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“What are you doing back here?” the man demanded of Griffin. “Has the situation been resolved?”
“Not yet, sir,” Griffin said. “I just need to follow up on something here in the residence.”
And he couldn’t afford to have the chief of staff hold him up. He needed to find Adam. Griffin was being insubordinate, but he took a step anyway. The other man kept pace with him.
“Tell me the president and his family aren’t in danger, Agent Keller.”
“I can’t tell you that, sir, because I still don’t know what this guy has up his sleeve.” They crossed through the Palm Room. Griffin was glad to see the two marine guards at their posts.
“You don’t believe we’ll be able to rescue Mrs. Ranjbar?”
They stopped outside of Director Worcester’s office.
“I don’t believe that’s this guy’s intent, no,” Griffin said.
“What is his damn intent, Agent Keller?” the chief of staff demanded.
“If I knew that I wouldn’t be standing here, sir.”
Director Worcester and Adam rushed to the center hall at the sounds of their raised voices. Adam took one look at Griffin’s face and began rapidly firing orders via the communication device he wore on his arm, demanding each of the members of his team check-in.
“What’s going on, Agent Keller?” Director Worcester asked.
“I think Salenko is setting us up.”
The president’s chief of staff swore violently.
The Secret Service director remained stoic. “For what purpose?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet.”
Griffin’s cell phone rang. He glanced at the screen and saw Ben’s name.
“Tell me something good, Ben,” Griffin said into his phone. “Has anything shown up on the net of video cameras around the meeting place?”
“Nothing yet, but I’ve uncovered something else and you’re not going to like it,” Ben answered.
“Let me go into the director’s office and I’ll put you on speaker.”
The men gathered around the table. The president’s chief of staff paced the room while the others listened intently.
“I’ve been investigating how Salenko is accessing the White House undetected,” Ben explained. “I entered several variables in order to come up with an initial standard deviation, allowing for some volatility within my sample mean—”
“In English, Ben!” Adam interjected.
“Right, right,” Ben said. “Basically, I ended up with the hypothesis that Salenko is entering through the front door.”
“What?” both the director and chief of staff shouted.
“Hear me out,” Ben added. “My premise is that he’s posing as someone else who has regular access to the mansion. So, I ran facial recognition comparisons with every employee, contractor, and subcontractor who has clearance to be in the White House. After several hours, I came up with a hit. Salenko is a dead ringer for the subcontractor who maintains the pool and the solar panels on the cabana.”
Adam exchanged a look with Griffin.
“There’s an underground passage that runs from the cabana to the ground floor of the residence. The First Family uses it to access the pool area,” Adam whispered before stepping out into the lobby, presumably to check on the area around the pool and the passage.
“The guy’s name is Willem Dunst,” Ben went on to say. “I made a few calls. The real Willem Dunst broke his back three months ago and has been on disability ever since, yet his credentials have been swiped granting him access to the White House at least six times since then. He was here on the morning Marin saw Salenko on the back stairs and again later that afternoon. The credentials were also used on Monday when the other chef was attacked. And guys, here’s the part you’re not gonna like… Dunst’s credentials were swiped again forty minutes ago.”
All three men moved at once. Director Worcester pressed the silent alarm on his desk that would lock down the building. The president’s chief of staff headed upstairs to move the president and his family to the secure room located in the sub-basement of the building. Griffin swiftly moved through the center hallway, commanding the other agents and Uniformed Division officers on guard to fan out and check the rooms on the ground floor. He pulled his service revolver and slowly climbed the spiral staircase to the mezzanine level.
