Divide and conquer - Tom Clancy [100]
She embraced Hood warmly.
"Thank you for coming down," Hood said. Megan put her arm through his and turned toward the elevator. That gave her a reason to stand close to Hood and talk quietly. The secret service man was behind them.
"How are you going to handle this?" she asked.
"It's going to be a tough, uphill fight," Hood admitted.
"Back in the Oval Office, the president was very focused. If your husband has had doubts about his ability to function, then what Fenwick and the others have given him is the perfect remedy. A crisis. They couldn't have planned it better. The president seemed to be putting a lot of trust in what Fenwick was telling him. He needed to. It was helping him get his confidence back."
"So you said," the First Lady remarked.
"And they're all lies."
"I'm certain of it," Hood assured her.
"The problem is, I don't have hard evidence."
"Then what makes you so sure they are lies?" the First Lady asked.
"I called Fenwick's bluff when we were alone in the Cabinet Room," Hood said.
"I told him we had the terrorist who orchestrated the situation overseas. I told him the terrorist is going to tell us who he was working for. Meaning Fenwick. Fenwick told me I'll never get the information to the president." They reached the elevator. Megan gently put her thumb on the screen. There was a faint hum behind it.
"Fenwick will deny he ever threatened you," she pointed out.
"Of course he will," Hood said.
"That's why I need you to get the president away from the meeting. Tell him you need to see him for five minutes. If I did that, Fenwick and his people would chew me up. But they'll be very reluctant to attack you. That would turn the president against them."
"All right," Megan replied. The door slid open. The First Lady and Hood stepped in. She pressed button Sl-Sublevel One. The door closed, and the elevator began to move.
"There's a guard downstairs," Megan said.
"He's going to have to call ahead. I don't have access to the Situation Room."
"I know," Hood replied.
"Hopefully, someone other than Fenwick or Gable will answer the phone."
"What if I can only get my husband alone? Just the two of us," Megan asked.
"I get his attention. Then what?"
"Tell him what you've noticed over the past few weeks," Hood said.
"Talk to him honestly about what we're afraid of, that Fenwick has been manipulating him. Buy me time, even if it's only two or three hours.
I need that to get the evidence to stop a war." The elevator stopped.
The door opened. Outside was a brightly lit corridor. The walls were white and lined with paintings of American military officers and famous battles from the Revolution to the present. The Situation Room was located at the end of the corridor behind two black double doors.
A young, blond, fresh-faced marine guard was seated at a desk to the right of the elevator. There was a telephone, a computer, and a lamp on the desk. On a metal stand to his left were several security monitors.
The guard rose and looked from Hood to Megan.
"Good morning, Mrs. Lawrence," he said.
"Up kind of early for a swim," he added with a smile.
"Up kind of late. Corporal Cain," she smiled back.
"This is my guest, Mr. Hood. And I'm not going for a swim."
"I didn't think so, ma'am," he replied. The guard's eyes shifted to Hood.
"Good morning, sir."
"Good morning," Hood said.
"Corporal, would you please phone the president?" Megan said.
"Tell him I need to speak with him. Privately, in person."
"Certainly," the guard said. Cain sat and picked up the phone. He punched in the extension of the Situation Room. Hood did not often pray, but he found himself praying that someone other than one of Fenwick's people was there to answer the phone.
A moment later, the guard said, "The First Lady is here to see the president." The guard fell silent then. Hood and Megan stood still in the quiet corridor. The only sound was a high faint whine