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As her predecessor Thomas Stansfield had taught her, Ke
No, Ke
In an effort to keep up her newfound friendship with Mrs. Rapp, she called A
A
Ke
This sudden coziness between his boss and wife would give the intensely private and compartmentalized Rapp reason for pause once he found out about it. Ke
As Ke
The outcome of the operation was just what the President had wanted. The Andersons were safe, the United States had suffered no casualties and a message had been sent to the terrorists. Using Rapp's line of logic, or defense as Ke
Ke
Hayes tore his eyes off one of three TVs mounted on the wall in front of him. He'd seen Ke
Ke
"I've already put a call in to Ben Freidman, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet."
The President frowned at the mere mention of Freidman's name.
He was well acquainted with the head of Mossad. He in fact detested the man, and if it wasn't for Ke
The President wiped a film of sweat from his face with a towel and growled, "It still burns my ass that he has a job."
Ke
Hayes looked at the clock.
"What time is it over there?"
"They're seven hours ahead of us, sir. It's two-twenty in the afternoon."
"How long ago did you call him?"
"About thirty minutes ago." Ke
"Well, call him back again," snapped Hayes.
"And tell him I want some answers!" Pointing at one of the TVs he said, "They leveled an entire city block, and they're saying the death toll could surpass one hundred people, for Christ's sake."
Ke
"Sir," she cautioned, "you know the Palestinians always inflate those numbers."
Hayes gripped a black bar with one hand and with the other he lowered the speed of the machine.
"Have you seen the footage?" he asked a little less confrontation ally
"Yes."
"And you don't think it looks bad?"
"Yes, it does, sir, but let me get some more information before we jump to any conclusions."
Hayes nodded and began to breathe a little easier. Realizing he'd been a little hard on one of his most trusted advisors he asked, "So, did you have a good time last night?"
"Yes, I did. It was a very nice party, sir."
"Good." He mopped his brow again and asked, "What's happening over in the Philippines?"
Ke
"I have good news. The Anderson family is safely onboard the Belleau Wood as are all military perso
As if someone had delivered an unexpected gift, a mix of joy and confusion spread across the President's face. He glanced at the clock on the wall and said, "I thought the rescue wasn't set to take place for another hour or two."
"Well, there were some developments during the evening, sir, that caused us to move up our timetable." Fortunately, Ke
"A tropical storm blew in," she continued to explain, "threatening to ground our aircraft. At the same time, the rain provided the cover needed to sneak our ground forces into position earlier than we had anticipated. Not wanting to lose the opportunity we gave the green light and it went off without a hitch." Ke
The President's face lit up.
"That's great! When will they be arriving stateside?" The politician in him was already looking forward to greeting the family.
"They have to wait for the storm to break and then they'll start back. They could be here as early as tomorrow or Monday."
"And how are they doing?"
"Fairly well," answered Ke
"A little malnourished and covered with insect bites, but otherwise stable."
The President stopped the machine and climbed off. He moved over to a treadmill and climbed on.
"How are they psychologically?"
Hayes pressed several buttons and the tread started moving.
Ke
"I'm not sure, sir. For now I bet they're just happy to be free."
"Yeah, I suppose." The belt picked up speed and the President began walking faster. He pumped his arms and said, "Do me a favor and brief Valerie on this." The President glanced at the wall clock.
"She's usually in by eight on Saturdays."
The President needed his chief of staff. Ke