She stared at Blayne and saw a look of recognition crossed his face. “What?” she asked. “You just had an idea.”
“I snuck into a lecture today about ring-wing terror groups. There was a professor I’d seen on TV who works at Pennington. She mentioned something about a rally against extremists.”
“Ms. Wilson?” Hennigan said.
“Pulling it up now.” Everyone hitched their breaths. “Yes, there is a rally against right-wing extremists on the Pennington University Quad tomorrow afternoon. It’s been organized by Dr. Olivia Martinez. Dr. Martinez is a political scientist who specializes in homegrown violent extremists. She’s literally written the book about the Constitutional Liberation Army. I’m sending the book information to Mr. Dickenson’s phone.” There was another pause on the line before Ms. Wilson started speaking again. “Dr. Martinez would make an excellent target. She’s actively gone after the CLA and was one of the first to publicly label the CLA as a terrorist organization. They’ve been on her radar longer than they’ve been on ours. She had a cousin who got involved in them, so she became interested in the group as a scholar. Dr. Martinez has made it her life’s work to bring these people kicking and screaming into the light.”
“Well, you’ve given us much to consider, Ms. Wilson. Any news on fumigating our home to rid us of our roach infestation?”
“Yes, the friendly exterminator from out west is coming tomorrow.”
“Great, then we can tidy up this little mess here tomorrow and return home. Sounds like a perfectly delightful way to spend our day,” Dr. Hennigan said. “Call back with any additional details as they emerge.”
“Will do. For now, I’m going to go kill a few cockroaches.”
“What is your count up to?” Denzili asked.
“Oh, I think I really lost count after thirty. I’m having to become more and moreinventivewith how I exterminate them to prevent myself from getting bored.”
“I’m sure you’ll kill those roaches in the most delightful ways.”
There was a bark of laughter from Ms. Wilson’s end of the line before she hung up.
“I don’t think she was referring to cockroaches,” Zach said.
Hennigan turned and smiled at him. “Gold star for you.” She turned back to Kira. “We need reinforcements. And the person we need to contact is not someone I can contact directly. I need you, Ms. Strickland, to make a call for me.”
“Who are you going to have me call?” Kira asked. Clearly, the lawyer didn’t trust Dr. Hennigan, nor should she. Of the people in the room, Kira Strickland was most likely to be recruited by The Foundation. She was much stronger than she even realized.
“I need you to call Cleo Barnes.”
“That’s funny. You want me to call the First Lady? Sure, why not? I’ll get right on that.” Kira looks at her and mimics holding a phone. “Hey White House, it’s me, Kira. Put the pres’s wife on the phone.”
Dr. Hennigan rolled her eyes. “Well, I would hope you’d adopt a more professional tone. But I need you to call Cleo Barnes. I don’t have her personal cell phone number, but I have the White House operator’s number and the private residence’s extension number, along with the relevant passwords.”
There was silence in the room.
“You’re not joking, are you?”
Dr. Hennigan let out a slight sigh before smiling her most condescending smile. “You should know by now, you shouldallknow by now”—she took a moment to look around the room—“when it comes to the security of this nation, I never joke.”
Ethan
Everyone took Dr. Hennigan’s veiled threat seriously. Even the usual jovial Orr seemed to take pause. Poor Lucas looked like he was about to take Ethan’s place as most likely to have a meltdown.
“Dude,” Zach finally said, “she’s like scarier than my stepmother.”
“Unless your stepmother can kill you with her bare hands without scratching her manicure, she’s scarier,” Orr said. “Not as scary as Ji Chu-young when she gets pissed off, though.”
“Who is that? She sounds like my type of woman,” Hennigan joked.
“That’s our concert director,” Ethan said. “She’s a bit of a taskmaster.”
“Well, there’s no need for anyone here to worry. I never get pissed off,” Hennigan said.
“Why don’t I believe you?” Lucas asked.
“She really doesn’t,” Denzili responded before taking a sip of her beer. “Trust me. I’ve known her for years and never seen her pissed. Peeved? Occasionally. Annoyed? Hourly.”
