Page 27 of V-Day
7.
AS DANIEL REACHED OUT TOtake Rosa Bergen’s hand and shake it, Olivia felt another small wave of disorientation.
Back at the hotel, she had watched Daniel do nothing more elaborate than remove a new suit from the suit bag which had been delivered to the hotel room late the day before. As he put on the suit, he seemed to change right in front of her eyes.
The blue-eyed man in the tailored suiting was an echo of the British businessman Olivia had first thought Daniel to be. A shudder ran through her at the reminder.
Daniel tied his tie the way Olivia had seen her father do it every morning as she was growing up, instead of the smaller and tighter knot Daniel had used while the diplomatic junket had been touring Vistaria.
Even his walk was different, with an easy swing from the hips, instead of the stiffly upright carriage of a typical Englishman.
The Secret Service had been waiting for them in the lobby and Daniel nodded at them in the same short way they had of acknowledging people. Despite the lack of an ear piece, he might have been one of them.
When he spoke, it was with an even broader American accent than he had used with the President during the dawn meeting. Everything about Danielwashim—he wore no prosthetics or wigs or any disguising elements. Only, he was a stranger to Olivia. He was American down to his shiny leather shoes. She would overlook him in a crowd.
Olivia supposed it was the point. It was unnerving, all the same. She was seeing yet another side of the convoluted work of his profession, the work he was good at.
They were escorted through the security barrier into the West Wing without complications and hurried through the busy offices, past the Roosevelt room and into a smaller meeting room.
Olivia had read Rosa Bergen’s profile and knew the woman waiting in the room was her. Bergen wore a pants suit as bland as any of the on duty Secret Service agents. Her arm was in a sling. She shook Daniel’s hand awkwardly with her left, as the President glanced at his watch.
“We have a general meeting of senior staff in ten minutes,” President Collins said. “We’ll be bringing everyone up to speed. You should be in the room for that.”
“Will strange faces raise questions?” Daniel asked.
Collins smiled. “Clearly, you’ve never been in a general senior staff meeting in the White House. I’ll give you five minutes. Bergen, he doesn’t go anywhere without you attached to his hip, understood?”
“Yes, Mr. President,” Rosa Bergen replied. She sized Daniel up. “They won’t even see you,” she told him. “We’ll be part of the wallpaper.”
Daniel nodded. “Good.”
The President glanced at his watch once more. “I hope you’re right about your ability to spot asshats, Daniel. I’m risking too much for this to backfire.”
He hurried away before Daniel could answer.
*
PARRIS ROLLED HER EYES. “REMINDme, who is wearing the uniform, here?”
Chloe could hear the irritation in her voice. Cristián was pushing her too hard. He knew better than that. She rested her fingertips against his wrist in warning.
Parris saw it, too.
Cristián shook his head. “Does your military intelligence tell you how big the base is? No drone has a payload big enough to bomb it all. There are hectares of buildings and fields and runways and that’s just in the main valley.”
“Our people are pretty good,” Parris said, her tone mild. “We’ll take out the most likely places.”
“They won’tputthe control center in the most likely place,” Cristián retorted. “The Insurrectos are stupid, but they have a survival instinct the size of a rhinoceros. They’ll anticipate you will try to take out the control center for the drone. They won’t put it where you think they might.”
“That’s why we’re going down there,” Parris told him. “We’ll scout and see if we can spot it, first.”
“Then I have to come with you,” Cristián said firmly.
“Oh no, you don’t.” Parris shook her head. “The last civilian I took with me got shot despite everything I could do to prevent it. You Vistarians are too damn honorable for your own safety.”
Cristián scowled.
“We will float down this mountain like otters in a stream, then sit on the edge of their active radar field and watch. They won’t have a clue we’re there,” Parris added. “You would just trip me up. No offense.”
