Page 18 of A Demon’s Resolve (Demonic Tales and Adventures #3)
CHAPTER 18
After Jennifer’s far-fetched story, President Burrows sent her to her rooms for some much needed sleep. He had no idea how someone as clearly crazy as she was managed to get a job that put her in the same room as the President of the United States, but Daniel had more important things to worry about at the moment.
Exhausted, he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, trying not to explode in front of his advisors. He wished he’d had the luxury of a few hours of sleep.
Instead, he had to listen to more reasons as to why there were no theories for how nearly half of the United States was hit by some sort of natural disaster. His Secretary of Defense was currently giving one such excuse. “Sir, the fact is, more than just the United States was affected by the phenomenon.”
“Phenomenon?” he shouted as he slammed his fist onto the table before him. “You act like this hadn’t been done on purpose.” Daniel Burrows knew in his gut this hadn’t been some freak of nature. As capricious as Mother Nature could be, she wasn’t this chaotic.
Frustration had him clamping his jaw shut. Years of training in the military taught him that losing his cool wasn’t going to get the results this country needed. He went to the screen at the front of the room and stared at the various maps.
Each one showed different areas of the world that had suffered from some sort of unusual natural disaster. The majority of the time, it was earthquakes, winds strong enough to spin tornados, and fire that scorched everything in its path. Whoever was doing this had started in the United States before moving across Europe to head into parts of Asia.
They’d sent drones to fly over the area hit last but found nothing. “So what you’re saying, Mr. Grish, is that you still have no information for me?”
Flushing bright red, Albert opened his mouth, then closed it. After several moments, he opened it again. “Yes, sir.
The four-star general once so proud, stood there with his shoulders slumped. “We’ve been scrambling for more intel but so many of our resources were lost. Power is out in most areas of the 30 states affected, as well as our European allies.”
Incredulous at the man’s ability to lay blame for his shortcomings, Daniel Burrows wasn’t having it. “I don’t care what the reason is, I want an answer, not excuses.”
Lukas Hunt stepped forward. “Sir, if I may?”
Nodding, Daniel said, “If you have anything to add, please, do so.”
“Sir, as you know I have ties to Special Forces.” He hesitated a moment as he glanced up to the map before returning to Daniel. “Several teams have been sent to follow the path of destruction, but so far they haven’t been able to find concrete proof as to what is happening.”
Pink rose up from Lukas’s neck and into his face. For a moment, his gaze went to the floor before once more landing on Daniel with determination and resignation. “The rumors are circulating that whatever caused this was supernatural.”
Daniel’s piercing blue eyes pinned the man who had been with him more than any other person since he’d become President. During that time, Daniel had gotten to know his head of security pretty well and trusted the man’s instincts. “So you think someone intentionally did this?”
“That I can’t answer.” This time his gaze went to the maps and stayed there. “I can only tell you there is no way this was natural. At the same time, I have to agree with my counterparts in the field. There is no technology known to man that could cause this much damage, especially without our sensors picking it up.”
Daniel turned back to the others in the room. His tone turned downright frigid. “Ladies and gentleman, I want answers as to how anyone could have accomplished this. Whether it was an attack on the United States or not, I agree with Lukas, someone or something is responsible and I want to know who and how.”
Everyone stood there for a moment before jumping into action as if they couldn’t obey the order fast enough. Daniel wasn’t sure they would discover anything, but he sure as hell hoped they would. Anything was better than the alternative he was beginning to fear may be true.
He wouldn’t blame Jennifer if she never spoke to him again after the way he treated her the last time they met, but Daniel had to try. If, as impossible as it seemed, she’d actually been telling the truth…
Daniel honestly wasn’t sure how to finish that thought. There just couldn’t be demons that walked the earth. The consequences of that reality was too daunting to accept.
He let out a shaky breath as he approached her door after the failed meeting. Daniel had no idea what kind of reception he was going to get, but he assumed it wouldn’t be good. Unwilling to debate the reasoning behind coming here, Daniel knocked.
The breath left his body in a whoosh when he saw Jennifer standing there in a big pink fluffy robe, her hair still wet from a recent shower. God, she was breathtaking. Shaking his head slightly to clear it, he said, “We need to talk.” Striding past her, he entered without waiting for an invitation.
As he brushed past her, he had to stifle a groan when he inhaled deeply. She smelled of strawberries and cream. Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea to come to her room. Keeping his back to her until he heard the door click shut, Daniel took several steadying breaths hoping she hadn’t noticed his nervousness.
“What can I do for you, Mr. President?” He heard the stiff formal way she spoke. She hadn’t forgiven him for not believing her, but seriously how could she expect him to? She may be the best analyst he’d ever met, but demons?
Slowly he faced her, searching for some clue that she understood that her story was some fantasy in her mind. Except, he was there, in her suite, because he was no longer sure about that.
All he saw was anger. She was pissed and not bothering to mask it. Her jaw was clenched like she was grinding her teeth in order to keep from cursing him.
Daniel had no doubt she only did so because he was the President of the United States. From others, he expected them to act with some deference to his status, but not with her. For some reason, Daniel wanted Jennifer to be uncensored and yell at him as she clearly wanted to.
At the same time, if there was even the slightest chance Jennifer was right, he needed her to get on board. Hell, even if she was wrong, Jennifer was too good an analyst to keep on the sidelines.
The question was, how was he going to get her back on track if she was mad? It wouldn’t be easy but neither was being President. So why did Daniel think this conversation would be more challenging than anything he’d faced in his job?
“Look, I’m hoping that now you’ve had time to rest you’re ready to come back and help.” Daniel winced as soon as the words left his mouth. He didn’t need to be a genius to know he’d just fucked up.
If it was possible, she looked even madder. Her fists kept clenching and unclenching at her sides and Daniel swore he heard her teeth grinding together. Maybe he should have given her more time. Then again, he wasn’t sure any amount of time would have helped when he treated her like a fragile doll instead of the strong woman she was.
Stunned when she spun on her heel and stormed out of the room into what he assumed was the bedroom, Daniel felt his jaw drop as the door slammed shut. Now what?
He wasn’t about to leave without speaking to her. He needed her help. When it came to the possibility of demons, Daniel freely admitted he was ill-equipped to deal with it…them?
Nor was he sure how to feel about someone walking out on him. It had been a long time since someone had dared to do that. Not since his wife.
Not so surprisingly, Daniel found himself smiling at Jennifer’s audacity. How many people had the courage to storm out on the President of the United States? Hell, she hadn’t even given him an answer - making him wait like some lackey. Noises from the other room told him her anger hadn’t lost any steam either.
At one point, he could hear her talking to herself. “Stupid, stupid, what were you thinking?” He couldn’t help chuckling at the words. “No one’s ever believed you before. What made you think he was different?”
That statement cut him deeply. Daniel didn’t want to be like everyone else, at least not when it came to Jennifer. Yet, wasn’t that exactly what he’d done? Instead of listening, he’d jumped to the conclusion that she was crazy.
But what did she expect? They were talking about demons, for goodness sake. There might be some people who were what he would call evil, but honest to goodness demons? No way.
His head snapped up when the door to the bedroom flew open. Relief flowed through him as he saw her dressed in her normal business clothes. Standing he said, “Does this mean you are ready to help?”
Anger still rolled off her in waves but she gave a short nod. “But understand me, I wasn’t kidding earlier. Those men who stopped the tsunami were demons. The only reason they would get involved is because one of their own caused it. And if you don’t believe me, then you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”
She didn’t wait for him to comment as she left him in her wake. Apparently, his being the President no longer impressed her.