almost a week now and, well-' D'Trayne answered for Roos, 'You have not yet found the body of this Knox person?' Evan's face turned to rock. Roos explained, 'We pulled out our people and the Chancellor's officers, but-to put a fine point on it-no Knox.' 'Maybe,' D'Trayne hoped, 'he was vaporized in the explosion.' 'No,' Evan grunted. 'Ray is telling us that Gordon Knox got away.' 'Yeah, well, I figure that's about right.'
D'Trayne snarled at the President, 'This vendetta of yours may upset our arrangement. If he is alive, why has he not come forward?'
'That ain't his style,' Roos explained. 'He'll lay low and try to figure this out.'
'I will not have our newfound peace disrupted by a barbarian like Knox,' Evan insisted and stared at Ray to make the point that the job must be finished, yet the expression on the Director's face gave Evan pause. 'What? What more is there?'
'Well, now, might be nothing but I got a little nugget from Tucker in New Jersey.'
'Tucker?'
Evan answered D'Trayne, 'The man in charge of security for the Stone family.'
'He thinks Ashley got a visit from someone, sort of covert-like the other day.'
Evan guessed, 'Knox?'
'No. No, that's not it,' Roos' face twisted as he tried to piece together the puzzle. 'Tucker thinks he heard a name. He thinks he heard the name 'Forest.' Sounds to me like that army-gal that did a lot of Stone's dirty work.'
'Captain Nina Forest,' Evan said aloud. He recalled Nina and Trevor being close. He knew of their relationship. He knew it had ended but not given it much thought even though he had helped save her life during the Battle of Five Armies.
'That's what I'm thinking,' Roos agreed. 'And here's the funny part. I did a little snooping and it seems Captain Forest just got sent down to Florida by General Jerry Shepherd.'
Evan snapped his fingers and said, 'Ashley is suspicious. She has Nina looking into this. Maybe trying to hook up with Knox.'
'Of course she's suspicious,' Roos said. 'If her hubby's offing wasn't enough, then old Gordo dying in a house fire would be more then plenty to start her radar beeping.'
D'Trayne tried to keep pace with the conversation, 'You said no one would miss Knox.'
Evan mumbled, 'No one in the public. Knox kept a low profile and did not have many friends outside of his own agency.'
Roos told D'Trayne, 'Ashley knew Knox rubbed the President here the wrong way. Got to figure she'd be asking questions. Another good reason to send her and the rug rat packing.'
Evan guessed, 'She went to Miami, didn't she?'
'Now how'd you know that?' Roos asked.
'Gordon Knox was always pestering Shepherd and Brewer to get him autographed footballs and jerseys from Woody Ross. Ross played football at the University of Miami before turning pro. I remember Knox saying something in a meeting one time about Miami being his true home. I'll bet he's moved down there. I'll bet she's going to meet him.'
'What is football?' D'Trayne asked.
Roos told his boss, 'Maybe he's retired or something like that. Ain't that nice?'
'No, no retirement,' Evan strolled away from the desk in a daze. 'You need to get down there, Ray, and take care of this.'
D'Trayne inquired, 'Is it possible that this Mr. Knox will be scared into staying underground? Perhaps he is not such a threat.'
'Oh yeah, he's a threat,' Roos figured.
Evan's lips trembled as he told his subordinate, 'Get going. Get down there. Chancellor, you coordinate with Ray here. I think we may need your assistance once again.'
'This is not going as smoothly as you had assured.'
Evan's face twitched-a little-and he countered, 'Everything is on track. I told you we would have issues to address. The only real problem we could ever have is if your friends don't finish off the job. I don't like the games they play. It seems…it seems petty.'
Roos lamented, 'Should have just finished it at the house. What is it they're doing with him again?'
'That was not the deal,' D'Trayne told Evan. 'I did not set the parameters of this undertaking, but we all agreed that the final outcome will be the same, regardless.'
'Enough!' Evan shouted before continuing in a calmer voice. 'We will not discuss this again. The only thing more I want to hear about Stone is the final word from Gannon when the time comes. For now, we have work to do. But know this, Chancellor, I'm watching very close. I told you once, my first priority is the safety and security of this nation. I will let loose the dogs of war without hesitation if I sense any threats on your end and I would not have agreed to de-mobilize a portion of our forces if I did not feel we were in a secure position. In other words, Chancellor, we still have teeth. Sharp teeth.'
The Chancellor's eyes flickered yellow as he reminded, 'Our word is plain to see. No armies gather on your southern border or to your north. Your country is secure. The only problems you face appear to come from your own kind.'
That channeled Evan's attention toward Roos again. 'We'll take care of that. Ray, what are you still doing here? Get to Miami.'
Roos offered a sarcastic salute and opened the door. Two Internal Security men-the Chancellor's escort- waited there.
'It was good speaking with you, Chancellor,' Evan's voice carried into the adjacent room where assistants and guards could hear. 'Today was a historic day for mankind.' 'And for the Witiko as well, Mr. President.' D'Trayne bowed respectfully and walked to his escort. 'Senator Trimble to see you,' Evan's assistant announced through the open door. 'Give me a moment, will you? Yes, just close the door. I need two minutes to myself.' She did just that, giving the new President sole occupancy of the Oval Office.
Evan stood for a moment of relaxation, taking in not only his surroundings but the distance traveled to get there. Ironic, he thought, how in the old world he prepared for a life of politics by making contacts, networking, honing his speaking skills, and developing a sense for both manipulation and strategy. He had known-back then-that to become a leader in the United States would take patience, vision, and persistence.
Then Armageddon came. Trevor Stone had seized power and lectured Evan- lectured me! — on how the world had changed so much; on how all Evan's connections and studies and planning had been for naught.
But oh how Trevor had been wrong. The new world, it seemed, played even better to Evan's strengths while at the same time freeing his hand for more aggressive action. The chaos and lack of communication throughout the nation gave Evan an advantage he never would have had in a world with 24-hour news networks, video phones, and the internet.
Evan chuckled. He had orchestrated the downfall of an absolute monarch without raising an eyebrow. Of course it was all for the best; he did it for the sake of the people. Nonetheless, Nixon failed to cover up a mere burglary and Clinton could not even keep a blow job secret.
But in this new world of monsters and alien armies, the people concentrated on survival to the exclusion of almost everything else and communications remained limited to the extent that few people asked questions, even after the convenient death of Gordon Knox.
No. That's not quite right. Knox isn't dead.
Evan's good mood spoiled, replaced by a new feeling. Suddenly he did not want to be alone in the office. Suddenly he felt the phantom of Gordon's gun barrel pressed against the back of his head. He heard Knox's warning after that confrontation three years ago: 'Good. Remember. Especially when you go to sleep at night…all safe in your bed. Just like that Hivvan governor in Richmond…'
Evan's hand drifted to his skull and rubbed the spot where the cold steel had touched him. He quickly removed that hand and scowled. 'No!' He froze, worried he spoke too loud, but no one rushed in from outside. Evan repeated, 'No.'
He strolled to one of the windows and stared at the grass and grounds beyond. He grew acutely aware of the shadows out there, the sharp corners around the West Wing just beyond his view, the dark spots between shrubs and trees, security officers too far away to see clearly (is that one bald? Is that a bushy mustache on that one?
