happen.
'How was the president after the dinner?' Hood asked.
'That's actually the worst of it,' Megan said. Her composure began to break. She set her coffee cup aside and Hood did likewise. He moved closer.
'As we were getting ready for bed, Michael received a call from Kirk Pike.'
The former chief of Navy Intelligence, Pike was the newly appointed director of the CIA.
'He took the call in the bedroom,' Megan went on.
'The conversation was brief, and when Michael hung up, he just sat on the bed, staring. He looked shellshocked.'
'What did Pike tell him?'
'I don't know,' Megan told him.
'Michael didn't say.
It may have been nothing, just an update that got his mind working. But I don't think he slept all night. He wasn't in bed when I got up this morning, and he's been in meetings all day. We usually talk around eleven o'clock, even if it's just a quick hello, but not today.'
'Have you talked to the president's physician about this?' Hood asked.
Megan shook her head.
'If Dr. Smith can't find any thing wrong with my husband, he might recommend that Michael see Dr. Benn.'
'The psychiatrist at Walter Reed,' Hood said.
'Correct,' Megan said.
'Dr. Smith and he work closely together. Paul, you know what will happen if the president of the United States goes to see a psychiatrist.
As much as we might try to keep something like that a secret, the risks are much too high.'
'The risks are higher if the president isn't well,' Hood said.
'I know,' Megan said, 'which is why I wanted to see you. Paul, there are too many things going on that don't make sense. If there's something wrong with my husband, I'll insist that he see Dr. Benn and to hell with the political fallout. But before I ask Michael to submit to that, I want to know whether something else is going on.'
'Glitches in the communications system or a hacker playing tricks,' Hood said.
'Maybe more Chinese spies.'
'Yes,' Megan said.
'Exactly.'
He could see Megan's expression, her entire mood, lighten when he said that. If it were something from the outside, then it could be fixed without hurting the president.
'I'll see what I can find out,' Hood promised.
'Quietly,' Megan said.
'Please, don't let this get out.'
'I won't,' Hood assured her.
'In the meantime, try and talk to Michael. See if you can get him to open up somehow. Any information, any names other than what you've told me, will be a big help.'
'I'll do that,' Megan said. She smiled.
'You're the only one I can trust with this, Paul. Thank you for being there.'
He smiled back.
'I get to help an old friend and my country. Not a lot of people get that chance.'
Megan rose. Hood stood, and they shook hands.
'I know this is not an easy time for you, either,' the First Lady said.
'Let me know if there's anything you need.'
'I will,' Hood promised.
The First Lady left, and her aide returned to show Hood out.
Baku, Azerbaijan Monday, 9:21 p.m.
Pat Thomas experienced two miracles in one day.
First, the Aeroflot TU-154 that was scheduled to leave Moscow at six p.m. did so. On time. With the possible exception of Uganda Royal Airways, Aeroflot was the most notoriously late carrier Thomas had ever flown on.
Second, the airplane landed in Baku at 8:45 p.m.--five minutes ahead of schedule. During his five years of service at the American embassy in Moscow, Thomas had never experienced either of those events. What was more, despite a relatively full aircraft, the airline had not double- or triple-booked his seat.
