The Night Stalkers White House - Books 1-3

Chapter 11-1

Chapter 11

Daniel met her at the garlanded North Portico, the very entrance Alice had discovered the day before. Now she knew what lay on both sides of the Doors of Alice. Daniel opened the car door himself and handed her out.

“I thought you said, ‘casual’.” She admired the charcoal gray suit that revealed a breadth of shoulder unusual for an office worker. Of course she knew why. Yesterday, wow, was it just yesterday, she’d woken earlier than Daniel thought and had gone out in hunt of food on the top floor of the White House Residence.

Instead of the kitchen, Alice had stumbled on the small gym where Daniel, clad in only shorts and sneakers, had laid on a bench pumping iron while watching CNN. And she’d thought he was gorgeous clothed.

She’d headed back to her room and waited for her nerves to settle before returning, by which time he was showered, dressed, and eating lunch. She’d had a terrible time meetings his eyes as she ate her yogurt for fear he’d see the truth in her face. The truth of what even being in the same room with Daniel made her feel.

“I had different plans, more casual plans,” Daniel apologized as he led her inside. “There’s a quiet little fish house I was going to take you to, but South Africa happened and we’ve only just wrapped it up. We’ll just have a quiet dinner in the Residence.”

Alice slowed to a halt as the door shushed closed behind her. The broad marble hall of yesterday morning had been transformed into a winter fairyland. Giant paper snowflakes of impossible intricacy dangled down the entire length of the Entrance and Cross Halls on the first floor of the Residence. A spray of glitter and subtle lighting had made them glow; the sole source of light in the hall. Columns of ice, she tapped one, plastic, flowed from floor to ceiling as if they held up the snowflake sky.

In sparkling contrast, a massive Christmas tree shone through the open double-doors ahead of her.

Daniel took her arm and coaxed her forward, “The Blue Room Christmas Tree. The room is just a little bigger than the Oval Office. This is only the second year since Jackie Kennedy that there hasn’t been a First Lady to decorate it.” Last year and this year. Following the death of First Lady Katherine Matthews.

Alice could only stare. It soared magnificently. A thousand ornaments must dangle from its limbs. Industry. It took her a moment, but that was clearly the theme. All of the ornaments had been made from a warm, dusky metal; pewter and bronze. Tiny airplanes, trains, automobiles, ships, and hundreds of other familiar objects had been created with a perfection and grace.

Each ornament lit by a pair of tiny Christmas lights in a vast rainbow of colors. She’d always favored using only white lights, but this tree could convert her to the many-hued camp.

The deep blue walls had been lit like the night sky, tiny sparkles making the room appear boundless. It was breathtaking.

Daniel allowed her to look to her heart’s content before leading her up the Grand Staircase.

She kept her secret agent coat firmly wrapped around her as he led her up to the second story and down the massive central hallway. The decorators had been here as well. A couple of cheery Christmas trees made the long hall homey. Wreaths bedecked the doors and someone with an immense amount of patience had woven overlapping red-and-green ribbons in a spiral about each column. Everything here was designed to make her feel small, but tonight she was simply going to refuse. Somehow.

“This is the President’s personal living room,” he turned for an open doorway.

“I thought you said a quiet dinner in the residence?” Somehow, she’d pictured the two of them back in the cozy brass and cherry wood kitchen on the third floor. Just the two of them.

“Just the President.”

“Do I look like the President?” A female voice sounded from past Daniel’s shoulder where he’d half-turned to speak to her.

Alice didn’t need the reminder of the midnight video conference to identify the first female pilot of SOAR. Major Emily Beale was dressed casually in ACUs, but made it look formal. The Army Combat Uniform had golden oak leaves that shone on the collar points of her blouse. That’s all that was needed to dress her formally. The long, slender, perfectly-formed blonde was so stunning she could probably make rags appear elegant.

Alice, as the queen of frump, didn’t need to be reminded of the fact by having to be in the same room with this woman. Sure thing no one would be paying her any attention tonight. Which normally was fine with her, but tonight it bothered her.

“Major Mark Henderson.” Beale’s husband came into view as Alice fully entered the room. His handshake was solid and friendly. He’d have stood out in any room that didn’t contain his wife. Or Daniel.

“Dr. Alice Thompson,” she managed a decent handshake this time.

“CIA analyst Dr. Alice Thompson?” Major Beale who hadn’t even bothered to shake her hand now inspected her carefully with a full attention so complete that Alice almost stumbled backward.

“You did the report last year on that new arms route they were developing southeast of Asadabad?”

Alice nodded. That had been three months of her life.

“You’ll be glad to know that your information let us wipe the hell out of it. If they even think about trying it again, we’ll own their asses. Well done.”

Major Beale’s simple nod may have been the highest praise Alice had ever received in her life. The woman was clearly a primal force. If she’d thought it was a load of crap, Alice would bet she’d have said as much.

“That is good to know. Thank you.”

“Yep!” Major Henderson wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist and pulled her tight against him. “We cruised up there just last week or so; all part of our full inspection and on-going maintenance service. Whole sections of that pass don’t even exist anymore. Seems that some significant chunks of the road disappeared off the cliff face and wound up in the valley a few thousand feet below. Can’t imagine how that happened.”

Alice could tell just by the immensely self-satisfied tone in Henderson’s voice. A dozen Hellfire missiles here. Call into the Air Force for a bunker-buster bomb there. No more Kunar-Bajaur Link Road. The Taliban had moved a million or more dollars of ammunition across that pass last year alone, wholesale. Nice to know that had stopped.

* * * *

Daniel took Alice’s coat and turned to hang it up in the closet.

“Holy s**t!” he heard the President’s deep voice.

Daniel spun to see what had caused a President, who didn’t even swear at midnight wakeup calls, to curse.

His eyes quickly passed over the occupants of the room and almost made it to where the President stood stock still at the door to his private bedroom. But Daniel didn’t quite get there. A sight dragged his attention back to the woman whose coat even now slipped from his numb fingers and cascaded about his feet.

Cream skin and russet curls had been offset by a sleeveless green sheath dress so dark and rich that it made one understand what Mother Nature had been striving for when she’d designed the leaves of a holly tree. It draped left over right in a cascade that appeared to flow from one of Alice’s shoulders, the other exquisitely uncovered. Not a curve of her body missed or hidden, but neither overemphasized. It was perhaps the most elegant dress he had ever seen.

Then Alice turned those hazel eyes on him and, though her skin had flushed red, that amazing smile lit her face.

“You appear to have dropped my coat, Dr. Darlington.”

He looked at his feet indeed lost in a puddle of black cashmere, but he couldn’t think of what to do about it. All he could do was look back at the woman.

The President came up and thumped him hard in the center of his back driving what little air remained out of his lungs. “Breathe, man. Breathe before you pass out.”

Daniel gasped and suddenly felt quite lightheaded as his body dragged in desperately needed air.

The President retrieved the coat from about Daniel’s feet. As he rose, he leaned in and offered in a loud whisper that anyone could here. “Speak, man. At least tell her how nice she looks.”

He tried, he really did.

Then he cursed, spun, and strode from the room.