“This way,” Blunt said, directing them toward an elevator. Once they were all inside, he swiped a card in front of a black pad. A muted ding came from the overhead speaker, and the elevator descended.
Blunt enjoyed the looks on their faces, confident they would all expect to go up.
“How deep does this thing go?” Samuels asked.
Blunt smiled. “Deep enough.”
After about half a minute, the door slid open and Blunt led them into another corridor before turning the corner. He walked up to a door, which was guarded by a pair of secret servicemen. One of the men opened the door and held it as he motioned for Blunt and his entourage to enter.
“The president has been expecting you,” he said.
Blunt hobbled toward a sitting area with three small couches and two chairs. He walked up to President Noah Young, who stood to welcome his guests, and shook hands.
“J.D., I’m so glad your team could join me here today,” Young said. “Can I offer any one of you a drink?”
“They definitely need hydration after that walk,” Blunt said with a chuckle. “They complained so much I think I know how Moses felt leading the Israelites out of Egypt.”
“As long as there were no marauding Egyptians hot in pursuit, I think it’s probably safe to proceed,” Young cracked.
“None on the radar, sir,” Hawk said. “We do our best to make sure we cover our tracks so nobody can follow us.”
“Very well then,” Young said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. “Let’s proceed. Please, have a seat.”
Young sat down first and leaned forward in his chair, while the rest of the Firestorm team followed his instructions.
“Now, J.D. tells me you have some important information for me, but before we get to that, I thought I would formally introduce you to the newest team member I requested to be placed with you.”
Young gestured toward Samuels.
“Shane Samuels was placed in your unit at my special request for a number of reasons,” Young said. “For starters, I needed to have a way to connect with your team if Michaels somehow manages to regain control of the presidency. At this point, I think it’s a long shot, but you never can be too sure in Washington. Nothing is a given, and I mean nothing. Michaels doesn’t know about Shane Samuels, and I intend to keep it that way.”
“Thank you, sir,” Samuels said.
Young continued. “Now, I’ve known Shane and his family for years and helped him get into the FBI years ago. He worked on a counterintelligence team for the FBI in several countries throughout the Middle East. He’s well connected in both official and unofficial capacities. But if anyone tries to find a connection between me and this Firestorm team, they’ll be hard pressed to do so, especially now. From now on, all my communication with the team will go through Shane. And it’s simply for your protection and for mine in case the unthinkable happens.”
“So, once Michaels is removed for good, we can return to normal business operating procedures?” Alex asked.
Young shrugged. “We’ll have to play it by ear. Michaels will still have plenty of allies even if he ends up getting tossed out of office. But I hope that will be the case. So, any more questions?”
Nobody said a word. “Excellent. There’s one more order of business we need to discuss before moving forward.”
“And what exactly is that?” Hawk asked.
“It’s about your newest team member.”
Samuels shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Young’s connection to him already appeared to make him uncomfortable, but with the acting president’s latest comment, the newest Firestorm member turned a dark shade of red.”
“What about him?” Alex asked. “He’s certainly a dedicated rule follower.”
Young placed both his hands on his knees and leaned back before taking in a deep breath. “That’s not all he is.”
“What do you mean?” Blunt asked.
Young surveyed his audience for a moment and then proceeded. “He’s also Alex’s brother.”
Alex’s mouth fell agape. “My brother? But I—”
“Half brother to be more precise. Your father had an affair with an FBI agent about five years after you were born, Alex. It was kept quiet for a number of reasons, reasons which the bureau was content to oblige him with. I knew his mother from several interagency collaborative projects I worked on and eventually became good friends with her and her husband.”
“This is strange,” she said. “I’m not sure how I feel about all of this.”
“I’m not asking you to feel any way about it,” Young said. “All I’m asking you to do is to work together and get along. Think you can do that?”
She nodded slowly.
“You good with that Hawk?”
Hawk shrugged. “I guess so. You might want to ask Samuels if it’s in the manual because he seems to have a difficult time proceeding without knowing where it’s located within the book.”
Samuels shot Hawk a nasty look.
“Sometimes you just have to go off book,” Young said.
“Thank you,” Hawk said, looking at Samuels while gesturing toward the president. “See, I’ve been telling you that, but you won’t listen. We don’t have to follow everything in the manual just because it’s there.”
Young cleared his throat and eyed Hawk closely. “But we don’t need to discard it altogether. The manual is there for a purpose—and usually that purpose is to protect us. Understand?”
Hawk nodded. “Understood, sir.”
“Good,” Young said as he snapped. “Now, let’s get down to the real reason we came here. I understand that you have something to show us, Alex.”
Alex dug into her pocket for the flash drive and held it out. “Do you have a computer for me to work on, Mr. President?”
“Of course I do.” He stood and retrieved a laptop from a desk in the corner of the room. “Will this work?”
She nodded. “It should do the trick.”
Slipping the flash drive into the USB port on the computer, she waited a moment for the folder to appear on the desktop.
“Where did this information come from?” Young asked.
“A counterintelligence asset by the name
