Martha's introduction to her new life was a stark contrast to her isolation of the last 48 hours. Looking back on events a few days later, her impression was of a blur of activity interspersed with scenes standing out as though spotlit in her memory.
"Get ready, Mrs. Logan." Mike Novick offered her his arm as they descended from the plane. A huge crush of journalists was massed a safe distance from them, filming and shouting frantic questions. Martha and Novick moved hastily to the Presidential limo, ignoring all questions and keeping their heads down; the car pulled off the airfield, headed for the White House. Aaron was up front with the driver, murmuring instructions into his radio to the Service staff awaiting them there.
"It's starting." She and Mike stared at each other.
"The White House is staked out," Aaron contributed from the front seat. "We'll get you inside as fast as we can, but the press is going to be all over you." His prediction was correct; on their arrival, the Service agents had to physically block some of the more determined journalists who were trying to accost them. Once inside, Martha went straight to the suite she'd shared with Charles. She'd hoped to be able to collapse and go right to sleep, but seeing his belongings spread about the room affected her more than she'd thought it would. It was as though he were still there, and the thought nauseated her. For a moment she considered moving to another room, but she was too tired. Once in bed, she pulled the sheet over her head as though to isolate herself, shivering. I hate this place. She'd never really liked living in the White House, and now she couldn't wait to leave.
The next morning came her interview with Attorney General Haslett, which she'd been dreading since the day before when she'd realized she was going to have to lie about the shooting of Adams. Fortunately the questioning session was brief; Haslett merely wanted to verify the information Aaron had already sworn to and passed on to her. She did so without hesitation, and relaxed, thinking the ordeal was over. She was wrong.
"Mrs. Logan, I can't tell you how much we appreciate your help in getting that recording for us. It gave us enough ammunition to invoke the 25th Amendment. Your husband will no longer be President."
Martha nodded with satisfaction. "And Charles will be going to jail. Do you think you know when the trial will begin?"
"We don't know that there's going to be a trial." She stared at him.
"But he admitted to complicity in David Palmer's death! How could there not be a trial?"
"His lawyers are raising some difficult questions. In fact, one of the things I wanted to ask you about was how he came to hire these attorneys. Have you or your husband ever used the firm of Dunlap and Tenney in the past?"
"No. I've never even heard of them. Why did he request them?"
"We don't know that he did request them. They simply showed up within ten minutes of the time Mr. Logan" – she noted that Charles was no longer being given his title – "arrived at my office."
"Simply showed up?" she repeated in bewilderment. "But how can that be? If he didn't request them, why were they allowed in?"
"They gave their names and said they were here to see your husband. One of them was a named partner in the firm, Joshua Tenney. He's normally known for defending white-collar criminals and high-ranking Mafia members. He's very good at what he does. As soon as Mr. Logan heard their names, he verified that they were his attorneys and we got nothing more out of him. We have reason to believe that they were hired to represent your husband by someone else."
"Who?"
"We don't know. What exactly did your husband tell you about this plot? Did he tell you who he was working with?"
"He said he hadn't intended for David Palmer to be killed. He said the man he'd hired had done that without his knowledge. Walt Cummings was involved somehow. That's really all I know. Have you found the man he was talking about? The one who killed Evelyn Martin and her daughter?"
"His name is Christopher Henderson, and he's dead. Jack Bauer killed him. We do have a recording from a CTU interrogation of Henderson, which definitely implies that your husband was not the instigator of this conspiracy. In fact, Mr. Logan may have been working for them, not the other way around."
Martha stared at Haslett, unable to say anything. Mike leaned forward and said, "I'd like to hear that recording. Do you have it here?"
"Come on, Jack, you can't really believe that Charles Logan masterminded all this by himself… You can't touch them, but they can touch you."
By the end of the tape Mike's face was buried in his hands. He shook his head. "I can't believe this. I can't believe I worked for this man and never realized he was capable of something like this."
"Cheer up, Mike," Martha snapped. "At least you weren't married to him."
The next hurdle was Hal Gardner's assumption of the title of Acting President of the United States that evening. Charles had been relieved of his duties but had refused to resign, so Gardner had made a statement for television but there was no formal swearing-in ceremony. Shortly afterward Martha found herself sitting with Hal and Beth Gardner, who apparently couldn't make up her mind whether this meeting was meant to be a condolence call or a notice of eviction. Martha almost found herself feeling sorry for Hal, who was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, and she had no wish to assert a territorial claim on the Executive Suite. She realized with amusement that Aaron, who was standing just outside the door, could probably hear every word they were saying.
"I want to make this easy for you," she said, focusing on Hal instead of Beth Gardner; the two women had never gotten along. "I have every intention of moving out of here as soon as possible. I can be out of the Executive Suite tomorrow."
"Please take as long as you need. I can't imagine what it must be like to try to move on top of everything else you're dealing with," he responded.
"We'd be happy to have you stay in one of the guest bedrooms for the time being, Martha," Beth Gardner offered insincerely.
Bitch. "Thank you, Beth, I think I will have to do that for the moment, but I don't want to inconvenience you any more than necessary. As soon as I find somewhere else to live I'll let you know and make arrangements. If the staff could help me put Charles's things in storage" – she noted with satisfaction that Beth had the grace to blush at this point – "that's really what I'm going to need the most help with."
Beth immediately offered to meet with the head of the White House support staff "and we'll get started on this first thing tomorrow morning." Martha swallowed her pride and accepted with thanks. As Beth left the room, she turned back to Hal Gardner.
"Mr. President," she began tentatively.
"Hal, please, Martha."
"Thank you, Hal. I talked to the Attorney General this morning and I have some questions about what he told me. Can I get some clarification from you? He said he wasn't sure there was going to be a trial." Hal Gardner had begun his career in criminal law, and from all accounts had excelled at it. Martha was in a mood to use any and all shortcuts at her disposal if it would net her more information, and she wanted Aaron to have a chance to hear their conversation.
"Are you familiar with the doctrine of spousal immunity? A husband or wife not being able to testify against his or her spouse?"
"Yes…" her shoulders slumped. "Damn. I never thought of that."
"Charles's attorneys are objecting to the recording you obtained. They don't want it admitted as evidence, obviously, and they're claiming that planting the transmitter on him without his consent was a violation of his personal rights. Plus, it was substituted while he was kidnapped and being held at gunpoint under circumstances of extreme intimidation. They're grabbing at everything they can think of, and they're doing a pretty good job."
"You mean he won't go to prison at all? Hal, you have no idea… I mean, you do, but you didn't see it like I did. I was there and I saw. He was ready to send the President of Russia, and his wife, and myself to our deaths to further his plan. He ordered an innocent Secret Service agent to be killed!"
"I'm not saying he won't go to prison. We're working with Joshua Tenney on a plea bargain. He's trying to get Charles to resign the Presidency, which he's so far refused to do, and we think we can get a three to five-year sentence for conspiracy to commit murder." He glanced at the door and smiled, then raised his voice slightly: "If it weren't for the testimony of Agent Pierce and yourself, we wouldn't even have that."
"Then it was all for nothing." Her voice was so low he could barely hear her.
"No, it wasn't. You did the best you could. You were up against some very clever and determined people, and frankly, you're lucky you survived. If Jack Bauer hadn't disappeared we'd have a much stronger case. Unfortunately, your husband realized what a danger Bauer was to him and probably took steps to get rid of him." Gardner read the defeat on Martha's face and tried again: "We owe you, Martha. The entire country should be standing up and thanking you right now. You did not fail. Please, believe me!"
"I believe you, Hal. I do. But I feel like I failed. I think of the people who died because of what my husband did and I feel like I failed." Her voice wavered; she stood quickly, hoping to get out of the room before she broke down. "I need to go get ready, I'm meeting Mike Novick later this evening and we're going to… see David."
He took her hand and looked at her, worried. "Martha, I wish there was something more I could say. If there's anything I can do, if you have more questions later, please feel free to talk to me any time. And I meant what I said about staying here as long as you want."
Martha made it out into the hall, grabbed a Kleenex and buried her face in it. As she stood in the hall trying to pull herself together, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Aaron whispered, "I'll see you tonight. I'm escorting you and Mike to the lying in state." She nodded and then left, unable to say anything. On returning to her room her first act was to head for the medicine cabinet and grab her pills; her second was a quick phone call to her psychiatrist ("No, Mrs. Logan, this is NOT the time to start decreasing your antidepressants."). After hanging up she looked at the bottle and thought, Some day, but not yet, then obediently took her dose.
Martha and Mike walked into the Rotunda shortly before midnight, escorted by Aaron and Agent Williams. To minimize any disturbance of the lying in state their visit had not been announced, but the press who were there immediately started filming. A loud buzz of comments from the file of viewers broke the silence as Martha took Mike's arm. They stood by the casket for a minute, neither of them saying anything, then moved back toward the exit. Once outside the public area, Mike was immediately pulled into a group of politicians, one a Senator, who had also attended Palmer's lying in state. He muttered a quick excuse to Martha, who was not in the mood to talk. "I'll be over here when you're ready," she said instead. "Take your time."
A look from Aaron sent Williams over to the wall out of earshot, doing his best to look as though he were guarding Novick. "This is a little public," he then said quietly, "but it's the best we can do for right now."
Both of them were looking around the room, standing next to each other but not making eye contact. "Aaron, did you hear what President Gardner said tonight?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"I can't believe it. To think that Charles could get away with a slap on the wrist! A few years of jail time, at the most, for what he did… it's absurd."
"He's being punished. You don't need to worry about that. No matter what sentence he gets, he's already lost what he cares about most. The Presidency, and you." Startled, she looked directly at him. He confirmed what he said with a nod: "He wanted to believe you still cared about him. When he realized you'd helped Jack try to get that confession, that's what sent him over the edge at the end. He's going to have to live with that for the rest of his life."
"I hadn't thought of that." She felt marginally better.
Aaron quickly moved to another subject, as it was clear that Mike was winding up his conversation with the Senator. "I wanted to let you know, I've thought a lot about what you said yesterday." She looked at him questioningly. "About staying with the Service. I'm not going to leave."
Martha felt a thrill of surprise that she'd influenced his decision. "Oh, Aaron, I'm so glad," was all she was able to manage before Mike finished his goodbyes to the group and rejoined them with a satisfied look on his face. As they headed back to the parking area, Martha couldn't resist quizzing him: "Well, Mike, what was that about?"
"I may have found myself another job."
"You're amazing!"
"Practice, Martha, practice."
Aaron held the car door for her, but before the two men got in she noticed him speaking quietly to Novick. She speculated that he was bringing Mike up to date on what had happened that day as well as her emotional state. Normally this was the sort of thing she hated; it had always irritated her when Charles had spoken to her doctor, Walt Cummings or anyone else behind her back. Somehow, though, it gave her a warm feeling to know that Aaron was concerned enough to talk to Mike about her. Mike's protective attitude toward her during their ride back to the White House seemed to confirm this. He took the news of Martha's hasty move with disgust: "A guest bedroom? Who does Beth Gardner think she is?"
"She thinks she's the First Lady, Mike, and she's right." Martha shrugged. "To be honest, I don't care. It's not worth fighting over. I just want out of there, but I haven't had time even to begin thinking about finding a place to live."
"Do you have a new executive assistant yet? You need somebody to help you with this. You've got other things to focus on."
"I haven't had time to work on finding one. It's all happening so fast, Mike."
Novick looked thoughtful. "That I can help you with. I'll send you a list of candidates tomorrow morning. These people are all good, Martha."
Mike was as good as his word, and Martha found herself confronted with a series of applicants the next morning. She'd hastily met with the Presidential staff manager regarding the items she wanted moved to her new bedroom versus storage, then took over one of the conference rooms and started skimming resumes. The candidates ranged from young, perky types to hardbitten disciplinarians. None of them seemed quite what she was looking for, but this didn't bother her when she realized that she now had the luxury of choosing her assistant herself; Evelyn had been more or less foisted on her by Walt Cummings. She was beginning to enjoy making her own decisions.
The last candidate of the morning seemed slightly different. She had an aura of calm competence and briskness explained by the military history on her resume. "Colonel Angie Johnston, Retired, ma'am."
Martha noted her accent: "You're from the South?"
"Texas, Mrs. Logan."
Martha glanced back at her resume. "You were General Mason's personal assistant?"
"Yes, for ten years, till he retired. I left the Army not too long after, I wanted to settle down and stay in one place and I liked Washington."
Martha eyed her for a moment, and then something prompted her to explain her situation. "Well, Angie, if you were in the military then you might be comfortable with semi-urgent situations - even a little bit of chaos. Right now I'm in the middle of moving, but I don't have anywhere to go yet. I have to make way for the Gardners, the White House staff is putting my things into storage for me and I'm in the middle of a legal case involving my husband. You're probably familiar with what's been going on."
"Yes, ma'am, I am." Angie thought for a moment. "Would you have the afternoon free to look at apartments if I could make arrangements?"
Martha's mouth dropped open. "Why, yes, I suppose so."
Angie picked up the phone. "You'll need someplace near the Federal district, and high security of course…" she broke off to speak to someone on the other end of the line. After about three minutes she ended the call and looked at Martha with a smile. "I know most of the realtors in Washington," she explained. "Military moves around a lot and it was part of my job to make housing arrangements for some of the Pentagon staff. I think you'll like what this guy can show you."
"Angie?"
"Yes, Mrs. Logan?"
"You're hired."
Angie grinned. "Thank you."
"I'll have to thank Mr. Novick for recommending you."
"Well, actually he didn't, ma'am. I was told about this job by someone else."
Martha was very surprised. "Oh? Who was that?"
"It was Agent Aaron Pierce, ma'am, of the Secret Service. I think you know him?"
"Oh my God."
