Chapter Nineteen

“When the president does it, that means that it’s not illegal.” Richard M. Nixon

Someone knocked just as Stella was about to leave the office. She jumped. Then stared at the door.

The knock came again. She cleared her throat, her eyes straying to the computer on her desk. “Come in.”

The door opened. She’d been closing down for the night. Now her hands dropped to her sides and she shot to her feet, wiping her palms on the side of her skirt.

Sweat prickled down her spine, and she fought hard to keep what she was feeling from showing on her face.

“Good evening, Mr. President.”

What the hell did he want?

He’d never come to her office before. Harry liked to surround himself with people who loved him, and however much she did her best to hide the fact, she loathed him. He made her skin crawl and acid creep up her throat.

She swallowed.

He was perfectly groomed as usual, his blond hair brushed back, his skin smooth. He was dressed in a pale-blue polo shirt and gray slacks.

He had a smile on his face that curved his lips but avoided his eyes.

It took everything in her not to shudder.

As he stepped into the room, he was closely followed by two bodyguards. They were expressionless, both huge, with military-short hair and earpieces showing at the sides of their faces. She knew two more would be waiting outside. Harry never went anywhere without at least four of his private army in attendance.

She glanced at her computer as though it would somehow show the email that had arrived just over an hour ago. She’d downloaded the attached file—it was encrypted and looked like a harmless report to her—and hidden it as well as she could, then archived the email. There was nothing in it to set off any alarms; hopefully, it wouldn’t be picked up. She was supposed to get it to Gideon, and she was dreading that. How could she trust him now? He was Secret Service. He’d turn her in. And Joe, and probably the rest of her family. Just how much did she believe in this?

Anyway, Harry couldn’t be here about that. It was too soon.

Nothing was wrong.

She was just being totally paranoid.

Then why was he here? The large room felt cramped now and she wanted to back away, sidle out, make a dash for it. Instead, she forced a smile. “Can I help you with something, sir?”

Don’t want to shake hands. Please. Don’t.

She couldn’t face it, couldn’t touch him. She might be physically sick.

“I was passing. I thought I’d ask about your recent trip.”

Her trip? Did he know about her visit to New York? How could he? She’d been so careful. If he knew…

“My trip?”

Christ, she sounded like a complete moron. But it was better than sounding like a traitor. Her whole life was flying in front of her.

“I believe you took a few days off with your husband. To the country? It must be lovely this time of year.”

Her knees almost gave way as relief swamped her. She was no good at this. A fucking joke. She was risking everyone’s lives. Why the hell was he asking? He didn’t give a fuck about whether she’d been to the country. So what did he want?

“We had a wonderful time, thank you.”

She searched for something else to say, but her mind was a wasteland. His gaze flickered around the room, settling on the computer. There was nothing to see. That he was here in her office was enough to send her into palpitations.

And he was totally aware of it.

Would he presume it was just her normal feelings, or would he suspect it was something more?

“I’m pleased. You work hard for the Party, and your family have always been solid supporters.”

Why had he mentioned her family? Was there a threat in the words? She really was paranoid. “We believe in the Party,” she murmured.

“Good. I’ll let you get home then. I just wanted to say welcome back.”

The guard on the right spoke into his microphone, and the two backed out. Harry nodded and followed them, and she sank back down on to her chair, suddenly lightheaded.

She had to get out of here.

Maybe she should just archive the file. Or send it somewhere, but Aaron had warned her against that. She was to copy it onto a drive and hand it on, together with the encryption code she’d memorized. She just had to make contact first.

Tomorrow.

She’d tried Gideon’s office, but he was out. Not expected back today. She didn’t want to call him at home. Actually, she didn’t want to call him at all. How the hell had she gotten into this?

She got up, grabbed her bag and her keys, then headed out to the elevator and down to the underground parking area.

She was on autopilot as she pressed her thumb to the panel. She drove through and was quickly on the road and away from the White House. She hadn’t realized how oppressed the place made her feel these days. Growing up, working there had been all she’d ever wanted. Kate had wanted to go into space. Stella had just wanted to serve the people, to make America a better place for Americans.

She wasn’t even sure what that meant anymore.

Did it mean you had to hate everybody else?

When she’d married Joe, they’d bought a place in the suburbs so they could both get away from work at the end of the day. It was a forty-minute drive, but usually she liked the time alone. She could listen to music, zone out. Today she couldn’t shift her mind from the file and what might be on it. Why did the rebels want Gideon? What did they expect him to do? And why would he? He had a chance at getting his life back. He wouldn’t throw it all away.

She’d been driving for thirty minutes when something happened. She wasn’t even sure what, just a subtle change in the feel of the car, as though it was no longer under her control. She pressed her foot lightly on the brake. Nothing happened. She glanced in the rear-view mirror; the road had quietened out of the city center, and she could only see a couple of cars behind her.

Then she spotted it. A black SUV about fifty yards away. Secret Service.

Don’t panic.

She could feel fear spiking her blood with adrenaline, kicking her heart into overdrive.

Her hands gripped the wheel, knuckles white. Her speed was increasing. Slowly at first. Nothing to be alarmed about, just a glitch in the cruise control. She switched it off. No response, except that maybe her speed increased a little more.

She was on a straight stretch of road, but she was over the speed limit and catching up with the white sedan in front. This time, she stepped hard on the brakes. Nothing. She resisted the urge to close her eyes tight.

At the last minute, the white sedan must have realized she wasn’t slowing down. It swerved to the next lane with a blare of its horn. The sound shot Stella out of her trance.

She reached out with one hand and delved into her bag, grabbed her phone.

For a second, her mind wouldn’t work, and she couldn’t remember the number Kate had given her.

**865

The call picked up immediately, but just a series of beeps came down the line.

She was almost flying down the road now, the view outside the screen blurred by her tears. There was a curve coming up, and at this speed she wasn’t going to make it. She didn’t want to die. Suddenly fury tore through the panic. She had a flashback to Harry all those years ago. His body violating hers. Laughing at her pain. She wouldn’t let them win.

“Kate. I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I don’t think I’m going to see you again. There’s something you need to do for me. There’s a file on the computer in my office. It was loaded at 4:15 today. My system is set up to give you access. You need to copy the file onto a drive and hand it over to Gideon Frome. It’s encrypted; the code is 65879241. Tell him it’s from his brother. If they need to meet, you’ll find the time and coordinates in the file and the necessary travel passes for Gideon to get to the meeting place. Don’t tell anyone else about this. No one. I love you.”

After ending the call, she tossed the phone out of the window. She switched off the engine, but it made no difference. As she hit the corner and tried to turn, the wheel locked in place.

A loud roaring filled her ears, and everything went black.