… poking fun of my mess …
… fisting my hair as he kissed me …
My throat ached.
The women took pencils and brushes to my face, using witchcraft to erase the bone-deep fatigue from beneath my eyes and give some pink color to my lips. Last, they held up a powder blue dress with a white lace overlay.
The thing was virtuous and feminine and everything I wasn’t, but I didn’t argue. What was the point?
Williams wanted me, the picture of marred innocence, at her side. No amount of dispute would release me from this prison.
Resigned to my fate, I stripped down to my underwear. To their credit, the women skipped barely a beat at the scars on my back and leg as they zipped me into the dress, then set a pair of matching heels on my feet.
Fully costumed, I was handed back to Erica, who eyed me with approval.
“We’ll be using the Rose Garden,” she said, as if I was supposed to know what that meant. “You are third from her right beside General Harrison, okay?”
“Got it.”
She led me through another series of hallways, and then she was opening the door to a familiar oval room I’d seen dozens of times on TV screens. The room was filled with men and women in suits and professional dresses.
Before I could process it, Theo took my arm. “I told you to wait for me,” he whispered.
I shrugged. “She said I needed to get ready.”
“I was going to?—”
“Alright, everyone,” Erica called to the room, and the crowd quieted. “We present a united front. Positive faces. This is our first chance to show the world what theUnitedStates really stands for.”
With a flurry of motion, she arranged us how she wanted, and then she was leading us outside single file, the spring air swirling around my bare arms and lifting the hairs there. Dozens of chairs had been set in rows on the lawn, all filled, and reporters spilled into the space behind them. Cameras clicked and questions volleyed our way. As instructed, I stood three down from the podium in the middle, right beside Theo, and once we were arranged, Williams took center stage.
The audience shushed to an eerie quiet.
“Good afternoon,” she said into the mic. “Today, I can confirm to the world that the terrorist organization known as the New American Order has fallen. Several days ago, the Defiance conducted a covert operation that killed Richard Haynes, leader of the NAO, a terrorist who was responsible for the murder and torture of thousands of innocent people. It was nearly three years ago when American blood was shed on our own soil, in our nation’s very capital. The Capitol Hill Massacre will live in our collective memory forever…”
She continued on, but I tuned her out while I wondered where I’d be taken after this show. Would I stay with Theo?
Could I run away?
Then Williams began to explainhowshe reached Haynes.
“A year ago, I was briefed on a possible route to Haynes. It was far from certain, and it took many months to fine-tune a plan to reach him, protected as he was by his zealots. I worked closely with a member of his own organization to perfect this strategy, and finally, last week, our plan came to fruition.”
Unbeknownst to me, tears spilled from my eyes.
This was Lucas’s plan. His contribution had outlived him, and it occurred to me that his story would never get told. He’d lived and fought and died, and no one would ever know the truth.
Not unless I told them.
“A small team of Defiants carried out the operation with extraordinary courage,” Williams said. “They killed Richard Haynes and those officials closest to him and took custody of his body. The death of Richard Haynes marks the most significant achievement in this country’s effort to defeat the NAO. His death should be welcomed by all who believe in equality and human dignity.
“I have been in talks with Prime Minister Campari of Canada, and he agrees that this was a historic day for both our nations,and going forward, it is essential that we all continue to fight against the New American Order. As a people, we will not tolerate our security being threatened, and we will not stand idly by while our citizens are tortured and killed.
“Today, we will honor the men and women who carried out this extraordinary achievement, for they exemplify the patriotism and courage of those who serve their country: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
“Please stand in their honor.”
The crowd of reporters and journalists rose, and cameras clicked while a train of four individuals marched into the Rose Garden. Each of them wore identical Army Service Uniforms, so blue they were almost black.
