4
Washington D.C.
Violetta Hill knew she shouldn’t have worn the new shoes. Every hurrying step along the White House corridor was another vice-like pinch in her heels and ankles. Yet as she struggled to keep up with Morris Ross, the President’s Chief of Staff, blisters were the least of her problems.
Ross was jabbering at the speed of light, filling her in on everything they knew so far. As they rounded the corner and entered the situation room, the faces of the Joint Chiefs told the story. Joe Budge sat with his overfed face in his hands. Todd Schneider yammered into a phone in the far corner of the room. And everyone else clutched one of the white emergency landline receivers in their hand, desperately seeking an update from their senior staff.
President Williams paced the floor to
