Triggers

Agent Dawson opened the door to the president’s room; she looked relieved to see him simply lying there, listening to Kadeem.

“Mr. President,” she said, indicating a young woman with long brown hair, “this is Maria Ramirez. You’re in luck; she was still waiting for her husband to come pick her up.”

“Thank you,” Seth said weakly. “That will be all, Susan.”

She blew out air, clearly unhappy, then looked meaningfully at Kadeem. “I’ll be just outside.”

Seth waited until she’d left, then indicated for Maria to take a chair; Kadeem was already sitting in the one closest to the bed.

“Maria, thank you for making time for me.”

“It’s an honor, Señor Presidente.”

“I understand you and your husband are expecting a baby.”

“Sí.”

“Congratulations. That’s wonderful.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I have a favor to ask of you, Maria.” Seth turned to Kadeem. “I need a favor from you, as well, please; I need help from both of you.” He caught his breath, then went on. “Professor Singh tells me that you’re linked to Susan Dawson, Kadeem. And, Maria, I’m told you’re linked to Darryl Hudkins, the other Secret Service agent who was affected by all this.”

“Yeah,” said Kadeem, and “Sí,” added Maria.

“What I’m about to tell you very few people know so far. The person who shot me was named Gordon Danbury. He was a Secret Service agent. Agents Dawson and Hudkins know this—can you find it in their memories?”

Kadeem looked astonished, but he nodded. But Maria said, “I already knew this. Agent Susan asked me about it.”

“Really?” said Seth.

“Yes. She wanted to know if she could trust Agent Darryl.”

“Ah. Yes, well, that’s what I want to know, too. Whether I can trust him—and whether I can trust Susan. If the two of you search your memories, you can tell me if Agent Dawson or Agent Hudkins are compromised. Just ask yourselves if you knew anything in advance about a plot to kill the president—because if they knew about it, you’d know about it, too. Kadeem?”

The young man frowned. “Nothing, sir.”

“Maria?”

“No. Like I told Agent Susan, Agent Darryl is not involved.”

“Secret Service agents use my code name: Prospector. Any memories of a plan to kill—or assassinate—or take out—Prospector? Or to eliminate POTUS? That’s P-O-T-U-S: president of the United States. Anything?”

“Well, there’s all kinds of stuff about the investigation since that guy shot you,” Kadeem said. “Sue’s been getting constant updates. But I’d swear she didn’t know about it beforehand.”

“You’re sure?”

“Mr. President, I know her like I know myself. I’m sure.”

“And Maria? What about Agent Hudkins? Again, any inkling that he might have known in advance, or been involved in any way?”

“No, sir. Nothing like that.”

“All right,” said Seth. “Thank you. I’m glad to know I can trust Agents Dawson and Hudkins. There’s already one other agent who has come under suspicion, a man named Jenks. But if Danbury and Jenks were part of a larger conspiracy, and if that conspiracy involves others in the Secret Service, well, I…”

“You be fucked,” said Kadeem. “Sir.”

“Yes, exactly, Private Adams. I be fucked.”

Chapter 28

Agents Dawson and Michaelis stood outside the door to President Jerrison’s room, along with Dr. Snow and Sheila the nurse; Singh had gone back to his lab. Susan looked left and right down the corridor, nodding at the other Secret Service agents she could see at either end.

At last, the door opened, and she looked at the two people who were emerging: Private Kadeem Adams and Maria Ramirez.

“It’s cool, Sue,” said Kadeem, lifting his hands a bit. “Big man’s fine—but he wants to see you.”

Susan nodded and spoke into her sleeve mike. “Dawson to Hudkins. I’m returning to Prospector’s room.”

“Copy,” said Darryl’s voice in her ear.

She went in and closed the door behind her. The president did indeed look no worse for wear.

“Sir?” Susan said.

“You knew Gordon Danbury, right?” asked Jerrison.

“Sure. Of course.”

“You said he was called Gordo by the other agents?”

“Yeah, most of the time.” She shrugged a little. “Off duty, we get a bit informal. The Susanator—that’s what they call me. Darryl Hudkins is sometimes called Straw; you know, after Darryl Strawberry, the baseball player. And Gordon Danbury, he was Gordo.”

Jerrison managed a slight nod. “Leon Hexley was talking on his BlackBerry on Wednesday in the Oval. He said, ‘Tell Gordo to aim…’ but I don’t remember what came after that. But if it was related to what happened—well, it means there’s a conspiracy, and it goes pretty high up.”

“But you’ve known Mr. Hexley for years,” said Susan.