Chapter 15

"Elizabeth, you have got to be kidding me?" Henry's voice was raised enough that Blake could hear him. He was praying nobody would be walking in at any moment, especially Isabelle.

"Henry," she lowered her still raspy voice. "Do not yell at me!"

"You…you are not thinking straight. Not once. Once, did Conrad ever look at replacing you. There were plenty of mistakes," he reminded her.

"I never agreed to put Sarah in harm's way. I was against it all along. She pushed for it. She pushed hard, Henry. When I argued against it, she said it was Sarah's decision not mine. Do you understand how dangerous that is? If I can't keep this classified, do you know what it is going to look like when word gets out that my niece was kidnapped while being a spy?" she raised her voice back at him.

He ran his hand over his face. Sometimes she could be so stubborn, especially when she was sick. He lowered his voice knowing this was how it got through to her.

He sat himself down next to her desk. "Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious."

"Aquinas" she whispered back at him. They stared at each other in silence for a minute.

"Look at it this way, do you really want to lose one of your best friends? You don't have a lot of friends in this town that you can have over for a glass of wine. Besides me, she is your longest friend, your most trusted advisor in your administration. And if you really want to think about the optics, it will be worse when played out in the press that you fired her over this."

She sat back in her chair, looking down she fidgeted with her wedding ring.

It wasn't lost on Henry, "Look you're the President, you can do what you want. But, I say you classify the whole thing and keep Isabelle. I'll see you at the turkey pardon in an hour," he leaned over and kissed her before leaving her alone.

A few minutes later, she leaned on the doorway to ask Blake to bring Isabelle and Jay in. Having not seen her yet that morning, Blake gave her a look. She threw her hands up and said, "Okay, is this better?"

"Yes, much. It's classy with just a hint at wardrobe makeover but not quite there yet," he complimented her.

Her hair was pulled back in a bun. She wore a crisp button-down white shirt, with a navy pencil skirt that had a matching jacket running short at the waist. The diamond studs in her ears sparkled as much as her smile when she looked back at him.

"Can you ask Isabelle and Jay to come in?" she asked kindly.

Twenty minutes later, she sat at her desk as Jay went over logistics for the upcoming holiday weekend. The basics, which staff would be at the farm with them, agents, advance people, etc.

Isabelle entered and closed the office door. Elizabeth's immediate mood swing was not lost on Jay. She put her pen aside from the paperwork she was signing and looked at her best friend, "You look like you had an all-nighter?"

"Three actually," she answered her in an even tone, lifting up her coffee mug.

"Coffee for one?" Elizabeth asked.

"The way you sound, you should probably stick to the tea." Isabelle fired back.

Jay's eyes followed their banter back and forth as he awaited Elizabeth's response.

She crossed her arms and gestured for Isabelle to sit down.

Isabelle sat down and Elizabeth held her hand out for the file she was holding.

Before handing it over, she gave her the background. "Your niece seems to have learned more from you than you know. Although, she was supposed to be on vacation in London. She wasn't entirely unbeknownst to the rest of us. Still trying to determine who the man is that she is with in the last two photos in here."

"Did you ask her?" Elizabeth furrowed her brow at her.

"I figured I would leave that to you or Henry," she suggested.

Isabelle handed Elizabeth the file. As she opened it, her eyes squinted into the photo recognizing the man she was looking at.

"What is Sergei doing meeting with Sarah in Paris?" she asked. She recognized that location anywhere. A safe house they had used for years.

"A former asset of both of yours in Iraq reached out to Sergei and told him of the kidnapping plot. This asset knew everything about Sarah, which he got from Kurt. Sergei sent for her in London. She took the Eurostar over and met him for coffee where he detailed everything. The one thing he failed to do was provide a cover for her. She was immediately picked up when she left the house and brought to Russia." Isabelle explained.

"Did you bring Sergei in?" Jay asked.

Isabelle turned to Elizabeth with one eyebrow raised.

"Jay, please give us a moment," Elizabeth said firmly.

He exited the office and closed the door.

Isabelle threw up her hand as if to say what is that, "Total policy guy! Why would he think we would bring our best asset in?"

Elizabeth shook her head with a smirk, "I don't know. Who gave Sergei the information on Sarah and Andrew, I'm presuming?"

"Abdil. I did bring him in. He says Kurt fed him the information. Here's my concern, Kurt was acting as a double agent." Isabelle turned her head to the side a bit waiting for Elizabeth to answer.

"So, if Sergei knew about Sarah and where to find her, she was made pretty early on? Correct?"

Isabelle grimaced, "This is the part you are going to hate. I don't think right away but she definitely was in the beginning of this plot. My biggest concern is that I had Kurt tracking Disah's brother before I made him station chief. So, he was the leaker. The question is what other information did he leak."

Elizabeth through the file down on her desk, leaned back in her chair and said, "That is why I am bringing Murphy Station back in excluding Henry. This is a big screw up. Investigation into Kurt and your promotion of him stays for now as we need the truth on Kurt wherever that leads. In the meantime, no more screw ups on your end."

Isabelle grinned at her, "So you are not firing me?"

"No," Elizabeth answered. "Stop smiling and go thank Henry. He's the one who saved your ass and talked me out of it."

"How long?" Isabelle asked as she got up to leave.

"Depends. Are you still bringing the new boyfriend to dinner Saturday night?" she asked.

"Yes," she turned back after walking halfway out of her office.

"I should be over it by then," Elizabeth smirked and picked up the file. "I'll find out who Sarah's new relationship is and let you know."

Isabelle wasn't gone long when Blake came to her, "Ma'am, are you ready to go to the turkey pardon? Jason and Henry are waiting at the door for you. Alison is on her way here but won't make the pardon"

"Of course not. Did she run late for her flight this morning?" she asked sarcastically while tucking in her shirt and throwing on her jacket. Just before stepping out of the office, she unbuttoned one more button on her shirt revealing just a little more cleavage than normal.

As she walked to the door with an entourage of Daisy, Blake and Jay behind her, Henry caught a glimpse of her outfit, he pursed his lips together and leaned in sliding his arm under hers and catching her elbow, he kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear, "You look beautiful today."

She whispered back, "Glad you finally think so," and stepped outside leaving him behind her.

Henry shot Jason a look who shrugged his shoulders at him. Henry knew exactly where this was going. He was in the doghouse.

The motorcade was making its' way through Virginia as the sun was setting giving the sky an orange glow. It had been a fairly quiet ride as Alison clearly did not want to talk and Elizabeth spent some time on the phone with the Attorney General, then the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader. Kurt McManus would be charged with treason. A federal grand jury had been sitting for two months and would hear the case. There was not much hope for Elizabeth to keep this classified but that would be worked out over the next several days.

She hung up and look out the back window at the line of cars carrying McCord's behind her. Alison sat facing her but never looked her in the eye. She either stared at her phone or out the window. Her black leather bag of sketches leaning beside her. Elizabeth watched her as she texted on her phone. Her Allie Collection had taken off and she was becoming an exceptional businesswoman. She admired her blown out straightened hair and large eyes that saw so much more in the world than she ever did at her age. She was a mini of Henry's mother..

Elizabeth sighed and looked out the same side window as her, "You know someday this will all end. You can either look back on it as a great adventure or the most torturous time of your life. But, remember it takes more energy to be angry than happy."

Another minute of silence went by, until she answered her mother. "I'm pregnant and Michael broke up with me." Elizabeth looked up to see a tear rolling down her daughter's cheek.