow Petrov.”
“It’s… It’s not what you think.”
Nick gave her a skeptical look.
“Please let me explain.”
“I’ll listen to your explanation with the understanding that no matter what you say, you will be resigning today. Am I clear?”
“You… You should hear what I have to say before you decide anything.”
“It’s already decided, Gretchen. You’ve got the Russian opposition leader sleeping—and God knows what else—at the Naval Observatory!”
“I understand it looks bad.”
Nick was incredulous. “Bad? It looks criminal to me.”
“It’s not criminal,” she said, her voice wavering on the word criminal, “and you know it. We’re not at war with Russia, and Sergei has been a friend to our government.”
“Russia has interfered in our elections and attacked our allies. I’ll bet we could make a felony case, especially if you were actively aiding his cause.”
“I wasn’t doing that. Petrov has frozen Sergei’s assets. He’s a longtime friend. I gave him a place to stay so he wouldn’t have to sleep in the street.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “And you didn’t think I needed to know about this?
You’re the vice president of the United States!
You can’t be associated with an underground effort to overthrow a sovereign government, even one that needs to be overthrown!
” Nick could count on one hand the number of times he’d raised his voice in this office, but this situation certainly warranted some yelling.
“Mr. President—”
“I’ll need your resignation immediately.”
“Sir, you need to understand—”
“There’s nothing to understand. You had a choice when you first heard from your old friend from Oxford.
You could be the vice president, or you could support the Russian resistance.
You made your choice the minute you failed to properly report that you were in contact with him.
I’ll be awaiting your resignation letter.
You’ll also do everything you can to keep a lid on whatever Ivanov was planning while he was the guest of the former vice president.
He’ll be asked to leave the country immediately, even though I’m sure Russian intelligence is well aware of where he is and who he’s with.
How long do you think it’ll be before they’re blackmailing me—and you? ”
“If you send him back to Russia, you’re condemning him to death.”
“I don’t care where he goes as long as he’s not in the United States. Go draft your resignation letter.”
“I… I’m very sorry about this, Mr. President.”
“As am I. I’m incredibly disappointed in your staggering lack of judgment.”
She was in tears as she left the room.
“What the actual fuck was she thinking?” Terry asked.
“Who knows? But what I want to know is how he managed to slip through our intelligence and security apparatus. Get me some answers on that.”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry about this, Mr. President.”
“So am I. There’s no way we’ll be able to keep a lid on this. The Russians will take great pleasure in holding it over us.”
“That’s my fear as well.”
“Right when the illegitimacy shit has died down, here comes a Russian rebel cavorting with my handpicked vice president.” Nick ran a hand through his hair, concerned that his head might blow off his neck.
He went around the Resolute Desk and took a seat, glancing at the credenza full of family photos.
Knowing they were waiting for him at the end of every turbulent day was the only thing that kept him going on days like this.
“Director Monroe for you, Mr. President,” Terry said.
“Hi, Sally, come on in.”
“Is everything all right, Mr. President? I saw the vice president in tears.”
“She’s resigning.”
“Excuse me, sir?”
“You heard me correctly. She’s gotten us into a situation that I’ll need your assistance and discretion to address.”
“Of course, sir. Whatever I can do.”
Nick outlined the challenge of getting Sergei Ivanov out of the United States as soon as possible. “I want him gone immediately. Put him on a commercial flight to anywhere in the world as quickly as humanly possible.”
“We’ll take care of it right away, sir.”
“Put Agent Hill on it and ask him to handle it personally. I trust him implicitly.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll let you know when it’s been handled.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you viewing this as a criminal matter, sir?” Sally asked.
“We’ll need a full investigation overseen by Acting AG Conrad and the Justice Department.”
“I’ll notify AG Conrad of the situation,” Terry said.
For a long time after Sally and Terry left the Oval, Nick stared out the window at the Rose Garden, thinking about his next move.
Terry returned with Teresa a few minutes later.
“What else can we do for you, Mr. President?” Terry asked.
“Please ask Trevor and Christina to join us.” He needed guidance from his communications team.
“Yes, sir.”
When the others arrived, they took seats on the sofas and upholstered chairs in the center of the room.
Press Secretary Christina Gonzales cast a nervous glance at him. “What’s going on with the vice president?”
“She’s been fired.” Nick relayed the story to his stunned staffers.
That they had no immediate comment indicated their level of shock matched his.
What could even be said about such a thing?
“I think we need to come clean before the Russians tell the story for us. They certainly know where Ivanov has been hanging his hat, and I’m sure they’re taking much delight in coming up with ways to blackmail me or publicly try to run me out of office. ”
Christina exchanged glances with Trevor Donnolly, the communications director. “What’re you saying, Mr. President?”
“We have to go public with this before the Russians take control of the narrative.”
The four staffers looked as distressed as he felt.
“I understand that when we woke up this morning, Gretchen was a valued member of our team, but that’s no longer the case, and the reason for that is her own doing.
She provided shelter, counsel and who knows what else to a man trying to orchestrate a coup of the Russian government.
If we don’t condemn that in the strongest-possible language, that makes us complicit.
” He glanced at Terry. “Please tell the Secret Service that she’s not to leave the White House until we say she can. ”
As they pulled up to the strip mall that housed Thelma Robinson-Bingham’s office, Sam checked the BlackBerry to find Nick hadn’t responded to her message and returned the device to her pocket. “Is the backup here?” Sam asked Freddie.
“Standing by.”
“Let’s bring two of them in with us and send the other two around the building to keep her from slipping out the back door.”