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I do, Kennedy thought to herself without an ounce of guilt. She stood and moved quickly to the door, fully aware that she must keep up the proper appearance. She yanked it open and yelled, “We have a medical emergency! Get the doctor up here and grab the defibrillator!”
Kennedy hustled back to the sitting area. Ross was slumped forward in Hayes’s arms. “Let’s get him on the floor,” Kennedy yelled as she grabbed the end of the coffee
table and dragged it from between the two couches.
Hayes and Stokes grabbed Ross and laid him on the floor. Kennedy picked up the fallen water glass and stood over the vice president–elect for a moment until she was forced to back away as the first agents arrived. The room was filling up with people fast. Kennedy looked over and saw Carl standing in the doorway that led to the president’s private dining room. Special Agent Warch appeared at his side just as they had planned. He pointed at the coffee table and said something to Carl. The fastidious Navy steward hurried over to the table and began clearing the dishes as more and more bodies piled into the room. With a steady hand Kennedy set the water glass on Carl’s tray and walked around the couch on the left to retrieve her purse. The doctor arrived a half minute later and yelled for everyone to clear the room. Kennedy took one last look at Ross’s pale face and left the Oval Office.
55
LANGLEY, VIRGINIA
R app stood in front of Kennedy’s desk. He was wearing the same clothes that he’d had on in Geneva. He was exhausted and in desperate need of sleep, but he was even more desperate to find out just how in the hell Mark Ross ended up dead in the Oval Office. They’d landed shortly after 10:00 a.m., when one of the mechanics at the hangar told them about Ross. Rapp tried for close to an hour to get ahold of Kennedy but she wouldn’t pick up. Finally, one of her secretaries told him she was on her way back to Langley. Rapp made a beeline for CIA headquarters and found Kennedy sitting alone in her office, writing in a file.
“I see you didn’t bother to wait for me,” Rapp said.
Kennedy finished writing a note and closed the file. “Jose said we needed to handle this one with a deft touch.”
“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Kennedy didn’t want to argue with him. “An opportunity presented itself.”
“I see that. A fucking heart attack in the Oval Office. Whoever pulled that one off has got a gigantic set of balls.”
Kennedy took off her reading glasses and leaned back in her chair.
“What did you guys do, poison him?”
She nodded.
“Jose likes that sneaky stuff. I heard on the radio that he had some heart problem that ran in the family.”
“Yes. A reporter uncovered it during the campaign, but I already knew about it.”
“How?”
“When he applied here after college he wanted Operations.”
“Doesn’t everyone.”
“He failed his physical. They discovered that he had mitral valve prolapse.”
“What in the hell is that?”
“Basically a heart murmur.”
“So who the hell poisoned him? Jose?”
Kennedy looked at Rapp for a long moment and calmly said, “I did.”
Rapp couldn’t speak at first. He stood there dumbfounded. Eventually he whispered, “You poisoned him?”
“Yes.”
“Are you all right?”
She nodded. “I’m fine.”
Rapp studied her. “Are you sure?”
