The 13: Fall (26 page)

President Grant stepped outside and looked out over the crowd. News cameras lined the fence in front of him. The speech would be on all the major networks, and many of the cable channels as well, he had been told. That was good. He walked up to the lectern and raised his hands to quiet the crowd.

“My fellow Americans, today has been a strenuous day on our country. First, I would like to send my condolences to the Forester family. Our thoughts and prayers are with you tonight as you mourn the loss of your loved one.

“Now, I would like to talk to you all about this stock market crisis. I have been on the phone all day with leaders from around the Wall Street community. And I would love nothing more than to tell you that this is just a hiccup and everything is going to be fine. Unfortunately, at this time, I cannot do that.”

The crowds began to erupt in groaning and shouting. This was expected though. You couldn’t just tell people worse news on top of bad news and think it would be received well. He waited a second before quieting them again.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please.” He waited for them to give him their attention again. “But what I can tell you is this. Our country has always persevered through hard times. I know that many businesses and investors are panicking right now. And there’s good reason to. There is no guarantee that this will be an overnight fix. But we can get through it. And I would like to tell you how, I believe, we need to respond.

“In order to do that, though, I need to tell you about something that has been happening over the last several months …”

Keene listened intently as the president continued with his speech. He was really going to do it. He was going to tell the people about this whack job. And the people were listening as if he were reading them a bedtime story.

“Greene,” he whispered into his wrist mic.

“Go for Greene.”

“This is Keene. You see anything?”

“Nothing yet. What is he doing? I thought he was going to talk about the market crash.”

Keene pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah.”

There was a crack over the earwig. “Hey, this is Taylor. I’ve been back and forth all over this perimeter and got nothing.”

“He’s not here.” It was Boz.

Keene still wasn’t sure yet, but he was starting to share his colleagues’ opinion. “Just keep your eyes open. We don’t know that.”

“… and so earlier this week, I received another message from this man.”

President Grant stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. Here it was.

“Up until this last message, I had ignored the man’s warnings. The reason for this is because there was no tangible threat. You must understand that the White House receives hundreds of threatening letters a week. However, I still have a duty, as president, to protect this nation. So I want to inform you that I have invoked the article of the Intelligence Enforcement Act that places all of the authority of the Department of Homeland Security back in the hands of the presidency.”

This came with another eruption of the people. It was plainly understood that if this was to ever happen, it would signify that there was believed to be an immediate and impending threat against the country.

“Please. Please! Ladies and gentlemen.”

It took several seconds for the people to become calm again.

“I want to assure you. We have no knowledge of an impending threat against this nation. However, and please let me continue when I say this, I do believe we are in a dangerous place.”

He waited for the interruption he was sure was coming, but strangely, there was none. Everyone stood quietly, waiting for what was coming next.

“You see, what I haven’t told you yet, are the details of this man’s warnings. I would like to do that.

“I have made no attempts to hide my beliefs when it comes to God and my relationship with Him. And so I will not apologize for what I’m about to say. Ladies and gentlemen, we have become a godless nation. For too long we have done everything in our power to remove God from every aspect of our lives. And we forget this country was founded upon basic Christian principles. We have become a nation of man’s laws, not God’s. And in an effort to not offend someone who doesn’t share many of our personal beliefs, we have trampled on the very foundation that our forefathers bled and died to establish.

“I cannot tell you what is going to happen to this country. I cannot stand here and assure you that the stock market is going to bounce back over the next week. We may very well be headed for another disaster like the Great Depression of the twentieth century. But I can promise you this. I believe that God is doing something among us right now….”

“… So I want to inform you that I have invoked the article of the Intelligence Enforcement Act that places all of the authority of the Department of Homeland Security …”

Okay
, Alex thought. She’d heard enough. It was time to get this show on the road. She had been watching the speech from her phone. And she had been down here since she had encountered the agent upstairs. She fully expected that he would be coming to find her in a matter of moments if she didn’t come back up. But that wasn’t going to happen.

Instead, she picked the lock on the small closet and opened the door before going back up the small flight of stairs and turning the corner. The agent was at the end of the hall, still maintaining his post.

“Agent Cole,” she called.

The young agent turned to see her.

“Come here. Quickly! I think I’ve found something.”

The man didn’t even pause. He took off at a jog, headed toward her.

“Down here,” she said, opening the closet door. “I found something in here you should probably take a look at.”

The agent stepped past her and stuck his head inside the closet.

“What? I don’t see any—”

She had already pulled the silenced pistol out from underneath her jacket. As Agent Cole stuck his head inside the dark room to see what she had called him there for, she pulled the trigger twice. The gun made a quiet
Phst, Phst.
Agent Cole slumped forward into the closet.

She stepped inside and turned on the switch. A single bulb hung above her, barely illuminating the six-by-nine room. There was a mop bucket over in the corner, so she dragged the body over to it and placed his head inside. Didn’t need any blood seeping out from under the door.

Next she pulled out the cell phone again and opened the browser window. This time, instead of returning to the speech, she logged on to a secure network. Her network. She typed in the commands and clicked back off. In just a few seconds, the server would place a call. And that call would then be routed, then rerouted again, through four different satellites, towers, and cell phone carriers. Then it would connect, and then …

   CHAPTER 45   

“… But I can promise you this. I believe that God is doing something among us right now …”

President Grant had no sooner gotten the words out when he felt the need to stop for a moment. He didn’t know why. It wasn’t that he was at a loss for words. He knew exactly what he wanted to say. But something gave him pause. It made him step back for a moment and think. It was as if he were all of a sudden suspended in time. He could see the people around him, looking at him, and he could see the agents and Jon Keene standing next to him, but it was almost like he was outside of his body looking around. Everything and everyone was moving in complete slow motion. He felt a gentle breeze move across the stage where he stood, and it was warm and comforting. And then from somewhere deep inside, he heard a voice. The voice was gentle and soft but authoritative at the same time. He felt a tear form in his eyes. He had heard this voice before. It was familiar to him, though he hadn’t heard it for a while now. He closed his eyes and listened.

Keene immediately knew something wasn’t right. He turned to Agent Greene who, by the look on his face, felt the same way. They locked eyes. There was a slight panic in Agent Greene’s face. Keene was some twenty yards away, so he lifted his wrist mic to his lips.

“Greene, what’s going on?”

“I’m not sure,” came the reply as he watched the agent move in close to the president.

“You need to get him out of here now!”

“Affirmative.”

Keene quickly covered the short distance between himself and the president and heard Agent Greene talking.