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The room was silent. Quiet. Silence so loud it felt like a megaphone.
Screaming in Bess' ear – silence mingled with the screaming from Emma in the video still lingering through the office. Crawling up Bess' skin – adding to the tension she felt deep in her soul.
And suddenly her arms felt empty – she turned away from Conrad's gaze – and refused to look at Russell as she tried desperately to stave off the feelings. The feeling of absolute emptiness and failure. The feelings of murder and caring. She pushed the tears down – trying to erase the emotions from her mind as she played the video over and over in her mind.
She wouldn't let her mind go there. Until they found Emma.
Her job was to find Emma. She had to. That was the only thing she could do. She was trained for this. And she had the weight of the United States behind her.
She felt herself stiffening. Her emotions shut off from her brain. She wouldn't feel those. She couldn't. Didn't need to. She needed to find Emma.
And she turned to Conrad. Jaw set. Fists clenched.
"I want everyone on this." She calmly said. "The FBI, CIA, State, Homeland Security. Everyone."
Conrad met her own eyes. And she read him. Like a book.
And showed him.
"I don't care what comes of this, Conrad. I want her back. Your political standing will not get in the way. I'll see you completely disgraced for what happened if that's what it takes to get my daughter back."
"Bess, that's not at all what I was thinking. We need to alert all the agencies. All our people on this." He nodded. Reassuring. "I want her back just as much as you do."
As sweet as that sounded in the moment, Bess nodded, but still said, "I doubt that. But everyone can report to me. I want SEAL teams on standby. Once we find where these sons of bitches are, I want teams on the ground."
"I'll convene the NSC – everyone will be read in on…"
It was Russell who disagreed.
"We don't know what the abductors know."
Bess refused to turn. But asked, "What do you mean? And tread lightly."
Of course, he didn't. Russell Jackson never tread – he stomped. And proudly. "Why alert all of our political enemies, both here and abroad, of something that most definitely will dismember Conrad's legacy if it's not even a threat."
Bess turned, her eyes staring right at the weasel. But he kept eye contact with Conrad, the man he needed to convince. Or the man he thought he had to convince.
"If they don't even know that they have the President's child. So if we can keep that little bit of information to ourselves, there's no one else who has to know."
Conrad agreed, "Of course, there's no need to tell them just how politically important their hostage is. Not until we have to."
Bess gave Russell one more chance. She took a step towards him. "I know you weren't in the CIA, so this might not be something you're connecting. But those threats…" She moved closer to him. "Those threats were on my daughter because of her parents. Which includes Conrad. Of course they know who they have."
Russell just looked at Conrad, "Mr. President, there was no mention… and we need ot keep your reputation intact as much as possible. There's the election coming…"
And that was it. Spy training kicked in. Mothering kicked in. And she grabbed Russell's lapels and shoved him up against the wall, his back thudding hard just before his head. Her rught hand moved to the back of his head, and her left hand grabbed his throat, lifting him off the ground.
"My daughter is NOT something you can use in the election." She shoved him hard again, "She is not a political pawn, and you will fucking shut up about the election."
She heard Conrad coming up behind her, but she just tightened her grip, looking into the weasly eyes of the man incapacitated in front of her. "Don't touch me, Conrad."
Then to Russell. "One twist of my wrist, and your neck breaks, you bastard."
His lips moved a little, but nothing could deter her. "I want to break your neck just to show you how I won't fucking play your political games." And she leaned in, so her mouth was close to his ear. "And I will kill you if I hear anything about that again. Let the news play me as a whore and your boss as a cheating husband. I don't care. I want my daughter."
It happened so fast, Conrad's hands around her shoulders, ripping her off of Russell. He yelled something. Russell sank to the floor, coughing and gasping for breath.
"Elizabeth! That's enough!" Conrad yelled, holding her so she was looking him square in the face.
And she hissed, "That's what I say about these politics, Conrad. It's enough."
