Transfer of Power

Absolutely perfect."

"What is?"

"Hayes may have just done you the biggest favor of his career." King clapped his hands together.

"You're off the hook, and the timing couldn't be better. So far you've only had to deal with the little demands. Tomorrow Aziz is going to ask for something big, and you are not going to have to be the one to say yes or no." King was gri

The vice president began to see the bright side.

"There just might be a way out of this."

The door to the study suddenly burst open, and one of the vice president's staffers rushed in yelling, "Turn on the TV! The White House is on fire!"

Baxter sprang from his chair and grabbed the remote control from his desk. The TV came on almost instantly. Within seconds, images of fire engines racing through the White Houses gates appeared. In the background flames could be seen shooting out of windows. Baxter turned up the volume. The anchor was saying that people on the scene were telling him that as of yet no survivors had been seen coming out of the building.

As soon as the anchor said the words "no survivors," Dallas King ushered the aide back out of the room and closed the door. The two of them stood for several minutes, watching the live coverage. There were flames everywhere. Firemen were ma

King turned to his boss, unable to hide the smile on his face.

"No one is going to make it out of there alive."

All Baxter could do was shake his head.

King stared at the TV for a while longer and then said, "We need to let the media know that you are not responsible for this disaster." King pointed to the screen.

"Hayes is responsible for this mess, and we have to make sure everyone knows that."

King felt as if he were floating on air. He was going to get away with it.

Baxter looked at his chief of staff and said, "Dallas, this is a tragedy."

"Life is a tragedy, Sherman. Thirty thousand people a year die in car accidents, another hundred thousand from cigarettes." King pointed to his boss. "Now, that's a real tragedy. This is not good. Don't get me wrong. Some people might consider it a tragedy, but it's my job to make sure they don't think you caused it." King picked up the phone on his boss's desk and punched in a phone number. When he got the persons voice mail, he pressed zero and got the operator on the line.

"I need to speak to Sheila Du

King was put on hold. Standing next to his boss, he watched the White House burn on the TV. In the back of his mind, he was chanting. Burn, baby, burn.

PRESIDENT HAYES STOOD in front of the White House, bathed in the early morning sunlight. Reporters shouted questions from beyond the fence line, and he ignored them. The important thing was that the nation see he was alive and well.

He would make a formal speech in the evening and explain the tragic events of the last four days.

Special Agent Jack Warch stood at his side along with a half dozen other Secret Service agents, all of them wearing sunglasses. President Hayes held his hand over his eyes and gazed up at the proud, old building, amazed she was still standing. FBI agents were sifting through the carnage collecting evidence.

Virtually all of the windows were blown out, and there were holes punched in the stone exterior where the bombs had exploded. Fortunately the fire had not burned uncontrolled.

Between the heavy downpour and the firefighters, the blaze had been kept in check and was prevented from engulfing the structure. Priceless national treasures had been damaged beyond repair and lost forever, but the important thing was that the hostages were alive.

Jack Warch reached out and tapped the president on the arm. President Hayes looked down at his watch and nodded.

The troop then moved out across the lawn for the northwest gate.

The president looked to Warch and said, "I bet your wife and kids were happy to see you this morning."

Warch smiled.

"Yep. Lots of hugs and kisses." Hayes gri

The president paused to take a look around and pronounced, "If it was good enough for Harry Truman, it's good enough for me." The reporters laughed and wrote down the quote.

The president's chief of staff appeared from the parlor and said,

"Everybody's here, Mr. President."

Hayes tugged on his white shirtsleeves and entered the room with Warch and Jones. All of the attendees stood, some more enthusiastically than others. The president had called the meeting several hours earlier and had put together the list carefully.

Stansfield, Ke

The president walked to the front of the room and looked at the only two people he didn't know.

"I'm looking forward to meeting both of you, but we have some business to take care of first." Hayes looked around the room for a second and then to Director. Stansfield. "We're missing someone."

"He'll be along shortly, Mr. President."

Hayes nodded and brought his hands together in a tight grip.

"All right, let's get down to business. First things first."

Hayes's gaze fell on Dallas King.

"We are going to set the record straight, and we're going to make things right. Dallas, I've been told you made quite an ass out of yourself over the last several days." Hayes paused.

"Anything you would like to say in your defense?"

King shifted uncomfortably on the couch and was rapidly trying to think of a defense when the parlor doors opened and in stepped Mitch Rapp.

Rapp walked across the room to where Rielly and Adams were standing.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Mr. President."

"That's quite all right, Mr. Kruse. We were just getting ready to hear Dallas King explain his behavior over the last several days."

King was sweating bullets.

The president extended his hand and Valerie Jones deposited a copy of The Washington Post in it. Hayes held it up for everyone to see. The headlines read, "President Hayes Orders Failed Raid." Hayes handed the copy back to Jones and said, "The Post rushed to press with this story last night and wound up with a lot of egg on their face this morning. I won't even get into the specifics of the article, other than to say that almost all of it is false." Hayes watched King for a moment.

"Dallas, do you have any idea how the Post came up with a headline like this?"

At first King only shrugged and then muttered some unintelligible words.

Inside, he was relieved. For a moment he had thought Hayes had found out about his late-night tour of the White House.

"Let me see if I can refresh your memory." Hayes extended his hand, and this time Stansfield placed several documents in it.

"I have phone records here showing that someone called the Post last night from the vice president's house. I have other records showing that over the last several days someone has been calling a reporter at the Post from your mobile phone and your home phone." Hayes held the phone records up for all to see. King squirmed on the couch and looked to his boss for support. He got none. Afraid to look the president in the eye, he answered with great discomfort.