“But what about us? What’s our future going to look like?”
Hawk sighed. “If you’re imagining that we’d get married, buy a house with a white picket fence, and fill it full of children, I think you’re going to be disappointed.”
“That’s not my dream—at least not all of it.”
Hawk arched his eyebrows. “Then what is part of your dream?”
She let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around him. “The part where we get married.”
Hawk exhaled. “Phew. I was hoping you weren’t going to say the part about a house with a white picket fence. I think we would definitely need something more sturdy than that.”
Alex laughed and kissed Hawk.
Hawk was about to say something when a coughing noise from Blunt’s bed startled both of them. Hawk and Alex both turned around.
“Why don’t you two get your own damn room,” Blunt grumbled.
Hawk leapt to his feet and rushed into the hallway. “He’s awake! He’s awake!”
“Do you have to announce it like that to the whole world, Hawk? I swear, sometimes I don’t know about you.”
A wide grin spread across Hawk’s face. He shook his head and looked down at Blunt.
“You lost some blood, but I think that’s about all you lost—certainly not your sense of humor or your sarcasm,” Hawk said.
Dr. Nelson breezed into the room and started checking Blunt’s vitals.
“How in the hell am I still alive if this guy is my doc?” Blunt asked.
Dr. Nelson smiled and then turned toward Hawk. “I think he’s going to be just fine.”
CHAPTER 31
Washington, D.C.
THE NEXT DAY, Hawk and Alex returned to Washington, satisfied Blunt would make a full recovery. There weren’t any pressing matters to attend to, but they both wanted to be back in time for the election. Their future plans hinged on the outcome. If Firestorm was to continue, it would require a champion in the White House, something James Peterson would never be.
Hawk eased onto his couch to watch the returns with Alex. The rote reports rolled in, news networks calling states mere seconds after the polls closed with less than one percent of the precincts reporting.
“How do they do that?” Hawk asked. “I don’t understand. Are there time travelers who deliver these results?”
“Beats me,” Alex said. “But they only seem to do it on the states that are locks for one party or the other. It’s comical, if you ask me. I mean, if you live in those states, why even bother voting?”
Hawk glared at her. “We might fight now.”
“What did I say?”
“These are some of the things we’re out there battling for and trying to protect. You’ve been with me all over the world. You ought to know that even the seemingly insignificant freedoms we have should never be taken for granted. It’s amazing what we can do in this country.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “Based on your reaction, you would’ve thought I just advocated for a communist takeover.”
Hawk was about to say something smart when the news anchor on television said something that caught his ear.
This election appeared to be in the bag for President Young, but the dramatic revelation about the lie told regarding Conrad Michaels’s death seemed to have shaken things up a bit, at least in the minds of some voters.
A news report aired, recapping Young’s revelation at a rally in Texas just hours after Al Hasib attempted to shoot down Air Force One. Young spoke to a packed house at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, a sea of faces barely visible through all the shimmering American flags being waved.
Hawk watched in awe as Young explained how President Michaels committed suicide due to a mental illness. Young recounted how doctors and other administration officials tried to stop Michaels, but he managed to elude several Secret Service members and escape to a place at Camp David where he slit his wrist before anyone could stop him. It was a lie, but one that with the assistance of Jared Fowler's video solidified a different cover story. Young shared how he was right there by Michaels’s side as he died and wished things were different, but explained that out of respect to Michaels’s family, Young didn’t want to cast a dark shadow over Michaels’s presidency and give people reason to question every decision made. Young shared how White House doctors were preparing to remove Michaels from office at the time, but he acted impulsively—and fatally.
The reporter then showed how the polling tightened in the days leading up to the election, many voters expressing skepticism over Young’s story and over why the strange timing of the announcement.
“Still think he’s going to win?” Alex asked.
“Why don’t we pop in a Bollywood movie and relax?” Hawk suggested.
“And forego watching one of our precious freedoms? Never,” Alex said.
Hawk sighed. “I just don’t know if I can take this. I seriously thought nothing would happen to Young after he explained what happened.”
“He didn’t exactly tell the truth.”
Hawk nodded. “I know. It’s amazing how close to the truth it is though, yet so far from it.”
“That’s the best way to lie, isn’t it? Just take one detail and twist it. That’s how you stay alive when you’re being interrogated by terrorists.”
“Is that how you stayed alive?” Hawk asked.
Alex looked down. “They weren’t interrogating me for answers. I stayed alive a different way.”
“And how’d you do that?”
“I thought about you—about us. And I wasn’t ready to give up that dream yet.”
Hawk cocked his head to one side. “Seriously?”
She nodded. “All I could think about was that you were going to come for us, even though I had no idea how once I dropped that homing beacon and Fazil went nuts.”
Hawk stood up. “Come here. I want
