THE 13: STAND BOOK TWO (25 page)

The steps finally finished extending. Keene took them two at a time. He threw his bag into the back of the big Suburban and waited for Boz to jump in. Boz, once inside, opened a map and began barking out directions to him.

“I’m really worried, Boz. It’s been two hours.”

Boz kept his head on the map. “Everything’s going to be fine, Jon. We’ll be there in less than twenty minutes.”

Raleigh International Airport was only about fifteen miles from Hayes’s house in Cary. But that didn’t make Keene feel any better. He remembered what the Prophet had said. “Megan’s
in trouble.”
He punched the gas and ran a light that was turning red.

At this time of night, there was almost no traffic. The fifteen-mile trip took right at twenty minutes. As Keene drove down the street to Hayes’s address, he tried Megan’s sat-phone once more. “It’s still going to voice mail!”

“Jon, let’s just get to Hayes’s and see what’s going on. We’ll ask him the last time he saw them and go from there.”

Keene slowed down as they approached the address. He immediately saw the car parked on the street. “They’re here!”

Boz looked up. “Yeah, that looks like a fed car to me.”

Keene screeched the tires as he whipped the big SUV into Hayes’s drive. He slammed on the brakes when he realized he was about to run over the gate. It had been apparently crashed and was now barely hanging from its hinges.

Keene didn’t even wait for Boz. He jumped out of the truck with his weapon up, sweeping the grounds. He started toward the house and watched as Boz came around the back of the truck and checked on the guard shack.

“Guard is down, Jon. Go! Go! Go!”

Keene took off at a dead run down the rest of the short drive. He took the small set of stairs leading to the front door in one leap. He kicked the door in on his way through. And immediately began yelling. “Megan! Eli!”

He looked to his left up a wide sweeping staircase that led to a catwalk. In front of him, the foyer opened up into a large living area. He saw the wood from the balcony lying on the couch in the middle of the floor. It still had part of the railing and spindles attached to it. Quickly he ran into the room and looked around. There, fifteen feet to his left, as the living area gave way to the kitchen, two bodies lying next to each other on the floor. “Boz! Get in here!
Now!”

Keene ran over to where Megan and Eli lay. He quickly felt for a pulse on both of them. He had no idea how long they had been lying there, but the acrid smell of gunpowder still hung in the room. Fifteen, twenty minutes maybe? There was nothing on Eli. He couldn’t find one on Megan either at first. But then he felt a faint blip, as he moved his fingers around her neck. He quickly ripped Megan’s shirt open. “Thank You, God!” She was wearing a vest. He saw a hole just above her collarbone and one in her left shoulder. He reached around her back and felt the exit wounds for both. But there wasn’t much blood, so there had to be something else. He lifted her left arm above her head. That’s when he saw it. Just on the inside of her chest wall, underneath her arm, another hole. He felt around on her lower back for another exit wound. There was none. The bullet was still inside. He needed to get her to a doctor.

By this time, Boz was beside him, working on Eli. He had Eli’s shirt off and was performing CPR.

“Boz, anything?”

“There’s a pulse, but it’s faint.”

“Megan’s got a hole with no exit wound. She needs to get to a doctor fast.”

Boz looked at him. “Eli, too. Two wounds to the upper chest. I don’t think it hit anything major, but he’s losing a lot of blood. Neither one of them are going to make it if we don’t get them help. And I mean like now.”

Keene knew Boz was right. They couldn’t stay here and wait for an ambulance. He pointed at Eli. “You get him. I’ve got her.”

Together, they grabbed their friends and carried them back out to the Suburban. Keene pulled out the sat-phone and jumped in the front as Boz jumped in the back with the two patients, where he grabbed the first-aid pack from under the backseat.

“Lights and sirens the whole way, Jon.”

“Roger that.” Keene punched the speed dial for Jennings and slammed the gas on the big SUV, which fishtailed as he backed out into the street.

“This is Jennings.”

“Megan and Eli have been shot. They’re both critical. I need a medic at the tarmac in fifteen.”

“I’ll have him there.”

Keene punched the button and threw the phone in the seat beside him. “What’s going on back there, Chappy?”

“I’m working on it. Just punch it and go.”

Keene already had the pedal pretty much to the floor. The only time he’d let off so far was when they had to take a curve. The sat-phone began buzzing in the seat. Keene picked it up. “Yeah?”

It was Jennings. “RDU has trauma EMTs on staff. They’ll meet you at the hangar. You need to stay out of their way and let them work when you get there, Jon. You hear me?”

“Got it.”

“You’ll be landing at Andrews. I’ll meet you there. They’ll take them to Malcolm Grow until they can get them stable. Then I’ll have them moved to Bethesda.”

“I’m two minutes from the tarmac. We’ll see you in thirty minutes.”

Again he clicked off the phone and threw it in the seat. “How are they, Boz?”

“Just get us there.”

Keene mashed the gas pedal as hard as he could.

When he pulled up to the plane, an ambulance was sitting outside. The steps were already down and a group of EMTs came running out to meet them. They threw open the doors to the Suburban and pulled Megan and Eli out, placing them on gurneys, then folded the gurney wheels under and hustled up the steps. Keene and Boz followed. Less than a minute later, the plane was in the air.

The EMTs had Megan and Eli in the back of the plane, where the galley opened up into a kitchen area. They were working feverishly on both of them. Keene couldn’t tell who was doing what to whom. He and Boz just stood in the front of the plane, watching the chaos happening before them. Finally, Boz turned to him.

“Jon, we should pray.”

Boz’s voice jarred him back. “Wh–what?”

“Pray, Jon. We should pray for them.”

“Ah, yeah. Sure.”

Keene had been so caught up in what was happening, he hadn’t even thought that praying was something he should be doing. He looked over to his friend who was already on his knees with his elbows in the chair in front of him. Keene knelt down beside him. “I’m still new at this, Boz. I don’t know what to say or how to really do this.” He hung his head as he felt Boz’s arm come around him.

“You just talk to God, is all. That’s it. Tell you what, you just pray silently. Just say whatever’s on your heart. And I’ll pray out loud for both of us. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Keene folded his hands and let his forehead rest against his knuckles. He was about to start when he heard an EMT yelling. His heart plummeted into his stomach.

“We’re losing her! We’re losing her! Quick—get those paddles charged. I need to hit her right away!”

P
resident Walker strode through the hallway of the White House with an air of confidence. He had spent almost four hours with President Grant last night. Together the two of them had written what, he thought, was the best speech either of them had ever given. He couldn’t wait till this afternoon to address the American people.

It was good seeing Calvin last night
, he thought. The man was as alert and full of energy as he’d ever been. They spent almost the entire first hour of their meeting just catching up on the events of the last four months. The next three, though, were all business. Walker had shared with Grant what he intended the speech to be. Grant had patted him on the shoulder and said he couldn’t think of anything more important that this country needed right now. Three hours later, the speech was finished.

Initially, Walker was going to give the speech as a radio address. But after spending time with Grant, he had decided to alert the television media. Though there were still some challenges with broadcasting, most of the cable outlets had worked tirelessly to get their stations back on line. Most coverage was news related anyway, except for reruns of previously recorded shows whose film hadn’t been destroyed. Since satellite providers had been the least affected, cable companies and satellite providers had struck a temporary deal—for the good of the nation, if you asked them, but mostly because Walker had signed an executive order demanding it—and were sharing technology, in order that news could be viewed across what was left of the country. Walker had let it be known that he wished to have airtime on every station at five o’clock sharp. And that he was going to give the speech on the steps of the Capitol. The same place where the attempt had been made on President Grant.

He walked into the Oval Office and found the first party of his first meeting of the day waiting for him—Secretary of the Navy Bob Sykes. Since the invasion, he, Sykes, and Jennings had kept a biweekly meeting. With the governmental structure all but in shambles, the three of them had been pretty much running the country.

“Bob…”

“Mr. President.”

“What’s going on today?”

“Continuing on with current operations, sir. Admiral Benbrough—with the Royal Navy—and I have been trying to lay the foundation for how they’re going to move back to the United Kingdom. I think we’ve both agreed that a UK presence here for a while would not only be appreciated, but necessary. At least until we get our infrastructure back up to par.”

“I agree. Make sure Benbrough knows how much we appreciate all his efforts. And I will make sure I call Prime Minister Bungard and young William and thank them for their public support.” Walker looked around the room. “Where’s Jennings?”

Sykes grimaced and gestured to his chair, behind the desk. “Why don’t we sit down for a moment, sir.”

Walker took his seat and waited for the secretary to continue.

“Mr. President, last night, Jon Keene and Boz Hamilton took a G-5 to Raleigh. You know already that Jennings had Megan Taylor and Eli Craig looking into this rumor about someone stirring up trouble with the Chinese. I know Jennings has briefed you a little bit.”

Walker nodded.

“Last night, when Keene and Boz got there, they found Taylor and Craig at Judge Milton Hayes’s home. Apparently, gunfire had been exchanged and Taylor and Craig caught the bad end of it.”

Walker sat up in his chair. “Are they all right?”

“Last I heard, they were both in critical condition. But they’re alive. Jennings is there now. Soon as either of them wakes up, we’ll know what went down. All we know right now is they were shot. Judge Hayes was found upstairs in his room. Two shots to the head.”

“So we don’t know anything yet.”

“Not much. But I think it’s important that we all be on extra alert right now. Whatever Taylor and Craig uncovered got Hayes killed.”

Walker sat back in his chair again. He folded his hands together and rested them under his chin. “This speech I’m giving today…it’s going to stir a hornet’s nest. I know the majority of the people are in agreement with me. But I have my opponents, too. They’re not going to be a big fan of what I’m proposing.”

“I spoke with Jennings earlier. He’s in touch with the head of Secret Service and your detail. He’s making sure we don’t have a repeat of what happened with President Grant.” Then, “Mr. President, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, at the Capitol?”

“Absolutely. I want this thing out in full public. The rest of the country needs to see people there, supporting what I’m talking about. And I’d like you and Jennings there beside me.”

“Yes, sir. I think that would be good.”

Walker stood up. “Thanks, Bob. I’ll see you in a couple hours.”

K
eene grabbed the doctor’s arm as he exited Megan’s room. “Any change, Doc?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Keene. Not yet.”

Keene had stood outside Megan’s door since they’d arrived from Andrews Air Force Base. He hadn’t slept. Hadn’t showered. Hadn’t even eaten since getting back. All he could think about was everything he wanted to say to her. And that he might not ever get the chance.

Boz had tried to get him to come away and sit in the lobby or go get something to eat. But Keene was having none of it. He felt as though it was his fault she was even lying in there, fighting for her life. He should’ve left for Raleigh the minute he and Boz got back to Washington.

He’d thought about her every day while he was gone. If he had to be honest, he couldn’t
stop
thinking about her. It was one of the only things that kept him going. And that was something he hadn’t dealt with since he’d met his wife. His wife had completely destroyed any attempt he’d made at trying to be cool. No matter how deadly an operative he’d become, no matter how hard he tried to appear suave and debonair to those around him, she could see right through him. When she died, he thought he’d never look at another woman that way. And then he met Megan. He remembered the first time he met her. She had marched into President Grant’s office and stuck her hand out to shake his. He had underestimated her grip. Before he knew it, his knuckles were crunching against themselves. He remembered thinking,
This woman is going to be a pain in my—

“Jon.”

He looked up to see Boz coming back down the hall at him. “Yeah? What’s up?”

“Any change?”

“None yet. Eli?”

“Same.”

They both stood there for a second in silence. Finally Boz said, “We need to go. Walker is going to give a speech on the steps of the Capitol in about an hour. Jennings wants us there.”

“Yeah, I heard. I guess he’s not worried about what happened with President Grant.”

“Guess not. Anyway, I think it’ll be fine. Jennings has Secret Service and every fed he can find stationed every three feet for six square blocks.”

Keene halfheartedly laughed. “You know what they say about assumptions.”

Boz shrugged. “Yeah, well, that’s why we’re going.”

Keene turned and grabbed the knob on Megan’s door. “Give me a second. I’ll meet you in the lobby.”