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“Mitch Kruse,” Rapp threw out one of his aliases.
The officer spoke into the phone. “Mitch Kruse…yep…okay.” The officer hung up the phone and opened the gate. He pointed up a drive that led to a courtyard in the center of the building. “Head through there. Special Agent Warch will meet you in the courtyard.”
Rapp said nothing and walked up the narrow drive. When he reached the courtyard, he saw Warch approaching from the other side. Warch had a big grin on his face as he saw Rapp. Warch owed his life to the man.
“Good to see you, Mitch.” The agent stuck out his hand. “You look like shit.”
“Thank you. I feel like shit.” Rapp grabbed his hand and gave it a firm squeeze.
“How’s Anna doing?”
“Good. Thank you for your help, by the way.”
“Don’t worry. I figure we owe you a lot more than that.” Warch started walking and Rapp followed. “How have you been?”
“You want the long version or the short one?”
“I don’t think I’m cleared for the long one. Hell, I’m probably not even cleared for the short one.”
Rapp laughed as they entered the EOB. “Come on, Jack, you guys are the eunuchs of the twenty-first centu
ry.”
Warch placed a hand over his groin. “Tell me about it. Sometimes I feel like one.”
The two continued to talk as they left the EOB and crossed over to the White House. They entered through the ground floor and continued straight down the hall and to the right. This was Rapp’s first trip back to the White House since the terrorist attack had partially destroyed the building the previous spring. He was amazed at how quickly they had got the West Wing back up and running. It looked exactly as it had before the bombs had ripped her apart.
Warch knew what Rapp was thinking and said, “It’s pretty amazing isn’t it?”
Rapp looked down the hallway toward the White House mess. “Yeah, it really is.”
“The building wasn’t as bad as you might have thought. The fire department was here so fast they got the flames put out before they did too much damage.”
“Yeah, but still. This is amazing.”
The two men stopped in front of the door that led to the Situation Room. Warch asked, “Mitch, are you carrying?”
“What do you think?”
“I know you are, but I’m trying to be polite.”
Rapp was tempted to make a smart-ass comment, but he knew this was a subject that the Secret Service found little humor in. “Would you like to hold on to my gun for me?”
“Very much so.”
Rapp took his Beretta out of his shoulder holster and checked to make sure the manual safety catch was in the up position. Warch took the weapon and then punched a code into the cipher lock. The door clicked, and the Secret Service agent opened it. Immediately to the left was the door to the conference room. Warch knocked twice and then opened the door. Staying in the hallway, he ushered Rapp into the room and closed the door.
Rapp stood awkwardly for a moment, slightly surprised to see Kennedy and Director Stansfield. For some reason, Kennedy had given him the impression that he would be meeting alone with the president. President Hayes spun around in his large leather chair.
“Thank you for coming, Mitch. Could you please take a seat?”
Rapp said nothing as he took the first available chair, which was next to Stansfield. He sat and looked briefly at Kennedy, who was on the other side of the table.
“How is Anna?” asked the president.
Rapp didn’t answer at first. He looked at Hayes and wondered where to start. Anna was doing well in the sense that she was alive and apparently out of harm’s way, but other than that, he wasn’t sure she was doing all that well. Rapp decided it was best not to open up that can of worms in front of the president. “She’s fine, sir. A little concerned, but essentially she’s all right.”
“She’s a tough woman. I’m sorry she got caught up in this mess.”
