Executive orders - Tom Clancy [266]
Oh, shit, SWORDSMAN replied.
Surprised it took this long. I started dating when I was-
I don't want to hear about it-
I married you, didn't I? Pause. Mr. President
Jack turned. It has been a while.
Any way we can get to the Lincoln Bedroom? Cathy asked. Jack looked over and saw a glass on her night-stand. She'd had a drink or two. Tomorrow wouldn't be a surgery day.
He never slept there, babe. They call it that because-
The picture. I know. I asked. I like the bed, she explained with a smile. Cathy set her patient notes down and took off her reading glasses. Then she held her arms up, almost like a toddler soliciting a pickup and a hug. You know, I've never made love to the most powerful man in the world before-at least not this week.
What about the timing? Cathy had never used the pill.
What about the timing? she replied. And she'd always been as regular as a metronome.
You don't want another-
Maybe I don't especially care.
You're forty, POTUS objected.
Well, thank you! That's well short of the record. What are you worried about?
Jack thought about that for a moment. Nothing, I guess. Never did get that vasectomy, did I?
Nope, you never even talked to Pat about it like you said you would-and if you do it now, FLOTUS went on with a positively wicked grin, it'll be in all the papers. Maybe even on live TV. Arnie might tell you that it'll set a good example for the Zero Population Growth people, and you'll cave on that. Except for the national security implications
What?
President of the United States has his nuts cut, and they won't respect America anymore, will they?
Jack almost started laughing, but stopped himself. The Detail people in the corridor might hear and-
What got into you?
Maybe I'm finally getting comfortable with all this-or maybe I just want to get laid, she added.
That's when the phone next to the bed rang. Cathy's face made a noiseless snarl as she reached for it. Hello? Yes, Dr. Sabo. Mrs. Emory? Okay no, I don't think so No, definitely not, I don't care if she's agitated or not, not till tomorrow. Get her something to help her sleep whatever it takes. The bandages stay on till I say otherwise, and make sure that's on her chart, she's too good at whining. Yes. Night, Doctor. She replaced the phone and grumbled. The lens replacement I did the other day. She doesn't like being blindfolded, but if we take the coverings off too soon-
Wait a minute, he called-
They have our number at Wilmer.
The direct residence? That one even bypassed Signals, though it, like all White House lines, was bugged. Or probably was. Ryan hadn't asked, and probably didn't want to know.
They had it for home, didn't they? Cathy asked. Me surgeon, me treat patients, me professor, always on call when me have patients-especially the pain-in-the-ass ones.
Interruptions. Jack lay down next to his wife. You don't really want another baby, do you?
What I want is to make love to my husband. I can't be picky about timing anymore, can I?
Has it been that bad? He kissed her gently.
Yes, but I'm not mad about it. You're trying very hard. You remind me of my new residents-older, though. She touched his face and smiled. If something happens, it happens. I like being a woman.
I rather like it myself.
* * *
28 - RESULTS
SOME OF THEM HAD DEGREES in psychology. It was a common and favored degree for law-enforcement officers. Some even had advanced degrees, and one member of the Detail had a doctorate, having done his dissertation on the sub-specialty of profiling criminals. All were at the least gifted amateurs in the science of reading minds; Andrea Price was one of these. SURGEON had a spring in her step as she walked out to her helicopter. SWORDSMAN walked her out to the ground-floor door and kissed her good-bye-the kiss was routine, the walk-out and the hand-holding were not, or hadn't been lately. Price shared a glance with two of her agents, and they read one another's minds, as cops can do, and they judged it to be good, except