“Cut the shit, Gretchen. The Secret Service reports he’s spent six nights at the Naval Observatory in the last month. We know he’s a friend from Oxford who’s been working for years to overthrow Petrov.”
“It’s… It’s not what you think.”
Nick gave her a skeptical look.
“Please let me explain.”
“I’ll listen to your explanation with the understanding that no matter what you say, you will be resigning today. Am I clear?”
“You… You should hear what I have to say before you decide anything.”
“It’s already decided, Gretchen. You’ve got the Russian opposition leader sleeping—and God knows what else—at the Naval Observatory!”
“I understand it looks bad.”
Nick was incredulous. “Bad? It looks criminal to me.”
“It’s not criminal,” she said, her voice wavering on the word criminal, “and you know it. We’re not at war with Russia, and Sergei has been a friend to our government.”
“Russia has interfered in our elections and attacked our allies. I’ll bet we could make a felony case, especially if you were actively aiding his cause.”
“I wasn’t doing that. Petrov has frozen Sergei’s assets. He’s a longtime friend. I gave him a place to stay so he wouldn’t have to sleep in the street.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “And you didn’t think I needed to know about this? You’re the vice president of the United States! You can’t be associated with an underground effort to overthrow a sovereign government, even one that needs to be overthrown!” Nick could count on one hand the number of times he’d raised his voice in this office, but this situation certainly warranted some yelling.
“Mr. President?—”
“I’ll need your resignation immediately.”
“Sir, you need to understand?—”
“There’s nothing to understand. You had a choice when you first heard from your old friend from Oxford. You could be the vice president, or you could support the Russian resistance. You made your choice the minute you failed to properly report that you were in contact with him. I’ll be awaiting your resignation letter. You’ll also do everything you can to keep a lid on whatever Ivanov was planning while he was the guest of the former vice president. He’ll be asked to leave the country immediately, even though I’m sure Russian intelligence is well aware of where he is and who he’s with. How long do you think it’ll be before they’re blackmailing me—and you?”
“If you send him back to Russia, you’re condemning him to death.”
“I don’t care where he goes as long as he’s not in the United States. Go draft your resignation letter.”
“I… I’m very sorry about this, Mr. President.”
“As am I. I’m incredibly disappointed in your staggering lack of judgment.”
She was in tears as she left the room.
“What the actual fuck was she thinking?” Terry asked.
“Who knows? But what I want to know is how he managed to slip through our intelligence and security apparatus. Get me some answers on that.”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry about this, Mr. President.”
“So am I. There’s no way we’ll be able to keep a lid on this. The Russians will take great pleasure in holding it over us.”
“That’s my fear as well.”
“Right when the illegitimacy shit has died down, here comes a Russian rebel cavorting with my handpicked vice president.” Nick ran a hand through his hair, concerned that his head might blow off his neck. He went around the Resolute Desk and took a seat, glancing at the credenza full of family photos. Knowing they were waiting for him at the end of every turbulent day was the only thing that kept him going on days like this.
“Director Monroe for you, Mr. President,” Terry said.
“Hi, Sally, come on in.”
