“Alex was right.”
“Right about what? She said she had something brewing that was going to get Michaels in hot water and end him through legal channels.”
“Well, she might be right but nobody knows what’s going on. We haven’t been told anything other than our supervisor telling us to protect the president but that he wasn’t in charge anymore.”
“What could that mean?”
“I don’t know. Something is happening, something big. But nobody is talking about it.”
“You didn’t hear anything while you were standing at your post outside his library?” Hawk asked.
“No, at least nothing that I could make sense of. It sounded like they were watching a video. Michaels demanded that we leave the room.”
“Thanks for the heads up. I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be up there soon.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Hawk. This place is on high alert. I’ve never seen anything like it. If someone dropped a bomb on this place right now, it’d be chaos in Washington.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”
Hawk hung up and checked his GPS. He was only ten minutes away.
CHAPTER 28
MICHAELS WATCHED THE BLOOD trickle down his wrist before changing his mind. I’m not a quitter—never have been, never will be. He stopped cutting before he reached any substantial arteries and grabbed a blanket from a chair in the corner of the room. Ripping a swatch off, he wrapped it around his wrist until the bleeding stopped.
He glanced at the clock. There were five minutes remaining before Thomas Preston returned to the room and expected to find his president dead. But Michaels had worked too hard to go down without a fight.
I’m the president, damn it. I should be able to do what I want.
Michaels mulled over his options, which weren’t as numerous as he hoped for. Since he’d ruled out suicide, he could fight everything in court, where his chances were conservatively 60-40 that he’d win. Despite any accusations, most Americans still admired anyone who won the presidency, even if they hated the man. Or he could make a run for it and try to disappear. The odds of just blending in weren’t in his favor. Or he could spin the whole thing and make Noah Young take the fall. It’d be risky, but it could be done. Michaels put those odds at 50-50.
But none of that would matter if he didn’t figure out a way to escape Preston’s iron fist. Michaels contemplated how he would handle the return of the attorney general to his library. Would it be a violent surprise attack? An attempt to appeal to Preston’s humanity? Maybe even a bribe would work?
Michaels concluded all those would have to wait. He needed Preston’s discovery to be dramatic.
As the clock wound down, Michaels braced himself and rehearsed exactly what he’d say.
Tick, tick, tick.
The seconds passed by slowly. Michaels shifted in his chair and spun it around so that his back was to the door.
At exactly thirty minutes after Preston had left, he re-entered the room. He shut the door behind him after instructing the two Secret Service agents on guard to remain outside in case he needed them.
The floorboards creaked as he crept across the room to inspect the scene of a dead president. Michaels sat motionless, his left hand dangling at his side.
“What the—”
Preston froze when he looked at the floor and didn’t see much blood. Without warning, Michaels reached up and grabbed Preston’s hand.
“I’m disappointed in you,” Preston said.
“Not half as much as I am in you,” Michaels said through clenched teeth. “I trusted you. I gave you a chance when no one else would. And this is the thanks I get?”
Preston wrestled his arm away from Michaels and took a step back.
“You’re out of your mind,” Preston said. “I wanted to protect you, but I can’t now if you try to walk outside those doors.”
“You wanted to protect me? You? Protect me? By what—giving me a knife so I would kill myself? From where I sit, it appears that you wanted to save yourself the headache of prosecuting a sitting president. Well, you’re not getting off that easily.”
“The whole world is going to see what’s on that thumb drive,” Preston said. “Is that really what you want? The American people are going to see you betraying your country, the one they elected you to protect.”
“It’ll never stand up in court and you know it,” Michaels said. “That’s why you’ve staged this whole charade. You and that stooge, Noah Young, have no idea what you’re up against.”
Preston rubbed his face with his hands before addressing Michaels.
“You really think you know how this is all going to go down? I’ve got news for you, Mr. President. I have friends in high places as well—and all of them would love to see you go down in flames.”
“I demand your resignation right now,” Michaels said.
“Really? Good luck with that because I’m not resigning from anything. I’m going to see this through for the good of our country. I tried to do you a favor before, but not anymore. You’re going to go down, but it won’t be in a blaze of glory. It’ll be more like flittering ashes as you and your pathetic legacy drift to the ground.”
Michaels narrowed his eyes. “Where did you get that video from? Who sent it to you? Do you even know?”
“Are you challenging its legitimacy? I’ll have experts lined up to testify that it’s your voice, not to mention Pentagon generals who loathe your leadership and will be frothing at the mouth to verify all your illegal activities.”
“Did someone send this to you?” Michaels asked.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Do you have a backup copy, or did you come straight here with this?”
“What?”
Before Preston could get another word out, Michaels recoiled before driving his knife into
