“So, I heard about the woman from the Bureau of Land Management,” he frowned.
“Margaret,” said Saint. “Her name was Margaret.”
“Yes. Yes, Margaret,” he nodded again as if he knew her name. He probably didn’t. What did it matter to him? “It’s a terrible accident for sure.”
“Sir, it wasn’t an accident. Someone ran that woman over intentionally just because she spoke to us,” said Hayes.
“That’s interesting,” he frowned. “What was she speaking to you all about? She doesn’t have anything interesting to tell you in the security world.”
Saint and Hayes both felt the hairs on the back of their necks go up.
“As you know, Robicheaux Oil and Gas is a big part of our businesses. We just had some basic questions about drilling,” said Hayes. Saint wanted to give him a high-five for thinking so quickly.
“Oh,” said the President with an audible sigh. “Of course! That makes perfect sense.”
“Yes. She was very helpful making sure we understood that we needed to go through multiple layers. Our chief engineer has been out and he usually takes care of these things. We’re just filling in for him,” said Hayes.
“Sure, sure,” nodded the POTUS. “Someone thought you all were involved in an incident in Nebraska.”
“Nebraska?” asked Saint with a tilt of his head. “Oh, you mean the investigation of the farm that’s been vandalized.”
The POTUS stared at the two men, looking from one to the other. He wasn’t very good at reading faces but Hayes and Saint were experts. He was nervous and that told them everything they needed to know.
“Vandalized? Well, that’s a shame. We need our farmers. Good, solid people they are. Let us know how we can help,” he said standing. He was effectively dismissing the two men.
“I think we’re good,” smiled Hayes. “Was there something else you needed from us, sir?”
“Yes,” he said thoughtfully. “I know you boys like to help out where and when you can but with this woman, Margaret, just let our team handle it. We’ll find out what really happened.”
“Of course,” nodded Saint. “Nice to see you, sir.”
“Yes, yes, nice to see both of you.”
They left the oval office, escorted out by the same agent who’d brought them in. He nodded at them as they reached the gate and they walked back toward the mall.
Neither man said a word. They didn’t even sign to one another. In D.C., everything was being recorded. Audio, video, all of it.
They wouldn’t be safe until they were on their own plane headed home.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“The Vice President is in Chicago for a global conference on environmental issues,” said Ham. “I think we need to speak directly to him before we assume anything.”
“Ham, you didn’t see the POTUS’ reaction. He’s fucking guilty as hell. If he and the VP are in on this together, we’re fucked,” said Saint.
“I know but we have to be sure.”
“Okay, then I guess we’re headed to Chicago,” said Hayes.
“Thanks, guys.” He nodded at them and ended the call, looking at Gator, Jak, and Matt. “That son-of-a-bitch knows about this.”
“It appears so,” said Gator. “He’s working a deal with Santori, or at least that’s what it feels like. But why work the deal? The vein is huge. Let Santori have whatever is in Mexico, central and south America. There’s more than enough here in the U.S.”
“We both know that’s not how men like the POTUS and Santori think. If they can split all of it, that’s more for them. They would have to select a company to actually do the drilling and extraction but I’m going to bet the company would be someone new that we’ve never heard of and mysteriously goes back to both of them.”
“Is anyone ever honest anymore?” asked Jak.
“Is that rhetorical?” smirked Matt.
