“Either they already know where we’re headed or they’re not welcome there,” Matt said. “Listen, when you get to the intersection of Pennsylvania and 17 ^th Street just let me out and take off. There’s no need for you to get involved in this.”
The young driver nodded. Matt shoved three one hundred-dollar bills into the pocket of his leather jacket. “Are we gonna’ win, Mister?”
“Absolutely, my friend. Absofuckinglutely.”
Ahead loomed the White House with its stately columns glowing in the huge spotlights. As the Mini roared down 17 ^th Street he could see the Old Executive Office Building. It marked the intersection with Pennsylvania Ave. Matt got ready to flip the door handle and jump out. Some hundred yards away a taxi screeched to a halt in front of the guard barrier blocking the entrance to the White House. The taxi driver got out and opened the rear door. A bent-over figure with white hair staggered out of the taxi and stumbled toward the entrance gate.
“How’d you like to earn some bragging rights?” asked Matt turning to the young black man.
“What you got in mind?”
“Can you crash into that taxi? Not too hard, just hard enough to cause a commotion and distract the Marines? You’ll get arrested, but don’t worry. I’ll see that you get released. And maybe a special citizenship award as well. Let me out here and then give it your best shot.”
“You crazy, you know that, dude?” he grinned then stopped the car. “My mama’s gonna kill me, but I’ll do it.” The boy gave Matt a broad grin and stomped on the accelerator. The little car gained speed then quickly went into a controlled skid. It slid into the idling taxi. The cab driver began yelling and cursing, flailing his arms in the air. The young black man flung open the car door, staggered a few steps and collapsed on the sidewalk, screaming and rolling. Alarm bells blared on the big iron gates. Secret Service guards and Marines raced toward the young man, their guns drawn.
Matt sidled up to Dr. Melikian and supported him with an arm. “It’s me,” Matt said as they moved up to the entrance gate.
“Dr. Summers. Or are you an imposter as well?”
“In more ways than one. What made you decide to believe me?”
“I don’t believe you. But if there’s one chance in a million of preventing war in the Middle East I’ll do just about anything, even listen to a crazy man like you. Besides,” the doctor smiled weakly, “your anecdote, atropine, helped right away. It must have been Bethanechol she slipped in my coffee.”
“Halt.” A tall marine, hand on his side arm, stood just inside the heavy iron gate.
“I am Dr. Noubar Melikian, President Pierce’s personal physician and I have to see the President at once. It’s a matter of national security. The President is in danger at this very moment.” He held up his White House ID.
“Shoot us later if we’re lying,” Matt said. “We must get to the President at once. Escort us in or you may be responsible for the death of the President of the United States and the start of World War Three.”
The marine was not to be pressured. He peered closely at Dr. Melikian’s ID then quietly spoke into his walkie-talkie. The gate opened and two other marines took Matt and Noubar by the arm. They quickly escorted them into the west wing of the White House, barking orders as they went. “Secure the President, secure the President. Where is he?” they demanded of a guard in the hallway.
“In the Oval Office with Dr. Khalid. She just went in.”
Dr. Margaret Khalid kept her smile in place as she watched him standing at the window. A big man, an attractive man, perhaps more relaxed than she had remembered. She was here in the Oval Office, power center of a nation intent on destroying the entire Middle East. Her hands shook as she opened her black bag and reached in.
“Dr. Khalid?”
“Yes, Mr. President?”
He smiled without turning around. “Most people who come into the Oval Office are eager to talk. I don’t recall you being the shy type.”
“I’m filling in for Dr. Melikian. I guess I’m a little unnerved and overwhelmed.”
“Frankly, I’m used to the trappings now. Did you know that out there in the dark garden new shoots are emerging from the thorny stalks of the roses? It’s amazing. Even after a severe pruning in the fall and the freezing temperatures of a harsh winter the lengthening daylight of spring will again produce her miracle. In a couple of months we’ll see big bright roses again.”
“Really, sir?” She examined the tiny needle smeared with the deadly toxin.
“Speaking of seeing things again. I saw an old friend of yours the other day.”
She stopped, the syringe held up to the light. “Of mine, Mr. President? I really don’t think…”
“Matthew Richards.”
The syringe fell onto the carpet. Her hand trembled as she reached down. After picking it up she found the President of the United States looking directly at her, unsmiling.
“Are you all right, Doctor?”
“Of course.” Where did her response come from? Her shocked heart? The twisted pit of her stomach?
“Let me tell you a story, Doctor. And you might want to listen very closely. A long time ago I was in love with a woman I couldn’t have.” Pierce stood with his hands behind his back. “She was the daughter of a wealthy Mexican rancher. If I close my eyes I still see her. Jet black hair, a fiery temper and the bearing of a spirited mustang. I was shy and she was wild and free. Yet we fell deeply in love. For one fantastic summer we had a wild, forbidden love affair. Then she went away to school in Mexico City and I back to the States to go to college. I never saw her again.
“I suppose I could have become bitter and angry over lost love. But instead I decided to use that experience as an example of what is possible between two different people. The memory of that love helped save my sanity when I was a POW in Vietnam. I believe the capacity to connect at a meaningful level with another human being is hardwired into all people, Doctor. No matter what their culture, race, religion, or political beliefs. And no degree of brainwashing can take that from us. It can be crusted over but never eliminated.”
“Mr. President…”
“By the way, Maha, Matt still loves you.”
She knew she should charge him. Her trainers had recited it over and over. As a last resort, charge. The needle only has to scratch the skin for the toxin to take effect. Do it now. Now. She really should charge, lunge, drive the needle home. But instead she walked slowly forward, as if in a trance. Matt Richards. A name from another time yet always deep within her. He had spoken his name. How fine it tasted in the air, spoken out loud, not locked away in some forbidden place. Good times, great times. The sounds of the sea, the evening breeze on their faces, starlight. Bedouina and Samir laughing; Maha and Matt finding excuses to steal away in the moonlight. To be alone. To be lovers.
“Stop right there.” A loud voice from the side of the room.
Her feet kept slowing moving. Odd, she didn’t like the harsh lighting. Her contact lenses, awash in tears, gathered the bright light. “Some choices open up a great future, others seal one’s fate forever,” she said, moving toward the President, syringe raised. Just a prick on the skin with the coated needle and death would be irreversible.
“At first we thought Dr. Melikian might be the deep cover assassin after learning of his affiliation with Mohammed al Nagib. But when my secretary said you called earlier about my blood test and that you were coming instead of Dr. Melikian things just sort of fell into place for us. Didn’t they Karl?”
Karl van Ness had come into the Oval Office through the side door. He looked first at Maha, then the President. When the young Marine behind him raised his 9mm Baretta pistol, van Ness stopped him.
“It’s still not too late, Maha,” Pierce said. “Never too late for love and understanding to conquer the bitterness of hate and sorrow.” He looked into her face, but it was slack, blanked out, like some of the POWs in Hanoi. Maha took another faltering step forward, more like a zombie than a purposeful assassin. “If you move any closer the guards will be forced to shoot. You can stop this madness now. We will help you.”
The main door of the Oval Office opened. Noise from outside shattered the silence. Matt, Dr. Melikian and three marine guards stepped in.
