Young could only shake his head as he watched the debacle unfold on live television. He knew it was mostly a giant lie wrapped in tattered truth. And he was prepared to give a Presidential briefing that would reiterate the narrative the FBI and the White House decided upon. Part of Young hated throwing Blunt under the bus, but the priority was maintaining power.
It’s for the good of the American people. And what’s best for them is for me to be president instead of Collin Radcliffe.
Just the thought of Radcliffe made Young wince. His chief challenger was obnoxious and lacked the statesmanship to handle being the leader of the free world. But if the story about Blunt’s team fell apart, Radcliffe would waltz into the White House.
“Mr. President, are you still with me?” Young’s press secretary, Lacy Wickersham, asked.
“Oh, yes, I’m sorry, Lacy. Just a lot on my mind today.”
“Of course. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you after the kind of relationship you had with Senator Blunt. I understand he was quite the confidante.”
“And presuming upon my good graces for his own personal gain, too. I just can’t believe this is happening, especially so close to the election.”
“Better now than next month, Mr. President. It’s not fun when you get an October surprise.”
Young nodded in agreement. He’d never been the recipient of one, but he’d seen plenty of elections turn on a damning revelation. And authorizing a secret black ops unit without any effective oversight would certainly qualify as the kind of October surprise his press secretary was referencing.
“If you don’t want this to bleed over into October, you need to go out there and be forceful,” she said. “Make sure the people know you’re just as shocked as they are that this could happen within the U.S. government. Make them understand that we will not tolerate rogue agents portending to act on behalf of this country.”
“I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”
An aide knocked on the door and poked his head inside. “It’s time, Mr. President.”
Young got up and ambled down the hall. Once he was given the signal, he ascended the podium and placed his notes on the lectern.
Flashbulbs exploded as he began to talk. His opening comments apologized again for Omar Ebadi’s death. Then he paused and took a deep breath before calling it “murder.”
“Let’s not kid ourselves here,” Young said. “This attack was a deliberate one, not the case of mistaken identity as we previously believed. J.D. Blunt, who has been a close ally with this administration since day one, orchestrated this attack, likely to keep the war in Afghanistan going. He has ties to some of the country’s biggest weapons manufacturers and stands to benefit financially from the escalation of a conflict in the Middle East. Follow the money, isn’t that what they say?”
Young made his comments with conviction, something he conjured up by imagining he was talking about something else. The truth was Blunt had become an integral part of Young’s national security plan. During his tenure, time and time again, Blunt and his operatives prevented terrorist strikes and squelched political upheaval. They delivered victory after victory in the face of sure defeat, making him look stronger than he really was … until now.
Once Young completed his statement, he opened the floor for questions.
A reporter from The Washington Post took the microphone as he stood. “Mr. President, earlier today when the FBI discussed Senator Blunt’s involvement in this assassination of Mr. Ebadi, the spokesperson didn’t give us an opportunity to get answers the public deserves. So, I’m hoping that you can tell us these two things: Where is Senator Blunt? And how do you intend to handle his trial?”
As the man sat down to listen to Young’s answer, the president took a deep breath and shook his head. “Not wasting any time, are you? So, to answer your questions: First off, Senator Blunt is on the run. We’re not sure where he is right now, but we have the best trained agents in the world hunting him. And make no mistake about it, we will find him. And as for our plans with him upon his arrest, I’ve spoken with federal attorneys who intend to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Will you seek the death penalty?” one reporter called out.
Young nodded as he repeated his last phrase slowly. “To the fullest extent of the law.”
Another reporter took the mic. “Mr. President, while your administration has leveled charges against Senator Blunt, what about the people carrying out his bidding? Do you know who pulled the trigger on the shot that killed Mr. Ebadi?”
Young shuffled the papers on the lectern as he formulated an answer. “At this point, we aren’t certain who the gunman was, but we are actively searching for known associates of Senator Blunt.”
The president signaled to his aides that he would take one more question.
“Sir,” another reporter said, “how can you be sure that Senator Blunt won’t fake his own death again?”
“I guess we can’t be sure of anything, but if he tries that, he won’t get away with it. We won’t rest until we find him. Thank you for your time, and good afternoon.”
With that final statement, Young stepped off the podium and exited through a side door, ignoring the barrage of questions lobbed toward him.
“I thought that went rather well,” Lacy said, joining him in stride down the hallway.
“That makes one of us,” Young said.
“What do you mean?”
He stopped and turned to face her. “They clearly aren’t
