IT’S 3:12 A.M. AND PRESIDENT Winters is lying in bed wide-awake, staring at the ceiling. Sleep is out of the question. Beside her, First Man Ed Winters is sleeping like a baby, and she envies him. Nights like this she envies just about everyone. But she fought to win the job, and no matter how awesome the responsibility, she is going to serve the citizens of this country. She throws back the covers, puts on a robe, and walks into her adjoining office.
After watching coverage of General Morrow’s murder earlier in the night, she called Paul Adams, her national security advisor, and pressed him on whether it was the work of the FBI or CIA. If it was, she would be profoundly disturbed. Actions of that gravity must be cleared with the president, and assassination is never an acceptable means. Adams made some calls and then assured her that no one in the government had anything to do with the bombing.
That begs the question, who was behind the murder? Well, who gained the most? Mary Bellamy, of course. Her so-called Homeland—just saying the word to herself raises Winters’s blood pressure—suddenly has a martyr. How convenient. From the dossier on Bellamy that the FBI prepared for her, the president knows she is a ruthless businesswoman who has had over a dozen complaints filed against her with the National Labor Relations Board. They came from employees at her various companies who alleged discrimination, underpayment of wages, sexual harassment, and dangerous working conditions.
Winters hates that kind of corporate behavior. You can make billions in profit and have plenty of money left over to treat your employees fairly. It’s a moral issue, and it goes right to the heart of the president’s philosophy. She also knows that Bellamy’s late husband, Sturges, was a closeted homosexual who, despite having passed his last physical with flying colors, died of a sudden heart attack and was cremated before an autopsy could be performed. And that Bellamy is currently romantically involved with Neal Clark, the Canadian billionaire who just signed an agreement with the Homeland to build a pipeline that will guarantee the breakaway state billions of dollars in revenue. Oh, she’s smart, Bellamy is. But Lucy Winters is not going to let her play this president for a fool.
She goes to the window and looks out at the White House South Lawn, the Ellipse, and the Washington Monument beyond. It’s a stunning view, a reminder of our nation’s greatness. Democracy is messy and hard, just look around the world, but somehow we’ve made it work. Because men and women of goodwill, no matter what their differences, came together, compromised, and took actions that kept us united and moved us forward, kept the arc of history bending toward justice.
But there are times when compromise is weakness. And this may be one of those times. If the president’s suspicions are correct, she’s dealing with a psychopath. Which means all bets are off.
Lucy Winters hugs her robe around her, closes her eyes, and looks deep into her soul. She loves her husband and her children more than life itself, but she loves her country just as much. And she’s not going to let it be torn asunder by a madwoman.
She picks up her phone, calls Paul Adams and General Maria Sanchez, and orders them both to report to the White House immediately.