White House, Henry, 2014
"Absolutely not sir!" Jessica and I turn to Russel Jackson surprised.His face is red and full of disgust.
"How much of this is true?" He goes on, "How far are you willing to go? Why are we doing this at all? I don't want to be a part of hurting innocent people."
"Russel, I assured you once that Elizabeth is not innocent, but a threat to national security."
"And at the time I believed you. But I read the documents in the article, sir." His face is getting redder, but his eyes are filling more and more with concern. "What you did to that woman…" He trails off shaking his head.
"Sir, I will not be a part of this any longer." Russell's voice peaks in its disgust and disappointment. I look from Russell to Conrad. He is seething. His fists are clenched, and his eyes are narrowed as he looks down on him.
"Russell, you may want to think very carefully about what you are going to say next." Conrad's voice is low and measured, running a shiver up my spine, but Russell doesn't look phased. He is standing resolute in his dissent.
"Mr. President, We are calling this off, now." Russell matches Conrad's tone. I swallow at the realization that I have found myself in the most dangerous stalemate I've ever been in.
Capitol Hill, Carlos, 2014
I don't expect what I find when I open the email. The disheartening photos of bombed villages, the gruesome photos of murdered children. The horrifying statements of the survivors. I can't believe what I'm seeing. The man who has publically maligned me for not being compassionate did all of this. Every new image or new statement makes my stomach churn.
I open the next information packet. Its multiple documents, they are numbered and clearly labeled.
01 – McCord, Elizabeth Adams
02 – Rodriguez, Samuel Alejandro
03 – Peters, George Harold
04 – Humphrey, Juliet Anne
I click on the first one, I'm greeted with a photo a cute blonde and a basic information sheet, listing her height, weight, marital status. I skim though the first few sections and finally land on the career summary. She seems to be a very accomplished CIA analyst. Scrolling to the next page, I'm greeted with more gruesome photos, a bloody crime scene, a bruised woman, and on the next page a statement. A story that I cannot believe I am reading. A story of a woman brutalized while serving her country.
The next page though, it breaks my heart. A PDF filled with encrypted links of audio files. The president of the United States, at the time the director of the CIA threatening Agent McCord. A phone call between Dalton and another man discussing the price of his silence.
Several hours later I have read and listened through everything that was sent to me. I know what I must do. I pick up my phone, "This is Senator Morejon, I need a meeting with the Speaker of the House first thing tomorrow."
Interstate 68, Elizabeth, 2014
I'm letting Isobel drive us into the mouth of the beast. My hands are sweaty as we cross into Virginia. This is all becoming viscerally real. Congress is helping me take on this fight. Justice is so close I can almost taste it. I'm so excited to see Henry. I can't wait to see my kids either, though the thought makes me nervous. I've been thinking a lot about how all of this has affected them. Thinking about how to even begin to make any kind of amends. I hurt them in what I consider to be an unforgivable way, but Henry has started the journey towards forgiveness, so maybe they will too.
White House, Stevie, 2014
I can't believe what Allison has said. I'm the only one of the three of us who really remembers our Mom. I can't believe that she would leave us for ten years. When I was eight or so, I asked my mom why I never met her parents. I remember her face falling, it was the first time I ever saw my mom sad. She spent the next hour or so showing me pictures of them and telling me about them. They would've loved you, sweetheart, she told me. I remember her hugs, always tight and full of love. I remember the way she sang badly along to loud music in the kitchen with dad. She loved us so much, she wouldn't have just left. Allison has to be wrong.
"Who told you mom was alive?" I turn to look at my little sister.
"Dad did." She's telling the truth, I can tell. It dawns on me, that we are all sitting around in the White House of all places, something big is happening.
White House, Henry, 2014
As Conrad and Russell continue to stare each other down another staffer enters the room.
"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt, but, the Speaker of the House is on the line for you." He says pointing toward the phone on the buffet. I watch Conrad as he carefully considers the position he is in. I see him nod slightly at the young staffer. He takes a slow walk over to the phone.
"Madam Speaker, good evening" He lightens his voice, by producing a fake smile. I watch as his slowly falls and then morphs into anger at whatever is being said on the other end of the phone line.
"Bring it on." He slowly lays the phone back into its cradle. His head falls as he shakes it, the gravity of the night playing on him. He is running out of options and losing control of the narrative. And he knows it.
"Connie?" Lydia walks over to her husband laying her hand on his shoulder, finally seeming to acknowledge the heaviness of the room. He doesn't answer. He shrugs Lydia off and turns to me. His face full of fury.
"I am going to kill her." He looks deep in my eyes, and lets his threat, no his promise, sear itself into my soul.