When Rodriguez and Carver left, Gil, Luke, and Benjamin gathered around. “That guy is not right.” Gil looked ready to punch a wall. “What’s his deal?”
“He’s not popular in DC either,” Benjamin said. “I know he’s been written up several times, but this is a bit over the top, even for him.”
Tessa flashed what Luke had once, and only once, called her beauty-queen smile. “Thanks for looking out for me, guys, but I’m fine. Not my first rodeo. Now, let’s figure out what’s going on with these threats.”
Tessa was all business as she mirrored her computer screen on the large TV in the corner so everyone could follow along. “We have two threats that have some teeth.” She tapped on the computer and a photograph appeared. “This one has everyone in DC on edge. Craig Brown is a forty-two-year-old white male. He lives forty-five minutes outside of Raleigh, in Carrington County. He has two weapons registered in his name, both hunting rifles, but his social media accounts indicate that he has access to an arsenal and he’s a UAV enthusiast.”
“Why can’t we just call them drones?” Gil grumbled.
“Craig Brown has a treatise on that if you’d like to read it. It’s six pages long. At least twenty percent of the words are expletives. The rest of them seem to indicate that, in his opinion, referring to an unmanned aerial vehicle as a drone is disrespectful.”
“Seriously?” Gil shook his head. “I’m still calling them drones.”
“What’s his beef with the president?” Benjamin asked.
“Years ago, a Texas jury found a man named Calvin Cross guilty on eight counts of murder and an assortment of other charges, including sexual assault and battery. It was appealed, of course, but the verdict was upheld. Ultimately, when all appeals had been exhausted, they petitioned the governor for a stay of execution. The president, who was the governor of Texas at the time, refused to sign it and Cross was executed.”
Zane remembered hearing about the case. “Wasn’t that the one where there was video and DNA evidence?”
“Yes. It was the definition of an open-and-shut case. But Craig Brown was part of a group who insisted that Cross was innocent. There are always people who protest because of a moral conviction regarding the death penalty, but that’s not what this group was about. They had concocted an elaborate conspiracy theory that Cross had been set up to protect someone else. The state brought numerous witnesses to confirm the veracity of the video and DNA evidence, but they couldn’t be dissuaded. When Cross was executed, they vowed that justice would be served.”
“They’ve been a thorn in the side of the President’s Protection Detail since he was on the campaign trail.” Benjamin pointed toward the screen. “I haven’t come across this guy, but I’ve seen some of them at various events. They show up with these neon-green crosses on their jackets or shirts. There’s nothing stealth about them. It’s like they’re trying to get some kind of vengeance by intimidation. The First Lady is terrified of them.”
Tessa pulled up a report and it flashed on the screen. “According to this, they’ve shown up at eighty-three events in the past four years. That includes his appearances as governor, then on the campaign trail, and now as president.” She turned to Zane. “Have you seen them?”
“No, but I’ve heard about them.”
“Well, you’ll get to see one member in a few hours. You and I are going to pay Craig Brown a friendly visit today.”
“Sounds fun.”
Tessa turned to Luke, Gil, and Benjamin. “I need you three to run down the rest of the social media threats and follow up on anything that requires a presence. And when you’re done, I’d appreciate it if you could spend some time on the threat directed at me.”
Benjamin rested both forearms on the table. “How about we reverse that order?”
“THE PRESIDENTIS THE PRIORITY.”The four men at the table gave Tessa nearly identical looks that she didn’t have to be an expert on body language to read. Nothing she said was going to stop them from doing what they felt they needed to do. They were going to find out who had threatened her, and the lunatics who thought she was too pretty to protect the president were going to find it difficult to eliminate her from the equation.
“Fine. I don’t care what order you do them in.” And just like that, they all relaxed. “But”—she held each one’s gaze in turn—“if you don’t have those presidential threats removed from the board by tonight, you’ll have to stay late to finish them.”
“I guess she told us.” Benjamin looked at Luke and Gil. “How do y’all want to do this?”
As the three men divvied up the threats, Zane stood and walked toward her. “Where are we starting today?”
He was all business and she was so thankful, she could have kissed him. She needed to get them solidly back into the friend zone. The zone they were in right now was confusing and complicated, and she didn’t have time for that. “We need to go see Bruce.”
Zane pretended to bang his head on the wall. “Why me?”
Tessa knew why. Zane could be fierce and deadly, but he had a gentle roughness about him that appealed to certain people on the margins of society. He spoke to them with respect even as he told them that if they didn’t cut it out, they’d go to jail.
Bruce was a classic example. He was mentally ill but refused medication. He preferred to sleep outdoors and only went to a shelter when it was bitterly cold. Despite this, he always had the latest cell phone and never seemed to run out of data. He had social media accounts under random names and used those platforms to rant about the president, making threats he had no hope of carrying out.
Zane had taken Tessa to meet Bruce her first month on the job after Bruce sent a threat to blow up the White House. She’d expected Zane to be harsh, but Zane leaned against the telephone pole beside Bruce’s current habitation and said, “Dude, if you want to talk to me, all you have to do is call. You keep pulling this crap and I’m going to have to arrest you.”
Bruce gave Tessa a cheeky smile and whispered, “He doesn’t want to let on, but he loves me.”
That was two years ago.
“Let’s get it over with. Bruce first. Then Craig Brown.”
