Margaret slips into the oval office and hands me a folded note.
[Ron Butterfield would like to meet with you and Donna at 11:30.]
"That's fine." I tell her and she slips back out.
General Alexander is pushing the President for more troops on the ground again. President Santos is listening intently. I know he wants to avoid all out war in Central Asia, but he has great respect for the Joint Chiefs. I've got to get Vinicik confirmed. President Santos needs him in the room.
After another half hour I break into the conversation. This is still the same spiel from last week.
"General. You still haven't explained how more troops on the ground is going to help the process toward negotiating a peaceful resolution."
The General gives me a look of disdain. "A show of strength will discourage any further escalation."
"That's not necessarily synomous with encouraging withdrawal of troops by the other parties, though, is it?"
He just glares at me, then turns to the President. "Sir, our advice is to add 10,000 more ground troops."
"Yes, I know. And Josh is right. You are bringing me the same information as last week. I'm not necessarily a fan of this strategy at all. Putting our troops between two disputing nuclear powers. I'm not going to add more without some sort of action plan. If you want more troops, bring me a concrete plan of how you'll use them to end this thing."
The President stands up and everyone else follows. General Alexander stares at me intently before he leaves the room. Safe to say I'm off his Christmas card list.
"We need to get Vinick confirmed." The President says as soon as everyone is out the door. "I want him in this room ASAP."
"I agree. But are you ready to abandon our strategy of keeping Vinick's confirmation tied to Baker's? I don't know what happens if we lose that leverage."
"Just make it happen." He half growls at me. Then he runs a hand over his face. He's just frustrated. Well, then, I'm keeping the strategy in place. I'll also get Vinick in here for a meeting today. Just because he can't be in the room yet doesn't mean he can't stop by for a nice chat.
I glance at my watch: 11:20.
"What was your note?"
"Ron wants to meet Donna and I. In about 10 minutes actually, if that's okay."
"Of course. You know, Josh, Helen feels really terrible about that picture. She said she wasn't thinking, she was just having a little fun."
"Donna told me it was just bad luck that the photographer happened to snap a picture with a red dress in it. Helen shouldn't feel bad, she didn't do anything wrong. It's just one of those things."
"Still, if you wouldn't mind telling her that. I'd appreciate it."
"Sure, no problem"
"So, what's next for Donna? You planning on keeping her under lock and key tomorrow?"
"I don't know. I guess we'll see how this meeting with Ron goes."
"Well, then, get going. I'm going to have lunch with Helen in the Residence. If you're done before one, join us there."
As Kevin and I approach Ron's office from the West Wing, I see Donna and Kathy approaching from the East. I guess there won't be any teasing each other about who is running late today. I don't know why but something tells me there won't be anything light hearted about this meeting. I have a terrible sense of foreboding.
I greet Donna with a kiss as we meet outside Ron's door. "Did you get another email?"
"No. Do you know why Ron called us?"
I shake my head no. "I guess we're about to find out." I place my hand on the small of her back as I guide her through the door. Ron's secretary buzzes him that we're here and he tells her to see us in. Kevin and Kathy take their positions in the outer office.
Once we are settled. Ron dives right in.
"We intercepted an email at 9:38 this morning. It was send from Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Library." He turns his laptop so we can see it. As we expected there is a picture of Donna & Helen with the red dress. It hasn't been altered. The text of the email reads-
The First Lady has good taste. Wear the dress and meet me where we first met. Monday at 9am.
The color drains from Donna's face as she reads it. "We've met before?" It comes out as a whisper. I take her hand and hold it tight.
"Ron- I thought you pegged this as "famous person" stalking?"
"It still could be. It still doesn't have the earmarkings of an ex-boyfriend. It could just mean that he saw Donna in person at some point."
I'm frustrated by his answer. It feels like we aren't getting anywhere. "Why haven't you tracked down something yet?!" It comes out a little more harshly than I intended, but Ron just gives me a small smile.
"I know it doesn't feel like it, but we have made some progress. We have eliminated quite a few people off Donna's list."
"Such as?"
"Cliff Calley."
"Cliff! He was on your list?" I look at Donna in surprise. I didn't consider him. As far as I'm concerned he's a stand up guy. Is there something I don't know?
"I asked for a list of everyone she dated. She didn't consider him a suspect but we checked him out. He was not near any libraries at the time any of the emails were sent."
"Who else?"
"Dr., um, Freeloader." Donna shoots Ron a grateful look that I find a little confusing, at the same time I interject-
"Dr. Freeride." I hate the guy but let's get his name right.
"Right," Ron continues, "Dr. Freeride has maintained a practice in Wisconsin. He's married with 2 small children. He travels to medical conferences twice a year, but he hasn't been anywhere near DC in the last 10 years."
Ron pauses a minute, clearly trying to decide whether to share additional information.
"He's not cheating on his taxes. He's been audited every year for the last eight years." Ron glances at me and I smirk. Damn right he has.
"He is, however, cheating on his wife." Donna doesn't look surprised. I hate this guy with the burning fire of a nova. I'm just glad Donna got away from him.
"Anyone else?"
"Pretty much all of the one timers where Donna could give us a first and last name. And Todd, the lobbyist from Travis Whitt. He got reassigned to state work in Demoines. Apparently he wasn't very good at his job."
Well, that news will please Sam. He hasn't been incredibly worried, but he'll be glad to know that Todd has been officially eliminated from suspicion.
"Here's the good news, now that he's brought the First Lady into it, I have a lot more jurisdiction over this situation. Donna," Ron continues, "it would be really helpful if you could try to think of anyone you've encountered that gave you a bad vibe. If we can figure out what he means then we'll know where he'll be on Monday and we can bring him in for a little chat."
Donna laughs mirthlessly, "Anyone in DC who's ever given me a bad vibe over the last 8 years?! You're kidding right?"
Ron looks at her sympathetically. "I know it's frustrating. We're doing all we can to create a profile with the information we have. He's using an email address created from a public computer with dummy information and he only uses it from public computers so tracing it hasn't been that helpful. But that tells us that he's somewhat sophisticated. He has at least some computer knowledge and/or some investigative knowledge. There is probably some significance to the the color red, maybe related directly to a dress maybe not. He could be delusional about having met you. It could be that he's thinking of the first place he saw your picture, or it could be that he attended an event where you appeared. Maybe on the campaign trail. Or he could actually have been introduced to you at some point."
"I meet a lot of people." Donna says softly.
"I know." Ron gives her another small smile. "And you're such a nice person, you have a way of making people feel like they matter. People like you."
I see Donna's shoulder's slump. "Being a good person is never a bad thing. Don't let this loser steal your kindness." I tell her as I rub her hand.
"Anyway," Ron says, "this is where we are. We've eliminated all of the serious past boyfriends and most of the one time dates. At this point, it could be someone from Donna's past that became obsessed due to her recent "celebrity" or it could be someone Donna's never met. I'd like you to try again on a list, not just people you dated, but anyone that you think might fit the profile. We also want you to take a look at these photos of the people who were at the Boutique yesterday, just in case anyone looks familiar."
Ron slides a yellow envelope across the desk.
"Okay." Donna says in a small voice.
"This might be a stupid question, but is there any reason we shouldn't just respond to the email and say "Leave me alone, creep? I'm not meeting you anywhere." I inquire.
"Well, yes. That could make him angry enough to be violent towards Donna. We don't really want to take that chance until we know who he is."
"Well, yeah, I guess that makes sense." Since we don't know who it is, it's better if we aren't trying to prevent an attack.
"So, Ron," Donna's voice sounds a little stronger. "What about tomorrow? I'm supposed to go with the First Lady to the food bank to pack Backpacks and then deliver them to a local school."
"There's no reason you shouldn't go. The stalker has a plan to meet you on Monday, he appears to take this photo as a signal that you are receptive, and he appears to think you know who he is. It seems unlikely he'll try anything at the event tomorrow. Of course, we are going to increase security measures anyway, and we will be photographing the crowd."
I glance at my watch. It's 12:15. We have time to meet Matt and Helen in the residence for lunch. Donna looks like she could use something. She's still a little pale. Then the four of us can have a discussion about tomorrow.
"Thanks Ron. I'm sorry I got a little testy."
"Totally understandable Josh. Remember what I told you when this started? We all want to keep Donna safe. Go have some lunch. Take a look at those photos. If anyone stands out let me know."