"Ms. Hammad," Brody said, buttoning his suit jacket, "why don't you step into the office and we can continue this discussion in here."
Carrie moved aside as Roya walked in and closed the door. The first thing she did was walk towards the sofa her and Carrie had been sitting on the other day. Roya reached under the cushions and pulled out a small listening device. She held it up for Brody and Carrie to see.
"What the hell is that?" Brody asked. But he knew.
"Something I left behind the other day." Roya answered. "I found the conversation between the two of you, oddly touching."
Carrie moved towards her.
"I'm glad. You can tell me all about it at CIA headquarters. I'm just going to make a call and some men will be over to escort you there." Carrie said, pulling out her phone.
Roya now grinned, as she unbuttoned her blouse, only to reveal a suicide vest! Carrie dropped her phone and Brody pulled her back towards him!
"Jesus, Roya! How did you get in here wearing that?!" Brody hissed.
"The tailor made two of these. Mine is form fitting. And alarm proof." she said as she pulled a detonation trigger from out of her pants pocket!
"Okay, okay," Carrie said, forcing her voice to stay calm, "what do you want?"
"This has never been about what I want. Abu Nazir is requesting your presence. Both of you. We are leaving now or I will blow this White House up." Roya informed them.
"Okay," Brody said, "but I can't just leave. I have to inform the Secret Service..."
"I'm aware of that," Roya said, "and I will allow you one agent. Preferably the CIA one that was put on your detail."
Brody looked from Roya to Carrie.
"You put a spy on my Secret Service detail?"
"Do you really want to argue about that NOW?" Carrie countered.
"Just get him!" Roya snapped. "I know which one he is. He's outside that other door now with a listening device in his ear. So he should come in now."
A few moments later, Quinn slowly opened another door, then closed it behind him. He looked at Carrie.
"Are you alright?" he asked her. Carrie nodded. Roya eyed him.
"You'll be accompanying us to an undisclosed location." she said. Quinn shook his head.
"That's not how it works. I'll need someone else. That's a two man job at the very least." Quinn informed her.
"Well then you find a way to make it happen. Otherwise you forget about ever seeing Nazir again. This is your last chance to get any lead on his whereabouts. Surely you don't want to mess that up?" Roya asked coyly.
Unfortunately, because Roya was facing Quinn, she did not see the other door quietly open and a Secret Service agent step in. He pointed his gun and shot her in the back of the head, before she could even think about touching the trigger on her detonation device! Quinn and three other agents hurried in and undressed her, looking over the bomb. Her corpse was then picked up and gently carried out of the Oval Office. There were gapers, of course.
Carrie realized the scene needed to be controlled! She turned to Brody.
"I'll take care of everyone here that might have witnessed or heard the shooting. Your people need to do damage control with the media."
Brody rubbed his hands over his face.
"Where is she being taken, Carrie? She's still wearing that vest!"
"We'll take care of it so that it doesn't go off. The point is it didn't go off. Everybody is safe but this isn't over."
Brody nodded.
"I know. When Nazir hears about what happened, he's just going to come after me another way. I want to meet with David Estes. This needs to end as soon as possible."
Carrie touched his arm, nodding, before leaving the Oval Office. Even if Roya Hammad had been wearing an 'alarm proof' vest, she should've never been able to step into this office wearing it. She wanted to know what the hell was going on with Brody's security! Or the lack there of!
David had more questions of Quinn than anyone else.
"What the hell happened?! And I don't want to hear any shit about an alarm proof explosive vest! I'm not buying that!"
"Neither am I," Carrie said looking at Quinn, "I know you were brought in to watch Brody and see if makes contact with Nazir, but I think you're missing something."
"Oh you do, do you? You think I fucking liked the fact that a president, even a brainwashed one, was almost killed on my watch? I know full well I missed something!" Quinn snapped.
"I'm not just talking about the vest itself! I think someone let Roya Hammad into that White House knowing full well she was there to kill Brody! He has more to worry about than just Nazir!" Carrie huffed.
Saul entered the room with the forensics report.
"Well, there is no way that goddamned thing wouldn't have set off an alarm. I would think looking over some video would let us know what happened security wise." he said. Quinn, who had been leaning against a table, stood to full height.
"I'll handle that. It's the least I can do." he said grudgingly before leaving the room. Saul stared after him, before looking at David and Carrie.
"What's going on with him?" he asked. David held up a hand.
"Nothing. Carrie, you said Roya claimed to know who Nazir's mistress was. Did she ever name Alesha?"
"No. And after what she pulled, I'm not convinced she knew anything at all. That whole line of conversation might have been a ploy to just get into the office." Carrie grumbled, annoyed at how the day had went. She felt like she was wasting time here, talking this whole thing out. She needed to be at the White House. Someone had let Roya in to kill Brody if he didn't do what Nazir asked. How many more people working for Nazir, were in that White House?
David's phone rang and he answered quickly. He then hung up.
"The President's here. He wants to discuss how to bring down Nazir." David informed them. Saul eyed Carrie.
"I wasn't sure that your confronting him about what we were doing was the right play. But after what almost happened today, I'm glad you did it. We don't have anymore time for bullshit." Saul said.
David nodded.
"Yes. And that is what we need to tell the president. No more bullshit. He helps us bring down Nazir and resigns from the presidency." he said.
Brody, Carrie, David and Saul were in a bunker interrogation room. David and Saul kept getting interrupted by phone calls, so they had not started their meeting.
"How are you? I see your press secretary controlled the media swarm."
Brody nodded.
"Yeah. The story is that a Secret Service agent's gun accidentally went off. It doesn't look good but it's better than saying that a terrorist intruder tried to blow up me up."
"And Jessica? She has to be wondering what happened?" Carrie asked. Brody eyed David and Saul before answering.
"I told her that the agent that accidentally fired that shot, was fired."
"Okay. Well that sounds good."
Brody looked into her eyes.
"Yeah, it does. I want Quinn gone. I don't need to be spied on here. I have come in and I want Nazir out of our lives as much as you do."
"Brody, that is not my call! And David isn't going to go for that. Now Quinn is over at the White House now, looking over the video of who let Roya in there! She did not have an alarm proof vest on. Nazir might have other people in that White House waiting to take you out at a moment's notice!" she hissed.
"I get that, Carrie. But I don't want Quinn in charge of anything. For all I know HE'S the one that dropped the ball! I understand it needs to be looked in to. But I don't think I'm out of line here, asking that someone else investigates this." Brody said. What he would not admit, was that he had another reason for wanting Quinn gone.
There was something he sensed about the man, with regards to Carrie. And it was something Brody noticed that Carrie did not seem to be aware of. Quinn had barely taken his eyes off of Carrie during that incident. Brody had also caught Quinn giving him the stinkeye! And no, he did not think it was because of his association with Abu Nazir.
That had been all about Carrie.
Before Carrie could respond to Brody's words, David finished his call and walked over to them. He looked Brody in the eye.
"Mr. President, I'm going to just be blunt here: I can't prove that you somehow killed William Walden so you could sit in that Oval Office and do Abu Nazir's bidding. But I can prove that you tried to blow him up the same day Elizabeth Gaines and two secret service agents were killed. And we have proof that Roya Hammad and you were conspiring with Nazir to do great harm to this nation. Help us get Nazir and you will be quietly pardoned. You resign from office and the matter will be over."
Brody glanced at Carrie before responding.
"I'd like to see this 'proof' you have."
"Fine." David said.
"And I won't be resigning." Brody told him. By now Saul had finished his call and joined in the conversation.
"President or not," Saul said, "you will be resigning, you sonofabitch!"
"Saul!" Carrie cried out. But Saul ignored her and continued his rant.
"You are no better than Nazir. You have jeopardized your family's life and continue to do so with this fantasy of yours that you can stay president after taking down Nazir, who has proof, not to mention contacts, that KNOW you were conspiring with him! Don't you see? Taking him down won't keep your secret!" Saul snapped.
And with those words, David opened up a laptop that was already sitting on the table. He hit a few keys and Brody's suicide confession began to play. Carrie watched him carefully. Yes, he seemed visibly shaken that they had this. But he only watched himself for a few more minutes, before his eyes met Saul's again, defiant.
"So I made a tape. I was forced to. Under duress." Brody lied.
"That's your story?" Saul asked with disgust.
Carrie decided to end this group interrogation. She pulled Saul away from him and motioned for David to join her away from Brody. Brody's eyes went back to watching his 'confession'.
"Let me talk to him. I'll get him to understand."
"How?" David asked. "You've spent two days in the Oval Office with him and he hasn't done shit!"
"I can get him to sign an agreement that says he will resign the presidency. But I have to do this my way. You brought me in here to get close to him. Let me do what I came here to do." Carrie said quietly.
David pointed at her.
"We're running out of time with Alesha. And Tom Walker. Let's at least get a plan on the table as to how to get Nazir." he said.
"Agreed." Saul said. "We can worry about his resignation after we have Nazir and Alesha is safe."
Carrie nodded in agreement and then watched as Saul and David left the room. She then turned to face Brody. He closed the laptop.
"Well?" he asked. Carrie moved so that she was standing in front of him.
"Let's go back to the cabin. Before we jump into taking down Nazir. Let's make sure that we know where we will be after this is all over." she suggested. Brody reached out and pulled her lips to his in a hungry kiss that Carrie almost got lost in herself, before she broke it off.
"Brody, we can't do this here!" she whispered against his mouth urgently.
But Brody still had ahold of her face.
"You decided that we need to go to the cabin while you were over in the corner with Saul and David. Is this some kind of trick? Is this really about us?"
"That cabin IS US! I would never bring work there." Carrie whispered fiercely. Brody nodded and his lips reclaimed hers, each kiss blending into another one, until Carrie thought she would never reclaim her breath! She managed to pull back but it was Brody that spoke.
"We almost died today. Carrie. I almost lost you. We need to be together now." he whispered against her lips.
Carrie wanted to tell Brody that that would have never happened. That she somehow would have stopped Roya Hammad from blowing them up. But she hadn't stopped her. Quinn called for backup and a secret service agent put an end to her.
And yet, Carrie felt as if getting away with Brody, now in this moment, was her best chance to get him to change his mind about things. David Estes was no one to play around with. If Brody did not resign then David could very well make sure that President Nicholas Brody ended up just as dead as President William Walden.
"I'll talk to Saul," Carrie whispered back, "Saul and David can arrange a cover story with the White House. But it can only be for one night. We can't afford to be gone any longer."
Brody's response was to cover her lips in a brief, sensuous kiss that demanded a response that would take things further than they could go, given their surroundings. Brody reluctantly stopped his mouth and nodded against her. Carrie reluctantly pulled out of his arms and left the room. She found Saul alone.
"Where's David?" Carrie casually asked, knowing that she sounded anything but casual.
"You know I saw and heard everything, right? David left to check on Alesha, to make sure she's alright. We're going to put a plan in motion and no, there will be no time for a cabin stop. What the hell are you doing, Carrie? You said you knew what you were doing this time."
"I do, Saul."
"You're being sucked into whatever this thing is you have with Brody. It can't end well. He's married and even if he wasn't...this can't go anywhere. It can't end well."
"Why?" Carrie asked, folding her arms. "Because David plans to have Brody killed? I know how this works. If Brody doesn't resign, then he'll be killed or he'll die in some way where no one will think he was murdered. I'm not letting that happen."
"I don't want to be crude here, but if you think fucking this man into doing what you want, will work..."
"It will work and it will save his life! Make this happen, Saul! We need to leave right now and all I need is one night. One night. Give me the agreement you want him to sign and by morning, Brody will help us take down Nazir and be ready to resign." Carrie said.