Page 18 of Enemy of My Enemy

“BOTUS?” Ethan finally said, once he straightened and took another long drag from his beer. POTUS was the abbreviation commonly used for the president. FLOTUS was the designation for the first lady. Ethan had expected to see FGOTUS, though he cringed at the possible mutilations of the acronym that were sure to occur.

“Boyfriend of the United States. We thought about FGOTUS, but Director Triplett nixed it. Too much room for abuse.” Daniels tipped his beer bottle toward Ethan, an almost salute. “I’m just waiting to change it to HOTUS.”

Scott chuckled.

“Husband of the United States.” Winking, Daniels managed to grin and drain his beer in the same move, despite Ethan glaring.

“Knock knock.” A familiar voice called from the doorway, and Ethan snorted as Scott and Daniels snapped to attention, their Secret Service training ingrained in their bones. Both men tried to hide the beer bottles against their thighs.

Ethan smiled and raised his beer to Jack. “Come on in.”

Hands in his pockets, Jack crossed Ethan’s office and came to a stop just inside his spread legs as Ethan leaned back against his desk. One of Ethan’s hands landed on Jack’s hip, his thumb stroking along the seam in his suit jacket.

Jack leaned in for a quick kiss. “Hey, love.”

Scott and Daniels grinned.

“Relax, please.” Jack waved toward Daniels and Scott. “We’re off the clock. The day is done. Time to chill.”

“No such thing, Mr. President.” Scott, at least, stopped trying to hide his beer.

“Please, it’s Jack.” Jack smiled as Daniels passed him a bottle.

“You’ll never get them to bend on calling you Jack.” Ethan drained the last of his beer and set it on the desk behind him. He held back from wrapping his arms around Jack, but just barely.

“I got you to call me Jack.”

Scott had to swallow back a bark of laughter as Ethan deadpanned, “And look where we ended up.”

“It’s a dangerous slippery slope.” Daniels’s hands balanced in the air, weighing the two sins. “First name… First gentleman of the United States.”

“Yeah, yeah. Hey, do you guys want to come on up for dinner? If you’re free?” Jack quickly took a drink from his beer.

Ethan stared at Scott and Daniels, frozen in front of Jack. Daniels, at least, had eaten with them before, but not since the aftermath of the almost end of the world, when everything was still up in the air and each day felt like a movie on fast-forward. Reality had been untethered then, and the weight of Daniels staying for dinner in the president’s study, just off the Oval Office, was different from having the two senior detail leads up in the Residence on a social visit.

Daniels’s gaze darted to Scott. “Sure.” He shrugged. “I’ve got no plans.”

“My wife and daughter are at church tonight.” Scott shot a questioning glance to Ethan, one last check. “I was on my own for dinner. Was going to hit a drive-through on the way home.”

“No, no, no.” Jack waved Scott’s dinner plans away. “C’mon. Let’s go. Prime rib tonight. And there’s a bottle of wine the French prime minister gave me as a gift that’s ready to open.” He stood, grabbed Ethan’s hand, and motioned for the door. “After you guys.”

* * *

Shadows of a Former General Turned Fugitive Terrorist Haunt United States

Not since the days of General Benedict Arnold has the United States experienced so devastating a betrayal at the hands of a man sworn to defend her.

Former General Porter Madigan fled the United States following the exposure of his plot to overthrow the US government in a false flag operation to detonate nuclear weapons in Washington DC and in the Middle East under the guise of a Caliphate attack. Madigan has seemingly since vanished, though he remains a serious concern for the US.

Some sources report that he has risen to become the CIA’s number one target. “Every incident overseas is looked at through a new lens,” an unnamed source said. “Is this what it appears on the surface? Or is there something more? Madigan led US special operations for decades. He knows infinitely more than we do, and we’re just playing catch up.”

* * *

Chapter 4

South America

Altiplano Plateau