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“Yes, Sir.”

“And don’t be afraid to have him invoke executive privilege if you need to,” Leo reminds him. “Liberally. No outside phone calls right now, either. Not unless it’s critical and you and Casey-Marie are there with him. Start a separate call sheet. Let’s give him at least a couple of hours before he takes condolence calls. You monitoreverycall, understand me?”

Jordan nods. “Yes, Sir.”

He means he wants Jordan on the other handset in the Oval, listening in on the call so he can coach me.

“Get moving.” Leo pulls me in for a kiss. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

He kisses Jordan and exchanges words with him too soft for me to hear before Jordan gently catches my right elbow.

“Come on, boy,” Sir says. “Back to work.”

“How long has it been?”

Jordan and Leo both look confused. “How long what, boy?” Sir asks.

“Since she died?”

Leo and Jordan exchange a glance and Jordan, who’s once again in a blazer, peels back his cuff so he can see his watch. “Fifty-two minutes,” he says.

I nod and let him lead me downstairs.

* * *

Instead of returningto the Oval Office Jordan takes me downstairs to the SitRoom, where we find Casey-Marie engaged in a heated discussion with several officials.

I clear my throat and everyone falls silent, standing as I head toward my usual seat at the end of the conference table.

“Mister President,” they all say.

Jordan peels off from me to go sit in a chair against the wall but positioned where he can make eye contact with me.

“We have updates for you, sir,” Casey-Marie says.

I hold up a hand. “Before we go any further I want everyone to hold the condolences, okay?” I draw in a deep breath as they all nod. “I want this kept professional.” I finally sit and everyone follows suit. “Where are we?”

Belyaevskin died fifteen minutes ago. His videos have not hit the US media yet but it’s only a matter of hours at the most before a network like Telemundo or BBC picks them up and translates them into English. Then they’ll be viral worldwide.

Arrest warrants were issued for Borens, Gretz, Ingalls, and Rep. Fargo. Fargo was just taken into custody by the Secret Service and US Marshals at his office over on the Hill.

There is currently a national manhunt on for the other three.

The FBI believes a small warehouse building outside of Detroit that housed both a meth lab and a crypto-mining operation, and which went up in flames less than twenty-four hours before the attacks, is the one referenced in the video Stella posted. Five people died in that fire. While officials ruled the victims perished from smoke inhalation, the medical examiner is reopening the case because of the new evidence and because the toxicology results haven’t come back yet.

Based on what Belyaevskin said, he drugged them before setting fire to the building, which would explain no evidence of trauma on their bodies. Smoke inside their lungs shows they were still alive during the fire. They were all found in a windowless room, trapped by the flames from the meth lab. Three of the bodies were already released to next of kin, and two of those were cremated. The third victim was supposed to be buried tomorrow but a hold was placed on that and the body recalled to the ME’s office for further testing. The other two victims’ bodies had not yet been claimed and are now being held as evidence.

The building was a complete loss and bulldozed four days ago but investigators are now combing through the evidence again. The cause of the fire was originally ruled an accident due to the meth lab, and a detailed arson investigation wasn’t performed. They’ve reopened it and are looking for any evidence of an accelerant.

We have a pending request for the Russian ambassador to make her way to the White House, post haste for a private conversation. The CIA confirms they’ve looped in their Russian counterparts, who are now working to quietly apprehend the co-conspirators Belyaevskin named in his confession tape. They’ll then start working their way down the food chain to the other participants, so they can stop the planned attacks from happening over there as scheduled in three days from now.

Our State Department is issuing an emergency travel warning to avoid Russia, just in case. The Gang of Eight will be briefed on the latest developments within the hour, since this is a national security issue.

Once I have the latest info I place my hands flat in front of me, my fingertips lightly touching the table as I stare at them for a moment. I focus on my breathing and—

the sound of the gunshots