Blunt slammed his fists on the table and let out a string of expletives. “This isn’t what we needed. We were so close to finding out more about Obsidian.”
“All isn’t lost yet,” Hawk said, “especially if President Young survived that attack.”
“Look,” Alex said, pointing at the feed crawling across the bottom of the screen. She read it aloud: “Initial reports say that President Young survived the blast. No further details are available at this time.”
“That just means he’s still alive,” Blunt said. “I know how this works. They don’t want anyone to know if he’s dead or not since that might trigger more threats.”
“Where’s the vice president?” Black asked.
“I’m sure he’s under the full protection of the Secret Service, hunkered down in a bunker somewhere,” Blunt said. “But that’s not our biggest problem right now.”
“I want to know how we got it all wrong?” Alex asked. “If none of this was supposed to happen until tomorrow, did Big Earv miss the most important piece of information there was?”
“That’s what it looks like,” Blunt said. “We need to get down there and investigate.”
“You think they’re going to let us in?” Black asked. “Think Randy Wood will give us the time of day now after we were off in our prediction?”
Blunt’s phone buzzed and he picked it up. “Speak of the devil. Randy, I’m putting you on speaker while I’m here with the rest of my team. Now, tell us what the hell is going on.”
“I should be asking you the same thing.”
“Is the president okay?”
“As far as I know,” Wood said. “We still don’t know what happened, but we sure would appreciate your team coming down and taking a peek at the scene in case we missed something.”
“It’s not pretty, is it?” Blunt asked.
“I’m still driving to the White House, but it’s not according to two of my agents I’ve spoken with who are already on the ground ready to conduct an initial walk through once the fire is quenched. They said that entire portion of the White House is burned so badly that the structural damage may take years to fix.”
“Any casualties yet?”
“None that we can confirm, but it’s still early. There may be people first responder teams haven’t even reached yet.”
“If they haven’t, it’s likely too late,” Blunt said. “That fire looks monstrous.”
“I think every fire truck in the city is on site. But as soon as I know more, I’ll call you. But have your team get down here as soon as possible.”
Blunt hung up and clapped his hands. “Let’s get going.”
The team split up, taking two vehicles. Hawk and Alex drove over together, while Blunt rode with Black.
During the ride, Hawk traded theories with Alex about how they managed to pull off the attack.
“Samuels was the one with all the weapons,” Hawk said. “He’s got to be the one responsible for setting off this attack.”
“Unless he had help,” Alex suggested.
“Who would help him?”
“There’s only one potential suspect in my mind—The first lady. Agree?”
Hawk nodded. “If she did help Samuels, do you think she did it willingly or unknowingly?”
Alex shrugged. “The first one seems unlikely, but then again, she is a decorated military hero. It’s not like she wouldn’t know how to handle explosives and munitions.”
Hawk’s phone buzzed with a call from Blunt. Alex answered.
“Anything new?” she asked, placing the call on speaker.
“It’s the first lady,” Blunt said. “She’s dead.”
“Well, it definitely had to be unknowingly now,” she said.
“Come again.”
“Oh, it’s just a theory Hawk and I were bandying about. Samuels is the obvious suspect here, but we would’ve heard about it if he got into the White House.”
“Unless he got some help from Madeline,” Blunt said.
“Exactly. But she’d have to be clueless about what exactly he was doing if she wound up dead.”
“I agree. So maybe Samuels was telling her one thing but planning something else without her knowledge.”
“That’s the strongest possibility we’ve come up with thus far,” Alex said.
“Let’s talk more when we get there. I’m not believing anything until I see her body,” Blunt said before he hung up
Scores of law enforcement vehicles surrounded the White House, lights flashing and creating a constant red-and-blue strobe effect on the side building. Hawk and Alex met up with Blunt and Black before walking across the parking lot toward a woman with a bullhorn. She barked out orders as officers hustled back and forth across the grounds, complying with her orders to detain anyone trying to get a closer view.
“Someone may be trying to get back to the scene and admire their work,” she said. “Don’t let anyone have that pleasure without getting fingerprinted and spending a few hours in jail. Everyone understand?”
Heads bobbed up and down, signaling their agreement. A moment later, she dismissed the officers as they dispersed around the grounds.
“Are you the one coordinating all the efforts here?” Hawk asked.
She nodded. “Special Agent Amy Ingram, FBI. Who are you with?” she asked.
“We’re special consultants for the CIA,” Blunt said. “You haven’t seen Randy Wood, have you?”
She shook her head. “About the only thing I’ve seen since I arrived here has been the back of this bullhorn.”
“No ambulances?” Alex asked.
“Oh, there were ambulances,” she said. “In fact, there were several of them, taking some of the injured people to hospitals in the area.”
“Where did they all go?”
Ingram stared at Blunt. “I don’t know if you’re authorized to hear that information.”
“Would it help if I got Randy Wood on the phone?” Blunt asked.
“I don’t answer to Deputy Director Wood, so it wouldn’t make much difference if you did or not.”
Hawk watched Blunt clench his fists and decided to lead him away before a territorial spat erupted. This was a time when everyone needed to stay on the same side, especially if they were going to get through the night and hopefully catch the people responsible for the attack.
“Just calm down,” Hawk said to his boss. “I know you don’t
