Sweet Revenge
Chapter 15
Previously: Jed wiped off the gun that was found next to Emma's body, then lied to the police about being with Abbey the whole night. The President was rushed back to the White House while Abbey and the gang followed a short time later.
Summary: Jed and Abbey worry about the next step. CJ tells Abbey what she found in Emma's journal.
When Abbey walked through the bedroom door, Jed ran over and pulled her into an embrace so tight that it took her breath away.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm okay. What about you?"
She pulled away gently. He kept his body stationary, but leaned forward trying to read her facial expressions."Yeah, I'm fine. How are the girls and the grandkids?"
"They all went straight to bed. Annie and Gus are sleeping with Doug and Liz tonight."
Jed nodded, knowing the two kids were probably too scared to sleep alone. "And Charlie?"
"He's a little out of it, but I think he'll be fine."
"Good." He crossed in front of her and began unbuttoning his shirt.
"Jed?" Jed turned to look at her. "What now?" she asked.
"I don't know."
She approached him. "You didn't take your agents with you."
"And neither did you. That's something we'll have to explain much better later."
"She could have killed you."
"I had my panic button with me, Abbey. I would have used it if I had to."
This time, she was the one who initiated the embrace. She reached around him as far as she could and he rested his chin on top of her head. They slept intertwined in bed that night. Neither actually fell asleep, but they didn't talk either. They just laid there listening to the other breathe and waiting for the sun to rise.
The next morning, police and FBI agents arrived at the White House. It had been a battle of wills between the police and the Secret Service. Ron insisted it was a security risk for the President to stay in New Hampshire the night before now that a killer, who was still on the loose, had managed to get past security and come within a few yards of the farm when slaughtering his victim, not to mention the two agents who were killed, probably by Emma as she snuck onto the property. Ron won that argument. The President was questioned on Air Force One on the way back to Washington, then again when he arrived at the White House. Both times, his personal attorney sat at his side. Now, it was time for round two, for both him and Abbey.
They wanted to know everything about Emma Bradford. Why was she working at the White House? How did she know Jed? Why didn't Abbey like her? Why didn't Emma like Abbey? They asked about the threatening phone call Jed got before he took Abbey to New Hampshire. They asked Abbey if it was true that she swiped Emma's journal and if she did, where was the journal now?
Abbey told the truth about most of the events of that night, but she couldn't commit to complete honesty -- she had to protect Jed. After what he had done to protect her, she couldn't betray their pact. They were each other's alibis and only they would know what really happened that night, or so she thought at the time. Although she justified the lies in her mind, as he did in his, it still drove them both to immeasurable levels of guilt.
When the police confiscated Emma journal from CJ, they were enlightened by the things they learned. CJ knew that even Abbey didn't know what was in that journal. While the Bartlets were away for the holiday, she took the time to do some research of her own. She wanted to share that with Abbey before the police could tell her.
She arrived at the Residence to find an Abbey she barely recognized. Her usually shiny, auburn hair was looking stringy and unkempt. She hadn't even taken the time to put on make-up or cover the noticeable bags under her eyes. This was a traumatized Abbey and what CJ was about to tell her would frighten her even more.
"Abbey, maybe you should sit down," CJ suggested.
"No, I'm okay. I just want to know what it is you have to say."
"This is just difficult..."
"CJ, please."
"You weren't her target. Well, you were, but not her physical target. She wasn't planning to kill you. She wanted to kill the President."
"So I would suffer?"
"Sort of. She wanted to split you guys up, to separate you, then kill him and frame you."
Abbey processed the information, her eyes shifting back and forth as she crossed to the other side of the room. "Frame me? That's ridiculous."
"Well, she was crazy. In her mind, you had already killed once, in Boston. People would believe that you were capable of killing again."
She turned to look at her Press Secretary. "My own husband?"
"I know you would give your life for him."
"And he would for me," Abbey reminded her.
"I know. There's more. Abbey, last year, she was pregnant and that's why she was getting married. After Michael's..." CJ cut herself off, remembering that Abbey couldn't bare to hear his name. "...after her fiance's death, she miscarried. She blames the trauma of that night."
Abbey continued listening to CJ, but her words were getting lost before she could register them.
"There's something else," CJ continued. "I did some checking on my own, dug up a few leads. She found out about your invovlement that night in Boston through a friend of hers who works at the hospital. I spoke to that friend. It turns out the reason her fiance..."
"Michael," Abbey interrupted. "It's okay, you can say it. I'm going to have to get used to it."
CJ nodded sadly. "The reason Michael got behind the wheel, the reason he was driving the night he crashed was that he had just caught her in bed with someone else."
"So she felt responsible?"
"I think it's safe to assume she internalized those emotions, then projected them on to you. Anythng to keep from blaming herself."
Abbey's eyes widened as she took in the information. "She tried to get Jed to think I was having an affair. I think she put drugs in my purse, maybe even spiked my drink with something on Thanksgiving."
"She talks in her journal about her and Michael in college, occassionally buying Psuedophedrine to make methamphetamine. You told me that's what you thought those pills were, right? It's not unreasonable to think..."
Abbey cut her off, already drawing her own conclusions. "All this time, she was behind it all."
Every detail of the past several months flashed in Abbey's mind. All the little arguments she and Jed had, all the misunderstandings, all the quirks she sensed about Emma -- it was all planned. The fact that someone as disturbed as Emma got into the White House, actually had lunch and Thanksgiving dinner at the Residence was bone-chilling.
What made her feel even worse was that she felt it was all her own fault. If she had never turned to drugs, if she hadn't shut Jed out and run away to New Hampshire, if she hadn't picked that particular day to stop taking the pills, if she had just called in sick to the hospital that one night, all of this would have never happened. She drove her husband to do something he would have never done on his own. All the lies he had to tell, all the secrets he had to keep were tearing him apart, and she knew it. She was the one to blame.
TBC
Chapter 15
Previously: Jed wiped off the gun that was found next to Emma's body, then lied to the police about being with Abbey the whole night. The President was rushed back to the White House while Abbey and the gang followed a short time later.
Summary: Jed and Abbey worry about the next step. CJ tells Abbey what she found in Emma's journal.
When Abbey walked through the bedroom door, Jed ran over and pulled her into an embrace so tight that it took her breath away.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm okay. What about you?"
She pulled away gently. He kept his body stationary, but leaned forward trying to read her facial expressions."Yeah, I'm fine. How are the girls and the grandkids?"
"They all went straight to bed. Annie and Gus are sleeping with Doug and Liz tonight."
Jed nodded, knowing the two kids were probably too scared to sleep alone. "And Charlie?"
"He's a little out of it, but I think he'll be fine."
"Good." He crossed in front of her and began unbuttoning his shirt.
"Jed?" Jed turned to look at her. "What now?" she asked.
"I don't know."
She approached him. "You didn't take your agents with you."
"And neither did you. That's something we'll have to explain much better later."
"She could have killed you."
"I had my panic button with me, Abbey. I would have used it if I had to."
This time, she was the one who initiated the embrace. She reached around him as far as she could and he rested his chin on top of her head. They slept intertwined in bed that night. Neither actually fell asleep, but they didn't talk either. They just laid there listening to the other breathe and waiting for the sun to rise.
The next morning, police and FBI agents arrived at the White House. It had been a battle of wills between the police and the Secret Service. Ron insisted it was a security risk for the President to stay in New Hampshire the night before now that a killer, who was still on the loose, had managed to get past security and come within a few yards of the farm when slaughtering his victim, not to mention the two agents who were killed, probably by Emma as she snuck onto the property. Ron won that argument. The President was questioned on Air Force One on the way back to Washington, then again when he arrived at the White House. Both times, his personal attorney sat at his side. Now, it was time for round two, for both him and Abbey.
They wanted to know everything about Emma Bradford. Why was she working at the White House? How did she know Jed? Why didn't Abbey like her? Why didn't Emma like Abbey? They asked about the threatening phone call Jed got before he took Abbey to New Hampshire. They asked Abbey if it was true that she swiped Emma's journal and if she did, where was the journal now?
Abbey told the truth about most of the events of that night, but she couldn't commit to complete honesty -- she had to protect Jed. After what he had done to protect her, she couldn't betray their pact. They were each other's alibis and only they would know what really happened that night, or so she thought at the time. Although she justified the lies in her mind, as he did in his, it still drove them both to immeasurable levels of guilt.
When the police confiscated Emma journal from CJ, they were enlightened by the things they learned. CJ knew that even Abbey didn't know what was in that journal. While the Bartlets were away for the holiday, she took the time to do some research of her own. She wanted to share that with Abbey before the police could tell her.
She arrived at the Residence to find an Abbey she barely recognized. Her usually shiny, auburn hair was looking stringy and unkempt. She hadn't even taken the time to put on make-up or cover the noticeable bags under her eyes. This was a traumatized Abbey and what CJ was about to tell her would frighten her even more.
"Abbey, maybe you should sit down," CJ suggested.
"No, I'm okay. I just want to know what it is you have to say."
"This is just difficult..."
"CJ, please."
"You weren't her target. Well, you were, but not her physical target. She wasn't planning to kill you. She wanted to kill the President."
"So I would suffer?"
"Sort of. She wanted to split you guys up, to separate you, then kill him and frame you."
Abbey processed the information, her eyes shifting back and forth as she crossed to the other side of the room. "Frame me? That's ridiculous."
"Well, she was crazy. In her mind, you had already killed once, in Boston. People would believe that you were capable of killing again."
She turned to look at her Press Secretary. "My own husband?"
"I know you would give your life for him."
"And he would for me," Abbey reminded her.
"I know. There's more. Abbey, last year, she was pregnant and that's why she was getting married. After Michael's..." CJ cut herself off, remembering that Abbey couldn't bare to hear his name. "...after her fiance's death, she miscarried. She blames the trauma of that night."
Abbey continued listening to CJ, but her words were getting lost before she could register them.
"There's something else," CJ continued. "I did some checking on my own, dug up a few leads. She found out about your invovlement that night in Boston through a friend of hers who works at the hospital. I spoke to that friend. It turns out the reason her fiance..."
"Michael," Abbey interrupted. "It's okay, you can say it. I'm going to have to get used to it."
CJ nodded sadly. "The reason Michael got behind the wheel, the reason he was driving the night he crashed was that he had just caught her in bed with someone else."
"So she felt responsible?"
"I think it's safe to assume she internalized those emotions, then projected them on to you. Anythng to keep from blaming herself."
Abbey's eyes widened as she took in the information. "She tried to get Jed to think I was having an affair. I think she put drugs in my purse, maybe even spiked my drink with something on Thanksgiving."
"She talks in her journal about her and Michael in college, occassionally buying Psuedophedrine to make methamphetamine. You told me that's what you thought those pills were, right? It's not unreasonable to think..."
Abbey cut her off, already drawing her own conclusions. "All this time, she was behind it all."
Every detail of the past several months flashed in Abbey's mind. All the little arguments she and Jed had, all the misunderstandings, all the quirks she sensed about Emma -- it was all planned. The fact that someone as disturbed as Emma got into the White House, actually had lunch and Thanksgiving dinner at the Residence was bone-chilling.
What made her feel even worse was that she felt it was all her own fault. If she had never turned to drugs, if she hadn't shut Jed out and run away to New Hampshire, if she hadn't picked that particular day to stop taking the pills, if she had just called in sick to the hospital that one night, all of this would have never happened. She drove her husband to do something he would have never done on his own. All the lies he had to tell, all the secrets he had to keep were tearing him apart, and she knew it. She was the one to blame.
TBC